Link cloaking is a technique used to hide the actual URL of a webpage or website link by creating a shortened, more user-friendly link that redirects to the actual URL.

The primary purpose of link cloaking is to promote your brand and safeguard any confidential data embedded in the URLs. Consider the following cloaked long link as an illustration:

Normal link: shopper.com/p/xYds/r/?clickid=abc12345

Clocked link: yourwebsite.com/go/product-name

Follwing are the advantages of Link Cloking

Improved Click-Through Rates (CTR): Using a shorter, more user-friendly link can make it easier for users to click on the link, which can lead to higher click-through rates.
Branding: Link cloaking allows affiliates to promote their brand by using their own domain name in the shortened link, rather than the original affiliate link which may be long and difficult to remember.
Analytics: Link cloaking allows affiliates to track the number of clicks and conversions on their links, providing valuable data that can be used to optimize their marketing efforts.
Security: Link cloaking can help prevent theft of affiliate links by hiding the actual URL and making it more difficult for others to copy and use the link for their own purposes.
Aesthetics: A shortened link can be more aesthetically pleasing, and can be customized to fit within the context of the content in which it is placed, improving the overall appearance and readability of the content.

From the Link Clocking - settings page of the plugin, you have the ability to customize both the redirect type and the prefix of the link.

Link Redirect Type (Server side redirect). You can select either 301, 302 or 307 from the options.

  1. 301 Redirect: A permanent redirect that indicates that the original page has been permanently moved to a new URL. This type of redirect is recommended for SEO purposes, as it passes the majority of link equity from the original URL to the new URL.
  2. 302 Redirect: A temporary redirect that indicates that the original page has been temporarily moved to a new URL. This type of redirect is useful when a page is temporarily unavailable, but will be returning to its original URL in the future.
  3. 307 Redirect: A temporary redirect that is similar to a 302 redirect, but indicates that the redirection should be temporary and that the original URL should continue to be used in the future.

You can customize the prefix that appears before the slug of your cloaked link using the plugin. The plugin offers default prefix options that you can choose from the dropdown menu, or you can create your own custom prefix.

eg. https://yourwebsite.com/recommend/your-product-name.