Does Adding Affiliate ID's to Link Affects it's Value
-
Hello,
I have a question about adding Affiliate ID's to links.
I receive a DoFollow link to my website with an affiliate ID in order to track the leads and the traffic that comes from each affiliate link/website.
-
does this link (with the affiliate ID) pass Juice from the affiliate website? (I use canonical link element on my website pages)?
-
how does Google deals with links with affiliate IDs ?
-
is adding Affiliate ID to links reduces it's value?
-
-
I think affiliates are basically advertising that is paid based on performance and we know that Google wants advertising links to be no-followed. No-following the links would be the safe route to take.
-
For your questions:
-
If it's a straight link like this http://domain.com/page/?affiliate_id=123, yes that will pass juice
-
If you're using variables in the url string like this ?var=123, Google will ignore the ?var=123 and treat the link as a URL without the variables. You can apply special tags that let Google know that the variables are important if they are necessary.
-
No adding an affiliate ID or variable to a link won't reduce it's value as long as you don't rewrite the link and use some sort of fancy redirect. Many affiliate program software use a link schema to track links that they generate.
If you're an affiliate program and you have links pointing to your site, the links shouldn't pass any SEO juice. Google can treat that as a way of purchasing links and penalize your site for buying links. What you can do is setup a sort of redirect for links by using affiliate program software to handle tracking or using a subdomain redirect that stops the juice from flowing from the website promoting your products.
-
-
I suggest you take a look at the following Q&A explaining the implications of having affiliate links pointing directly to your site and how to deal with that: http://moz.com/community/q/blocking-affiliate-links-via-robots-txt
Hope that helps!
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
-
Directory listings for a new site and it's implications on SEO
Hi all, In classic newb style I have submitted my new site to several uk directory listings after seeing these listings used by competitors, both local and national. I chose ones with a low-spam score as shown on the Moz site explorer. Now my domain score has jumped up several places over a few days, as has my search position, but will these listings "hurt" in the future? I fully intend on chasing and gaining non-quick'n'easy links in the future for he record. Many thanks!
Link Building | | UkPod0 -
Better to place linked-back article or post article and seek multiple links?
Which option is better for SEO purposes: 1. Author article for trade journal in return for link back to my home page. 2. Post article on my site and solicit links from multiple sites. Assume links all have moderate authority.
Link Building | | Lysarden0 -
Backlinks vs External Links vs Referral Links vs Outbound links
Hello all, I was just wondering if you could explain the difference between all the links above? I'm confused as they all seem to be the same or similar and I would just like to clearly know what distinguishes them from eachother. Thanks for your help, Jayne
Link Building | | NCOREGSEO0 -
Domain Authority and Page authority for external links. What's the difference in value?
Hi Guys. I understand the difference between page authority and domain authority in terms of how likely that page is to rank. But what about a links from a high DA site, but from a low PA page? We’ve identified a client with extremely high DA (73/100), but their blog page has a PA of 1/100. Would a link from this page be pretty much valueless due to the low PA? Or would it still be quite strong as the DA is so high? Perhaps you could point me to some good reading or Moz post on this topic? Thanks guys. Isaac.
Link Building | | isaac6631 -
Perhaps the SEOMoz beginner's guide should be updated?
I was on the phone tonight with a site owner who may have been affected by Penguin. I was explaining how overuse of keywords with anchor text can adversely affect a site and he asked me an interesting question: "If that is the case, then why does the SEOMoz guide say differently?" Here are some quotes from the SEOMoz beginner's guide: "Anchor Text - One of the strongest signals the engines use in rankings is anchor text. If dozens of links point to a page with the right keywords, that page has a very good probability of ranking well for the targeted phrase in that anchor text." That pretty much implies that you should try to get as many keyword anchor texted links to your site as possible. There should probably be some type of Penguin warning in here. "Self-Created, Non-Editorial - Hundreds of thousands of websites offer any visitor the opportunity to create links through guest book signings, forum signatures, blog comments, or user profiles. These links offer the lowest value, but can, in aggregate, still have an impact for some sites. " Granted, the text goes on to say this: "In general, search engines continue to devalue most of these types of links, and have been known to penalize sites that pursue these links aggressively. Today, these types of links are often considered spammy and should be pursued with caution." That's a good warning, but I think it could be perhaps made a little more clear that self made links like this are not wise to use as an SEO tool. I think that to a beginner, it kind of sounds like the guide is saying, "There are lots of opportunities out there where you can get a link by making one yourself. Go ahead and use them but don't overdo it."
Link Building | | MarieHaynes6 -
Eric Ward's urlwire.com - worth a $500 investment?
I'm after a turbo boost (direct and indirect) to my site's SERPs. How beneficial is URLwire.com? Anyone here used it? Worth $495? Given that Matt Cutts has said links from PR sites don't pass link pop, would URLwire fall into this category? (I'm aware the idea is also to generate backlinks from other referring sites). Thanks
Link Building | | Jeepster0 -
Text Link vs image link?
Which passes most link juice a text link or an image with the correct 'alt' attribute? Do the pass the same amount or is one more valuable than the other?
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
My client's first press release...what to do?
My client is in the clothing, apparel tshirt industry geared toward a specific music icon. They have a few competitors, my spider senses tell me I will be able to get them great SERP standing, and place them in a very competitive position. Their company has been around for a while but has never written a press release. I had them craft a PR on the subject of cotton prices and how it has affected their business. A local paper will pick this up no prob. Where is the best place to go? It is not like it is breaking news, I dont want duplicate content, and I need an experts advice. I will provide more details if needed. Thank Mozzers!
Link Building | | Giggy1