What is URL masking? Ever wonder what URL masking is all about? You know, the item that uses a shortened link to conceal a website’s actual URL. Well, stop wondering now! We’ll go over exactly what URL masking is and how it operates in this blog post.
We’ll also go over a few advantages of employing a URL masking provider. So, continue reading for all the information you require, whether you’re a business owner trying to safeguard the privacy of your website or just someone who wants to shorten those big URLs!
What is URL masking?
By hiding a URL’s actual location, you might make it more difficult for someone to figure out where you are heading. Although there are several possible drawbacks to take into account, this can be a useful tool for security and privacy. In order to hide the actual destination of a link, developers mask URLs. It’s critical to comprehend URL redirects in order to comprehend URL masking.
Through URL redirections, a domain is sent to a different URL. The URL redirection is categorized by the HTTP protocol.
Three main categories of URL redirection
301 (unchangeable)
302 (located/temporarily moved)
URL frame with mask
When a page on a website changes its destination URL, 301 redirects are utilized. When a website needs to be moved to a new domain, this method is frequently employed.
For a short while, a 302 redirects direct traffic to a new URL. This is a typical A/B test scenario.
When moving your website to a new domain name, search engine optimization (SEO) authority is lost on the new domain. Nevertheless, 90% of the authority of the previous website finally transfers to the new domain via a 301 permanent redirect.
The new website must be verified by Google, a search engine, which may delay how quickly it ranks the new domain. When migrating, some developers utilize 302 redirects to get around Google’s aging delay; however, in this case, a 301 redirect is the appropriate technique to employ.
When using URL masking, both 301 and 302 redirects show the new destination URL in the address bar. With masked redirects, the original name of the address bar is preserved while you access content from a different domain.
In this manner, the URL for each page on your website is your homepage. Masked redirection can also be referred to as domain masking or URL cloaking.
Stated differently, the mask describes the way the URL appears in the address bar. As a result, your user believes they are on one domain when they are actually on another.
When to Hide Websites
Website owners may wish to hide links in certain situations, such as:
Affiliate link masking
To prevent users from realizing they are getting paid for a purchase, some users like to utilize link cloaking.
Link shortening
Long links don’t look good. Rather than updating their domain names, some people decide to abbreviate their connections.
Tracking
To conceal tracking tags in the source URL, some link tracking software use URL masking.
Domain masking can be the answer for you if you want to increase the security of your website or prevent website visitors from knowing where your website is located.
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