There are many ways and reasons to cloak and redirect your affiliate links.
I am only going to cover the four most common ways to cloak/redirect your affiliate links.
The reason we use methods to cloak our affiliate links is to
1. not have visible affiliate links on our pages
2. prevent visitors from bypassing the affiliate link and going to the main domain they see.
3. maintain control of our links
4. Have the ability to change one file and not worry about off site links being broken and losing money.
5. cleaner tracking to determine the effectiveness of our campaigns.
Open Notepad if you are a windows user or use TextWrangler if you are a mac user
DO NOT use Word or Word Pad to create these pages, it will add additional characters and the scripts will not work.
The first way is a Meta Refresh:
Open Notepad. Paste the code below and edit the URL to be your affiliate link.
Save the file as productname.html – Upload it to your website and test the link. It should immediately
go to the your affiliate url.
Check to see a click was registered.
<html><body><META HTTP-EQUIV=”Refresh” CONTENT=”0;URL=YOURAFFILIATELINKGOESHERE”></body></html>
The second way is is a PHP redirect:
Open Notepad. Paste the code below and edit the URL to be your affiliate link.
Save the file as productname.php -Upload it to your website and test the link. It should immidately
go to the your affiliate url.
Check to see a click was registered.
<?php
header(“Location: http://www.YOURLINK”); /* Redirect browser */
/* Make sure that code below does not get executed when we redirect. */
exit;
?>
A third way is a java script redirect. The drawback is anyone with Java turned off will not be redirected.
Open Notepad. Paste the code below and edit the URL to be your affiliate link.
Save the file as productname.html – Upload it to your website and test the link. It should immidately
go to the your affiliate url.
Check to see a click was registered.
<html><head><SCRIPT language=”JavaScript”> window.location=”http://www.YOURDOMAIN HERE.com”;</SCRIPT></head><body</body></html>
The fourth way to execute a redirect is a 301 redirect using your Cpanel of domain redirect controls
provided by your Hosting or domain registrar company.One of the ways I prefer doing this is using sub
domains so instead of WWW.yourdomain.com you would create a subdomain of Product.yourdomain.com .
Subdomains are considered top level domains by the search engines and you would not incur a penalty
for affiliate links using this method.You will have to check with your individual host to get specific
instructions for creating a subdomain and redirecting it to a specific URL.
GoTryThis.com is a service that provides link redirects, URL shortening and tracking specifically for marketers. It is designed to protect and track your links. Their fees are monthly and charge $14.95 a month for up to 50,000 clicks per month.
MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate-WordPress Plugin that literally turns content into keyword money generators: It can convert any keyword in your blog posts/comments into affiliate link. It’s also a full fledged affiliate link tracking and management system.
Pretty Links – wordpress plugin free and paid versions available. Creates redirects on your own site and tracks clicks including