Firstly a guy over at http://studge.com/hiding-links-with-php-and-counting-clicks-with-mysql/ has made a superb and very easy to follow guide on cloaking links using php while being able to count the clicks for each link using a mysql DB.  Very clever little script you can include on any site in about 5 mins. 

The other source was http://teamtutorials.com/web-development-tutorials/how-to-redirect-affiliate-links which gives another great php based affiliate link cloaking solution.  

A few people also pointed out how straightforward it is to just use the htaccess file to perform the actual redirects. Instead of using any specific programs or scripts you can in fact just type the following 

Redirect /cloaklinks http://xxxxxxx.cloaklinks.hop.clickbank.net/ 

Into your htaccess file and you can the direct people to  

www.coffeeblack.co.uk/cloaklinks   

Instead of the long affiliate link. 

Which brings me to the final recommendation which is the Affiliate Link Cloaker software. I normally dont recommend paid software but around 8-10 people have suggested this software to me now so i started to take notice. When you have multiple sites all promoting different programs this now seems to be the best tool going. I have linked straight to it using www.coffeeblack.co.uk/cloaklinks so you can see how a htaccess redirect works and visit it in one go Good luck increasing your affiliate commissions.

Unfortunately the word “Cloak” has now been linked closely with black hat tactics and some people now question any time you mention the word Cloaking. 

This post is to try and explain how affiliate cloaking works and the reaons for it as affiliate link cloaking serves two useful purposes.

1. It allows you to have a link which appears aesthetically pleasing
2. It allows you to protect your affiliate links from “Commission Thieves” or untrusting members of joe public who think it is a scam of some sort.

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The email was from andy jenkins and brad fallon. you have probably been on the receiving end of some well fashioned emails from them at some point in the past. one of the things that brad and andy do better than anyone else is create a need for an item.

You will never get a one time offer from them. You will get a one time offer that you heard about weeks ago and now it has arrived it has blown everything else out of the water and is going fast but there is still a couple of spaces left if your quick enough.

What this email said, and the reason I have chosen to post about it, is that they have some proof that you can kick pages out of google using proxies. I have read through and i understand the basics that you use a proxy to give google another “Home page” in effect removing the usual index.htm

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Every now and then someone will take already great idea and combine it with something completely different to make one Superb idea.

I think this is superb.

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The answer, I advised them, is google adsense revenue sharing. The way this works is that the google adsense adverts shown on the site will show The Tattoo Forum id for 50% of the time and the other 50% it will show the id of anyone who posted in that particular thread.

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Setting up a niche blog network can be challenging and managing it after its launch can be an even more daunting task so I have put the following together as an example of what I believe to be “Best Practice” for the problems you will face, but also what the potential profits and benefits are.

Now the first thing you will be looking at is how to set up the individual blogs on your network and call me old fashioned but I do like the manual way of doing things.

I say get you’re hosting with Cpanel and click through to fantastico and press install on the wordpress button.

The funny thing is that most people don’t even realize there is an automated wordpress setup built into every Cpanel hosting account but before you even do that you need to look at the following few points before you dive in.

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“The collective wisdom of 37 leaders in the world of organic search engine optimization.”

Well you cant ask for more than that can you.

On a serious note I do base parts of my search engine audits on some of these results and the info contained on these pages is very valuable as it is an insight into the way other SEO consultants may work.

Take a look for yourself. Ranking Factors v2

I recently got asked for it after one of my auctions on eBay and i uploaded it to another of my sites so here it SEO Made Easy PDF

Enjoy and if you have any questions about it you can contact me by email. info@coffeeblack.co.uk

I guess that saves me a load of work anyway.

So here is the link to the page which has every resource you should need to manage your indexing and ensure your site is indexed as best as possible.

Managing Pages and Being Indexed by Search Engines

• SEO Audit. This includes an in depth study of your current website to determine what can be done to improve your sites visibility and ranking in the search engines.
• Keyword Research. Do you know what keywords you should be trying to optimise for? Do you know which ones everyone else is optimising for?
• Link Building Services. Directory submission to full bespoke solutions. Link building packages start at just £50 for up to 200 fresh links
• Consultation from website planning stages onwards. Do you know what mistakes you will make in the design of a website which will cost you thousands to change later in the life cycle? I can provide guidance and best practice advice from concept stages onwards.
• I specialise in competitor analysis. If you would like to know what your competitors are doing and how they are doing it then we offer several packages. contact us for details

For any of these or a fully bespoke package please contact me by emailing

info@coffeeblack.co.uk