There is much confusion about link cloaking. The term by itself appears suspicious, like it’s a black hat procedure of marketing or ways to hide your identity. The reality is, it is nothing like that. What it’s is something that any affiliate marketer should know and use, for a variety of reasons.
If you have an affiliate connection, you install widgets or code to your affiliate advertisements. That way, when people click the link, they are redirected to the affiliate site. Your information are embedded in the link, so, in principle at least, you should always get the commission on the sale. If your link is not cloaked, on the other hand, several things can go incorrect.
The very clients who should appreciate your information about a service or product from time to time reckon they are being smart by getting rid of your affiliate ID from the link. They incorrectly reckon they will get a far better deal that way. They will not. All they will be doing is denying you your well-earned commission.
Next, superior hackers can utilize the information on your link to steal your commissions. The commission gets paid, but not to you. Although hackers are typically trolling for high traffic affiliate websites and typically are savvy enough to steal just a percentage of sales, even small enterprises are at risk.
What link cloaking does is substitute your affiliate link with another each of your choice. When an individual clicks on your link, they are continue to redirected to your affiliate link, but it is hidden from the view of the person who clicks the link. This does a number of things for you.
The very first thing that happens is that there are no longer an affiliate ID for your unscrupulous customer to eliminate. Really, that rarely happens, but why risk it? Moreover, lots of possible customers get dubious when they see those odd looking links. They will make you look terrible to them. Your cloaked link provides you authority and legitimacy to them. You deserve your excellent reputation, filter systems do all in your power to maintain it?
The main thing you have done is guard yourself from hackers. They have nowhere to start if they don’t have your affiliate i . d .. In effect, you have hijacked the hackers!
As you can see, link cloaking has nothing to do with questionable black hat marketing techniques. On the contrary, this is a legitimate tool you should use to guard yourself and improve your online credibility. If you do not cloak your links, in fact, it makes you look amateurish in the eyes of both your customers and the companies you are affiliated with.
Many entrepreneurs take it one step further and produce an iframe page online. It is a page that appears precisely like the page that the customer will be directed to when they click on the link. In the eyes of the customer, this assures them you have a direct and legitimate connection with the company.
If there is any doubt left in your mind, simply question the company with which you are affiliated. They will always appreciate because you respect their policies, even if they say they don’t allow it. Typically, though, they will encourage you for this.