Affiliate Links

Affiliate links track referrals for commission — but raw tracking URLs are long, opaque and undermine the trust that makes affiliate content effective. Short links make them clean without breaking the tracking.

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Definition

Affiliate links are URLs that contain tracking parameters or affiliate redirect paths that identify the referring affiliate to the merchant's affiliate programme. When a visitor clicks an affiliate link and completes a qualifying action (purchase, sign-up, download), the tracking system attributes the conversion to the affiliate whose link was clicked and calculates the corresponding commission.

Affiliate URLs are typically long and visually complex — they contain the merchant's tracking domain, the affiliate's ID, campaign codes and sometimes product identifiers. This complexity serves the tracking system; it does not serve the audience who sees the link.

How Short Links Work with Affiliate Tracking

A branded short link pointing to an affiliate URL preserves all tracking parameters while presenting a clean, recognisable link to the audience:

The affiliate's tracking codes are in the destination URL — they are passed through the redirect and received by the merchant's tracking system. The short link does not interfere with tracking; it only changes what the audience sees before clicking.

Programme Terms: Always Check First

Before shortening affiliate links, verify that the affiliate programme's terms of service permit it. Policies vary:

• Generally permitted: most affiliate programmes and networks allow link shortening as long as the affiliate relationship is disclosed and the tracking parameters are preserved in the redirect destination.
• Restrictions apply: some programmes require the original affiliate tracking URL to appear in the link without modification. Some prohibit "link cloaking" — a term that overlaps with but is not identical to URL shortening.
• Amazon Associates specific: Amazon's terms have historically had specific requirements about affiliate link presentation — review current terms directly on the Associates programme page, as these terms are updated periodically.

When in doubt, contact the affiliate programme manager to confirm their policy before implementing short links for their URLs.

Disclosure Requirements

In most jurisdictions, affiliate relationships must be disclosed to audiences. Using a branded short link does not eliminate or substitute for this disclosure requirement — the disclosure must still be made in the content (text, video description, post caption). The short link makes the visible URL cleaner; it does not change what must be disclosed.

Standard disclosure language: "This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you."

Analytics Benefits for Affiliate Marketers

Every click on a Cuttly short link for an affiliate product provides independent analytics: total clicks, device breakdown, country, referrer source and timing. This is separate from and complementary to the affiliate programme's own click reporting.

Comparing Cuttly's click count with the affiliate programme's reported click count reveals discrepancies — clicks that Cuttly recorded but the affiliate platform did not, which may indicate tracking failures at the programme level that are causing lost commission attribution.

For creators managing many affiliate relationships, separate short links per product and per placement (blog post, YouTube description, social bio, email newsletter) enable per-placement performance comparison — identifying which content type and which placement drives the most affiliate engagement.

Related Terms

• Branded Links
• Link Analytics
• Conversion Tracking
• UTM Parameters
• Link in Bio