Is it Important to cloak Affiliate URLs?
This is a question that has been on the ask list for quite some time. I’ve been debating on how to answer it, because it’s not a simple answer. I’ve looked at the different types of cloaking scripts and they all don’t work the same. So the question is, what are the reasons for cloaking, and do they matter to you.
#1 Some people don’t like affiliate links, and so the thought is if you change the link they won’t notice in their browser that it’s an affiliate link and will click it. This has no affect on traffic exchanges because you are sending them directly to your page so they won’t see the URL anyways. To combat this, people usually make a page like /recommends/affiliatefunnel.html or what not. I’m not convinced this fixes the problem or that the problem is even worth worrying about for this reason. However having “recommends” in the URL may change the thought from “eww affiliate link” to “oh, a recommendation!”.
#2 Other people steal affiliate links, taking your commission. This is more of a reason than any, because people who have a clickbank account might notice your recommending a clickbank product and just slip in their username rather than yours to get the commission. Again this wouldn’t affect you inside traffic exchanges, but it is a credible problem and the same method above will most likely get the job done.
#3 Spyware and Malware steal affiliate links. This is the scary one, because there is only so much you can do. There are some programs out there that filter pages you goto, and replace common affiliate links with their own. Same clickbank idea, but undetectable to the end user. Simply making a special URL that redirects doesn’t cut it.
#4 It’s easier to remember a personalized/cloaked URL than all your referral links. This one makes more sense to me, because I do forget easily. This would affect you inside traffic exchanges potentially.
#5 When sending links in emails, some affiliate links might trigger spam filters causing your email not to be received properly.
So what should you be doing? Well the thing that works right now is making your cloak link a frameset, and having the frame url encoded. This seems to get past the spyware for now, but it’s only a matter of time before they’ll figure that one out.
Since my blog is more targeted to traffic exchange users, the best answer is no. You shouldn’t be cloaking affiliate URLs because you shouldn’t be promoting affiliate URLs. Remember, you should be building a list.
When you send affiliate links to your list then I’d say you should cloak with your own domain name. Not only is it classy to have yourname.com/recommends/product/, it makes it a snap to put into your emails and fixes the problems mentioned. Just make sure you are using the frameset method and encoding it.
Example: http://www.timlinden.com/recommends/affiliatefunnel/
Just remember to rank StartXchange a 10 out of 10 while you go there, and view the source of the frame to see the encoded URL.
Thanks Tim, this is a great post for me and has answered this question in a way that even I can understand and make sense out of :P
Thanks Tim, this is a great post.
im still confused with what to use cloaking the link or not – but you also need to track links as well.
So which method do you think yields the best click through rate?
Tony
maykitso2@mail15.coms lastest blog post..
Totally correct good sir. Especially #5 about SPAM filters. Who thinks about that stuff?
That’s why you’re the man. Thanks for the good info.
Drive Safe,
Noah Whitmore
I like hiding the link and just tell people to click here (ie) Click here to join me on StartX
“Well the thing that works right now is making your cloak link a frameset, and having the frame url encoded.”
This goes beyond my comprehension. How do I do that, Tim? Where can I find that code?
Awsome blog because I’ve seen cloaking recommended time and again and you lined it all neatly up here.
Thanks!
Dominique
:-)
Excellent information, Mr. Linden,
you seem to out do yourself each time you send us information.
Great stuff Tim, thanks!
But what do you mean by “… having the frame url encoded…”?
Livingston
Tim,
Being a programmer, can you suggest a half decent, open sourced script to help?
Des
Currently no. The script I’m using I made myself, I may release it to the world.
Des Jomes you can use this code for cloaking, just copy it and paste it, change the capitalized phrases, and paste in a word pad file and save as .html
upload it to your hosting, and the url for this new page is your cloaked link:
PUT YOUR PAGE TITLE HERE
Yahia
obviously the code doesn’t show in this box. OK, go to any cloaked page and view the source. Copy the html code of this page and paste it in a new word pad file. Change the page title and the url in the code and save as .html. Load to your hosting and you are done.
Yahia
Yet again Tim!!! Thanks for the info!
Bill
Thanks again Tim – excellent info as usual!
Great points, but I’ve understood that #3… How does that happen? How does making a new sort of link help sort the problem…
Since you mention it, I have been curious about how I set my own domain up as a tracker. So, how do I say http://traviskmillward.com/likes/stx?
Travis Millwards lastest blog post..Affiliate Funnel – The Best Just Got Better
Hey Tim,
It is real easy to get robbed,
even with a tracking cookie attached.
Soon this will no longer be a problem.
Timothy Millar
Timothy Millars lastest blog post..JV Source
I don’t use cloaking links on Traffic Exchanges, but I do on my website and in email marketing. I have been using Covert Links for quite some time, I really like it. It offers some great tracking info also. I know people replace affiliate links so we do get robbed of commissions. Always a good idea to TRY to protect yourself when you can!
Mariannes lastest blog post..Marketing On Social Sites
I’ve got a question. Can simply URL Freeze do the whole job of leaving my affiliate urls of being tampered with?
Thank you!
:-)
Great post Tim, I suggest you release your script… if it’s anywhere close to the one I tested a while ago, it’s really awesome and all your readers/list will love it.
Jens P. Bergets lastest blog post..Time Management When You Have Kids
With so many traffic exchange members using Firefox and the Noscript extension, you should not be using javascript for anything mission critical, like displaying the site and the signup process. Javascript cloakers or javascript redirects in traffic exchanges are a definate no-no and completely unnecessary.