Managed URL
A redirect URL on a domain you control that points to your underlying affiliate URL. Update the destination in one place; every platform using the managed URL reflects the change instantly.
A managed URL is the evolution of "link cloaking" with two upgrades: the redirect lives on a hosted service independent of your website, and the destination is actively monitored. You post go.affiliyo.com/headphones (or similar) on YouTube, your blog, your newsletter, your link-in-bio. When the underlying Amazon ASIN rotates or the destination breaks, you update one entry in a dashboard and every platform pointing at that managed URL instantly redirects to the new destination.
The advantage over plain affiliate URLs is operational. With raw URLs, fixing a broken destination means editing every video description, blog post, and newsletter that referenced it. With managed URLs, you fix it once and stop editing content forever.
Related terms
Link cloaking
The practice of replacing an ugly affiliate URL with a clean, brand-friendly URL on your own domain that redirects to the affiliate destination. Originated in WordPress plugins like ThirstyAffiliates and Pretty Links.
GlossaryAffiliate link
A URL that contains a tracking parameter identifying you as the referrer, so the merchant can credit you a commission when the click converts to a sale.