 |
 |
 |
| |||||||
Should You Cloak Site Links?  By Andy BeardI often hear people give reasons for cloaking links, but the reasons they give are frequently incomplete, suggesting they are cloaking links purely because they have been told by someone else they should do it. I posted this on a couple of forums recently because I kept seeing questions related to it and very incomplete answers being given, so I did a brain dump of as many reasons as I could think of to cloak links or use some kind of affiliate redirect / tracking script / URL shortener. • To shorten links so they look pretty/branded for your own brand • To make a link look like it is a clean link to someone else's brand (you need permission to register domains for other people's trademark quite often, and always best to ask) • To shorten links so they don't get broken in emails due to the way some characters are handled • To boost the number of citations of your domain (SEO benefit) • To add in specific tracking code for clicks to determine popularity • To add in specific tracking code for conversion tracking (think Prosper202) • To gain social proof and boost viral impact (Tweetmeme buttons) • To add in various javascript based tracking such as Google Analytics in situations where you can't use onclick. • To track activity from referrers that don't pass on useful referral data such as Twitter clients • To improve email delivery on your own behalf - you have built up a good sender score, so want to use it for your advantage • To improve email deliver at the request of a vendor - often for product launches you are required not to use direct links. • To split test landing pages • To split test different products • To be able to change the link at a later date • Dead links • Updated offer • Fallen out with vendor • Better convering offer • As an affiliate tool for viral marketing (see Harvey's Ultimate Super Tips for inspiration) • To achieve deep linking to anything even when it is not supported by the affiliate system. Continue reading this article. About the author: Andy Beard - Niche Marketing - Blog search engine perfomance, Wordpress and general niche and affiliate marketing tips. |
|||||||
|
| ||
-- DevWebProAU is an iEntry, Inc. publication -- iEntry, Inc. 2549 Richmond Rd. Lexington KY, 40509 2010 iEntry, Inc. All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy Legal
|
