7 Best Affiliate Link Cloaking Plugins for WordPress
The internet is full of link cloaking plugins. But not every link is safe. Funny thing is, we even judge a link based on how it looks. In this technological age, everyone is scared of getting their data stolen just by clicking on suspicious links.
Every time you are sharing your product link on social media or any other site to do affiliate marketing, your link needs to look clean so it can gain the trust of your customers. To convert your unattractive-looking affiliate link into one of the best affiliate links you will need affiliate link cloaking plugins.
Since affiliate marketing is an important aspect of digital business, the demand for these plugins has also increased. If you don’t know what these are or how a link-cloaking plugin works then stay with us. We got you covered.
What is Affiliate Link Cloaking
Affiliate link cloaking simply means turning long links into short links. Longer links usually take a lot of space and look suspicious and customers don’t want to click them because they fear it could be malware.
If you want people to click your affiliate links then you would want to show them simple URLs which the customers can click without any doubt. But there is another issue since it’s an affiliate link, many customers would recognize it just by seeing it. So you’ll want your links to be pretty and normal.
The cloaked links would work like a charm, your customers will not only use them but also you will get the commission using the affiliate code. This means more affiliate revenue for more clicks.
To shorten your affiliate link, you will need an affiliate link cloaking plugin. Link cloaking is not just about the looks, you can even track your customer using the link itself. How many clicks, and how much time was spent? Cloaking affiliate links are a good way to get that traction.
Why Use Affiliate Link Cloaking Plugins?
Now you might think that adding a link cloaking plugin in your WordPress plugins list is just another unimportant hassle but if you look around and see what your competitors are doing, you’ll see everyone is grabbing the deal for their advantage and before you know it, you’ll see yourself in the bottom page.
But seriously, why should you use affiliate link-cloaking plugins? Here are a few reasons.
1. Shortened links can easily be used on any platform. It can be a website, social media, blog page, etc. Also you can manage all your affiliate links very easily.
2. Cloaked links increase your Click Through Rate (CTR) as it looks more reliable than reliable. Believe it or not but the more your links indeed look simple the more CTR you will get.
3. For a higher conversion rate cloaked links work smoothly as affiliate marketers can easily slide in one or two internal and external links between the words. Also, you can just embed your destination URL in a single word.
4. Search engines can easily detect your affiliate links and would rip them out if they find any. Also if the link is too suspicious then it won’t even count it. So to improve search optimization of your WordPress website, try using cloak links.
5. Link cloaking also allows you to track customers, this way you will know how many customers clicked your link and also from which platform. This way you can easily strategize your upcoming affiliate program strategy.
To get all these amazing advantages over your affiliate marketing strategy all you need to do is use a plugin.
7 Most Used Affiliate Link Cloaking Plugins for WordPress
On the internet, you’ll find a lot of trial-based websites that will shorten your affiliate site links but when you’re at your WordPress dashboard, it’s better to add affiliate cloaking plugins to your WordPress website.
To create a personal and meaningful conversation with your customers, here we have gathered a few most used and popular link-cloaking plugins that most affiliate marketers are using to shorten their long affiliate links.
Simple URLs
Using simple URLs you can easily add affiliate links, hide affiliate links, track outbound links, and also redirect links to your website all in one go. A pretty simple WordPress plugin for beginners to start with.
Even though Simple URLs is known as a fulfilled URL management plugin for all WordPress websites it doesn’t offer any advanced features filled with analytical results. So if you want something more premium for all your affiliate links then you might need to look somewhere else.
But don’t worry, It does create SEO-friendly URLs for your affiliate site and automatically adds affiliate links to texts. Also, it avoids permalink conflicts to increase affiliate sales.
While most affiliate partners are using this WordPress plugin you need to know that it hasn’t received any significant updates from its development team for a long time. So if you ever run into any issues then you might not find any help to get back up.
