Raw affiliate URLs are a solved problem, and the solution should not cost you a monthly SaaS subscription. WB Ad Manager’s link cloaker turns long, tracking-laden URLs into clean branded short links, tracks every click server-side, and lets you update a destination in one place when a merchant changes their URL. This guide covers the full setup from installing the feature to reading your first click reports.
What the cloaker does
A cloaked link is a server-side redirect. When a reader clicks yoursite.com/go/coursera-react, your server receives the request, logs the click, and immediately redirects the visitor to the actual affiliate URL. The visitor lands on the merchant’s site in under a second. You get a running click count for every link.
Three practical outcomes:
- Cleaner URLs that work better in social sharing, are easier to type, and do not get tracking parameters stripped by copy-paste.
- A click count per link so you can see which offers readers actually click, alongside the merchant’s dashboard. Pro adds a referrer breakdown that shows which posts send the clicks.
- Single source of truth for destinations - when Amazon changes an ASIN or a merchant restructures their URL, you update one entry in the cloaker and every post linking to that slug picks up the new destination automatically.
Step 1: Enable the cloaker feature
After installing WB Ad Manager (free), go to Links in wp-admin. The cloaker and the ad manager are independent features, and both are included in the free plugin.
Step 2: Add your first cloaked link
Go to Links > All Links and click Add New Link. The fields:
Destination URL. The full affiliate URL including tracking parameters. For example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L5TNJHG?tag=yoursite-20
Slug. The short identifier that goes after /go/ in your branded link. Keep it readable and descriptive: amazon-kindle-paperwhite, coursera-react-course, bluehost-hosting. Avoid generic slugs like link1 - you will not remember what they are in six months.
Link title. An internal label for your own reference. This is what shows in the cloaker management list and reports.
Redirect type. Choose 301, 302 or 307 per link. The plugin defaults to 307, a temporary redirect, which suits affiliate links because merchants change destinations. A 301 is permanent and gets cached hard, so pick it only for a link that will never move. What Google’s guidance on affiliate links asks for is the rel attribute, not a particular redirect code, and the plugin adds rel="nofollow sponsored" to the link attributes when you use it as an anchor href.
Notes. Optional field for tracking commission rates, merchant program details, or expiry dates on promotional links.
Save the link. Your branded URL is now live at yoursite.com/go/your-slug.
Step 3: Use the link in your content
In any post or page, link to the branded URL the same way you would link to any other page. In the block editor, highlight the text, click the link button, and type or paste yoursite.com/go/your-slug.
The cloaker intercepts requests to /go/ paths automatically - no shortcode, no special formatting required. Every click on that link is tracked regardless of whether the reader is on the homepage, a single post, a category archive, or a search results page.
Step 4: Read the click counts
After your first links are live and getting traffic, go to Links > All Links. The Clicks column shows a running total for each link, and you can sort by it.
| What you see | Where |
|---|---|
| Total clicks per link | Free, in the Links list |
| Top referrers (posts and pages) | Pro, in advanced link analytics |
| Country and device breakdowns | Pro, in advanced link analytics |
The click total alone already tells you which offers are worth keeping. The referrer data in Pro is the most actionable metric for content decisions. If your referrer report shows that one article from two years ago is sending 60% of clicks to your top affiliate program, that article deserves a refresh, a featured spot in your navigation, and internal links from newer posts.
If the referrer report shows an even spread across 40 posts with no standout performer, that is a different signal - distribution is good but no single piece of content has broken through. Focus on building depth on the topics around your best-performing affiliate programs.
Updating a destination when a merchant changes their URL
This is where the cloaker pays for itself on a long-running content site.
Go to Links > All Links, find the link, and click Edit. Change the destination URL field. Save. Every post and page on your site that links to that slug now redirects to the new URL automatically. No search-and-replace across the post database. No broken links in old articles.
For a content site with three or more years of posts and multiple affiliate programs, this scenario comes up several times a year. Merchants restructure URLs, rename products, change program platforms, or shut down entirely. Managing this at the slug level rather than the post level is the architectural advantage of cloaking.
Importing from ThirstyAffiliates or Pretty Links
If you are switching from ThirstyAffiliates or Pretty Links, WB Ad Manager Pro includes a CSV importer. Export your links to CSV from the old plugin, map the columns (URL, name, slug), and import.
The cloaking prefix is configurable, so if your current links use /recommends/ or a custom prefix you can keep the same paths. Existing backlinks and internal links do not break because the redirects pick up the same slugs.
The import is a one-time operation. After import, manage all links through WB Ad Manager.
A few common questions
Does cloaking affiliate links violate AdSense policies?
No. Google’s AdSense policy prohibits cloaking links to AdSense ads. It does not prohibit cloaking affiliate links to merchants like Amazon, Shopify, or Booking.com. WB Ad Manager uses a standard temporary redirect with no DOM injection or interstitial. Compatible with AdSense by default.
Should I nofollow all cloaked affiliate links?
Yes, and the plugin gives you the controls. Google recommends rel="sponsored" for paid and affiliate links, with nofollow as the older alternative. In the link editor there is a checkbox for each. New links come with nofollow ticked and sponsored not ticked, so tick sponsored on every affiliate link. These attributes are for search engines. They do not replace telling your readers about the relationship, which the FTC expects to be visible next to the recommendation itself.
What if I want to rotate between two merchants for the same product category?
Rotation between multiple destination URLs for a single slug is available in WB Ad Manager Pro. The rotation can be even (equal split) or weighted (send 60% to Merchant A, 40% to Merchant B). Click-through rates per destination are tracked separately so you can see which merchant converts better for your audience over time.
Can I set an expiry date on a promotional link?
Yes. The Notes field accepts any text, but if you set an end date in the scheduling field the redirect deactivates automatically on that date. Useful for limited-time promotional URLs that would result in a 404 on the merchant’s side after the promotion ends.
Getting started today
The link cloaker is part of the free WB Ad Manager plugin - no license key, no quota, no monthly fee. If you have ThirstyAffiliates or Pretty Links installed, you can migrate and retire that plugin in under an hour using the import wizard in Pro.
For a guide to setting up display ad zones on the same install - getting banners into your sidebar, in-article, and header positions - see our post on placing your first ad zones.