Conservative estimates say that anywhere from 10% to 40% of affiliate sales are lost to internet pirates. They rob you of your sales by stealing, bypassing or otherwise mutilating your affiliate link.

It is time to do something about this to stop these pirates from taking away your sales. And yes, there is something you can do.

"Redirecting" is one effective solution. It keeps your entire affiliate identity from being shown and only a domain name will be shown. What you do is set up a domain name and the redirect will show only that.. It will forward to the link you want to go to and your affiliate identity will remain secure. Redirecting will also give your business more credibility and customers will have more trust in you and your business.

When you choose a keyword-loaded domain name, you want it to be professional and appealing, something that portrays you personally and portrays your business. Also keep it simple and easy to remember.

Now, how do you choose a company that will forward or redirect for you. Here are some features to look for when deciding. A good company to use will:

-have only a one-time fee for set up of your domain name.

-not have a monthly hosting fee.

-not require you to buy software, now or in the future.

-offer domains that can be bookmarked. The customer will see your domain name when he goes back to the site and you will get the commission.

-offer unlimited sub-domains. This way you can manage several affiliate programs with one domain name.

-allow you to optimize search engine indexing. Most normal affiliate links rarely are indexed. You want a domain company that is designed to be indexed by all major search engines. This will allow you to quickly and easily change your title, mega description and keyword tags for your domain name.

-be user-friendly for your amount of skill. You do not want a company that requires expertise to use it.

E-mail forwarding is also something some companies offer. In this case your e-mail contact information will also only show your domain name.

Using these guidelines will help you to find the right company to secure your affiliate identity and help you to build a reliable business.

Redirecting is an answer to keeping your online affiliate identity secure. It will only cost you pennies a day and give you the security of not losing sales to internet pirates.