How do you "HIDE" your affiliate link ?

by 146 replies
172
Hi Warriors,

I'm wondering which ways is the most people used
when promoting an affiliate..

I've read all these ways that can be found from google:
How To Hide Affiliate Links | John Chow dot Com
How To Hide All Your Affiliate Links With Only One File DerekBeau.com
Ugly Affiliate Link: I Don't Click Them

Also, I understand some of these ways:
html meta refresh
php header
using frameset
'power link generator'
... more

Question:
Which one do you used ? and why ?

Thanks

PS. Preferable in our own domain -- not in other's domain, ie. tinyurl, or similar.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #affiliate #hide #link
  • I use a simple little php file that goes like this:

    [?php
    $url =
    "http://www.somedomain.com";
    header("Location: $url");
    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
    • [5] replies
    • I use this as well...
    • Hi,

      Clickbank provides the following affiliate code

      http://ClickbankProduct.com/?hop=Myhopname

      I want to hide MyHopName so people won't steal my commission.

      How do I do that?

      Thanks.

      hal

      I'm
      • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the php tip.

      Question 1: Where on the server to do place this code?

      Question 2: will it hide my ClickBankName as in the example below?

      http://ClickbankProductName.com/?hop=ClickBankName

      Thanks.

      hal
    • I just do a simple php redirect script.. this way i can change the link very easily if required
      • [1] reply
    • 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
  • What is the reasoning behind "hiding" your affiliate link?
    • [2] replies
    • Hi Mgwolf,

      It is so that it looks natural and shorter..
      Instead of
      http://www.affiliatedomain.com/affil...tfhaslkdqwr124

      Easily can create like this:
      www.yourdomain.com/affiliateproduct
      or any other

      There might have other benefits as well..

      Hope it helps.

      Regards,
      Cornel Tanady
    • It's because some people will simply cut your affiliate ID at the end of the url (ie domain.com/signup.php?aff=john in this case cutting "john" from there means john won't get paid).

      So many mean people out there
  • 1. html meta refresh is easy to hijack so I don't recommend it
    2. php header is the best. As long as you send people to yourdomain.com/affiliateprogram (having the index being a redirect) nothing could go wrong
    2b. same goes for htaccess redirection. It's your own server, you can mess with it
    3. frameset - although it seems more and more people are using it, it's like cutting your legs and then wonder why you can't walk. Any affiliate program will have to drop a cookie on your browser but that cannot happen because of security reasons (iframe cookie-ing in 3rd party domains are not allowed .. of course, there are a few exceptions, but you need to go deeper in programming) - not recommended
    4. power link generator - what's that?

    My conclusion: I'd go for server-side redirection if it's my domain. If I only want to send traffic to a specific site and get paid, then I don't even need a domain and I can use tinyurl or any other that does the same.

    Hope this helps
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for the quick reply.. appreciate that.

      Power link generator is a "redirect" script
      by Mike Filsaime (quite some time already though).
      But still lots of people using it (i supposed).

      Cheers,
      Cornel Tanady
  • Create a php redirect using your hosting company and your primary domain name, on your C-Panel. That way it's hidden completely.
    • [1] reply
    • I simply use what others said too - use a header location statement in PHP. So if my link in pageA.php shows href to pageB.php, then all my pageB.php will have is the header locatino code, and that will take to the affiliateproduct I am selling with my vendor link embedded.

      Hope that clarifies.
      • [1] reply
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  • All you need is to open up NotePad .

    <?php
    header('Location: http://www.youaffiliatecodehere.com/');
    ?>

    Paste the above code and then save the notepad as .php extension . Link the text or image with this php file which you upload to your server.

    Hope I helped you

    G'day,
    Akky
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • I use this exact same method.

      Upload this file to your public_html folder and it will appear as Yourdomain.com/yourphpfilename.php.

      Works like a charm!

      I use it because it seems to get more clicks.
    • 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.
      • [1] reply
  • Yes, I use php redirect as well. It works well especially using the longer version as shared by Charles above. This way your affiliate ID will not be displayed as the destination url.

