You may have heard all the hype over affiliate links getting stolen and losing up to 40% of affiliate commission. All these attempts prey on people to instill in their minds that they may not be getting what they deserve. I know that commission stealing is a problem, and affiliate networks like Clickbank have taken steps to plug the leaks in their systems. I use cloaked affiliate links or redirect pages a lot not because I’m afraid of having commission deliberately stolen from right under my nose, but because I’m annoyed at the length and ugliness of affiliate URL’s.

The whole idea of cloaking or redirecting has much to do with people’s nature. To be more specific, it’s all about psychology. It’s interesting that people are hesitant to click affiliate links and tend to cut off the ugly looking part in an affiliate link before pasting it to the browser. Now Let’s compare the following two links:

http://www.make-you-rich.com/copy.asp?storefront=weishengwu

And

http://www.make-you-rich.com

Which one looks more clickable? The answer is pretty clear.

You can replace long URL’s with cloaked links or short, server-side redirects so that people won’t feel pitched and won’t be turned off by links that are obviously affiliate links. There are several ways to create clean links that you can use to direct buyers to your sales pages. Read through the description below and see which one meets your needs and fall within your skill level.

1. Directory Redirect

Connect to your web server and create a properly named directory. Then create an index.html and put a redirect code in it.

2. Sub-domain Redirect

Most web hosting providers allow you to have several sub-domains. Simply log on to the control panel, set up your sub-domain and then set up the redirection.

3. Redirect Script

Several scripts are available out there that you can install on your web page to protect and redirect your links. You may need to put the code between the head section. Read the rest of this entry »