I was reading “Top 10 WordPress Plugins That Affiliate Marketers Need” at MarketingElf.com the other day and came across a really useful WordPress plugin I wasn’t using.
The plugin is called Pretty Link, and it enables affiliates to shrink the huge affiliate links and get a branded URL with the affiliate’s domain name. Plus, the plugin enables affiliates to track clicks, specify the redirection type, and nofollow the link.
The plugin has an interface within WordPress with all of the options, and it also adds a quick Pretty Link took in the WordPress dashboard.
The basic Pretty Link plugin is free, and there is also a Pretty Link Pro version with lots of added features.
Pretty Link Pro provides keyword and URL replacement options, auto creation of Pretty Links to post to Twitter, customization of your Pretty Link base URL and more.
I’ve been using .htaccess redirects for my affiliate links for years, but I really like this slick, easy, time saving functionality.
Time for a change.
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I had not heard of this plugin before but have just downloaded it as it is just what I need. Thanks.
I found out about pretty links in the 2009 30 Day Challenge. The course is free and I think it is hands down one of the best internet courses for newbies.
Wow, this is really cool. I usually custom build a link tool for my sites to hide and track links, but this is a little easier for blogs.
Thanks!
http://www.monkeyknifefight.com
Thanks for the Pretty Link tip. I had considered using it before, but your tip convinced me to go ahead. Looks much better now and is very easy to use.
JD
http://www.MotorcycleInfo.org
I LOVE THIS! I’ve been setting up redirect scrips manually but am finding it very hard to figure out how many visitors are coming through the links. The manual redirect way seems to be pretty useless except to cloak the link. The tracking aspect is just what I’ve been looking for!
Evelyn
http://www.bestaffliateniche.com
I purchased Pretty Link Pro after attending the Blog World Expo ’09 and I love the Plugin. It’s easy to use and setup.
I like that it will automatically create the pretty link (shortened link) for you when you publish your blog post or page. It will automatically tweet your post, but you can also tweet any post again very quickly by using the shortened URL though the plugin.
The creator, Blair, also seems very committed to improving the plugin and responding to users. He was able to help me through the Pretty Link Forum.
I haven’t tried any other link cloaking software, but this one is currently meeting my needs.
Dillon
http://exerciseupdate.com
I’ve been using this for a while now and really like it as well.
The other one I’ve been using is Hide URL – had someone install it for me from Elance, and works well… just wish it showed referrer information and had a little prettier interface.
http://wisdomish.com/?hide-url
Thanks Shawn!
Jonathan
http://www.CarrieAndJonathan.com
Not sure on integration – I didn’t look.
I haven’t seen other WP plugins that I liked enough to switch.
I’m surprised you’ve been using htaccess all the while. There are actually tons of good affiliate link cloaking / redirect tools out there. There’s even a free WP plugin.
I am using Redirection plugin for this ( http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/redirection/ ) which works well, and it’s also for general purpose redirecting. Definitely easier than .htaccess redirects.
Redirection doesn’t seem to have tracking though. I wonder if Pretty Link has any integration with Google Analytics & AdWords conversion tracking ?
It was seamless for me, but you might have trouble if your folder permissions aren’t set to allow it. So you might have to tweak it.
Looks pretty nice. I tried the redirection plugin to do this and also a plugin called the cross-linker but neither worked all that well (especially with the newer versions of wordpress).
That is definitely a great tool. I’m going to have to test drive the freebie version
Lots of cool functionality, but my favorite is just the time savings from editing and uploading my .htaccess file – a few seconds saved here and there make a difference!
I’ve been using Pretty Link Pro for a few weeks now and the affiliate link cloaking aspect works great. I like having stats for the links as well as options when the links are followed. More powerful than htaccess or even php redirects.
Other cool featrure is ability to auto update Twitter with new posts using your cloaked links. A cloaked link back to your post will help in branding your website or blog as opposed to using url shortening services like TinyURL or Bit.ly.
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