    Step 1: Save below code in notepad as









    Step 3: Confirm it works by going to domain.com/ProductA.php You should see the display URL in your browser without your affiliate ID.
    • [ 4 ] Thanks
    • [3] replies
    • Quick comment.

      If you're using php, many courses suggest something like:

      www.mydomain.com/go/product.php
      or
      www.mydomain.com/recommends/product.php

      which is fine.

      However, you can make the link even shorter and maybe a bit more appealing by simply using the file structure:

      www.mydomain.com/product/

      and rename the product.php file to index.php

      When you access www.mydomain.com/product/ the server auomatically looks for an index file.

      You might need to add a line to the .htaccess file to get it to pick up on index.php.

      Ian
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • Thanks, I also needed and will try the above suggestions!
      • [1] reply
    • I saw Akky & IM Biz System both gave a PHP redirect code, but they were slightly different.

      Akky's code -


      IM Biz System's Code -







      Can anyone please tell me what's the difference between the two codes?

      Thanks a lot
      • [1] reply
  • i prefer the htaccess way

    RewriteRule $recomends/thisproduct.php^ http(colon)//rediret.url/?aff=blah [R=301]

    it's one of those set and forget type of settings, also it means that your software can't play with the files or content, or override them, because the htaccess files takes effect before the request even gets to the software.
    replace (colon) with a : (vb things i'm trying to post a link lol)
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • <head>
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="2;url=http://somesite.com">
    </head>
    for html and htm documents.
    Set up a folder named "likes" or "recommends" or "loves" or something else that you think fits better with your niche. Then you can either set up new folders with index.html files in them like this:
    "somesite.com/likes/someproduct/" and it will redirect, or you can set up files named after the product name -> someproduct.html -> somesite.com/likes/someproduct.html
  • Hey Tanady,

    What I do, is just create a subdomain
    and forward it my affiliate link.

    so instead of getting www.mysite.com/myaffproduct
    I do http://myaffproduct.mysite.com

    I believe it to be way more proffesionaly looking
    and efficient.

    Igor
    • [1] reply
    • Just that you may have problems with DNSs. Yesterday I think launch tree was launched. I got a few emails (just like everybody was getting at that time) but I couldn't open course.launchtree.com. I was able to hit launchtree.com (not sure if the domain name is correct).

      So.. is it more efficient?

      • [1] reply
  • 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!
    • [1] reply
    • 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?
  • php header for those sneaky commission thiefs.
  • Why don't people simply use a redirect in their .htacess file?

    So for instance. I'm gonna say I want my affiliate link to look like
    mydomain.com/recommendedThing.html

    All I need to do is put a redirect for that url in my .htaccess file. Any time someone clicks on it they end up at the product site via my affiliate link.

    redirect 302 /recommendedThing.html http://yourAffLink.con/stuff.html

    Am I missing something, but why would people pay for a script to do this?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • 1. Using .htaccess is not a good option if you have a lot of links. It adds additional overhead to the web server because every time someone tries to reach one of your links it has to process the entire .htccess file.

      2. It is a time consuming process. If a script cuts the time in half, over time this can add up to a lot of wasted time

      3. THE BIGGEST ISSUE: It is error prone. Mess up your .htaccess with an extra character in the wrong place, an extra space, etc and ALL your links will be broken...in fact you can bring down your site like this. Why risk it?

      Wil
  • With this topic on affiliate links, I realize now there are links generated with aweber or getresponse codes being used in email marketing to their lists. Does anyone has any takes on this form of links and how can these links be generated?
  • I don't quite get this. I always thought that it's more engaging for visitors to know where they're actually being sent to when they see a link. In other words when a product link says "rover.ebay.com/long-tail" or "amazon.blabla" potential customers are more inclined to click than if it was some type of cloaked url. Even if it was the own domain. Because once the visitor clicked on that and finds out he or she actually gets send to a entirely different site then they must think the author is kind of deceptive, right? Granted, if the affiliate merchant is barely known vs ebay or amazon cloaking your links might increase conversions. But if it's a well recognized name I wouldn't do it. Mind you, I'm new at this all...I just like the fact that not cloaking is more ethical/transparent and I figure that's always more rewarding in the end. Now you can laugh at me...?
  • The thought is that cloaked links will help to stop parasite software that's been installed on people's computers from overwriting your affiliate cookie with their affiliate cookie and getting paid for the sale instead of you.
    • [2] replies
    • Don't forget there are people that are new to internet marketing afraid to click on the long and 'strange'-looking affiliate link too. In most cases, these people will consider it as virus-contained link. It happened to me more than once, when my customers contacted me and asked me if my affiliate link contains virus Since that, I always cloaking my affiliate links.

