Redirecting to Your Affiliate Link Can Save Your Commissions

Do you know anybody that doesn't have an affiliate account with Clickbank? They are so easy to get, anyone but a complete novice has one. So, if you see an ad for an interesting Clickbank item, it's all to easy to substitute your own Clickbank name and collect the commission yourself.

Here is the format for a Clickbank link. The "AFFILIATE" portion of the link is the Clickbank name of the person who will claim the commission. The "PUBLISHER" portion of the link is the Clickbank name of the product creator.

http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net

Of course, if you are promoting Clickbank products you can suffer the same fate when a potential purchaser replaces your Clickbank name with theirs and steals your commission.

But, there are ways you can help prevent losing commissions from Clickbank or any other affiliate program. Using a non-affiliate link that redirects the purchaser to the affiliate purchase link is one method,.


== Redirection Using JavaScript

With JavaScript redirection, the link on your sales page goes to another page on your site. That page has JavaScript code that automatically sends your visitor to the affiliate link.

You can place JavaScript redirect code within the HEAD section of any page on your site. Then, when you send your visitor to that page, they are redirected to the affiliate link. Here is an example (Brackets are substituted for greater than and less than signs.)

[script type="text/javascript"]
[!--
window.location = "http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net"
//-->]
[/script]


== Redirection Using Subdomains

Another way is to use a link to a subdomain on your site. For example, Godaddy.com will allow you to create 90 subdomains for each URL. Each subdomain can be redirected to any URL you want. So, you could have a URL like http://thisproduct.mydomain.com redirect the visitor to your affiliate link. Your link will simply appear to the purchaser to go to another area of your site.


== Redirection Using URL "Shortening" Services

You can also use links to sites that are built just for the purpose of redirection. Some of these sites include tiny.cc, shortenurl.com, notlong.com/links/, metamark.net, or any of several other free services. These services take your "long" affiliate URL and shorten it.

As an example, the generic Clickbank URL above has been shortened to http://asecret.notlong.com, which appears nothing like a Clickbank link.


== Redirection With Ad Tracking Software and Services

You can also set up redirection with programs on your server or commercial ad tracking programs you see advertised on the Net.

Ad tracking applications not only redirect your visitor, but they keep track of the time a link was clicked, the page on which the link was clicked, and other details. This can be particularly helpful when gaging the level of success of an advertising campaign.


== Conclusion

By displaying a non-affiliate link and then redirecting the purchaser to the affiliate site you can often prevent your commissions from being stolen.