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On my page if I link to an affiliate link it is usually long and gives no indication of the site. Example a cj link or shaleasale link.
If I do this is it ok with google or will it hurt?
Lets say my domain is mydomain.com and the affiliate link sells swimming pools.
I link like this:
<a href="swimming-pools.html"> Swimming Pools</a>
Which goes to a refresh page on my site then onward to the affiliate site using there link.
Any problems with this?
Thanks.
from my experience this doesn't really matter. In most cases, you are interested in promoting your site and not the affiliated one (even if you wanted to, the affiliate site you link to is just a copy of the affiliate site of another affiliate, with just a small difference in the URL. Google does not like the same content on different URLs, so this site will rarely get ranked high.
Google won't follow the long link in most cases anyway, but this should be ok as long your own site is ranked ok.
If you make a redirect, it could be better for your statistics (you see how many people clicked, and from your partner you see how many of them bought, so you can calculate a conversion rate).
Should be no difference, except for statistics. Google is more interested in the anchor text, anyway.
Hope this helps.
Which goes to a refresh page on my site then onward to the affiliate site using there link.
Sounds to me like you want the rewards, without the work?
Which goes to a refresh page on my site then onward to the affiliate site using there link.
You mean an auto redirect right? I have an affiliate that does this and I don't like it. I wanted a link, not something that looks sneaky and bleeds referrals.
I didn't know about it until I saw a link under me in the SERPs with my title & their domain & a stupid redirect back to me--not good.
IMO, use a redirect only when it's absolutely required, not as an optimization tool, to which it surely is not.
Thanks dirkz for your reply, it answeared my question fully with a follow up question below.
I'm sorry whiterabbit and skipfactor I do not understand your comments "want the rewards, without the work" and "bleeds referrals".
All I am trying to do is get people to "Your" site if I was an affiliate of yours. Instead of showing a strange affiliate link like everyone else in the browser when the mouse is put over it, it shows my site still. Or on some affiliate links so the surfer cannot remove my affiliate link code or number.
(/widgets.html") Click (/a) to See Widgets at so and so's or a keyword very much related to my site and the site going to.
Goes to this below: - or do I have this wrong?
Note: the surfer is taken to the sharesale site and is also redirect by them to the end product owners page.
<html>
<head>
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="Writer 2">
<meta http-equiv="REFRESH" content="0; URL=http://www.shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantID=XXXX&userID=xxxx&productID=x53xxxxxxx">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<p> Onward to a Great Company.
</body>
</html>
Should a no index meta tag be included or would that hurt my google ranking for out going links?
Thanks.
1) simplifies managing affiliate links. For instance, if you have multiple text links across a large site to a given affiliate, point all your links at your redirect page (affiliate.php) and set the affiliate link there. That way if you want to change the link, you only have to change it in one place.
2) sometimes the 301 page gets picked up directly by the search engines. So they will index the merchant's site with your tracking codes. If someone clicks the link in the results, you get credited for the resulting clicks and sales. Skipfactor doesn't seem to like this, but if you ask me, merchants should be fine with this. It gets another of their pages into the SERPs = more sales. (I'm actually both a merchant and affiliate so I can see it both ways)
Camster