      So, hiding or cloaking or at least make your affiliate link shorter is quite important for your sales

      Oh, I'd go with php header too... thanks.
    • That's paranoid IMO and I have a hard time believing that's that the only reason why affiliates use cloaked links. But I'm eager to learn - did anyone here ever had a hijacking happen to them?
  • I'd go with a php header redirect if you're not worried about concealing your traffic sources. Simple, easy, and works 100% of the time.
  • html meta refresh - because its free and easiest to use.
    I also use the wordpress redirect plug-in for the same reasons.
    • [1] reply
    • Google does not like meta refresh and will penalize your site.

      Do some reading at Google webmaster.

      Merchants don't like it either. They want to know which site a sales came from. Meta refresh does NOT send a referral page to the merchant.

      Use a php redirect. It does send a referral page header to the merchant.

      Some merchants will not pay you if they don't know where the click came from.

      Use this:

      <?php
      header('Location:
      ?>

      If you just want to block what vistors see on a link on a mouse over - you can use a javascript link:

      <a onclick="x=window.open('http://www.YourAffiliateLink.com')" href="#">What You Want For The Link Name</a>

      The link will open a new window and on a mouse over will show the page the link is on instead of the affiliate link.
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  • Why do you think some affiliates (fatwallet, ebates, onecause, and many more - for example) have toolbars for you to install on your computer???

    Their toolbars are spyware that monitor the links you click on in your computer.

    When you click on an affiliate link the toolbar intercepts the click - removes the original affiliates ID from the link - adds their affiliate ID to the link and THEN opens the Merchant's site which sets THEIR cookie instead of yours and they get paid for the sale instead of you.

    You really do need to do some searches on Google about spyware and toolbars. toolbars overwriting affiliate cookies - Google Search
  • With Wordpress, you might find it easier to integrate a plug-in and use that to cloak your affiliate links (think MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate or GoTo Links)

    Otherwise, you might use a PHP header for a static site

    =)

    ~D.C.
  • I just wrote a tutorial on this very subject

    How to make your affiliate links pretty | Brad Gosse
  • yeah, php redirect is what i use. easy and effective
  • I use the php redirect method, but a different flavor than what others have described above.

    Here's the steps:
    1. Create a file called "redirect.php" and edit it with Notepad (or whatever text editor you use)

    2. Enter this in the file and save it:
    <?php

    $urls = array (
    'AffiliateLink1' => 'hxxp://youraffiliate1.com/id=xxxxx',
    'AffiliateLink2' => 'hxxp://youraffiliate2.com/id=xxxxx'
    );

    header('Location: ' . $urls[$_GET['go']]);

    ?>

    3. FTP the "redirect.php" file to your web server

    4. Any time you want to use an affiliate link in your website content, use this:

    <a href=redirect.php?go=AffiliateLink1>Affiliate Anchor Text</a>

    This of course can be used for image links, text links, banners, etc.

    5. Modify your "robots.txt" file and add this line underneath user-agent:

    Disallow: /redirect.php

    The reason we do this is so that search engine crawlers can't find your list of affiliates and have a reason to distrust you.

