How to Mask Your Affiliate URL

Most affiliate URL's are long and ugly. And for whatever reason, people tend to avoid clicking on a URL if they think you are making a commission. As ridiculous as this is, it happens all the time.

Here is a simple solution for masking your affiliate URL.

To use this solution you will need to have:

• A basic understanding of html
• Have access to your server and
• Know how to upload files

If you have a webmaster who maintains your website for you, please pass this information along to them.

Masking any URL can be done in 5 simple steps with a Meta Refresh.

SAMPLE MASK:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0" URL=www.youraffiliatewebsite.com">

1. Create a blank html page.
2. Change the URL in the sample above to your affiliate URL.
3. Paste the code above into the blank page.
4. Save the page with a name that makes sense. (A logical choice for my affilites would be graphicdesigner.html or customgraphics.html)
5. Upload the saved page to your server.

You will now use the following URL in all your promotions instead of the original affiliate URL.

http://yourwebsite.com/yoursavedpage.html

Depending on how the affiliate program is setup, your original affiliate URL may show up in the browsers address bar. Clickbank is a good example of this. Nothing your can do about this. Any complaints to Clickbank only falls on deaf ears.

With my Customer Rewards Program, your affiliate URL IS HIDDEN. The only thing your customer will see is http://customdesigngraphics.com

When they arrive at my site, a cookie is set and will track any orders they place. I will be notified automatically who referred this client. When their order is paid a reward of up to $25 will be sent to your Paypal account.

Now you can include your affiliate URL in an article or your ezine without showing that long ugly URL.

Using a mask provides another advantage.

I've been involved in several affiliate programs that changed their software after I signed up. Unfortunately, that also changes your affiliate URL.

By using no mask, this presents a big problem if you've written articles and have them posted in lots of article directories. Where do you find the time & energy to locate all those articles and update the affiliate URL on each of them. That's a job I don't want to tackle.

By using a mask, you can update the "saved page" with the new affiliate URL, upload it to your server and you're done.

About The Author
Graphic Designer Heather Colman helps virtual assistants, coaches, and other professionals online bring visual impact and depth to their products with custom 3d images and website graphics. Visit her site at: CustomDesignGraphics.com.