Hijacking is not just true for computer software and applications; it can happen to your affiliate links too! Yes! If you are an affiliate marketer, then here’s some breaking news- all the long haul that you have put in developing links from affiliate sources can go into vain, as soon as someone hijacks your links without even paying for them. Sound’s gruesome, right? Well, if you wish to keep the hijacking blues at bay, a handy solution is available just within your marketing kitty. Its link cloaking!
Cloaking basically refers to the practice of shortening a URL using URL shortening tools so that the user is unable to know the URL to which he is being sent. However, when applied to affiliate marketing cloaking is more of a safeguarding practice. It helps marketers in disguising their links from hackers and link lifters. Every digital marketer dealing with affiliate links understands the dire need of a link cloaking plug-in. If you have been looking around for a while to locate the most useful plug-in for cloaking, then WordPress will act as a one-stop solution for you. The WP community offers an array of cloaking plug-ins which helps you in keeping any malicious link-hijacking practices at bay. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently used plug-ins.
- Hidden Affiliate Links: As the name suggests, this plug-in works wonders when it comes to hiding your affiliate links from hackers, by aiding you in hiding the links that you want to post on your wall. It basically acts as a keyword linked or link-redirector, by placing links instead of keywords.
- 123 Linkit Affiliate Marketing Tool: This plug-in makes cloaking as easy as 123. In function, it scans the keywords in your content and automatically converts them into affiliate links for suitable products.
- Pretty Link Lite: If you want the shortened links to carry your site’s domain name, then this plug-in is apt for you. It shortens the links using your domain and keeps a track of every visit made to a particular URL and also reports the location of the visitor.
- GoCodes: GoCodes plug-in let’s you create short URLs linking to any site on the web, directly from your WP admin page. Whether you need a shortened link for podcasting, affiliate marketing or printed publications, GoCode is just the right choice for you.
- WP Shorties: This plug-in has the sole purpose of shortening and shrinking URLs and tracking the number of clicks. Though, it also incorporates some other features like Tiny URLs count, multi-directional distribution and cloaked URLs sale.
- Simple URLs: This URL manager is indeed pretty simple to use. It lets you create and manage links directly from your site, while making use of custom posts. It adds a new custom post to your admin, which allows you to create and remove URLs and keeps a track of number of clicks in form of custom fields.
- Easy-Affiliate: If you have a product review blog, this auto-affiliate plug-in gives you the easiest way to gain income out of it. It automatically converts the keywords on your blog into affiliate links and helps you earn money from more than 3000 affiliate partners present over the web. So if you are looking to earn some extra cash from your WP site or blog, this plug-in is the best way to do so.
Affiliate marketing not only helps you in escalating the online visibility of your site but also helps you in bagging in some extra cash. And the aforementioned plug-ins ensures that your affiliate links never get hijacked and your share of income stays solely with you. So, as and when you begin your next affiliate linking venture, make sure you have one of these installed on your WP site.
Author Bio
Maria Mincey works with Xicom, a Web Development Company. Xicom helps its partners meet their long-term goals, not just the short-term ones. With services such as Offshore Web Development, Yii Framework Development, the company aims at giving true value to the investment of its clients. You may get in touch with Xicom if you are planning to Hire PHP Programmers for your web project.
