Will editorial links with UTM parameters marked as utm_source=affiliate still pass link juice?
-
Occasionally some of our clients receive editorial mentions and links in which the author adds utm parameters to the outbound links on their blog. The links are always natural, never compensated, and followed. However, they are sometimes listed as utm_source=affiliate even thought we have no existing affiliate relationship with the author. My practice has been to ask the author to add a rel="norewrite" attribute to the link to remove any trace of the word affiliate.
I have read that utm parameters do not affect link juice transfer, however, given the inaccurate "affiliate" source, I wouldn't want Google to misunderstand and think that we are compensating people for followed editorial links.
Should I continue following this practice, or is it fine to leave these links as they are?
Thanks!
-
Thank you Eric. It's definitely a gray area, I had considered your suggestion about requesting the author change the source parameter to something other than affiliate- and that's a great idea too.
I welcome more dialogue on this from others who may have some input.
-
I would think the parameters wouldn't count, but the root URL would (eg; search engines ignore anything after the "&" or "#" in the URL). I think Google devalues affiliate links, because those aren't "editorial" links - they're essentially paid links. It's really hard to say whether the links will be determined as "affiliate" by Google since the author is adding that in the tagging (that word may serve as a flag). My recommendation is to reach out and ask if they can change that URL tagging, since you're not an affiliate and don't want to be seen as one. UTM parameters are common for campaign tracking, and they don't influence the URL in terms of passing juice or whatever, so really you can put whatever you want. Those exist so you can define attribution models more effectively to learn what campaign provides the best ROI for your company/website.
I'd try to change that parameter, and maybe making the case that the author adding parameters like that to your URL is hurting your tracking (getting mixed in with real affiliates). It seems kind of weird to me that an author would add a tracking parameter like that without someone asking, but maybe that happens more than I realize.
Let me know how it works out - I haven't seen this case before so if others have experience I'd be interested to see how people have handled it in the past.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Do old links from my own unrelated subject websites improve or hinder my rankings?
Several years ago I placed links on two of my other websites I own and control one my old company about CCTV installation and the other one is the official website for actor Sir Roger Moore. The links are going to my holiday cottage letting website http://www.endeavourcottage.co.uk/ and at the time I wanted to improve my rankings with these links which are still there. The vast majority of my other inbound links are natural and are on other people's websites with some diversity regarding the anchor text. So my question is the old links on these unrelated subject websites which are also stored on the same web hosting company causing a problem and would it be beneficial to remove them to leave them in place? Also several years ago I set up two other websites at the same hosting company also promoting holiday cottages in the same place thinking I might have more bites of the cherry, but they've produced very little traffic and are not ranked at all well, but they do links to my main letting website, could these because in a problem? My domain authority seems to be equal to some of the companies which are higher placed for the short tail keywords on page 1 of Google and they have less inbound links, although they are usually bigger companies and I know many things which influence rankings. I am trying strategies to improve the rankings, which have dropped to a small degree over recent months.
Industry News | | WhitbyHolidayCottages0 -
Are you affected by the Gov't shutdown or is it just your .gov links?
With the shutdown came the take down of sites such as http://www.usda.gov/ and even: http://nsa.gov/ (even though http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/nsa.gov says its up UPDATE: now down). Those .gov links might not be worth as much (pun somewhat intended) But here comes an actual question as I was thinking about this, I am really curious... Did your SEO efforts suffer in anyway due to the government shutdown, or is it too early to tell yet? PS Isn't it also interesting that Google's homepage is choosing to celebrate Yosemite's National Park 123rd anniversary when all National Parks are to be closed in our nation? Tfe85nN.jpg
Industry News | | vmialik0 -
Is this still Google?
My niche, my concern.
Industry News | | webfeatus
http://www.google.com/search?q=jimbaran+villa
My site just dropped out of the rankings completely. But if you look at the Google search above you will notice 2 things:
1. First page: 75% of space above the fold is dedicated to Google making money
2. Subsequent pages: It is like you don't actually search "Google" If you flip through a few pages what you actually search is:
agoda.com
flipkey.com
tripadvisor.com
homeaway.com Do I have a point or am I simply having a cynical day?1 -
Same Hosting IP - Will it hurt same type of business ranking?
Hi, I am curious if example: There is 2 plumbing company and both using the same Singapore hosting
Industry News | | chanel27
and same IP, Will Google give less ranking to these 2 plumbing sites because Google might think that they are the same company and they are duplicate website even when their content is totally different. Does Google rank different hosting IP address better for the same business?0 -
Does Google still have a standard search result? How can I get it?
I have heard a lot from the experts that there are no "Standard" Google search results anymore. They said that most of the SERP's of Google that show up are customized/tailored for each individuals even if they are not logged-in using their Google Custom Search. My questions are, Is there still a way to retrieve the standard Google search result? How? Are these scripts will be helpful when searching on Google? *webhp?
Industry News | | RafaelRanada
*complete=0
*pws=0 watch?v=B8ofWFx525s B8ofWFx525s watch?v=B8ofWFx525s0 -
Bing beats google to disavow links
You can now disavow bad links in Bing WMT, google has stated they will be doing the same, this should shake up the rankings when many sites get penalties lifted http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/webmaster/archive/2012/06/27/disavow-links-you-don-t-trust.aspx
Industry News | | AlanMosley1 -
Hello, Actually I have bit of doubt. If I create Google plus business page. Will it helpful or effects for my website ranking?
If I create Google plus business page. Will it helpful or effects for my website ranking?
Industry News | | jaybinary0 -
Who is going to Searchlove London? Will you stop and say hi?
A massive part of the conference is meeting people. I went last year and would like to make sure I meet as much of the moz community as I can this year. If you are going to be there please let me know and we can all make a point to say hi I'm debating whether to go back to the mohawk hairstyle for the conference, for ease of recognition 😉 Cheers and hope to see you there Stephen
Industry News | | firstconversion0