The last 3 days have been super hectic around the office, so I have not had much time to write. My business partner Mark has been on a 2 week vacation and will be back to work on Monday, and in his absence I have had to do everything around here, so I am a little behind. Plus, my kids just got out of school Tuesday for summer break. So today is going to be one of the first of what I am calling “Quick Tips”. It will just be a quick tip on how to do something specific. I am thinking about making this a once a week type post, but we will see how it goes over.
Today I am just going to show you a quick way to “Cloak” your affiliate links. There are a many reasons to do this, but probably the best reason is it helps keep people from hijacking your affiliate links and stealing your commissions.
There are lots of different ways and services out there with which you can cloak your URLs. Simply do a Google search for “URL Redirection Services” and you will see lots of different options.
For this post I am just going to show you a really simple PHP script that you can create in seconds and works great for a simple redirection.
Here is what we use on a lot of our sites. Now this only works if your server is running PHP. Again, there are probably lots of ways to do the same thing, but this is what we have always used.
1) Open up a text editor like Notepad and paste the following code onto your page:
—————————————————————-
<?php
$URL=”http://www.PUT_AFFILTIATE_URL_HERE.com“;
header (“Location: $URL”);
?>
—————————————————————-
2) Change http://www.PUT_AFFILTIATE_URL_HERE.com to whatever your actual affiliate link is.
3) You have 2 different options on how to save it and I prefer the 2nd method (which takes an extra step or two), but both work fine.
- Give the file a name and end it with .php extension. For example is you were promoting an affiliate program for guitar lessons, you might want to call it “guitar-lessons.php”. Then you just upload the file to your server and you are done. Then whenever you are promoting that guitar course you would use the address www.YOUR-WEBSITE-URL.COM/guitar-lessons.php.
- With this one, you are going to need to create a “folder” with whatever title you like. For the guitar lessons example, you will probably want to call the folder something like “guitar-lessons”. Next you want to save the file you created above as “index.php” and save it in the “guitar-lessons” folder. Then you just need to upload the entire folder to your server and you are done. Then whenever you are promoting that guitar course you would use the address www.YOUR-WEBSITE-URL.COM/guitar-lessons. Another option you see nowadays using this method is; create a main folder entitled “recommends” (or whatever you like) and they upload all the affiliate folders into that file, which also helps organize the folders on your server. Then whenever you are promoting that guitar course you would use the address www.YOUR-WEBSITE-URL.COM/recommends/guitar-lessons.
So let me show you step-by-step real live example. I will create a redirection URL for an affiliate link to Jamorama.com, which is one of Clickbank’s top selling merchants for Guitar Lessons.
Step 1) I pasted the following into a blank Notepad document:
—————————————————————-
<?php
$URL=”http://www.PUT_AFFILTIATE_URL_HERE.com”;
header (“Location: $URL”);
?>
—————————————————————-
Step 2) I changed http://www.PUT_AFFILTIATE_URL_HERE.com to my actual affiliate link:
—————————————————————-
<?php
$URL=”http://mrdomains.jamorama.hop.clickbank.net”;
header (“Location: $URL”);
?>
—————————————————————-
Step 3) I created a main folder called “recommends” and then a sub-folder called “guitar-lessons” and I saved the file as index.php in that folder.
Step 4) I uploaded the folder “recommends” with everything in it to MakingMoneyOnline.com and I was done.
Step 5) Now, whenever I want to promote Jamorama, I just point people to: http://www.makingmoneyonline.com/recommends/guitar-lessons and it takes them right to Jamorama via my affiliate link. Give it a click and see it works.
After you have done this once, from then on all you need to do is create the file and affiliate folder and upload them into the “recommends” folder and you are done, which literally can be done in less than one minute.
This method also REALLY WORKS GREAT when you create eBooks and eCourses, or even offline affiliate marketing. I have even used this method on business cards.
It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Sending traffic direcly to your...
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Mike CJ on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 2:10 pm
Thanks for this Doug, it’s one of those things I’ve been meaning to research and work out, so you’ve saved me the time.
Doug Dillard on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 2:20 pm
Glad to help. I have noticed a lot of people don’t cloak their URL’s in any way and I know they are definitely losing potential affiliate commissions.
Tycoon Blogger on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 6:49 pm
Very helpful tutorial and I will definitely be referring back to this. I have not been cloaking my affiliate links, but i guess I should be. It is a great idea to use on business cards, like you say.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 1:51 am
Thanks Dan… glad you liked it!
bbrian017 on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 8:57 pm
Great tutorial Doug,
I had a discussion in my blog forum this week regarding masking links!
http://www.blogengage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=605
Surprisingly the majority of people don’t like it and won’t follow a link they can’t see.
If I was to do it it’s nice to know you have provided us with this excellent know how!
I’ll mention your article in the post right now!
Doug Dillard on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 1:49 am
Hey Brian, you got a good little discussion over there. For me, and I have doing this a long time… I have a much better conversion rate with links cloaked than when they are not. Sure, there are some people out there that don’t like cloaking, but in general, most people do not even know what it is. There is definitely nothing unethical about it… you are really just creating a better looking URL and if you make a referral because someone clicked on your link… you deserve to make the commission, because it is a referral fee and that is what it is designed for..
