Here’s why we mask an affiliate link:
- It increases conversions (users are put off by affiliate links)
- Affiliate links can be seen as spammy
- It prevents commission hijacking (i.e. when people see you’re an affiliate and they remove your affiliate code and go straight to the good stuff!!)
So instead of using:
http://www.lovetolaunch.com/p/?p=youraffiliatecode&w=bestlaunch
You can use a URL masking to hide the link and use something like this instead:
lauraphillips.co.uk/ble
The user will be forwarded on to your link when they click it.
Instructions:
If you want to mask your affiliate link use rebrand.ly or my preferred option “Pretty Links plugin” for wordpress (free version)
Your shortened links can then be created and shared without people seeing your affiliate link.
You can also customise it with your own text (I prefer this method) so using Pretty Links is best.
e.g. lauraphillips.co.uk/bestlaunchever
An important note on using these types of URLs in EMAILS:
Some email providers don’t like shortened URLs like bit.ly so I wouldn’t recommend using them unless you have ran your email through spam filters successfully (i.e. delivery doctor in Mailchimp, or SpamAssasin in Aweber)
As with everything, test!! And drop me a message if you need any support – we want your affiliate launches to run as smoothly as possible!
Here’s how to use Pretty Links Plugin (its free)