Features:
Here are all the features of the Simple URLs plugin,
✔️This is a free plugin with Zero hidden cost.
✔️Easy to use and can manage an unlimited number of affiliate links
✔️Provides detailed stats of URL clicks and link tracking.
✔️Any specific link or geolocation link can be turned into a cloaked URL
✔️Avoids linking conflicts for you to focus on certain keywords
✔️Shorten URLs for all the links instantly for a blog post or any new custom post type
✔️It also displays product pop-ups for marketing campaigns
✔️Detects and fixes abandoned cloaked affiliate links.
Easy Affiliate Links
Easy Affiliate Links is known as one of the best affiliates link-cloaking WordPress plugins in the market. Why? It’s in the name itself. Link Cloaker makes it easy for any WordPress site with WordPress plugins.
Out of all the URLs, this WordPress plugin will identify the best affiliate link of yours that is making an impact. Moreover, it will automatically add affiliate links to your content. All this can be managed from your WordPress dashboard.
It can be both internal or external links but still, easy affiliate links will cloak all of them for you. If you are worried about specific links from other websites, don’t worry all of them will be converted as well.
If your WordPress website has a blog section then great news, most of the blog pages rely on this plugin to shorten their URLs. So you can easily get a boost and redirect your customers to your affiliate pages.
Features:
Here are a few features of Easy Affiliate Links,
✔️The plugin is compatible with all sorts of editors from classic ones to the latest ones.
✔️If you don’t want a certain amount of links to be cloaked then you can mark them out. For example, Amazon Affiliate Links.
✔️Assign categories of your cloaked links to generate more affiliate sales
✔️Creates reports of link cloaking of your WordPress site over URL clicks on a monthly and daily basis.
✔️This plugin also allows you to add visual and HTML editors to do CSV import and XML import in all your affiliate links.
Pretty Links
Pretty links are also the best affiliate link cloaking add-on for any affiliate program. It not only turns any link into a pretty link but also manages and tracks all the URLs from time to time. Every month you will see a handful of reports on how many people have clicked your URLs from the assigned categories.
The plugin also identifies the best affiliate link that is performing well on other search engines. Moreover, setting all these us is super easy. This best affiliate link cloaking plugin has a clean interface and UI that provides all the necessary features within its free version.
To this day pretty links have had over Three Hundred thousand installs. Imagine having Three Hundred thousand clicks on your affiliate links where the URL redirects your customers to your website. Crazy amount of traffic and sales.
It also has a pro version of itself which offers more advanced features than other plugins. Those features consist of identifying expired links and recreating them, automating links to redirect to your affiliate website, creating conversion reports, and many more.
The premium version of pretty links is available at only 79 dollars on a yearly package for a single site license. The team behind the plugin is aware of its audience and so it stays updated 24/7.
Features:
Here are a few features of Pretty Links,
✔️Creates attractive and simple URLs by including your domain name so it can easily redirect more customers to your affiliate website.
✔️On a default setting the plugin creates slugs in your URL of 3 to 4 characters. You can change the number of slugs or add custom slugs through the settings.
✔️Generated detailed reports of URL clicks and conversions.
✔️Keeps track of all the clocks including the search engine and the platform.
✔️For guests, the plugin has a cookie-based system to track their activity over the affiliated website.
✔️Can be integrated into social sharing and google analytics using the pro version.
✔️The plugin also provides automation support by creating and replacing redirects in the premium version.
Ability to assign categories for different types of URLs.
Thirsty Affiliate Links:
Another best link cloaking plugin for WordPress is the Thirsty Affiliate Links plugin. It is known to be a very powerful plugin in the marketing community. For users, it offers a freemium model and provides free link cloaking with its free version.
If compared with Pretty Links or wp wizard cloak then Thirsty Affiliate links provide more features in its free version. But like usual if you need more advanced features then you need to purchase the paid plan.
