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How many affiliate links per page?

by Wickaman
13 replies
How many links should I have on my affiliate site? Right now I have four per product, plus a price comparison table that updates automatically. This typically has 1-5 links depending on which companies are carrying certain products. I feel all my links make sense and that I could even place some more. My fear is Google will penalize me. I have about 70% custom content. Including a custom review, pros and cons section, and advice and tips area.

I spend a lot of time researching and setting up these pages trying to please the Google gods and don't want it all ruined by links, but I feel if I take some of these links out I will be hurting my conversions. Any advice?
#affiliate #google #links #page
  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    I do not ever use many since I lost some websites due to Google from ranking.

    I usually do a single page per product and my link is in there two to three times. I have no ads in the widgets except for that one product and I do not use other type of ads on my sites.

    I also when building a blog or forum do not use affiliate links for 1 to 3 months depending on the site, to give it a good foothold on Google first.

    Do I know if my tactics work, I know they work for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author seonutshell
    About two or 3, should be fin. Hey do you know what the wordpress plugin is thats good for amazon? Its a widget but stays in the same place when you scroll down, so its always on screen.
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  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    I know what you are talking about, does that help any lol. dont know where it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author dsuitor
    Install a HTML OPT in Form :-) Never Put Affilaite Links on your websites even if the are cloked google still sees where there going- Or you could create a page with a no index and no follow meta tag :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
      Thats fine if you have deep pockets and can do mainly paid traffic, Most peoples traffic is over 80 percent google though so I would not use no index.

      I do cloak my links but not for google, I use pretty links for me.

      I do not think three or so affiliate links is going to hurt you. I have not seen a difference on those site for the worse and they are a little better since the google updates.
      Originally Posted by dsuitor View Post

      Install a HTML OPT in Form :-) Never Put Affilaite Links on your websites even if the are cloked google still sees where there going- Or you could create a page with a no index and no follow meta tag :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author bertosio
    I would use 2 normally and 3 ata maximum but i do have 2 banners that are on every page as well
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    Used Narrowboats For Sale
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  • Profile picture of the author danlew
    If I were you, I would rather place one affiliate link at my CTA (call to action) message rather than more. Google may find it quite spammy and poor quality, once your site has too many affiliate links in a single page.
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    http://virtualhelper247.com
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  • Profile picture of the author HamzaW
    See Spencer Haws' case study on how he got smacked from Google for too many affiliate links and then bounced back immediately after removing some of them.

    How to Get a Google Penalty Using Affiliate Links (And How to Recover) | Niche Pursuits
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    The Fastest & Easiest way to Get Your Landing Pages Online - with Built-In Split Testing, Geolocation and Analytics.

    Now on an UNBELIEVABLE monthly deal => SplitLeads.com
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    • Profile picture of the author Wickaman
      I also have two ads per page. These ads are handpicked and very relevant to the content on the page. I see sites all the time that have five times the ads I do and they are ranking, so I can't see that being an issue.

      I also have a buying guide that list 15 products and does an overview for each one to help the consumer decide which is best. I have one call to action link at the end of each item. I rank well for this page and have made decent money, but my traffic is dropping off considerably.

      And my price comparison table is good for the consumer. They can easily check prices and click over to a website to buy. Removing these links not only hurts my conversions, but takes a convenience away from them. It's a tough decision.
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  • Profile picture of the author AffiliateWaves
    Two links per page is good.

    I think most of us put links on our websites ,so completely removing them from websites is not a good idea as they are good source of income,and everyone of us don't have enough knowledge of email marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    As many are necessary to create a quality piece of content?



    Avoid link-stuffing, and instead focus on making a practical document.

    A few prominently and strategically links will be superior to a link-stuffed page

    Just my $.02
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  • Profile picture of the author Ted Stevenson
    It's always good to place links within your content as long as you feel they are necessary and provide value. If you are worried about them looking like affiliate links, you can setup a simple redirect through a wordpress plugin. Just don't go crazy with links and be sure to link to other pages on your site and other reliable resources.
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    • Profile picture of the author Wickaman
      Originally Posted by Ted Stevenson View Post

      It's always good to place links within your content as long as you feel they are necessary and provide value. If you are worried about them looking like affiliate links, you can setup a simple redirect through a wordpress plugin. Just don't go crazy with links and be sure to link to other pages on your site and other reliable resources.
      I have a ton of links that are not affiliate links as well. I use pretty links, but that is just to make everything "pretty". Not trying to cloak and hide them from Google or anything. I'm adding content and value, so I hope I don't get punished for the links. I feel a couple of my other sites may be already getting hit, but that's yet to be proven.

      I do have email opt in strategies too, but most people who come to my site are ready to buy and the products they buy are only bought once, so I think focusing on the links themselves is more beneficial. I have managed to get a few opt ins though.

      Are the other search engines as picky as Google?
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