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Link shortener for Affiliate Marketing

Cloak, brand, and track your affiliate links across every channel.

Want to keep your links, edit them, or see full analytics?
Create a free account on ClickDash to get started.

Raw affiliate URLs are long, ugly, and stuffed with tracking IDs. They also give your affiliate network all the click data — and you none of it. Branded short links cloak the underlying affiliate URL, give you portable click stats, and let you swap programs without changing the URL anyone sees.

Why a short link helps for Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate URLs are long and untrustworthy-looking

Amazon, Impact, ShareASale, CJ — all generate URLs full of tracking IDs and parameters. Branded short links replace these with yourbrand.co/recommend.

You have no click data of your own

The affiliate network sees who clicked. You see the conversions they choose to report. A short link in front of the affiliate URL gives you your own click record.

Switching programs breaks every old link

Promote Amazon today, switch to a direct partnership tomorrow — every old short link can be re-pointed to the new destination, no need to update old posts.

How to use ClickDash for Affiliate Marketing

  1. 01

    Shorten each affiliate URL

    Replace yourbrand.co/?ref=affil with yourbrand.co/recommend or yourbrand.co/<product>. Clean, brandable, repeatable.

  2. 02

    Tag with UTMs for cross-channel attribution

    utm_source=blog, utm_source=youtube, utm_source=newsletter — so you can see which channel converts best for each program.

  3. 03

    Drop the short link wherever you promote

    Same short link in your blog post, YouTube description, newsletter, and tweet. ClickDash analytics shows total clicks plus per-source breakdown.

  4. 04

    Re-point when you switch programs

    Move from Amazon to Impact for the same product? Update the short link's destination once. Every old reference still works.

Tips for Affiliate Marketing

Use clear slugs, not random ones

yourbrand.co/best-laptop converts better than yourbrand.co/x7q2 — readers trust what they can read.

Disclose the affiliate relationship clearly

Cloaking is fine; deception is not. Clear disclosure ("affiliate link") plus a clean short URL is the right balance.

Use one slug per recommended product

Stable, memorable, reusable across all your channels — and analytics roll up cleanly per product.

FAQ

Affiliate Marketing link shortener FAQ

Common questions about using ClickDash for Affiliate Marketing.

01Is affiliate link cloaking with a short link allowed?
Yes — most affiliate programs allow cloaking with a redirect, as long as the underlying affiliate URL is unmodified. Always check your program's terms.
02Can I track conversions, not just clicks?
Conversion tracking happens on the affiliate network's side. Short link analytics show clicks; the network shows what those clicks bought.
03What's the best link shortener for affiliate marketers?
Any with branded domains and per-link analytics. ClickDash adds password protection (useful for testing affiliate URLs privately) and file sharing (for lead-magnet PDFs that drive affiliate signups).
04Will Amazon ban my account if I cloak links?
Amazon Associates allows redirects through your own domain as long as you don't modify the underlying affiliate URL. Read their TOS to be safe — they have updated rules over the years.
05Can I A/B test affiliate links?
Yes — two slugs to two different affiliate URLs (e.g., Amazon vs direct). Compare clicks and conversions to find the better-paying option.
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