Summary
We have extensively covered the use cases, deployments and common questions about reverse proxy for performance marketing. This post will serve as the anchor positioning for how Reverse proxy works and to deploy. Product managers can use this post in their analysis of reverse proxy.
Overview
- What is Reverse Proxy?
- Google Compliance for Expanded Text Ads
- Proxy Technology for Performance Marketing
- Agency Uses of Reverse Proxy
- Common Ways Leads are Lost with Reverse Proxy
- Securing Domains with Reverse Proxy
What is Reverse Proxy?
Simply put — Reverse Proxy creates a mirror image copy of the advertiser’s website with all of the content the same, except phone numbers can be replaced with call tracking and the ability to add embedded analytics is a lot easier. DevHub’s proxy technology can read a current site/ landing page’s content and can replace key actions with those that are measurable i.e. calls, form fills, downloads, coupons etc.
DevHub’s Reverse Proxy technology enables sales engineers, product, digital marketing and brand managers to execute on their product road maps and marketing campaigns without interference from legacy tech or customer(s) stalling.
Google Compliance for Expanded Text Ads
DevHub Supports New URL Requirements for Google's Expanded Text Ads - Partners have previously been able to create Ad Units that show the Customer's Domain or Website URL, but have the link from the Ad go to a different destination. With these new URL requirements, partners now don't have that option and the Ad Unit will automatically show the final destination URL.
Update: Google Expanded Text Ad Capabilities - Media companies, digital marketing agencies, ad agencies, and local advertisers have the opportunity to help their text ads work harder. At DevHub we are ahead of the curve, having already built in new Google expanded text requirements for URLs into the platform and templates. Utilizing DevHub Proxy for this offers our users immediate use of the expanded text ads across all devices.
Platform Migration Scenario: Google ETA and Landing Pages - With DevHub's proprietary migration tech, we are able to match sites/ landing pages 100% so our customers and their end customers do not know the difference. Unifying all disparate landing page campaigns, websites, vertical specific solutions on DevHub is easy and safe; and allows you to be ready for Google ETA instantly.
Google Expanded Text Ads and Landing Pages - DevHub solves for the “proxy URL deprecation,” or “deprecation of Whitelisted Proxies.”
Proxy Technology for Performance Marketing
Our proxy tech reads a site’s content and replaces key actions visitors can take i.e. calls, form fills, coupon downloads…, creating as many unique campaigns as you require — AND YES you can replace image phone numbers! ;)
Platform Agnostic — DevHub Proxy is able to proxy from any site, regardless of how it was developed.
Minimal IT Support — DevHub hosts all proxied sites on your behalf, eliminating the need for additional spend on IT infrastructure.
Temporary — DevHub Proxy uses the latest web search best practices to ensure sites are not indexed by search engines.
Our modern proxy solution is dynamic and supports all Google Expanded Text Ad requirements, and has robust caching technology from images to page content — ensuring the site is always being served.
Our flexible APIs allow:
Account provisioning
Deploying SSL at Scale
Analytics Reporting
Adding/ Disabling proxies
Sandbox environment for testing
Bulk update URLs
Automate domain registration
And we are thinking about what is next for proxy…allowing site publishing leveraging a site(s) existing assets to build from versus starting from scratch …think…
Hide distracting navigation elements to tighten the conversion funnel
Write your own optimized copy and call to actions
Add any of DevHub’s modules or integrations to pages
And of course.. track every interaction the visitor does to get the full view of how the campaign is performing
Agency Uses of Reverse Proxy
One of the common questions we get is whether DevHub’s proxy technology allows for image replacement when it comes to phone numbers — YES!
DevHub’s proxy technology is getting smarter by the minute as new platforms get analyzed and the ability to proxy 98% of websites is closing in on 100%.
DevHub’s proxy uses the latest web search best practices to ensure sites are not indexed as proxy is primarily used for performance marketing/ attribution.
Common Ways Leads are Lost with Reverse Proxy
1) Mobile Sites/Subdomains
2) Other Subdomains (Ecommerce Stores, Support Panels, etc)
3) 3rd Party Widgets and Services
There are many ways that marketing companies describe the concept of losing track of a visitor after they have payed for them to visit a Landing Page or Proxy Site.
“Breaking Proxy”, “Lead Leakage”, “Losing Attribution”, etc
The purpose of creating a Proxy is so you can drive inbound traffic to a copy of a customer’s existing website, but be able to track all leads that are generated within that campaign via Call Tracking and Form Fill capture.
But if a Visitor to the Proxy clicks on any link that takes them outside the Proxy, you immediately lose the ability to track what they do after that. This could be any sort of link (Instagram, a Press Article, or linking to their Yelp Profile). You can’t reasonably stop the Visitor from visiting these links without affecting their User Experience.
But there are cases where you want to make sure you have a deep enough “net” or “gates” in place to keep the Visitor tracked as much as possible during their Session.
The DevHub Proxy platform gives you full flexibility to decide what paths you want the Visitor to take.
Securing Domains with Reverse Proxy
There are many use cases of deploying SSL at scale including performance marketing companies aiming to increase workflow/ production efficiencies. Within DevHub - new domains registered can be auto provisioned with new SSL certificates, and the corresponding Site and/or Landing Page are live and serving secure pages within minutes.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. SSL technology has been around since 1994 - in response to concern over internet security. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral.