tracking
Link Cloaking
Turning a long, branded affiliate tracking URL into a clean redirect link on your own domain.
What is Link Cloaking?
Link cloaking is the practice of replacing a raw affiliate tracking URL with a clean, branded redirect link on your own domain — for example, yoursite.com/go/shopify instead of a long network tracking URL — which then redirects to the merchant's site with your affiliate tracking parameters intact.
Importance of Link Cloaking
Link cloaking is not black hat, is not deceptive, and is not a violation of affiliate program terms in the overwhelming majority of cases — but confusion about this point causes many affiliates to either avoid it entirely (losing its benefits) or misunderstand what it does (expecting it to hide their affiliate relationship). What it actually does is make links shorter and more readable, enables bulk link updates when programs migrate networks, improves click rates because branded links look trustworthy, and provides a centralised location to track which content pieces are generating clicks.
Link Cloaking In Practice
When an affiliate promotes the same program across dozens of articles, all linking to a raw network URL, and the program migrates to a different affiliate network, every one of those links breaks simultaneously. With cloaked links, there is a single redirect rule to update — yoursite.com/go/shopify now redirects to the new network URL — and every link in every article updates automatically. This is the primary practical benefit of link cloaking for established affiliate sites. The secondary benefit is click rate: a link that reads yoursite.com/go/moosend is more readable and trustworthy-looking in hover previews than a link that reads impact.sjv.io/c/3426378/1712538/18882?subId1=xyz. A common misconception is that link cloaking hides the affiliate relationship from readers. It does not. The redirect is visible to anyone who follows the link, and the affiliate disclosure requirement applies regardless of how the link is formatted. Link cloaking is a link management practice, not a disclosure workaround.
Link Cloaking Best Practices
- →Use a /go/ or /recommends/ path convention for cloaked affiliate links so they are clearly identifiable in your analytics as affiliate-related clicks.
- →Maintain a link inventory — a spreadsheet mapping every /go/[program] URL to its destination and the network it is hosted on — so you can update redirect destinations quickly when programs migrate.
- →Test cloaked links after setup by clicking through and confirming your affiliate ID appears in the final destination URL or that a click registers in your network dashboard.
- →Do not use link cloaking to circumvent affiliate disclosure requirements — a /go/shopify redirect still requires the same clear disclosure as a raw tracking URL.
- →Check your affiliate agreement's terms on link cloaking before implementation — most programs permit it, but a small number require direct linking to their network URL; knowing in advance prevents issues.
Example of Link Cloaking
An affiliate has published 40 articles recommending Shopify, each containing a raw Impact tracking URL. Shopify migrates its affiliate program from Impact to a new network. Every raw Impact URL in every article now points to a broken page. An affiliate using cloaked links at yoursite.com/go/shopify updates a single redirect rule to point to the new network URL, and all 40 articles are instantly updated without touching any content. An affiliate without cloaked links must manually find and update every raw URL across all 40 articles — a time-consuming process with high risk of missing links that continue to send uncompensated traffic.
Related Terms
Related Tools & Services
- Shopify Affiliate Program — Example used to illustrate link cloaking benefits when a program migrates networks
Frequently Asked Questions
What is link cloaking in affiliate marketing?
Link cloaking replaces a raw affiliate tracking URL with a clean, branded redirect on your own domain. For example, yoursite.com/go/shopify redirects to the Shopify affiliate tracking URL with your parameters intact. The reader clicks a clean-looking link; the redirect delivers them to the merchant with your commission attribution preserved. It is a link management practice, not a method of hiding your affiliate relationship.
Is link cloaking allowed by affiliate programs?
Yes, in the overwhelming majority of cases. Link cloaking is a standard practice permitted by most affiliate programs and networks. A small number of programs explicitly require direct linking to their network URL and prohibit cloaked links — this is rare but should be confirmed by reading the affiliate agreement before implementing cloaking. Link cloaking does not affect your commission attribution, and it does not replace the requirement to disclose your affiliate relationship to readers.
Is link cloaking the same as black hat cloaking?
No. Affiliate link cloaking and black hat SEO cloaking are completely different practices that share only the word 'cloaking.' Affiliate link cloaking replaces a tracking URL with a clean redirect — fully visible to readers, no deception involved. Black hat SEO cloaking shows search engine crawlers different content than real users see — a Google guideline violation. The two practices are unrelated. Affiliate link cloaking is standard, permitted, and beneficial. SEO cloaking is deceptive and penalised.