What is a link rotator?
A link rotator, sometimes called an url rotator or traffic rotator, is a link that automatically splits traffic to multiple destinations, based on chance.
When a user clicks on a link, it’s similar to a roulette wheel as to which destination they go to.
If they click on the link again, they might end up going to a different destination.
How do link rotators work?
Link rotators are normally a feature of url shorteners (usually not mainstream ones like Bit.ly, but ones built for marketers).
When you create a link rotator link, you add multiple destinations, and the amount of traffic you will want to send to each.
When a visitor visits the link, the link rotator’s server generates a random number, and allocates a destination, in the proportion you defined.
Why use a link rotator?
The main reason to use a link rotator is to test multiple offers or landing pages with the same marketing.
For example, you might show two different offers in equal proportion, and count which had the higher revenue:
Sticky link rotators
Sometimes, you might want to make a link rotator sticky.
This means that when the same user clicks twice on a link, they always go to the same destination.
This means the roulette wheel spins only once for the visitor, and then stays ‘stuck’.
Why use a sticky link rotator?
If you are showing different landing pages to different people (for example, if you are running an A/B test), once a user has been allocated a landing page, you don’t want to confuse them by sending them to a different landing page.
How do sticky link rotators work?
Sticky link rotators work by saving a cookie on the user’s browser that identifies them.
When a click comes through again with that cookie attached, the link rotation service knows which destination to send them to.
Free link rotators
There are a number of free link rotators available on the internet.
One is LinkSplit. It offers 2,500 clicks per month free, but you have to pay after that. You also have to pay to use your own domain.
There’s also TPMRotator. TPMRotator has less restrictions than Linksplit, but they show adverts between clicks unless you pay.
Here’s the shameless plug (you knew it was coming!). Linkly offers free link rotators with custom domains and no ads, and offers 2000 clicks per month for free.
Paid link rotators
Outbound link management software tends to have link rotators as a feature.
Perhaps the best known one is ClickMeter.
ClickMeter used to offer a free plan, but alas no more.
One of the features of ClickMeter is link rotation:
ClickMeter’s product is most suitable for people with content heavy websites who do a lot of affiliate marketing, or people doing marketing across social media channels.
AdsBridge is another:
Adsbridge is geared towards people buying paid advertising to market affiliate schemes.
Finally, Linktrackr is a great choice. Linktrackr is nice (it’s more modern than ClickMeter, and cheaper than AdsBridge).
Linktrackr’s link rotator is similar to Linkly’s:
We used Clickmeter and Linktrackr in our previous business and thought they were both fine tools.
Link Rotators and Conversion Tracking
If you’re showing different offers to different people, you’ll often want conversion tracking too.
Conversion tracking is the process of recording not just which URL a visitor went to, but what they purchased.
You can do conversion tracking just fine with Google Analytics (and I recommend you do that):
You might want to track it in the link rotator software too.
Conversion tracking is generally a feature only of paid products. All of the paid options listed offer conversion tracking.
Linkly offers conversion tracking on its free plan as well, but is limited to 2000 clicks per month.
Link Rotators for A/B Testing
Combined with conversion tracking, the main purpose of link rotators is for A/B testing.
While most link rotators allow you to split traffic between any number of destinations, normally you’ll just want to compare two destinations.
Link Rotators and SEO
GoogleBot is generally treated as a normal human visitor when it visits a link rotator.
This means Google will get redirected to one of the two destinations.
Most link rotators use a 301 type redirect, which is normal on the internet, and Google knows how to handle this.
Linkly has a feature to block search bots like GoogleBot:
There isn’t, however, a compelling SEO reason to do this.
If you are split testing different versions of a landing page, you may want to use a canonical tag, so Google knows which one to save in its index.
You can also exclude a page
When not to use a link rotator
Some split testing software, such as Visual Website Optimizer, can automatically show variants on the same URL.
In cases like these, you don’t need a link rotator.
… An updated list with the best link rotators currently available on the Web.
There are many services offering to rotate and redirect links on the web – even for free. You need to choose one you can rely on based on the importance of the link and quantity of traffic you need to redirect.
Is it more important to save money or to get a reliable and scalable service? How many link rotators do you need to create? Do you need to track conversions associated with the rotator?
CLICKMETER LINK ROTATOR
Includes all the features from ClickMeter and has many redirect possibilities:
unlimited rotators, clocking, conversion tracking, 15 redirect types, affiliate tools, share reports, sub-accounts.
Fully hosted on Amazon – plans start from FREE.
360 URLz
Stats available, one link rotator with unlimited URLs.
Plans start from FREE.
FREE LINK ROTATOR
Unlimited URLs to rotate. No stats available.
Hosted – plans start from FREE.
FREE ROTATOR
Unlimited Rotators and Unlimited URLs per Rotator.
Several Rotator Types – Random, Least Hit, Sequential and Weighted / Ratio.
Public Rotator Stats Option.
Hosted – plans start from FREE.
LINK ROTATOR PRO
50 link rotators, 100 URLs per rotator.
Some stats available.
Hosted – plans start from $7.95 per month.
PAGE SWIRL
Unlimited rotators with the Pro version.
Live stats.
Hosted – plans start from FREE.
PRO ROTATOR 5.0
Unix or Linux Web Hosting Account required.
One time payment of $47.
ROTATEZIT
Unlimited link rotators, unlimited URLs.
Not many ways to rotate. No stats available.
You need to install it on your servers – plans start from FREE.
ROTATOR 4 PRO
Unlimited link rotators and unlimited URL’s per rotator with the Pro version.
Detailed stats come with the Pro version, but only last 7 days.
Plans start from FREE.
TPM ROTATOR
Unlimited URL Rotator.
Live stats.
Hosted – plans start from FREE but come with advertisements.
My CLICK BOSS
Unlimited URL rotator.
You need to install on your servers – $87.