    6. The maintenance involved is modifying the "redirect.php" file every time you have a new link to add.

    7. I like this method because it nicely ties into geo redirects (ie. automatically detecting if your visitor is from Canada and sending them to Amazon.ca rather than Amazon.com)

    There's two primary reasons, in my opinion, to cloak/hide your affiliate link:
    • So search engines don't think you have a site with the sole purpose of generating affiliate revenue
    • So users don't get angry when they see your affiliate ID and either (a) not click the link or (b) manually remove the affiliate ID so you don't get a commision
    Hope that helps!
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • as the question of how to cloak link has been clearly answered, can i ask how many people have had affiliate commisions stolen and what difference it made after cloaking a link.
    • [1] reply
    • Ditto. I had already asked if anyone here ever had this type of thing happening to them and since no one repsonds to it it seems clear to me that's its rather a form of paranoia. That the hijacking technology exists is not being questioned, I never doubted that. The question is how much of a threat it really is. Oh well, I guess that's always in the eye of the beholder.
      • [5] replies
  • I use Cloak and Tracker by Jay Jennings. I must have 500+ cloaked affiliate links for 10 domains/subdomains. So easy to manage & I even get stats.
  • A simple meta refresh tag does the job, just as easy to use the php redirect, whichever takes your fancy I suppose.
  • Hi, does anyone know how to cloak a link that is a redirect, eg, from Namecheap, but without any hosting?

    In other words, if you have just a domain name (with option of redirecting to affiliate page), but don't have any hosting, what's the best way to redirect to a cloaked affiliate page?

    -WM
  • Also be aware that many affiliate programs TOS specifically forbids the use of framing technologies, and could forfeit your profits...

    Best bet is to use redirects from your server, or install software on your server that manages it for you.
  • Best way is to "hard code" it on your landing page. What happens is that when someone lands on your landing page, regardless of the link that send them there, they get cookied by just landing on your site.

    The problem with cloaking links is that Google Adwords doesn't really like cloacked links and also when the link "lands" your affiliate details wil be displayed in the url.

    Some of the new affiliate platforms have a super amazing feature of hiding affiliate URL's completely. I just started promoting a product wher you install a small script on your domain and then you just send visitors there without any affiliate URL's - great and I am sure this will be the future for affiliates.

    It's the safest way as way too many people are now reverse engineering campaigns and I think it's time to put an end to it. Even ClickBank now codes hop links to strip your ClickBank nickname out of the url.
    • [1] reply
    • But is it allowed? I mean this sounds really nice but is it cookie stuffing?
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  • Link cloaker. It's can bring you to real website.
  • php rediret its easy...
  • Hi,

    I am very new to this so please ignore my ignorance . If you use godaddy and use their masker is that any good as a cloaking device

    Herdster
    • [1] reply
    • Thats a whole different thing that uses a frame to keep your URL in the header, but actually load another site for the user to see.

      So it is basically 1 url for 1 affiliate link.

      This method can be used for semi-legibility spreading your affiliate link around the internet to places that affiliate links are traditionally not allowed.

      For example I believe that eZine allows affilaite links in the resource box if they are masked and you can then spread this link to other 2.0 creation sites as well.

      Though you should take care if dealing with CPA offers, as they don't like masking for good reason.

      Read this for more info on masking
      http://www.competespy.com/CompetePPC.pdf
      • [2] replies
  • I use a redirect...simply, fast and easy.
  • javascript redirect or .htaccess to php header redirect.
  • Well blanking the referrer isn't to difficult, you can use a double meta refresh. If you wanna get more blackhat you can spoof the referrer, some googling should give you sufficient know how on this.
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  • You could either use Proper202 or you can just use a redirect.
  • Sorry, but are all these redirects, etc, only if you have hosting? Is there anyway using Namecheap, WITHOUT hosting, to redirect to affiliate page, without having your affiliate link showing?

    -WM
    • [1] reply
  • the guy has good reason to be PARANOID cuz the fact is 40% of those thieves in the net world are making a killing off of affiliates who put blood, sweat, and tears in trying to make money online /:-( tanady by all means cloak your link & guard it for life :-)
  • Simple php redirects.
  • what about using the gocodes wp plugin
    • [1] reply
    • This plugin IS a PHP redirect; it's just wrapped up in a nice interface that you can access through the WordPress admin panel and it also stores all the URLs in the database.

      I sometimes use this because it's handy and tracks how many clicks you get on each link.

      The only times I *don't* use this is when I need to have full control over the redirect logic. I have a script that detects the visitors country based on their IP and then redirects them to different Amazon sites.

  • Yep, Charles Burke is right. A simple Php Script will do in your hosting account.
  • Hal, if that's all you want to do, I think it's best if you just use one of the many free services offered. I'd recommend one of these.

