How to post affiliate links for free

Since you’re running your own blog and not posting on someone else’s site, you don’t have access to their affiliate links. This means that if you want to earn commission from an affiliate program, you need to find another way of sharing the relevant URLs. You could write out the links manually or look for a plugin that will insert them for you. However, there is a third option that is much quicker and easier: using your own custom URL shortener.

To understand why this is useful, let’s take a look at some of the downsides of using public link-shortening services like Bitly and Goo.co. The first problem is that these services all come with a word-length limit, which means they won’t accept all your links. If you’re thinking “So what? There are lots of other link-shortening services out there, right? It won’t be a problem finding one that doesn’t have this restriction… Right?” Well, no — not really!

Moreover, since they are public services they are also very widely used by other people. Think about how many shortened links start with http://goo . . . In other words, if your blog becomes popular it might become littered with these redirects making it look messy and unprofessional.
With your own custom URL shortener , however, there are no word limits (since it only has to

What is a URL shortener?

A URL shortener is a service that allows you to shorten the length of your URLs. When you shorten a URL, you replace the original long URL with a much shorter version that still directs to the same site. This has the added advantage that it also makes your links easier to remember.

Shorteners are commonly used when sharing links on social media, forums and blogs. Short URLs tend to look cleaner and less cluttered. Some shorteners are free to use, but most require you to pay a small fee.

Why do you need your own custom one?

There are a few reasons: You can control the look and feel of your shortened links, you can set a custom word limit (so you won’t have to worry about them being rejected by the public domain links), and you can use your own domain name (rather than having to visit a third-party domain).

You also have complete control over who has access to your shortened links. When you use a public shortener like Bitly or Goo, you’re at the mercy of the company behind the service. If they decide to discontinue the service, you’ll lose access to those links. With your own shortener, you won’t have to worry about losing the links.

How to build your own URL shortener with Bitly
We’ll walk you through an example of building your own URL shortener with Bitly.

Step 1: Create a Bitly Pro account

In order to create a custom URL shortener, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro account. Bitly is free to use, but its basic tier of service only lets you shorten public links. If you want to create your own custom links, you’ll need to pay for the upgrade.

There is a slight catch, though: It costs money to upgrade.

Step 2: Add your custom domains as authorized domains

You’ll need to add each of your custom domains as authorized domains. To do this, go to the Domains page of your Bitly Pro account and click Add New Domain. Enter the domain name and click Add Domain.

Important: You must add each domain separately.

Step 3: Create your customized short links and start tracking visits!

Go to the Links page in your Bitly Pro account. You can then create your customized short URLs by entering your desired links and choosing the domain to which you want the link to redirect.

When you shorten links with Bitly, you can also track how many times they are clicked. To do this, go to the Sharing page in your Bitly Pro account and select Track.

A custom URL shortener is an easy way of adding a professional touch to your affiliate links. If you’ve got a blog, you probably want to earn some affiliate income from it. To do this, you need to find affiliate products you can review and promote on your blog.

However, you won’t be able to earn any affiliate commissions if you simply share the product’s standard URL. In order to get credit for bringing new customers to the site, you need to post a special link that contains a unique tracking ID.

With a custom URL shortener, you can transform a long, un-clickable link into a short, easy-to-remember URL. This will make it much easier for your readers to click through to the site and purchase the product.