Cloaking turns 'verylongtrackingURL?ref=12345' into 'yourdomain.com/recommends/product.' Cleaner, brandable, and easier to update everywhere at once. But some platforms ban cloaked links.
30%
click-through lift on cloaked links
Pinterest
the #1 platform that bans cloaked URLs
$99/yr
typical premium cloaking tool cost
01
Why cloak in the first place
Trustable URLs, easy bulk updates when a program changes, click tracking, and the ability to swap out an affiliate program without rewriting every post.
02
Top 3 cloaking tools
Pretty Links (free + paid, WordPress only), Lasso (paid, beautiful product boxes + cloaking), ThirstyAffiliates (free + paid, very mature plugin).
03
Where NEVER to use cloaked links
Pinterest (instant suspension risk), Amazon Associates (must use raw Amazon URLs), most email platforms (deliverability tanking).
04
Cloaking best practices
Use a /recommends/ subfolder. Disclose anyway. Set 'nofollow sponsored' tags. Never use bit.ly for affiliate links — it screams spam.
Key takeaways
If you only remember four things
- Cloaking lifts CTR ~30% on blog posts.
- Never cloak on Pinterest or in Amazon links.
- Use /recommends/ subfolders for clean URLs.
- Pretty Links is the easiest start. Lasso is the prettiest output.
Written by
Priya Kapoor
Senior Editor
