Question & Answer: Link Cloaking in Emails
QUESTION: I have just started sending out my e-newsletters to subscribers. I want to include an affiliate link promotion. Should I cloak or shorten this link in my newsletter? If so which link cloaker is best and do they work in newsletters or just on the internet?
ANSWER: I would highly recommend not using those URL shorteners. Sometimes, their servers are down and the links don’t work. I do suggest using redirects with your own domain name. Besides protecting your affiliate links, this also allows you to promote your own domain name during your promotion efforts.
Here are a couple simple methods for creating your own redirects.
Method #1: Using PHP
- Create a sub-directory on your server called “likes” or “recommends”
- Using your favorite text editor, open a blank page and type in the following:
< ?php
Header("Location: http://www.adomain.com/YourAffiliateURL");
exit;
?>
- Save the file as filename.php and upload it to the sub-directory you created earlier
- Now whenever you want to direct traffic to your link, simply use http://www.yourdomain.com/likes/filename.php
Method #2: Using “htaccess”
This one is so cool! If you already have an . htaccess file in the root directory of your server, simply download, add the following command and upload it to your server:
Redirect /filename http://www.adomain.com/YourAffiliateURL
Now whenever you want to direct traffic to your link, you just use http://www.yourdomain.com/filename
Another side benefit to either of these methods is that if your affiliate link ever changes, all you have to do is edit the file on your server.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered via eMail.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment