How do you "HIDE" your affiliate link ?

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by zedbiz

And can it be tied / connected to Google Analytics somehow? Will a php redirect show up in google analytics report?

a PHP redirect will not show up in an Analytics report because it redirects the user without anything loading on the browser, which is requires for Analytics to work (JavaScript on the browser).

You can, track the outbound click from one of your pages with GA when the user clicks on a redirect link, but this would only work for the redirects you post on sites you control.

Wil

[zedbiz]

So then how would you track - using Google Analytics - other links on sites you do not control (forums, signatures, articles, etc), and links in emails.

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by zedbiz

So then how would you track - using Google Analytics - other links on sites you do not control (forums, signatures, articles, etc), and links in emails.

The only way would be to use Meta Refresh or JavaScript Redirect and have the GA code embedded on those pages, but those methods are not always best.

Come to the free webinar I told you about and you will learn about all the different methods.

Wil

[zedbiz]

yes - looking forward to the free webinar - but also want to learn before so can ask you intelligent questions on the webinar

Thanks Wil

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by innocent73

The method I used to hide and shorten my affiliate links is by using free cloaking services provided by third party websites. They will create a folder at their domain, which will be redirected to your original affiliate link. It takes only a few minutes to create a link.

Read the posts above. Using free URL shortening services is a bad idea for many reasons!

Wil

[BurgerBoy]

Originally Posted by innocent73

The method I used to hide and shorten my affiliate links is by using free cloaking services provided by third party websites. They will create a folder at their domain, which will be redirected to your original affiliate link. It takes only a few minutes to create a link.

This will ALWAYS be a BAD idea.

I use to host my RSS Feeds at RSSPAD. I had over 1,000 feeds hosted there and guess what. It was a FREE RSS Feed hosting site.

About one month ago they decided they were no longer going to host RSS Feeds and - poof - just like that they were all gone and now they all have to be built again.

It is a real DUMB idea to host them with a third party. You should ALWAYS host them on your own site.

Nothing is FREE. There is always a catch somewhere.

[Jay Jennings]

Originally Posted by zedbiz

Jay - what method does cloak and tracker use to re-direct?
php - - htaccess or ??

At the core of the script is a PHP header().

Jay Jennings

[zedbiz]

Thanks Jay - much appreciated.

By the way guys - on WordPress Plugins to redirect and track links - I am trying Pretty Link. From the description it sounds awesome. Will tell you how it turns out.
(thanks to Lynette Chandler for pointing this plugin out on twitter)

Jack

[James Howard]

I did a post on my blog about this just a few hours ago. Didn't know if it would be useful to anyone but then I saw this thread

The How to of Links and Redirects :: inyourfacewisdom.com

Hope this helps a little.

James

[zedbiz]

Originally Posted by Jay Jennings

At the core of the script is a PHP header().

Jay Jennings

What is the main difference between CaT and Sneak???
Thanks Jay

Jack

[dlwebb610]

I have tried every suggestion on this page and none of them worked.

[Biggy Fat]

If you use Wordpress, this plugin will do the trick easily:

ø Link Cloaking Plugin for WordPress | W-Shadow.com ø

[rwbovee]

urlfreeze.com hides your affiliate links for free, plus gives you statistics.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by tanady

Which one do you used ? and why ?

I use a custom script I wrote myself which looks like one directory per link, but is actually a mini-version of TinyURL that runs on my own site. Essentially, it does this:

- Loads up a script based on rules in the Apache config file
- Looks up the path in my SQL database
- Redirects the visitor via PHP header

It's a very simple script, but relies on an intricacy of the CGI standard that hardly anyone bothers to learn.

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by rwbovee

urlfreeze.com hides your affiliate links for free, plus gives you statistics.

It is a really bad idea to use FREE URL shortening/cloaking services!

Wil

[ChrisBa]

I just do a simple php redirect script.. this way i can change the link very easily if required

[staffelseo]

Originally Posted by ChrisBa

I just do a simple php redirect script.. this way i can change the link very easily if required

How did you do it? Could you please show us a code sample?

[John Dufresne]

I use a php redirect.
It's simple and I can add hundreds of links to it.

[swiminsoda]

This works for me like a charm..it is if you are using cPanel.

1) Find and click on Subdomains. Inside, create a subfolder like this:

______.yourwebsite.com

Click Create.


2) Go back to the cPanel, select icon Redirects.
- Choose 'Permanent' (301) if you want google to track this page, or choose 'Temporary' if you want don't want spiders to track this page.

