How to Cloak an Affiliate Link - Simply Explained For The Newcomer

How to cloak affiliate links. What does this mean? Link cloaking is a process where you disguise or hide your affiliate link.

If you are an affiliate marketer, that is someone who sells or promotes other peoples products in return for a commission, you will have your own unique link. Through this link sales are tracked and commission paid to you.
So why is this necessary at all? Cloaking links can be important for a few reasons.

Affiliate Theft: This is a real problem and is on the increase. Common practices are:

1. Affiliate Link Bypassing: This is a process whereby the offender will remove the affiliate code from your link and buy the product direct. Facts show many people do not like buying from affiliate links. You may have worked hard for the sale but will not receive your commission.

2. Affiliate Link Hijacking: This is where said hijackers replace your link with their own. This practice is becoming more sophisticated now with some hackers using a type of software which hides in your browser disguised as something like a toolbar. This software basically swaps out your code and replaces it with another. This is a slick operation which you would be completely unaware of but of course you lose out.

For many cloaked links are shorter a lot more appealing and provide better security. They will increase your conversion rate and in turn lead to more sales. Some claim as much as 400%.

Raw or basic un cloaked links (generally quite long and odd looking) can make you look like an amateur. Image counts for a lot and your website needs to be promoted in a professional, business like way, setting you apart from your competitors.

If you are serious about your business learning how to cloak an affiliate link is a must. Affiliate cloaking software can be downloaded fairly easily in both paid and free versions.
You should exercise some caution when considering free versions. Some of these sites have gained bad press by being linked to malicious or adult sites for example and end up getting shut down after a short period of time. If this happens you may not find out till much later your links have gone with it. It is worth determining their reliability first and checking your links regularly.
Some membership sites also offer link cloaking software as part of their service. For me this would be the best option as it would generally come from a trusted source. My advice is investigate all your options and decide what is best for you.