And if you are creating an ebook or even an audio, where you are recommending an affiliate product… you are guaranteed never to earn a penny if you use the actual affiliate link URL.
Sorry for going on and on… but you get the point. Thanks for sharing the link with the forum
bbrian017 on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 7:53 am
I’m on the same boat as you here! You should voice your opinion! See I swear without a mask people just type the url in!
I never masked my url’s yet but I’m going to 100% I just need to take the time and to do it
Toan Nguyen Minh on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 3:21 am
Your post is really interesting and usefull. Thanks for sharing!
Doug Dillard on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 12:42 pm
You are welcome Toan. Thanks for stopping by.
Lee Ka Hoong on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 8:14 am
This is a cool way to hide our affiliate link, this increases the click through rate of the affiliate link as many people don’t click on the link that shows exactly the affiliate link such as “referral=abc” or something like this. I’ve actually done this in my blog when I insert an affiliate link in my blog post.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this again!
Regards,
Lee
Doug Dillard on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 10:06 am
Glad you liked the post Lee.
The Gooroo @ Finance Advisory Stop on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 9:38 am
Doug,
I’ve been wondering how to do this recently. Thanks for sharing this — you saved me from having to crawl through Google looking for my answer.
Doug Dillard on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 10:04 am
You are very welcome. I am glad it is useful for you
Sire on Sat, 25th Jul 2009 5:03 pm
Thanks Doug, I didn’t know it could be so easy, and I love the way you can organize all the links into different folders. I’ve tweeted the post which is a great way for me to find this article again.
Doug Dillard on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 9:01 am
Yes… it is very simple. Thanks for the tweet
Benjamin Cip on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 12:56 am
Well, I didn’t know about this. I might do it for my affiliate links.
Bob Jones on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 2:14 am
Works like a charm, but I’ve found a better way to do this. Simply iFrame an entire affiliate website with your own URL. I’ve written an example post about it here if you’re interested:
http://bobjones.nl/sneaky-affiliate-promotion-tricks/
Doug Dillard on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 9:07 am
Hi Bob… thanks for stopping by and leaving this useful comment. Yes, you can definitely use iFrames as well. There are lots of different ways to accomplish cloaking affiliate links for sure.
TechZoomIn on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 7:29 am
Great method but i feel it need some coding knowledge to play with it.. I do remember some plugin, which can do that cloaking of affiliate links..
Great way you shared dude..!
Doug Dillard on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 9:05 am
There are lots of plugins and other methods, or scripts you can use. This is just one easy way that we use. You definitely do not need any coding knowledge. Just give it a try by following the steps above and see how it easy it is.
Extreme John on Mon, 27th Jul 2009 3:54 pm
I don’t have a reason really to cloak any of my current links or anything like that, but I am still going to save the link as one of my “You never know” links.
Doug I feel your pain with being the only one to handle everything at the office, Nate just had a baby and has been out for a little over a week. Im more than ready for him to come back!!
Jared | The Money Cult on Thu, 30th Jul 2009 5:57 pm
Hey checkout gocodes free wordpress plugin I just started using it a couple weeks ago and it does the same thing but no code. Install the plug in will track click to the link also. you just past the affiliate url in it. your name for it and it appends to your domain. click the box if youwant tracking and you done.
Highly recommend.
Doug Dillard on Thu, 30th Jul 2009 6:00 pm
Thanks Jared… I will definitely check it out!
Typhoon on Mon, 3rd Aug 2009 4:41 am
If you run just a simple affiliate website then you try this method but if are using wordpress platform then you must give a try to this plugin called “Max Blog Press Ninja Affiliate” . It’s really a superb thing.
Trey - Swollen Thumb Entertainment on Mon, 3rd Aug 2009 3:45 pm
I haven’t reached the level of affiliate links yet, because I have a lot of content that I want to post, and that’s where I spend a lot of my time. However, I like the idea of cloaking your affiliate links, or any other link that you want to keep secret. Personally, I want to sell music instrumentals in the near future, and being able to cloak my links will be a major help to me, so I will definitely try this technique when the time comes. As for the subject of alienating readers by not showing the link, I’m not concerned about that. Those type of “smart” readers will probably find something else to be annoyed about anyway.
Rusty on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 3:08 pm
Absolutely great little tutorial.
But now that you’ve shown us how to do it this way… what I’d really like to know is this… is there a “good”, “better”, and “best” way to cloak your affiliate links, especially if you’re just now starting a brand new wordpress site?
Like you said, there are many ways to accomplish this, and several plugins have been mentioned here, but is there a “best” way to do it?
Thanks…Rusty
Rusty´s last blog ..Jun 8, Internet Home Business Basics – Learn how to do business online
Doug Dillard on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 3:33 pm
If you don’t mind spending $97 I would recommend Ninja Affiliate from Max Blog Press. They probably offer one of the best affiliate cloaking and tracking plugins out there… plus it does much more than that.
Doug Dillard on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 3:35 pm
Oh yeah… Thanks for stopping by Rusty and leaving a great comment! Hope we see you again