It has been proven that a good percentage of internet users will not click on an affiliate link. I'm not quite sure why this is but it's true. For some reason what some folks will do when they see an affiliate line to a site that they're interested in checking out will just type the site's web address directly into their browser bypassing the affiliate link. It's quite possible that this person will then make a purchase but there'll be no commission for you.

Fortunately, since it's now been known for quite some time that a considerable amount of people will not click on affiliate links, there are websites that are devoted to helping you create a link that more people will click on.

One of the first sites that I can remember to come to the rescue was Namestick. Namestick offers a service that allows you to register a domain name of your choice. After you have your domain name you can then use that as your affiliate link and anyone clicking on that link will be redirected to any site you want. You can create subdomains that allow you to redirect people to other affiliate sites as well. That way you don't have to register a new domain name for every affiliate program that you're promoting. The only drawback to Namestick is the fact that there is some cost involved in using their service. I think the cost is reasonable but never the less there is a cost.

More recently there are sites like TinyUrl that help with the affiliate link problem. What TinyUrl does is provide a free service that allows you to convert your affiliate link into a link that has tinyurl as the domain and follow by a few numbers and/or letters. For a while this was an effective method of solving the affiliate link problem and it probably still is somewhat effective. The thing is that now most people know that when they see a TinyUrl link it's more than likely an affiliate link and I believe people are now starting to avoid clicking on these links as well. But, with that said let me point out that TinyUrl literally host millions of redirect links so their service must be helping a lot of people and as said before, they do it for free. Up until recently I used their service quite a bit.

Now for some people Namestick, TinyUrl, and other similar services are the best choice but for others there also another choice that may actually be better.

There is now software available that will allow you to do your own link cloaking and redirecting from your own website server. In fact I found a piece of software called Link Guard that you can download totally free. Not a free trial but free to use forever and let me tell you, since I've downloaded it and started using it I can't believe I got by without it. The only drawback to using a program like Link Guard is the fact that you have to have a register a domain name and get web hosting in order to use it. But considering that you can now get domains and web hosting for such reasonable prices it might be worth it just to be able to use this software. If you want to find out more about Link Guard I have an article on my blog that explains it in detail.

Hopefully this article has opened your eyes to a problem that once corrected could increase your affiliate commissions considerably. In fact Namestick states on their site that your commissions could increase dramatically and I for one believe it because I have seen the difference it has made on my campaigns. The point I'm trying to make is don't just blow this off as no big deal because I and many other affiliate marketers think it is a big deal.

Now you know the problem and you also know some ways to solve the problem. So check out the above options and make it a point to implement one of them. If you don't you might as well just be throwing money down the drain.