Short URL Tips

URL Masking refers to the process of hiding the specific domain of a site from the address bar of a users web browser. This is commonly done by affiliate marketers to stop site visitors from removing affiliate tracking codes from a URL to guarantee the affiliate earns their commissions. Another reason affiliates do this really is to keep other affiliates from replacing the tracking codes from the URL and "stealing" or "hijacking" the commission.

You'll find multiple ways you implement URL masking for your links. Some methods are extremely technical and require basic programming experience while other methods use software tools called link cloakers. For some affiliates, link cloaking tools are the preferred method while they are simple to use and offer more features then just masking a URL.

Using iFrames - This technique is fairly easy and also can be accomplished by most website owners. Here's how you do it: Make a page and add the required iframe html coding. You will have to change the URL of the src attribute to the URL of the domain of the web page to be displayed within the browser. Then, upload this file to your web server and you are done. There are lots of downsides of this method including you won't get click tracking, sales tracking and you definitely will have no way to meaure how well the link is converting. In addition, you must own the web page because you definitely will need to upload this page to your web server for it to work. Next, just copy the link that goes to this page and then you can distribute it on blogs, social marketing sites, emails and some other location you typically place your links.

Using FRAMESETS - this technique is additionally easy, but like iFrames, it lacks any added features like sales or click tracking, reporting and requires you to own the net page which hides the link. Here is how you do it: Make a web page and add the required frameset html tags and change the src attribute URL in the the URL of the net page to be displayed within the browser. Then, upload this file to your web server. Like iFrames, you'll need to have access to the net server to post this file. Next, just copy the link that goes to this page and after that you may distribute it on blogs, social marketing sites, emails and every other location you typically place your Short Links.

Using Link Cloaker Software - this really is by far the best way to hide your URL because you usually won't need to edit code directly. When selecting a link cloaker, you definitely will want to find one that includes critical features including Intelligent cloaking, click tracking, sales tracking, a link command center to edit your links and it has multiple cloaking methods to deal with all of your masking needs. There are several popular tools you can get including SafeLinkCloaker.com which is extremely popular among super affiliates.

Now that you've learned about three of the best URL Masking methods, you definitely will need to determine which method or combination of methods work best for you. For anybody who is struggling to choose which method may be best for you, I encourage you to think about a link cloaker tool. These are by far the simplest and fastest ways to mask your URLs.