How to Cloak Affiliate Links for Free in WordPress?

• Trust: A cloaked affiliate link looks more professional and trustworthy.
• Click-through Rates (CTR): People are more likely to click on a clean link.
• Branding: Your cloaked links can reflect your website’s name, making it easier for people to remember.

If you’re serious about affiliate marketing, please do not rely on external URL shorteners for link cloaking.

I’m saying this based on my personal experience.

When I first started, I used Bitly. I used to take my long ugly looking affiliate link and create a short link for it using Bitly. But one day, when I was randomly checking my links, I got shocked.

I clicked on my Bitly link and instead of redirecting to the affiliate link, it showed a page in Bitly with some kind of timer. It was around 10 seconds I guess. It was shown to the users to confirm that they are going to be redirected to a particular URL.

This wasn’t a regular thing. But it happened. Maybe Bitly was testing this process.

I’m sure Bitly did this to safeguard the users from scammers. But the problem is, not everyone understands this.

I use these links everywhere and in my videos I’m saying that you can click on the link in description to get a particular tool. But if a user clicks on it and sees anything other than what I said, he or she might think that it is not a legitimate link. It does affect our reputation as well.

Particularly 10 seconds in some other page. I couldn’t take it lightly. That’s when I realised this, whenever there is a external tool involved in this process, they have a control to show something in between this redirect process and I didn’t like that.

That is why I’ll always recommend you to use a affiliate link cloaking plugin instead of using external URL shorteners.

How to Cloak Affiliate Links in WordPress for Free?

Alright, here’s the step-by-step guide to cloaking your affiliate links using BetterLinks. Seriously, this is so easy.

I’ll tell you why I chose BetterLinks in the next section.

Step 1: Go to WP Dashboard

First, head over to your WordPress dashboard. Go to Plugins and click on “Add New Plugin”.

Step 2: Activate the BetterLinks Plugin

Search for the BetterLinks plugin and install it. It takes less than a minute.

After installing the BetterLinks Plugin, activate it. You’ll see a new menu item labeled “BetterLinks” in your dashboard.

Step 3: Create a New Link

Click on “Add New Link.” Write a title and description for future reference.

And then, select the redirect type. You’ll see 301, 302 and 307 as options. Generally I use 307 redirect for affiliate links because it’ll be a browser redirect response. You can learn more about these redirects here.

Paste your ugly affiliate link into the target URL field, and then create a custom slug (like yourwebsite.com/recommends/tool).

You can also change the link prefix like “go”, “refer”, “recommends”, etc.

Step 4: Save and Share

Setup category and tag for easy link management and hit on “Publish”.

Boom! Your affiliate link is cloaked, branded, and ready to share. Its that simple.

See what I mean? Sixty seconds. I timed it once, and I’m still amazed.

Why I Prefer BetterLinks for Affiliate Link Cloaking?

Let me tell you about my first time using BetterLinks. I stumbled across it after trying out a few other tools, like Pretty Links and ThirstyAffiliates. While those are decent, BetterLinks stood out for a few reasons:

• Free (Basic): Yup, 100% free for basic link cloaking. No hidden fees or surprises.
• Ridiculously Fast: I’m not kidding when I say it takes 60 seconds to cloak a link. You can do it very quickly.
• Beginner-Friendly: It’s very easy to use, even your non-techy friend can figure it out in minutes.
• Tracking Features (Basic): You can monitor how your links are performing. For an affiliate marketer, that’s gold.

BetterLinks also have a pro version which can unlock many more features like geo-targeting and A/B testing.

The best part is BetterLinks Pro lifetime deal, which no other WordPress affiliate link cloaking plugin offers as of now.

I even compared BetterLinks Free vs Pro version to find out if its really worth it.

And now after using BetterLinks Pro for over a year, I can confidently say that it is really worth it.

Sure, there are other tools out there, but for someone who doesn’t want to spend a dime and wants something straightforward, BetterLinks is hard to beat.

Plus, it integrates seamlessly with WordPress default block editor, which is a big win.

Alternative Plugins

Now, if for some reason BetterLinks doesn’t vibe with you, don’t worry. There are other options:

• Pretty Links: Great for beginners, but the free version is limited.
• ThirstyAffiliates: Packed with features for advanced users but mostly premium.
• Lasso: A powerhouse tool but comes with a hefty price tag.

While these are solid choices, I keep coming back to BetterLinks because it does exactly what I need.

That said, it’s worth experimenting to find what works best for you.

Final Thoughts

Cloaking affiliate links might seem like a small thing but trust me, it’s a game-changer.

With plugins like BetterLinks, it’s fast, free, and ridiculously easy. Plus, it gives your links a professional touch that builds trust and boosts clicks.

More clicks. More conversions. More commissions. So, what are you waiting for?

Go ahead, give BetterLinks a try, and start cloaking your affiliate links.

FAQ’s

1. Is affiliate link cloaking legal?

Yes, link cloaking is legal as long as you disclose affiliate relationships to your audience. Transparency is key to maintaining trust and complying with regulations like the FTC guidelines.

2. Does cloaking affiliate links affect SEO?

No, properly cloaked links don’t harm SEO. In fact, they can enhance user experience by making links more clickable. Just ensure you use “nofollow” or “sponsored” attributes to avoid any issues with search engines.

3. Will cloaked links work on social media platforms?

Yes, cloaked affiliate links work on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.