Affiliate links in post effect ranking ?

12 replies
  • SEO
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If a post has affiliate links can this effect its rankings in SERPS ?

I had a very popular post and i decided to add an affiliate link, then i notices a massive drop in rankings for that post.

Is it just coincidence ? or is the link i added ?
#affiliate #effect #links #post #ranking
  • Profile picture of the author roneidaselva
    No affiliate links will not effect the ranking. Condition the link should be related to post on your website. You just need to take care of relevancy and quality.
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  • Profile picture of the author kithara
    The links was relevant to the topic but after seeing the timing of the SERP drop just 1day after adding the link am having second thoughts.
    I removed the link from the post hoping to return in top serps
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  • Profile picture of the author erange
    I'd say it's coincidence or it got crawled again because you touched it...

    A link isn't going to affect SERP...but it might effect whether content is approved with some of your directory submissions (...if you're doing that.)

    Eileen
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  • Profile picture of the author Tiiberiuss
    It could be.

    Google doesn't like certain types of affiliate links especially those of ClickBank and other popular CPA / aff networks. Even worse if you used some nasty cloak.

    On the other hand ... there has been some changes with search results for some niches and you just might got affected.

    So far I wouldn't do much of a deal from this and wait for a few days.
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  • Profile picture of the author DPM70
    I started an Amazon affiliate blog out of curiosity for Amazon earnings and another income source but made sure every post offered something over and above what Amazon (or any other source selling the product, for that matter) has been offering in terms of information about each product. All I have basically been doing is putting more content on the page for each product. I have at least three outgoing amazon affiliate links on every single post (one or two are direct click images and the others are text links). Not pretty linked, not cloaked, not nofollow not nothing - straight up bare amazon aff links. My traffic and earnings have been going up steadily since Christmas with every post I put out, literally.

    I created a Pinterest account, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and G+ and I share relevant niche related info and am gradually building a following and sometimes tweeting , pinning, facebook sharing my own stuff amongst a load of other niche related stuff. I've done 1 Youtube video, but it was a slide share spammy type video, I have to admit. But I have been commenting and gaining followers/subscribers on that channel. I created a brand with image and identity and that goes everywhere.
    It's not A REAL BUSINESS! It's an affiliate business where I'm better at SEM than the REAL business. **On many variations of long tail keywords**

    A couple of decent high PR links (My own niche related bought, expired domains) and a few comments where Google alerts shows me something big is happening in the niche. (Very few links in general, don't care if they're nofollow or follow - indeed most are on News sites that you log into and are nofollow).

    Thing is, I've seen no problem whatsoever with having Amazon affiliate links on my site. I think I can say this about any affiliation I've done since 2009. I'm almost certain that affiliate links on the site make no difference to the rankings. As long as you remain within reason and the rest of your SEO/SEM is sound. By within reason I mean I wouldn't have 10 outgoing aff links on a page with 100 words of text. My articles are long, in depth and include multimedia.
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  • Profile picture of the author trade4861
    I post affiliate links like crazy, sometimes 20 per page and without adding nofollow...never seen a drop in rankings because of it. Some of these sites are years old and still generating good traffic and cash. I've even had pages increase position after adding affiliate widgets.

    I have seen slight traffic decrease with major Google updates, but I don't think it was related to adding links. Google just has a way of favoring authority sites with there updates.

    With that said, you never know what Google has planed for the future. Offer unique and valuable content. The content you post may have the biggest effect on your rankings. If your content is weak, you'll likely lose position soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author kithara
    Its the timing of this event that puzzled me.
    My content is well written and informative and thats why it was ranking so well
    one thing i noticed it that although my listing in the serps dropped a lot, the posts image which is highly relevant still ranks well. Just not the listing that used to be first page.
    The SEPRS are full of video listings instead from you tube.. makes you wonder.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    Google is looking for something beyond just non duplicate content. They are looking for substantial added value. Google spokespeople have said they want to see a great site with some affiliate links, rather than a site that exists just to push affiliate product,
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  • Profile picture of the author ArielT
    Well, just update us what happen after removing the affiliate link
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  • Profile picture of the author kithara
    I had a small increase in traffic after removing the link, but no way near my initial traffic volume.
    I will update if i have any news.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Thomas
    Might as well return the link
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  • Profile picture of the author milindpatil
    Am frantically searching for the solution and effects of .....
    Till now i am undecided reading some blogs saying it doesnt affect, and some say they affect.
    The juice of what i read and experienced is

    1>. affiliate especially amazon is killing google adsense business, in the search results amazon is king and the targeted adverts are suffering due to this. So google is trying to push links (sites) which contain more affiliate links.

    2>.personal experience is drastic fall in Organic seo due to affiliate links (amazon).

    3>.Some say cloaking helps, but till now it doesnt help.

    4>. finally i feel that google is what all of us think of and focus only on google results, well thats not wrong as the its business driving till now. but i feel we should also focus on other search engines also.

    this is all i got to know from reading n number of blogs, i am yet undecided of to keep the links or remove. for time being i am promoting through all possible ways pinterest FB..also email marketing which was last option earlier for me.
    Hope some one finds better solution and we soon get out of this trap.
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