Here’s a rephrased version of the article:
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I’ve partnered with Lasso for this review, but all opinions are my own. Enjoy!
**Update March 17, 2022:** I encountered a frustrating glitch on Making Sense of Cents that took hours to fix. Disabling the Lasso plugin stopped the issue. I’ve contacted Lasso but haven’t heard back yet. While I can’t be certain it’s related to Lasso, proceed with caution until it’s resolved.
**Update April 25, 2022:** Still no response from Lasso.
**Update July 10, 2022:** Final update – still no word from Lasso.
In 2016, I launched my affiliate marketing course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. As an expert, I often get asked about the best WordPress plugin for managing affiliate marketing.
For years, I used PrettyLinks for its simplicity. But now, there are more robust options that can help you make more money from blogging. One such option is Lasso, a popular affiliate marketing plugin for bloggers.
Lasso is a WordPress plugin designed to boost click-through rates and simplify affiliate link management. I’m excited to see how it will improve my blog, Making Sense of Cents, and my overall blogging business.
**What is Lasso?**
Lasso was created by a team of online business owners who needed a better way to manage affiliate links. Andrew Fiebert, one of Lasso’s cofounders, also runs the popular money blog Listen Money Matters. Since I’m new to Lasso, I’ve included screenshots from his dashboard as I get to know the plugin better.
With Lasso, you can fix broken links, discover new products to promote, and create user-friendly custom displays for your affiliate products. Here are some features of Lasso:
– **Add any affiliate links:** Lasso works with any affiliate link you want to add.
– **Get link alerts:** Identify and update broken or out-of-stock links site-wide.
– **Simplify Amazon affiliate marketing:** Manage Amazon products easily by copying and pasting URLs, and Lasso will grab the product data.
– **Find monetization opportunities:** Lasso scans your site for recommended affiliate programs and helps monetize specific keywords.
– **Get useful insights with Google Analytics:** Track which links and pages earn the most clicks by adding your Google Analytics ID.
Lasso offers more than just link-cloaking; it provides comprehensive tools to enhance your affiliate marketing strategy.
**Switching to Lasso from Another Plugin**
If you’re hesitant to switch from your current affiliate marketing plugin, Lasso makes it easy. You can import affiliate links from other plugins using Lasso’s import tool. Test Lasso by importing one link at a time or use the bulk import feature. Lasso supports imports from popular plugins like Pretty Links, AmaLinksPro, GeniusLink, EasyAzon, and AAWP. If Lasso isn’t a good fit, you can revert the links back to their original state.
**Lasso Dashboard**
The Lasso dashboard, accessible directly from your website, lets you monitor all your affiliate and product links in one place. The dashboard displays:
– Affiliate URL
– Product name
– Image
– Link group
– Total number of links across your site
You’ll also see alerts for broken links, out-of-stock products, and monetization opportunities. Clicking the broken link icon shows every broken affiliate link on your site, making it easy to replace or change them. The dashboard also alerts you to out-of-stock products, allowing you to update links to avoid frustrating your readers.
**Adding Affiliate Links to Lasso**
Adding affiliate links to Lasso is straightforward. Copy the product URL and paste it into Lasso’s dashboard. For Amazon products, Lasso automatically pulls the images. For other programs, you’ll need to upload the image yourself.
**Opportunities Function in Lasso**
Lasso’s “Opportunities” feature helps you find additional ways to monetize your site by identifying affiliate programs, keywords, and content that are not yet monetized. For example, if you mention a product like the cashback app Earny but haven’t monetized it, Lasso will find all mentions of the keyword and suggest adding affiliate links. Lasso also has a database of nearly 2,100 affiliate programs, making it easy to join new programs.
**Tracking Affiliate Link Data**
Lasso allows you to track your affiliate link performance by connecting it to Google Analytics. You can see which links perform best and identify your most profitable blog posts. This helps you refine your monetization strategy.
**Cost of Lasso**
Lasso offers a free 14-day trial. After that, it costs $29 per month or $289 per year (which includes two free months).
**Summary**
Lasso has many features that can help any blogger improve their affiliate marketing income. It offers link cloaking, custom displays, broken link alerts, out-of-stock product alerts, monetization opportunities, and analytics. Lasso is a valuable tool for anyone looking to enhance their affiliate marketing strategy beyond just link cloaking or shortening links.
I hope you enjoyed this Lasso review! You can try Lasso with a 14-day free trial.
What affiliate marketing plugin do you use? What questions would you like me to include in this Lasso review?