- Select the subdomain directory and enter a name for this affiliate link like this:
http://www.links.yourwebsite.com/myaffiliateA

- redirects to: type in your actual affiliate link: http://affiliatelinkhere.com

3) Finally to test it, go to http://www.links.yourwebsite.com/myaffiliateA

Hope this helps/.

[zkalt]

Does anyone know how to track affiliate links with a redirect (php)? Here's a brief description of my problem. I can't find an answer anywhere:
Ok, so I am running a PPC campaign on both google and yahoo with a landing page I created. I decided to cloak my affiliate links using a php redirect because they look awesome and professional. I have my google tracking ID and my a clickbank tracking id attached to the link but none of my tracking ids get picked up because of the php redirect (only my hop does). I am having great conversions averaging $100 a day net profit, but I don't know which keywords are converting or whether they are coming from yahoo or google. I've been profitable for 9 straight days now but I have no recorded data to optimize my campaign other than the basics google adwords tells me. Does this make sense?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. If I could track my google conversions, that would be enough. HELP!

[mikeyman120]

Hello,
I hide my links by using a php redirect similiar to above:

Paste this into notepad and save as index.php

<?php
header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: http://CLICKBANKID.VENDORID.hop.clickbank.net");
exit();
?>

upload it to your subdomain, which hopefully is a shorter and better looking link.

www.mydomain.com/product

Works great.

Besides if another clickbanker see a product that is a clickbank product there is a good chance they will order it through their own link. It happens. So I always make redirects.

Mike

[actionplanbiz]

Whats the Benefits of hiding your link?

Yahoo PPC & ClickBank?

[Rob Whisonant]

Originally Posted by actionplanbiz

Whats the Benefits of hiding your link?

Yahoo PPC & ClickBank?

So others can't just copy your link and remove your affiliate code so you don't get credit for the sale.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant

So others can't just copy your link and remove your affiliate code so you don't get credit for the sale.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

There are many additional benefits to link "cloaking" when it is done right!

For example, if you manage all of your affiliate links in one place and always use a redirect (or cloaked link) when you post that link anywhere, if the product you are promoting ever changes, you can simply go update that link in one place and your marketing efforts will continue to work for you.

Wil

[Rob Whisonant]

Originally Posted by Wilson Mattos

There are many additional benefits to link "cloaking" when it is done right!

For example, if you manage all of your affiliate links in one place and always use a redirect (or cloaked link) when you post that link anywhere, if the product you are promoting ever changes, you can simply go update that link in one place and your marketing efforts will continue to work for you.

Wil

Very good point!

Re's
Rob Whisonant

[medallion]

Hi there,

My recommendation is Easy Redirect Script. from Affiliate Link Redirect & Cloaking Script - Easy Redirect Script

The above link is an example of using it.

It is a small program that you install on your own server, so it is much more secure, and you then add the links you want to go to (affiliate or other), and then you add a short name after your domain.

It is very easy to use, you do not need to be a php script authority, and it is effective.

It also look squite professional.

My domain name here is hosting success dot com, and I then added after the ? the ers.

This can apply to any other site you want to link to.

In addition, there is a great copntrol panel for you to categorise your redirects, and the like.

It is quite cheap, and is a one time payment.
Let me knwo what you think.

All the best

PS: In my case, I have over 100 redirects already programmed into it.

Martin

[ezeey]

Use a link tracker as it will mask your link to a tracking link e.g www.mysite.com/?wp_ct=2 (Wordpress Link tracker plugin) and it also counts how many people click on your link. I used to use the link tracker offered by the 30 day challenge it was free and i am not sure if they still offer this service though. of course you can just use a page redirect but I like knowing how many clicks certain links are getting.

[Cyberdude77]

I myself use a paid program for some affiliate links and for other I get a whole domain
that redirect to the affiliatelink. Much more professional.
Just my idea

[sitemarketer]

Hi.

GoTryTHIS what you want and much more. Check out the testimonials on our site. We're just letting people into the beta of version 2, where you can track and cloak all your marketing for all your sites in one place. Check it out at www.GoTryTHIS.com.

Thank you,
John.
www.GoTryTHIS.com

[Fors]

Originally Posted by zkalt

Does anyone know how to track affiliate links with a redirect (php)? Here's a brief description of my problem. I can't find an answer anywhere:
Ok, so I am running a PPC campaign on both google and yahoo with a landing page I created. I decided to cloak my affiliate links using a php redirect because they look awesome and professional. I have my google tracking ID and my a clickbank tracking id attached to the link but none of my tracking ids get picked up because of the php redirect (only my hop does). I am having great conversions averaging $100 a day net profit, but I don't know which keywords are converting or whether they are coming from yahoo or google. I've been profitable for 9 straight days now but I have no recorded data to optimize my campaign other than the basics google adwords tells me. Does this make sense?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. If I could track my google conversions, that would be enough. HELP!

