Link Cloaking

[mickcharm]

Hi, still trying to learn the ropes, is link cloaking just changing what appears on the screen but if you right click the mouse you can still see your affiliate link.
It's just that I tried link cloaking in frontpage and had click here and when I went into review mode all that was displayed was click here and when I left clicked on the link I was taken to where I wanted to be so the link worked but when I right clicked the mouse you could see my affiliate ID details.

I've seen links that might have a link to say clickbank without an ID showing when you right click or just what appears to be a direct link. How is this done.
Being a newbie do I really need to worry about this yet or should I protect myself from the start.

Cheers
Michael

 

[AffiliateGuild]

My personal oppinion is not to do this yet. Focus on learning how to create a successful website and the affiliate links won't matter.

 

[mickcharm]

Thanks for that, I tend to worry about things befoire they even happen.
What do you mean when you say the affiliate links don't matter.

Cheers
Michael

 

[Larwee]

Michael, you might be paying more attention to and putting more importance on link cloaking than you should.

In one post you asked about doing some link cloaking in forum posts. I am not just talking about 5 Star. I'm talking about all forums. Make sure you read their rules before you post. Understand their rules about affiliate links. If you aren't sure, then ask. But if they have any rules about no affiliate links within a post, then don't try to trick them by link cloaking. There are ways to tell when this is being done. If they have rules against affililate links and you try to get around it by link cloaking, some might warn you and others just might ban you.

Forums can be really helpful. You want to remain on good terms with them. They make it possible for you to get a lot of helpful advice which could really make a big difference for you.

The number one thing people need to concentrate on is having the very best site they can have. Concentrate on that and do everything possible to make it happen. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself.

If you have a great website, it is going to attract visitors and some of those visitors are going to respond to your advertising.

In my way of thinking, affiliate link cloaking is nothing more than a method to try to trick people and tricking people isn't the best way to operate. If something is an advertisement, then a person has every right to know it is an advertisement and not be fooled into thinking it is something other than advertising.

Possibly a person can make extra money by tricking people. But some might be surprised at how well they could do by just being fair and honest with people rather than trying to trick them to make money.

When it comes to laffiliate ink cloaking, professionals know about it and have a pretty good idea what is going on. It is close to being a waste of time to try to trick them.

If you are dealing with the average person they don't know or understand links and really don't care, so there is no reason to attempt to fool them. Your visitors have every right to know that something is advertising and then decide if they want to act on it rather than being tricked to act on something.

Different people are going to have different views on this. I am just one that feels it is much more important to be fair and truthful with people than it is to try to trick them for personal profit. If you win the trust of people, you will win their support and that can go a long way in getting them to spread the good word about you.

At the top of your list should always be to create websites with your visitors in mind. Don't worry about search engines and don't worry about trying to make money. If you keep your visitors in mind and devote your full efforts to making your site the very best it possibly can be for them, then everything else will take care of itself.

If the site is done properly for your visitors, then it will please search engines as well and you'll get good search engine traffic. If you always make it a point to have your visitors in mind and have the best possible site for them, then making money will also take care of itself and you can be successful without using any methods to try to trick your visitors to respond to your advertising.

Make your visitors your priority and evything else will fall into place. That is the most important thing that you need to remember.

 

[AffiliateGuild]

Larry, you write some the best posts!
This one was killer ...

Excellent advice!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Larry, great post and excellent advice that Michael and others should pay attention to!

 

[mickcharm]

Thanks Larry, my main concern regarding link cloaking was to protect my affiliate ID from theft and have a better looking link that will be more attractive to my client. I don't really intend to offend people, I'm sorry if it sounded that way, those sought of people get caught in the end.
Have a great day all.

Cheers
Michael

 

[Teli]

You do offer some great advice Larry.

One bit really jumped out at me, that professionals understand what link cloaking is and won't fall for it. That is absolutely spot on...it's really pointless to tell a pro that your cloaked link is anything but.

As for it being a trick, I believe it depends on the intended use. The reason I say this is because I cloak some of my links.

But, before anyone jumps all over me LOL, I cloak for a specific reason - to keep track of my links and monitor click through rates on my sites. It's certainly not to trick anyone into clicking on a product link and in many cases, I disclose that I post affiliate links.

That said, Michael, take Bobbie and Larry's advice. Don't worry so much about cloaking your links - especially if you're considering anything shady - concentrate on building a great resource for visitors.

If you're going to promote Internet Marketing (IM) products - which I don't recommend when you're just starting out - then, look into link cloaking, because as much as I hate to say it, some affiliates will hijack your affiliate link - especially ClickBank (but, that's a whole other topic for another day).

~ Teli

 

[mickcharm]

Thanks Teli, so what you're saying is build a great site and use other techniques for getting people to that site then worry about the affiliate stuff.

I thought the affiliate links were meant to help get people to your site.
Sorry about the silly questions I'm really new to all this stuff.

I wasn't looking at anything shady just protecting my links as I read somewhere else that Clackbank affiliate links were easy to hijack.

I suppose I should concentrate on step 1 before step 2,3,4 etc

Have a great day all

Michael

 

[NWO]

Depending on the product I?m selling sometimes I like to buy a domain name to cloak my referral link. For example I just recently purchased one, and looking at it you can?t tell it?s a referral link.