Do you hide your affiliate links?

Hi,

Affliliation links are not clicked easily so what do you do to get some clicks on your affiliate links?
Do you use any URL SHORTENING service like tinyurl.com or some other?
For me, Yes I hide my affiliate links and you?

 

I don't. The only time when I do anything remotely close to cloaking affiliate links if when I send the traffic though a click-tracking script before passing them on the actual site.

To me, if a link gets cloaked then something fishy is going on and I'm probably going to leave the site right away and delete my cookies.

 

Tricking people into clicking is never a good way to get quality clicks. It can also damage your brand's reputation.

 

I don't hide them.
But I really hate those people who delete cookies after they click the aff. link.
They get help and but help the aff. => sick/greedy people.

But if the aff link is hidden, it may have several reasons.

Also I agree that tricking them to click is worthless... Good aff do not need to trick anyone

 

I've never had to hide my affiliate URLs. Heck, I don't even hide being an affiliate marketer. If I provide you with a service that you want or need, what's the harm in letting me have a little bonus?

 

It depends on the niche and the product. Normally I don't hide them, but for clickbank products I will always use a redirect from my own website.

 

I hide my links all the time after hearing years ago about affilite commission stealing, I hate using tinyurl and have voted to use the best method for me which was redirection from my website using php code.

 

i don't hide it.
I like to be more transparent

 

I'll jump on the bandwagon here. Hiding link is a bad idea IMHO. People will usually figure it out. Much better to be honest and upfront about it.

 

I use:

<?php
header("Location: http://your-affiliate-link.com/");
exit;
?>

It's a simple redirect script that allow you to shorten your affiliate links by linking to the php script instead of the affiliate link it self.

Note: I you post an affiliate link in a forum you should tell every one that it is an affiliate link; you will get a better response.

 

I don't, because I want my site to be viewed as honest. It's not worth just to get a few sales. I link each item that I'm marketing in each article.

 

I think if someone is checking to see if a link is an affiliate link and they see a tinyurl link or even your own php link page they know you're most likely using an affiliate link anyway.

Explaining that it's an affiliate link and that them using it is a good thing is a better way to go. Perhaps say that if they use your link you'll give them a bonus.

 

exactly what i was going to suggest

 

Stop Marketing Thieves By Cloaking Your Links


Hide Your Affiliate ID So It's Not Replaced By The Person You Are Offering The Product


They won't click on it. And if they do, they won't buy from you.

People hate to be sold! When they see it is an affiliate link, they hate to know you will make money if they buy. It is crazy, but it is true. They want to remove your id so no one gets paid.

And you wonder why you are not making sales??


powerlinkgenerator.com/index1.htm

 

I use the php redirect but with a 301 header too. and when people click the links, they know it's an aff link, but this way I can keep track of the clicks myself, plus have a more comfortable looking link in the browser window on the hover.

 

You can use this FREE Affiliate link cloaker to hide your URL.
http://www.aruntheace.com/forums/freebies-f16/gc-affiliate-link-cloaker-t68.html

This hides URL as yoururl.com/aff

 

Why many peoples here say affiliate link cloaking/hiding is unethical thing? Hiding link is totally different from "cookie stuffing" thing. Most of internet marketer do hide their affiliate link to protect themselves from commission hijacking, or track their keyword/referrer. How this thing has become unethical/trickery?

 

True, I agree with you. But the problem is, when people see you're making money off something they're going to immediately question your advice.

We ordinarily use a simple redirect. so if you'd send traffic to a Sony Plasma tv offer, make the redirect look like this: http://www.yoursite.com/more/tv/sonyx.php something like that, looks a lot better to the user anyway.