Affiliate Link Cloaking - Why Should You Use It?

Have you heard people talking about Affiliate Link Cloaking? Perhaps you've been wondering how it works and if it's something you should be using on your website?

There are a couple practical reasons why you may want to cloak your affiliate links,

Affiliate links can be hijacked - this is when someone, usually another affiliate, uses their own affiliate link to purchase the product you're promoting. They can copy your affiliate URL and then plug in their own affiliate id, effectively stealing your commission.

Affiliate links can be bypassed - this is when someone simply goes directly to the merchant's main sales site by removing your affiliate link. People may do this because they don't want you to get any commission for the product they're purchasing.

There are also various cosmetic reasons why you may want to cloak your affiliate links, the most useful being affiliate link condensing. Some affiliate links are long and ugly, which makes them appear unattractive and some people may avoid clicking the link. Affiliate links like this are easily recognizable by many people, which may cause them to avoid clicking the link because they feel it's a sales pitch. Plus, an affiliate link that stand out opens the door for affiliate link hijacking and bypassing.

How Do I Cloak My Affiliate Links?

The easiest way to cloak your affiliate links is to create a framed page. This is explained in detail at No-Nonsense-Marketing.com – Affiliate Link Cloaking.

If you do not have your own website to host a cloaked page, you may want to consider a link cloaking service such as TinyURL.com. Link cloaking services take a URL and generate a redirect for them using a shortened URL such as http://tinyurl.com/merchantsite. However, if you decide to use a link cloaking service, be aware that some pay-per-click programs and ad sites don't allow the use of redirected URLs.

Once you've learned how to cloak your links, you may ask yourself if this technique is appropriate for your website. Cloaking your affiliate links can be a useful technique to secure your commissions, but it is a little misleading to your visitors. You will ultimately need to decide if affiliate link cloaking is right for your business.