Question about link cloaking in Wordpress?

25 replies
I am using the link cloak plugin in WordPress that automatically cloaks my affiliate links, however, when I try to click on them to test them, I get an error from my web host saying "404 - PAGE NOT FOUND".

Do I have to go to my hosting account and enter these links or something?

Or what do I need to do to fix this?

Thanks for your replies.
#cloaking #link #question #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author nakmuay7
    re upload your site.

    if that doesn't work delete all the files on the server and re upload again

    can be a problem with the hosting company.
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    • Profile picture of the author latrice17
      Originally Posted by nakmuay7 View Post

      re upload your site.

      if that doesn't work delete all the files on the server and re upload again

      can be a problem with the hosting company.
      Okay, please forgive me as this is my first time even creating a website or dealing with hosting.

      So, I need to go to hostgator and re upload my website there to see if the link cloaking works properly?
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    • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
      Originally Posted by nakmuay7 View Post

      re upload your site.
      That's a nonsense.

      When you have a problem with a plugin, first step in troubleshooting MUST be:
      - deactivate the plugin.

      Check if the blog/links work.

      Next, when having internal/external link issues, firs thing to check: your permalink settings.

      Don't delete anything. That is NOT a solution!
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    Don't bother with a plugin, just add a new sub-folder to your root blog folder on your server and have the index.html file redirect through your affiliate link. Works like a charm.

    PM me if you need help.
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    • Profile picture of the author latrice17
      Originally Posted by thebitbotdotcom View Post

      Don't bother with a plugin, just add a new sub-folder to your root blog folder on your server and have the index.html file redirect through your affiliate link. Works like a charm.

      PM me if you need help.
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      That's a nonsense.

      When you a problem with a plugin, first step in troubleshooting MUST be:
      - deactivate the plugin.

      Check if the blog/links work.

      Next, when having internal/external link issues, firs thing to check: your permalink settings.

      Don't delete anything. That is NOT a solution!
      Thanks guys!

      My website is actually a review site with several items I am promoting. How would I redirect each affiliate link for each item if I create the subfolder?
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    • Profile picture of the author DogScout
      Originally Posted by thebitbotdotcom View Post

      Don't bother with a plugin, just add a new sub-folder to your root blog folder on your server and have the index.html file redirect through your affiliate link. Works like a charm.

      PM me if you need help.
      A folder called 'Recommends' is popular. then filled with folders of each affiliate link (with the product name as the folder name), the index file in each being a 301 redirect to the sales page of that product including your hop/affiliate link in the URL.

      Not as fast as a plug-in, but takes under 30 seconds to do once you've done a couple.

      A link would look like: http(://)your-site(dot)com/recommends/this-product/
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  • Profile picture of the author gearmonkey
    I have a 1100 posts with affiliate links, would I need to go through 1 by 1 to do this or is there a way to make all them "pretty" by one click of a button?
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    • Profile picture of the author imkevintan
      Originally Posted by gearmonkey View Post

      I have a 1100 posts with affiliate links, would I need to go through 1 by 1 to do this or is there a way to make all them "pretty" by one click of a button?
      If you do blog with WordPress, you may cloak your affiliate links and redirect them with GoCodes or Pretty Link plugin. They're available for free.

      WordPress › GoCodes « WordPress Plugins

      WordPress › Pretty Link (Lite Version) « WordPress Plugins

      These plugins also allow you to edit only the affiliate links (from the plugin's panel) without having to go through your 1,100 posts and manually edit them which is a pain.
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      • Profile picture of the author imkevintan
        For the sake of SEO, I wouldn't recommend an iFrame redirection

        301 (permanent redirect) and 302 (temporary redirect) are always my most used redirection method.
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    I should add, instead of using the product name, you use 'this-acne-solution' or 'this-whatever', then if you find a better product or want to change products for any reason, changing the redirect file (10 seconds) will change the target of every link, no matter where you used it. (E-books, videos, the blog, etc)

    <?php
    header( "HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently" );
    header('Location: http://yourvendorssalespage.com/affiliate-id?');
    ?>

    is the code, just change to your final target URL
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    I tried one plugin that did the same thing, sometimes it would work but most times I would get redirected to a 404 page. I now use GoCodes plugin which works great, you set up the code which usually looks something like http://yourdomian.com/go/product
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    You need to openly disclose your affiliate links now according to FTC regulations.
    Not in the way that you're implying you don't. Nothing wrong with making an affiliate link pretty, or sending it through a tracking system first. That has nothing to do with the latest FTC bs.

    You should be openly disclosing your affiliate links due to FTC regulations. Don't think you should be because it will affect conversions, etc? Ask yourself why all the gurus send out open disclosure affiliate links on their emails.
    They don't - the vast majority of links in marketing emails point to a tracking URL. They don't look "pretty" because you can't control the link text in a plain text email.
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  • Profile picture of the author atwellpub
    If you are looking to turn aff links into pretty permalinks and prevent non-human traffic from following - sending them elsewhere then my Cloak Me is a a plugin I developed for this:

    Cloak Me - Wordpress Link Cloaker & Spider Redirection | Wordpress Link Cloaker
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