    #1 - ClickBank already has their own "hoplink shield"
    https://www.clickbank.com/hoplink_encoding.htm

    #2 - bit.ly - a free URL shortener that even tracks # of clicks
    bit.ly, a simple url shortener
    • [3] replies
    • For WordPress try the WPMarketer plugin. It has many features including internal looking links and link tracking. Best of all it's free.
    • Am I right in thinking that the ClickBank HopLink Shield only changes the URL in this manner:

      - from http: //.vendor.hop.clickbank.net?=yourID

      - to something like http: //2de14oqj69s7oq8dml2kfgirdljxff.hop.clickbank.net

      Is this what the HopLink does? If so, I'd say that the cloaked link looked infinitely more ugly than the normal link, although, this doesn't mean it's any less useful in preventing commission theft.

      Just wanted to know if I've got the right idea about the ClickBank HopLink Shield - I'd have thought/hoped it was somewhat more 'refined'.
      • [1] reply
    • Hi,

      Yes, this does encrypt the URL, BUT once I get to the Affiliate page, my Clickbank username is STILL hanging off of the URL for example,

      http://theAffiliateProduct.com/?hop=ClickbankUsername

      I DON'T want the "hop=ClickBankUsername to show up.

      How do I hide that???

      thanks.

      hal
      • [1] reply
  • I creat a subdomain name with my domain and redirects it to the affiliate link
  • All,

    PHP redirects are best for most situations, although sometimes a meta refresh or JavaScript redirect should be used.

    When you want to redirect the user to another destination (the affiliate link) in the fastest and most standard means possible, you should use a PHP redirect. This will send the redirect in the HTTP Header to the Web Browser. Nothing is loaded. There is no JavaScript requirement on the browser and the redirect attempt will never be blocked. If used with the appropriate options, a PHP redirect can be 301 or 302 redirect, thus allowing you to control the SEO value or your redirect!

    BTW, .htaccess redirects behave the same way as PHP redirects, and you can choose 302 or 301. However, I do not recommend this because it is error prone and you can mess up your entire site if you put an extra space or wrong character in the file. It is also not scalable, the larger the .htaccess file, the higher the impact on your web server's performance.

    A Meta Refresh redirect requires a page to be loaded and interpreted by the browser. It can be used when you want to display something to the user before actually redirecting them...such as a message that you are going to redirect them. Have you ever seen those messages saying: "If you are not redirected in X seconds, click this link?" This type of redirect can be blocked by the browser. It also does not allow you to control the SEO value of the link.

    A JavaScript redirect works much in the same way as the a Meta Refresh. It requires the browser to load the page with the JavaScript code on it and process the JavaScript code to redirect the user. This type of redirect can be blocked by the browser. It also does not allow you to control the SEO value of the link.

    Hope this helps clarify your options.

    Wil
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • GREAT answer - but a couple questions:
      - can you explain 'allow you to control the SEO value of your link'
      - how could you incorporate some type of tracking/counting of your links with the php redirect?

      Thanks
      Jack

  • @zedbiz

    301 Reirects pass PageRank to the destination page...that's what I meant by controlling SEO value. 302 redirects, Meta Refresh, and JavaScript redirects do NOT pass PageRank.

    As far as click counting, it can be done in different ways. You can always use a web server log analyzer and see how many hits there were for the redirect URL. That is NOT the easiest, or best way to do it. It would be better to implement a little more PHP code (instead of just the redirect) to keep a click count for you, but this is cumbersome also.

    The best way is to have a tool that handles the redirect management for you and allows you to manage the type of redirect (301 & 302) as well as doing the click counting.

    I am sending you a PM with a link to a free webinar I am hosting on Sunday to cover this topic in great detail.

    Wil
    • [1] reply
    • So is the php redirect use the 301 redirect - or can you decide - if so how?

      So give me the name of the tool . .. please . .

      Looking forward to it - hopefully I will be free.

      Thanks
      Jack
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  • @nicheGoober - it is important to know what type of redirect the plugin is creating (301 or 302) if you are linking to sites that you want to help rank in the search engines (ie. your own sites or web 2.0 properties).

