In the ever-evolving world of digital advertising, affiliate marketers seek to optimize their campaigns and maximize profits. One crucial aspect of achieving success in affiliate marketing is choosing the right ad network and tracking software. In this article, we will explore the process of connecting HilltopAds with Keitaro in utmost detail. Let's jump right in!

The Setup

First things first - in order to start working with Keitaro you will first need to purchase the license. It’s the first thing you will see right after the registration process, or you can do it here.

The starter license will cost you around 49 USD, and it should be enough for the start. You can upgrade your plan later, if necessary.

Don’t forget to use promo-code HILLTOPADS to get 20% off your purchase!

The next step is to set up your own server, and there are multiple ways to go about it.

The Server

When choosing the server you can either go with one of the server providers that are supported by Keitaro, or do it all by yourself. Here are the server requirements if you are planning to set up the VPS/VDS on your own:

• Clear server without control panel.
• CentOS 9 Stream or CentOS 8 Stream.
• KVM virtualization.
• Disk size 20 GB SSD or more.

In this article, we will show you one of the easiest ways to set up a server, using the Keitaro partner called FriendHosting. It is by far the fastest way to do it, and we will walk you through the whole process.

First you will need to visit https://friendhosting.net/ and purchase the server. Here is the cheapest server option that will work for our purposes:

Here are the necessary server settings that you need to choose. The beauty of this option is that the Keitaro control panel already comes preinstalled with the server, and most of the work has been already done for you.

Then you just need to pay your invoice and wait for the server to deploy. Don’t forget that you can also use promocode “keitarovps” for 30% discount.

Once everything is completed, you will receive a welcome email on your mail address that you’ve used to register. This message contains all of the necessary credentials, and a link to access the tracker admin panel.

Click the link and you will be taken to the main admin panel, that looks like this:

You need to fill in the following information:

• License key: The license key obtained from keitaro.io.
• System currency: The currency in which the currency tracker stores money-related data.
• Default language: The default language set for new users.
• Default timezone: The timezone selected for new users. This should be the timezone in which the majority of users operate.

Here is where you can receive the license key:

Then simply enter your username and create a password.

And voila, you’ve finished installing your Keitaro tracker!

Connecting to HilltopAds

Adding HilltopAds as a traffic source is very straightforward, since you can just select the pre-made template. To do so, navigate to the “Traffic sources” section, and then press the “Create” button.

Enter “hilltopads” in the highlighted field and select the template. Customize the parameters, if necessary, and press “Create”.

Warning! There is a minor mistake in the Keitaro's template. Please keep in mind, that the "External ID" parameter should be written with two curly brackets. It should be written like {{ctoken}}, and not {ctoken}. Please correct it in the template, otherwise Keitaro won't properly track the conversions.

We remind you that HilltopAds works with these additional parameters:

• {{geo}} - ISO country code;
• {{adid}} - Ad/banner identifier;
• {{zoneid}} - Traffic source identifier;
• {{campaignid}} - Campaign identifier;
• {{lang}} - Visitor language HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE e.g. en-en;
• {{category}} - Category Adult/Mainstream;
• {{cpmbid}} - CPM rate for campaign;
• {{price}} - For CPM campaigns this placeholder provides the price of 1 ad impression. For CPC campaigns it provides the price of 1 click on the ad;
• {{browsername}} - browser name.

Each postback link must contain the required parameters:

• {{token}} - Unique id of the conversion;
• {{price}} - Conversion cost;
• {{currency}} - Conversion currancy;
• advertiserID - Advertiser ID.

Note! The postback link contains such an important parameter as adviser ID, which must be filled with your unique ID. You can find it in the Trackers section.

Congratulations, you have successfully connected HilltopAds as a traffic source!

Finishing Touches

All that is left to start working is to add the rest of the information that you might need, like offers, affiliate networks and landing pages. The one thing that you 100% have to add is a domain, since at least one domain is required to work with Keitaro.

Here is an how you can add your domain, using NameCheap service as an example.

In the left panel, click Dashboard to open the Dashboard, then click Manage for your domain:

Select the Advanced DNS tab:

Add an A-record:

• Choose "A-Record" in the first column.
• Enter "@" for Host.
• The server IP as Value.
• Select the lowest value for TTL.

That's it for the NameCheap. Now go back to the Keitaro dashboard, and open the Domains tab, then click Add.

Enter your domain name.

Click "Add".

All that is left to do is to create a campaign. To do so, navigate to the "Campaigns" section and click "Create". Set up the campaign according to your preferences. You can add the lander or offer element by clicking the "Create flow" button, and selecting the "Schema" section. You can read about flows in more detail here.

You can also add the S2S postback. You can retrieve your unique postback URL here:

Conclusion

Connecting HilltopAds to Keitaro Tracker Software can significantly enhance your affiliate marketing efforts. By utilizing Keitaro's advanced tracking and optimization features, you can gain valuable insights into your HilltopAds campaigns, leading to improved conversions and increased revenue. Remember to stay updated with both platforms' latest features and best practices to stay ahead in the competitive world of affiliate marketing. Happy tracking and advertising!