This plugin not only lets you cloak plugins but you can also uncloak plugins and add images to selective URLs. Except for this, all the generic and necessary solutions are provided by this Plugin.
If you are eager to purchase the pro version then you can access it for just 49 dollars for the yearly package. This will give you access to features such as geographic URLs, automatic keyword linking, advanced statistical reports, and many more.
If you are a beginner or in the mid-way of your business, the plugin can assist you at any stage.
Features:
Here are a few features of Thirsty Affiliate Links,
✔️Smart cloaking and uncloaking. Maintains caution in cloaking URLs of multiple affiliate websites.
✔️Organize all your links using categories and manage powerful links in a simple process.
✔️Creates visualized detailed reports on a daily and monthly basis
✔️Allows you to integrate with editors and other plugins of your WordPress site.
✔️Consists of auto keyword linking and allows you to add images to affiliate URLs.
✔️Has a built-in cloaked link checker that shows you the condition of your affiliate links.
Clicker Volt
If you want to track the CTR of your links and retarget your customers then Clicker Volt will be the best affiliate link Cloaker for you.
This plugin also provides A/B testing for all the best-performing URLs. You can also cloak and track any URL at any time.
Clicker volt offers a little more than other plugins, all the generic and important features are available in its free version. The paid version will only provide you with support assistance and nothing else. No advanced features or anything. All of it is already attached to the free version.
Features:
Here are a few features of Clicker Volt,
✔️Can easily be integrated with an ad displaying platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Bing Ads.
✔️Provides fast link tracking service and redirecting customers takes less than 1ms of the clicking process.
✔️The ability to create an unlimited number of funnels
✔️Using just your WordPress dashboard, you can change redirecting rules or settings and add all sorts of URLs.
URL Shortener Pro
If you want to create links that are short, attractive, and easy to remember then choose URL shortener pro. This plugin is the best affiliate link cloaking plugin to tackle this type of situation.
You can easily include URLs in your content, pages, and on social media. Moreover, it includes all the basic features that a clocking plugin requires. But do remember one thing this is not a free plugin.
As a pro cloaking plugin, URL shortener pro only costs 29 dollars and you can use it for up to 3 sites. Trust me when I say this if you buy this, not a single penny of yours will get wasted.
You can easily set up redirects, it can be HTML redirects or cloaked redirects. All of this can be done using 301, 302, and 307 redirects.
Features:
Here are a few features of URL shortener pro,
✔️You can hide or mask any affiliate links very easily
✔️Allows you to categorize URLs
✔️You can create different tabs for different URLs and tags
✔️Easy to use with just a click of a few buttons
WooCommerce Cloak Affiliate Links
Yes, you’ve guessed it by its name. This is the best affiliate link cloaking plugin for all the WooCommerce stores out there.
Using WooCommerce Cloak Affiliate Links you can easily cloak and mask any affiliate URLs you want. Selling your WooCommerce products will now be easier than ever.
Moreover, this plugin will add a “disallow” to your robots.txt file which will divert bots from chasing down your affiliate URLs and other links.
Besides the exclusiveness of the WooCommerce function, it also provides all the basic and important features that a cloaking plugin should have.
So lastly, if you have your WooCommerce store then choose this plugin without a second doubt. Undoubtedly this is one of the best affiliate link cloaking in the market.
Features:
Here are a few features of WooCommerce Cloak Affiliate Links,
✔️Easily add a redirect path to all your robots.txt files
✔️Stop search engine bots from chasing your affiliate links
✔️Cloak any type of WooCommerce URLs
✔️Configure status codes to redirect your URLs.
Conclusion
So far these were our top picks of the most used cloaking plugins for affiliate websites. We believe that this will help you to choose the right plugin for yourself.
Although sharing links might seem to be a simple task, making them look normal and attractive is yet one of the most important tasks for all affiliate marketers.
Since so many people are using these plugins for their businesses, and have been showing positive feedback we thoroughly believe it will assist you in your journey as well.