How it works
The Abacus ‘Link-Cloak’ software creates special files on your web site that redirect visitors instantly to where you want them to go, but the link that they see and click is different from the destination web address.
If you’re wondering why you should want to do this, there are many reasons.
A very common reason is to hide the URL of a web site that does not belong to you, so that your visitors do not go there directly, but are routed through a web page of yours. This enables you to pass through to the destination web site any parameters, such as an affiliate or referrer ID, to ensure that you are paid any commission resulting from a purchase by the customer whom you sent there.
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As an example, let’s say that you want to cloak an affiliate link, so that it looks to the visitor as if the clickable link goes to a page on your own web site, but, in fact, it displays the content of the vendor’s page. You will earn the commission if the visitor buys something on the page.
1. Specify the local upload folderClick the ‘Folder’ button in the software main interface. Create a folder with the ‘Make New Folder’ button in which to keep all the temporary files to be uploaded to your web site by the Link-Cloak software. We suggest a folder called “Upload” inside the folder containing the other web site files. Click the ‘OK’ button. This folder needs to be created only the first time. Thereafter you just click the ‘Folder’ button, navigate to it in the ‘Browse For Folder’ dialogue box, and select it. Alternatively, you can paste or type its full path into the ‘Local folder…’ textbox. Furthermore, if you’re likely to use the same folder again, you can save all the data in the form and load it again later, to save you the time re-entering the same data. |
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2. Specify the URL to be cloakedPaste or type the full path of the URL to be cloaked into the ‘Link to cloak’ textbox.
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3. Specify your web site’s domain URLPaste or type your web site address, e.g., www.yourdomain.com, with or without the "www.", as applicable.
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4. Specify a sub-folder for the "redirect" filesType the name of a sub-folder on your web site, to which to upload the redirecting files generated by the ‘Link-Cloak’ software. This is not a requirement, but it’s tidier to keep these files separate from your web site’s regular files. The sub-folder name should be relevant, because it will be seen by both human visitors and search engine robots. You do not need to create this sub-folder manually. If it does not exist already, ‘Link-Cloak’ will create it for you. |
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5. Specify the "redirect" file nameType the name and extension of the redirecting file to be generated by the ‘Link-Cloak’ software. The file name should be relevant, because it will be seen by both human visitors and search engine robots. |
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6. Specify the title of the "redirect" pageType the page title of the redirecting file to be generated by the ‘Link-Cloak’ software. The page title should be relevant, because it will be visible at the top of the browser window, and is very important for search engine position. |
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7. Specify the link textType the "anchor text" of the link which will be generated by the ‘Link-Cloak’ software. The link text should be relevant, because it must entice visitors to click on the link, and will also serve as a back-link, which is important for search engine position. |
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8. Choose the redirection methodEach redirection method has different characteristics, and should be chosen to suit the purpose. In this case, choose the ‘iframe’ method, which will display in the browser’s URL box the full address of the web page that you have specified above, instead of the actual destination URL. |
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9. Generate the "redirect" fileClick the ‘Generate file(s)’ button. The ‘Link-Cloak’ software generates a redirecting file, with the file name that you specified in |
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10. Specify the FTP settingsClick the ‘FTP’ button, to open the ‘FTP’ form. Specify the settings that allow you to connect to your web site by FTP. This is where you specify a deeper sub-directory path, if you need it. |
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11. Upload the "redirect" fileClick the ‘Upload’ button. The redirecting file that you generated in step 10 is uploaded to the folder on your web site that you specified in steps 3 and 4. |
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12. Test the "redirect" fileClick the ‘Test’ button, to display the destination web page in a browser window, after the redirection has taken place. Notice in the screen-shot below that the full path of the file you specified in step 5 is shown in the browser’s URL box, as if the visitor were still on your own site, but the content of the page is actually that of the URL in the ‘Link to cloak’ textbox that you specified in step 2. The ‘Link-Cloak’ software has passed along your affiliate ID invisibly, and ensured that you earn the commission if the visitor buys anything. |
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13. Generate the hyperlinkClick the ‘Generate link’ button, to display the HTML code for the hyperlink. Click the ‘Copy’ button, and paste it into web pages, e-mails, or anywhere you wish.. The link appears as the "anchor text" that you typed in the ‘Link text’ textbox in step 7. When the mousepointer hovers over it, your own URL is displayed in the status bar, but, when clicked, it leads to the final destination web site, i.e., the cloaked link.
Try it yourself. Here is the link that was generated in this example of the ‘Link-Cloak’ software: |
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For examples of other important reasons why you might want to cloak links, see the Support page.
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Get free Internet marketing tips, and stay up to date with Abacus software…
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From time to time, Abacus Data Systems will give you advice and tips on the use of link-cloaking to improve your Internet marketing efforts, and keep you updated with Abacus software development news.
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