I am also wondering this, so far I haven't been cloaking since I thought it might screw all my tracking up. So what is the solution? Im planning on using a simple php redirect file either just blabla.php or index.php in a subfolder called blabla

[khtm]

Originally Posted by Fors

I am also wondering this, so far I haven't been cloaking since I thought it might screw all my tracking up. So what is the solution? Im planning on using a simple php redirect file either just blabla.php or index.php in a subfolder called blabla

There's many different solutions, but they vary depending on what exactly you're trying to accomplish.

If you're using WordPress there's plugins that can do a lot of this.

If you're familiar with PHP you can write a simple script that can detect the source of the traffic and track click-through stats either in a flat file or a database. If you Google such scripts already exist as well.

If you tell us a bit more about what you're currently doing for tracking that you don't want to screw up, it'll be easier to help you out....

[5starAffiliatePrograms]

Most affiliates I know use .htaccess for redirecting links.
Here's a good article on how to do it. Using .htaccess to Hide Affiliate Links

GoTryThis, mentioned earlier is great too.

[Randy Bheites]

redirect. I like the "MySite.com/JoeRecommends/Widget/" format best for the mouseover URL.

[Fors]

Originally Posted by khtm

There's many different solutions, but they vary depending on what exactly you're trying to accomplish.

If you're using WordPress there's plugins that can do a lot of this.

If you're familiar with PHP you can write a simple script that can detect the source of the traffic and track click-through stats either in a flat file or a database. If you Google such scripts already exist as well.

If you tell us a bit more about what you're currently doing for tracking that you don't want to screw up, it'll be easier to help you out....

Well I was actually planning on trying out Statsjunky as I have heard some good things about It and I just noticed they have a video describing on how to use statsjunky tracking for php landing pages, it shows how statsjunky adds some sneaky php code to the end of my aff link.

Now I pretty much have no idea wth I am doing when writing php and usually just copy/paste and pray that it works like it's supposed to, but I am assuming I could just get my new affiliate tracking link for php based landing pages (I use wordpress blogs) , add that into my php redirect script and It'll track?

Sorry if this is a stupid question but like I said, Im kind of an oldschool tracker and all these new fancy programs can be quite confusing ^^

Thanks!

[aihamshujaa]

I'm not a computer whiz but I disguise affiliate links by one of two ways:
1) I create a domain name based on my chosen keyword or product niche and set up a squeeze page. I put my domain name to my squeeze page and direct all traffic to my squeeze page. On my squeeze page I simply design a web form using Aweber. Within this web form you can quite easily embed your affiliate link; or
2) if I'm just promoting an affiliate link I use the site tinyurl.com. On this site you simple enter your affiliate link the site gives you a much shorter but invisible link. It takes less than 10 seconds to do.

Hope this helps.

[Wilson Mattos]

Originally Posted by aihamshujaa

I'm not a computer whiz but I disguise affiliate links by one of two ways:
2) if I'm just promoting an affiliate link I use the site tinyurl.com. On this site you simple enter your affiliate link the site gives you a much shorter but invisible link. It takes less than 10 seconds to do.

Hope this helps.

Using free URL shortening services is a horrible idea. If you post those links to lots of places and the service goes out of business or changes their terms, all you links could just stop working overnight!

If you are serious about affiliate marketing, you should cloak your links on a domain that you own so that you can control them (forever) by going to one place so you can recover from changes quickly.

Think about it this way. If you market web hosting offer and you publish tons of articles, hub pages, squidoo, etc with your affiliate links. Then the hosting provider affiliate program gets canceled. If you use a URL do you do control in those articles, posts, etc, then you either have to go back to all of them (and some you may not be able to modify) or you lose all that effort. If you control the links, you can simply go to one place, edit one redirect, and all those links continue working! All you really have to do is find a similar program to promote.

This gets even better. If you find a higher paying program, you can switch the links in one place and you will make more money with 30 seconds worth of work.

Bottom line, make sure your links working is NOT dependent on any external company. Although it may sound cool cause the URLs are short, and the services are free, etc, you lose control!

Wil

[dekac1]

Hi

It's not the best idea to hide affiliate link...because of the serious customer don't live to be redirect on another site...

[TimTyus]

I just sub domain it I do all mine this way its easy and fast

[dollarware]

Here is a solution for you that installs on your website.

Shorten URL's, Cloaks and Counts Hits for you. Everything together in an Admin area.

Get the 23-page pdf that has full instructions with screenshots of the entire process.

No charge, just your email address for the link.