    Wil
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  • @joeman - lots of different ways of doing this. for example, a PHP script could redirect AND to the click counting for you.
  • There's a WordPress plugin called LinkEngine (wplinkengine.com iirc) that does this for you if you use WordPress.
  • Free video at http://LinkCloakingExplained.com covers the most popular ways to cloak a link.

    Someone else mentioned cloaking *and* tracking, which is what my Cloak And Tracker software does (creative name, don't you think?). While a simple PHP redirect will work fine, I like the added features a more comprehensive script will give you.

    For example...

    This link: http://jayjennings.com/likes/cloakandtracker

    ...will send you to the CaT sales page.

    This link: http://jayjennings.com/likes/cloakandtracker/wf

    ...will send you to the same place but when I look at my stats I'll know the cloaked link was used in the Warrior Forum. I could use the same link, but tack on a different "tracking token" like this:

    http://jayjennings.com/likes/cloakandtracker/blog

    ...and I'll be able to see how many clicks came from the link on my blog, versus the link on the WF. And tracking tokens can be added on the fly -- they don't have to be set up ahead of time in the script.

    Not to turn this into a pitch, but CaT (and big brother Sonic Sneak) can also disguise the link even more, for example...

    http://jayjennings.com/likes/cloakandtracker.html

    ...is the same link, but looks like an actual web page because of the .html suffix.

    So while the PHP redirect code shown here will cloak and redirect your link perfectly, there are some good reasons to use an actual software program to do the job.

    There are good options out there besides CaT and Sneak -- find the one that's best for you and start using it for your links.

    Jay Jennings
  • Click bank have recently introduced an automated feature for cloaking your links.
    • [1] reply
    • All they do is hide the affiliate name and the vendor name on the redirect link. However, when you arrive at the destination, the usual ?hop=affiliate still shows up!

      Wil
  • Jay - what method does cloak and tracker use to re-direct?
    php - - htaccess or ??
    • [1] reply
    • At the core of the script is a PHP header().

      Jay Jennings
      • [1] reply
  • Just a side note...cloaking your link is not only good just to shorten it...it's also great considering some networks get their link sent through spam filters 100M times before lunch every day. After a while, 80% of your mail could be caught in spam filters due to the domain in the URL...

    We usually request all of our affiliates to mask...great thread!
    • [1] reply
    • Absolutely! There are MANY reasons to cloak and this is definitely one of them. In fact, it is important to NOT use free shortening services because many corporate firewalls/proxy server block access to these.

      Wil
  • why would like to hide affiliate link?
    • [1] reply
  • The various wordpress plugins that redirect - do any of them allow you to use them on multiple blogs.

    Otherwise if you have more than one blog, it means logging in to different ones for different links.

    Nice to have it all organized in one place.

    And can it be tied / connected to Google Analytics somehow? Will a php redirect show up in google analytics report?
    • [1] reply
    • 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
  • 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.
    • [1] reply
    • 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
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  • yes - looking forward to the free webinar - but also want to learn before so can ask you intelligent questions on the webinar

    Thanks Wil
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    • [2] replies
    • Read the posts above. Using free URL shortening services is a bad idea for many reasons!

      Wil
    • 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.
  • 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
  • I have tried every suggestion on this page and none of them worked.
  • If you use Wordpress, this plugin will do the trick easily:

    ø Link Cloaking Plugin for WordPress | W-Shadow.com ø
  • urlfreeze.com hides your affiliate links for free, plus gives you statistics.
    • [1] reply
    • It is a really bad idea to use FREE URL shortening/cloaking services!

      Wil
  • 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.
  • I use a php redirect.
    It's simple and I can add hundreds of links to it.
  • 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/.
    • [1] reply
    • 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!
      • [1] reply
  • Whats the Benefits of hiding your link?

    Yahoo PPC & ClickBank?
    • [1] reply
    • 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
      • [1] reply
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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
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  • redirect. I like the "MySite.com/JoeRecommends/Widget/" format best for the mouseover URL.
  • I just sub domain it I do all mine this way its easy and fast
  • 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
  • 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.
  • I prefer to use a redirect link. It's simple. It looks nice when people hover.
  • 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?
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