Cloaking Affiliate Links

It's another Tools of the Trade Tuesday. Today we will take a look at an issue that keeps surfacing with affiliate marketers, especially beginners. And that is about cloaking affiliate links, is it necessary? And of course we’ll also take a look at ways of doing it with some cautions to take note of as well. After all, as an affiliate, we do want to get proper credit for the efforts we put into this.

Link Jacking

One of the big (unfounded) concerns of affiliates is an online phenomenon called link jacking. Link jacking can be a real problem and when it happens to you, you’ll miss out on commissions that should have gone to you. So the idea behind ‘cloaking’ your links is it helps to deter affiliate link hijackers from ‘stealing’ those links when they attempt to change them over from your links to their links. But even link cloaking doesn’t always work to protect your links. Clickbank offers scrambled (encoded) affiliate links to supposedly make it more difficult for hijackers to change. Instead of where your-id can be replaced with their-id, the encoded version looks something like, . As you can see, there is no affiliate or vendor id showing. But, all the person has to do is visit the link, and then clear the cookies from his/her browser, and replace it with their own affiliate link. Does it happen? Unfortunately, yes. However, the problem comes down to this… if people want to steal from you – they will find a way! I know, it sucks, but that is the way it is. The good news is that many of the people who run affiliate programs don’t like to be ripped off either, so places like Clickbank put security measures in place so that these sleazeballs lose their accounts, and their commissions as well.

Other Reasons

There are a couple of good reasons for cloaking your links, that are based on truth, not made up hype to scare you into buying link cloaking software out of fear. These are valid reasons for cloaking your links, and can be a big contributing factor to the success of your marketing efforts. The bigger (and real) issue comes down to this fact; People like to buy stuff… But they hate being sold to! Why? It’s just one of those intriguing things about human nature. Something known is that the single most universal reason that stops people from clicking on an affiliate link is because of what it looks like – an affiliate link. It might not even be a conscious decision on their part, but the way in which you structure your link has a huge psychological impact on the way they will react to clicking the link, and for preparing themselves to buy the product you are promoting.

Affiliate link psychology

Let me ask you a question; as a potential customer, what comes to mind when you see a link like this: httx://someproduct.com/php?affiliate=235NEWZ1? To many, that link is a major turn off and it will kill your conversion rate! Unfortunately, many affiliate links are cold, harsh, and basically scream, “GIVE ME YOUR MONEY”. Your concern shouldn’t be focused on commission thieves changing your affiliate ID. It should be centered on the large amount of people that will most likely dismiss your message outright, because it’s so blatantly obvious that you are trying to sell them something. Remember, people like to buy stuff… but they hate being sold to. A properly cloaked link will not be as harsh and look more enticing when it looks something like this: httx://yourwebsite.com/recommends/your-offer. Surprisingly, this alone can increase your click through rates (number of people who will click on your cloaked link).

Deception

But now come the next issue about cloaked affiliate links, they cannot be deceptive, especially if you do business with or you are from the US… the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has strict laws about ‘hiding’ affiliate links. Whenever there are ‘promotional’ links that you will benefit from (i.e. make money), then you must disclose that fact. The way most affiliates address this issue is by placing a disclaimer (notice) at the end of their emails, posts, or webpages, that notify the visitor that the links are affiliate (or promotional) links and you will earn a commission if the visitor purchases something through the link. This is required whether cloaked or not.

Affiliate program rules

Another caution to be aware of as an affiliate is that some affiliate programs do not allow affiliate link cloaking and could get you banned from the program! Just be aware of the terms and conditions regarding any program or product you promote. Lastly, in my opinion, not all affiliate links need cloaked, especially for privately held programs (those that are strictly run by the vendor of the program). The reason behind this is that competition isn’t as keen and hijacking is not an issue. The best way for promoting these links is by text (click here, read more, etc) or banner ads. The real question for you comes down to this; when it comes to link cloaking, how much are you really losing if you don’t cloak your links? As always, I encourage you to leave a comment, observation or question about the topic discussed above. I am always glad to hear from you!