Shortens URL's, Cloaks, & Counts Hits, All Within Your Domain

John

[Mark Zimmermann]

Originally Posted by mikeyman120

Hello,
I hide my links by using a php redirect similiar to above:

Paste this into notepad and save as index.php

<?php
header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: http://CLICKBANKID.VENDORID.hop.clickbank.net");
exit();
?>

upload it to your subdomain, which hopefully is a shorter and better looking link.

www.mydomain.com/product

Works great.

Besides if another clickbanker see a product that is a clickbank product there is a good chance they will order it through their own link. It happens. So I always make redirects.

Mike

If i use this php redirect code like shown abouve do i have to create a subdomain for every affilliate Link i make stored in notepad with "index.php" or can i do all my affilliate links in one subdomain?

THANK YOU

[Amfire]

Normally i do not hide affiliate links, even in MMO niche!!!

[dbarnum]

What works best here:

Package your own unique offer, and tell your signs up what to do in short, simple steps:

1) Sign up through my link

2) Email your confirmation to ___________(set up autoresponder or support desk area or other to handle this)

3) Get your Freebie / Bonus sent right to you


Key: interact with your clients for long term growth, don't just go for 1 time sales. Get them into a free ezine subscription to follow up with other offers when possible, while you're at it.

[JohnPark]

I prefer to use a redirect link. It's simple. It looks nice when people hover.

[um1001]

Originally Posted by charlesburke

I use a simple little php file that goes like this:

[?php
=
"http://www.somedomain.com";
header("Location: ");
exit();
?]
(naturally you change the 2 [square brackets] to <angle brackets>

Learned it from Adrian Ling maybe three or four years ago, and it's been all I've ever needed.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

Seconding this method. It's exactly what I do. Well, technically I add a small amount of link tracking to a local file too...

[?php
$url = "http://affiliateItemXURL.com"
$fileName = "affiliateItemXClicks.txt";
$fileHandler = fopen($fileName, 'w') or die(header("Location: $url"));
$fwrite($fileHandler,$_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] . date(DATE_RFC822));
header("Location: $url");
?]

Sorry if that isn't exact... doing this from memory

[KatyaSenina]

Originally Posted by InternetMarketingIQ

Here is something to think about.

Most people online have no idea what an affiliate link is... and those that know what they are ... well they will figure out a way to not use your link, so what is the point? Yes I understand your link can be lifted by malware/toolbars/etc. So maybe there is some logic in trying to protect from that.

But even browsers like IE will kill your redirected links and strip out the Affiliate Cookie if you do it wrong.

Here is a typical Amazon Link (Not an Affiliate Link) to their digital camera category:

"http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=digial+camera&x=0&y=0]"

Thats a long link... but it gets longer as you dig. And Amazon still manages to sell a lot of product.

Do you think the average websurfer is going to notice your affiliate code buried in those long links?

I'm more concerned with having links like this tinyrurl.com/525987 because to me that doesn't look legitimate compared to "http://www.amazon.com/whateverhowlongitis"..........

It's pretty much 6's... should you choose to mask, cloak, hide, redirect, or however make sure you know it isn't actually killing your affiliate cookies!

You're right... most people don't even know what affiliate marketing is, so they will never spot an affiliate link!

Also links such as tinyurl/bit.ly don't look trustable to me, so when I see a link like that I will never click on it.

I use Pretty Link. Do you know if Pretty Link kills cookies?

[kckaz]

I read somewhere that the best affiliate marketing strategy is to get permission to copy the merchant's sales page and put it on your domain as is in...

http://www.yourdomain.com/copiedsalespage

Next, Strip out all the tracking code and put in your own code (if you want), then simply add this right before </body>

<img src=”youraffiliatelink” height=”1” width=”1”>

This hard codes your affiliate link and ensures your cookie won't be dropped.

Anyone do this? Anything wrong with this?

[andrew_writes]

Hi,

First I use a tracking software such as dynatracker but you can get a free simple tracker and cloaker for free called ccount at Click counter and download counter.

I put my affiliate links into that hosted script.

In the case of many you will get a link that either creates folders or links that may look like yourdomain.com/click/?19

I then take that link and put it into a frameset html page and put that page into a folder called something simple like, go, recommends, or even 1.

Then I reference the link by its name such as yourdomain.com/go/nameofpage.html

I put all of my affiliate links like this to have more control over them as well as being able to track them, cloak them and have them look as I wish.

The example frameset page is below...

<html>

<head>

<title>Your Page Title Here</title>

</head>

<frameset rows="100%,*" border="0" frameborder="0">

<frame name="__main" src="your_affiliate_link_here" noresize frameborder="0">

</frameset>

</html>