If you’re doing affiliate marketing and not using an affiliate link cloaker, you’re probably making things harder for yourself — and leaving money on the table.

The top affiliates? They’ve got this figured out. Their links look clean, they’re easy to manage, and most importantly — they don’t get banned. Let’s look at how they do it (and how you can too), without getting tangled up in techy stuff.

So, Why Even Cloak Your Affiliate Links?

It’s not about being sneaky. It’s about working smart.

Ever seen an affiliate link that looks like this?

https://some-network.com/tracking/2983sdkhf9?ref=3848

Yeah… no one wants to click that.

Now compare it to this:

yourwebsite.com/go/bluehost

Much better, right?

That’s one reason to use an affiliate link cloaker — but there’s more:

• Easier to manage
  Let’s say you’ve mentioned one affiliate product 25 times on your blog. If that link changes, you’d have to update all 25 manually — unless it’s cloaked. Then it’s just one quick fix.
• Protect your commissions
  Some people copy your link, delete your tracking info, and you miss the commission. Cloaking makes that way harder.
• Cleaner links = more clicks
  People trust links that look clean. Cloaked links are just easier on the eyes.
• Avoid leaking PageRank
  Affiliate links should be nofollowed. Cloaking lets you control that with one setup, instead of doing it manually each time.

How the Pros Cloak Links (Without Getting in Trouble)

Now, let’s break down how the top folks do this — step-by-step.

1. Make a Redirect Folder

They create a folder like /go/ or /out/ on their site where all the redirects live. It helps keep links tidy and in one place.

2. Keep Google Out

To avoid getting those links indexed, they add this line to their robots.txt:

bashCopyEditDisallow: /go/

That’s a basic safe link cloaking technique — it stops search engines from poking around your cloaked links.

3. Use a Simple Redirect Script (Not a Plugin)

Most pros skip plugins for this and use a tiny script that works faster. Here’s what’s in it:

• index.php – This file handles the redirect and tells search engines not to index the link.
• redirects.txt – You list all your affiliate links here in a clean format. Something like: arduinoCopyEditbluehost,https://affiliateurl.com/bluehost
• .htaccess – This makes your links look clean (like yourdomain.com/go/bluehost) and hides the redirects.txt file so no one can snoop.

Bonus: This works on both Apache and Nginx. No WordPress needed, which makes it super fast.

What About Plugins?

Plugins like Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates are solid options, especially if you want click stats. They’re easy to use and great for beginners.

But here’s the thing — they rely on WordPress. That means your whole site has to load before the redirect happens. On a slow host, that delay could cost you clicks.

If you want speed and simplicity, the script is the way to go. Want tracking and convenience? Go with a WordPress link cloaker plugin.

How to Stay on the Safe Side

(Here’s the official FTC guide on disclosures if you want to do it right.)

Cloaking is totally fine — if you play by the rules. Here’s what the smart affiliates always do:

• Use nofollow on all affiliate links.
• Add a clear FTC disclosure. A simple line like “This post contains affiliate links” works.
• Read the rules. Some programs (Amazon, for example) don’t allow cloaking at all.

If you’re upfront and follow the terms, you won’t run into problems. That’s how top affiliates avoid getting banned from affiliate programs.

Quick Story: Why This Matters

A friend of mine runs a travel blog. He skipped cloaking because it felt too complicated. Then one of his affiliate programs changed their URLs. Suddenly, half his links were broken — and he didn’t even know it until someone pointed it out.

He lost weeks of commissions. If he had cloaked them? One update and done.

Wrap-Up: Should You Be Cloaking?

Short answer: yes.

Using an affiliate link cloaker gives you cleaner links, better control, and saves a ton of time. Whether you’re just starting or running a high-traffic site, it’s one of the best things you can do to level up your affiliate game.

Want to go deeper? Check out our Trafficshield to boost your earnings even more.

Just remember to:

• Keep it clean
• Keep it fast
• Keep it compliant

That’s the winning formula.