Affiliate link redirection and SEO

Etienne · 09-13-2010, 09:24 AM

I have my products on Plimus and Clickbank and am now switching to use mostly e-junkie shopping cart to track affiliates. Something I realized recently is that all these affiliate tracking systems use 302 redirection, which means that any affiliate link doesn't help me for SEO at all. For various affiliates on the Internet who promote my stuff in exchange for money, that's fine. However, when I want to put a link on my friend's website and give him commission in exchange, that doesn't work. I would be better simply exchange direct links.

My question is... is there a way to have links help my SEO while also giving people a commission?

D Baker · 09-13-2010, 01:58 PM

Good question... I would also like to find out more about this.

Etienne · 09-27-2010, 10:03 AM

What I will do is link exchange with relevant websites. I'll put some links on the footer of my home page and they'll do the same. I'll do that for relevant websites I support who have an Alexa ranking below 1000000. If they publish my product to their mailing list, however, they will use the affiliate link.

I also had another idea. Affiliate links don't give SEO benefits because they do a 302 redirection (and thus the shopping cart system gets the SEO benefit?). What happens if people arrive to an url that looks like this
shamanicseduction.com/?p=kH3p
From there I would do a 302 redirect to the affiliate link which would do another 302 back to my website. I would have an internal TinyUrl system in some way. What would happen?

The affiliate would have the choice of using non-SEO friendly URL or cloacking it in a SEO-friendly way. If he wants to bring traffic through search engines to make referal money, he would obviously use the non-SEO friendly link. If he wants to support my brand and business, he would use the link pointing directly to my website.

What would be the impact of this? Would it work?

John Hocking · 09-27-2010, 11:28 AM

Affiliate links will not pass on rank to your site.

If your friend wants to get credit for a sale in your affiliate program, he/she will have to use the affiliate encoded link to set the cookie and get credit for the sale.

Etienne · 09-27-2010, 11:39 AM

What happens with a 302 redirect from Plimus to my website?

Does the SEO benefit go to Plimus, or is the link considered like a "nofollow" link?

A 301 redirect passes the SEO benefit to the target URL. A 302 redirect doesn't pass any SEO benefit, but does it keep any for itself?

John Hocking · 09-27-2010, 12:24 PM

301 redirect means that the content has been permanently moved to new location and the search bots should index the destination

302 redirect means the content has been temporarily moved to a new location. Most of the time bots will look at the destination.

In this article, Matt Cutts talks about how Google handles these redirects.
SEO advice: discussing 302 redirects

09-13-2010, 09:24 AM	#1
Etienne Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Around the World Posts: 56 Thanks: 0 Thanked 16 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking	Affiliate link redirection and SEO I have my products on Plimus and Clickbank and am now switching to use mostly e-junkie shopping cart to track affiliates. Something I realized recently is that all these affiliate tracking systems use 302 redirection, which means that any affiliate link doesn't help me for SEO at all. For various affiliates on the Internet who promote my stuff in exchange for money, that's fine. However, when I want to put a link on my friend's website and give him commission in exchange, that doesn't work. I would be better simply exchange direct links. My question is... is there a way to have links help my SEO while also giving people a commission?
	Self-Transformation Specialist (RSS) What is alchemy, animal magnetism, charisma, emotions, sexual attraction and spirituality

09-13-2010, 01:58 PM	#2
D Baker HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 351 Thanks: 33 Thanked 61 Times in 46 Posts	Re: Affiliate link redirection and SEO Good question... I would also like to find out more about this.
	Find out What's Working For me Now on my Blog and if you are looking for some Honest IM Reviews than you should definitely read some of mine. Product Launch Domination Blueprint - My Latest WSO! PINGBACK POWER - Free WordPress Plugin

09-27-2010, 10:03 AM	#3
Etienne Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Around the World Posts: 56 Thanks: 0 Thanked 16 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking	Re: Affiliate link redirection and SEO What I will do is link exchange with relevant websites. I'll put some links on the footer of my home page and they'll do the same. I'll do that for relevant websites I support who have an Alexa ranking below 1000000. If they publish my product to their mailing list, however, they will use the affiliate link. I also had another idea. Affiliate links don't give SEO benefits because they do a 302 redirection (and thus the shopping cart system gets the SEO benefit?). What happens if people arrive to an url that looks like this shamanicseduction.com/?p=kH3p From there I would do a 302 redirect to the affiliate link which would do another 302 back to my website. I would have an internal TinyUrl system in some way. What would happen? The affiliate would have the choice of using non-SEO friendly URL or cloacking it in a SEO-friendly way. If he wants to bring traffic through search engines to make referal money, he would obviously use the non-SEO friendly link. If he wants to support my brand and business, he would use the link pointing directly to my website. What would be the impact of this? Would it work?
	Self-Transformation Specialist (RSS) What is alchemy, animal magnetism, charisma, emotions, sexual attraction and spirituality

09-27-2010, 11:28 AM	#4
John Hocking 10minuteexpert.com War Room Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montgomery City, MO , USA. Posts: 1,182 Thanks: 91 Thanked 143 Times in 95 Posts Social Networking	Re: Affiliate link redirection and SEO Affiliate links will not pass on rank to your site. If your friend wants to get credit for a sale in your affiliate program, he/she will have to use the affiliate encoded link to set the cookie and get credit for the sale.
	STEP-BY-STEP INTERNET MARKETING VIDEOS You can get access to over 47 hours of Internet Marketing Videos on Afilliate Marketing, Article Marketing, Blogging, Content Management Systems (CMS), Creating Membership Sites, Creating Videos, Generating Traffic, Selling on eBay, and Social Media

09-27-2010, 11:39 AM	#5
Etienne Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Around the World Posts: 56 Thanks: 0 Thanked 16 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking	Re: Affiliate link redirection and SEO What happens with a 302 redirect from Plimus to my website? Does the SEO benefit go to Plimus, or is the link considered like a "nofollow" link? A 301 redirect passes the SEO benefit to the target URL. A 302 redirect doesn't pass any SEO benefit, but does it keep any for itself?
	Self-Transformation Specialist (RSS) What is alchemy, animal magnetism, charisma, emotions, sexual attraction and spirituality

09-27-2010, 12:24 PM	#6
John Hocking 10minuteexpert.com War Room Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montgomery City, MO , USA. Posts: 1,182 Thanks: 91 Thanked 143 Times in 95 Posts Social Networking	Re: Affiliate link redirection and SEO 301 redirect means that the content has been permanently moved to new location and the search bots should index the destination 302 redirect means the content has been temporarily moved to a new location. Most of the time bots will look at the destination. In this article, Matt Cutts talks about how Google handles these redirects. SEO advice: discussing 302 redirects
	STEP-BY-STEP INTERNET MARKETING VIDEOS You can get access to over 47 hours of Internet Marketing Videos on Afilliate Marketing, Article Marketing, Blogging, Content Management Systems (CMS), Creating Membership Sites, Creating Videos, Generating Traffic, Selling on eBay, and Social Media