Redirect to Affiliate script via htacces - Is that risky?
-
Hi,
We are offering an affiliate programme to publishers. The problem is that the links to the Affiliate Script are very user-UNfriendly (something like http://scripts.affiliateprogramme....../..../....)
I would like to give them a simple url:
www.website.com/PublishersPage
And then redirect this via HTACCESS to the script link (which would then send them back to us).
Would that be a problem for SEO? for Google?
Thank you for your help.
-
If I understand this correctly, you are the merchant, and you have some affiliate software. Your affiliates will come to your software and get these links to use, which are not clean? You then want the affiliates to have a clean URL to use to link to you?
That's actually done very commonly by many experienced affiliates already. In terms of SEO, most affiliates that I know set their affiliate links to go through a sub directory link like /go or /jump. That directory typically gets blocked in the robots.txt file, so that those links will be completely ignored by spiders - so as a merchant, you'll still get the clicks, but won't get any SEO benefit from doing that.
It really is better if you can just use an affiliate program that gives your affiliates clean links in the first place. The cleaner your links are, the less likely that affiliates will think to cloak the links on their own websites, and use some techniques that reduce any SEO value of those links for you. For your affiliates, the simpler / easier you make it for them - the better results you're going to see from your program.
-
I don't see this being a problem directly. You will have some advantage in the way of citations and links to
www.website.com/PublishersPage from the affiliate websites, but then these links will then redirect to the script via .htaccess and then back to your website.
How many affiliates are we talking ? If you think from the affiliate perspective, they'd like it as well I am guessing because if I am the affiliate, I would love to link to www.website.com/PublishersPage vs http://scripts.affiliateprogramme....../..../....)
Do yes, definitely consider doing it. Your affiliates are going to love it. I don't see a lot of merchants doing this. This is definitely something unique.
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
-
Will GA Autotrack affect affiliate sites not using autotrack?
I want to add autotrack.js to affiliate quote forms hosted on my site. However, I do not know how it will affect affiliate websites (not associated with my quote forms, but with the same Google Analytics code, that do not use autotrack. I read that "Autotrack is not an official Google Analytics product and does not qualify for GA Premium". Will it harm my affiliates in any way to have autotrack on their quote form but not on their websites? It will have their GA website tracking number.
Affiliate Marketing | | RoxBrock0 -
Can 302 chains (affiliate links) from "toxic" sources hurt you? Or are you "shielded"?
Hi, I'm going through some affiliate links, which send visitors to our website via a chain of several 302 redirects Some of them are relevant links, others perhaps not so much. I know that Google doesn't pass PageRank on 302s... But are they still considered valid links that pass, let's say, "reputation", "relevance", "link neighbourhood" kind of signals? Otherwise put, is a 302 similar to adding the "nofollow" attribute on a link? Sort of? Not at all? More succinctly put, should I be worried about "toxic" sources separated from us by 302 redirect chains? By the way, yes I recognize that (Google's 302 redirect chain handling aside) associating our brand with perhaps what some might consider spammy websites is not in general a good move; I'm concerned with the technical SEO implications here however. In fact, this technical information may very well help drive decisions/policies on where we allow our affiliate advertising to appear. Thanks 🙂 PS - The affiliate company by the way is cj.com if that helps
Affiliate Marketing | | ntcma0 -
Affiliate Programs
Hi, I am wondering what if any affiliate management applications are being used out there. Anyone using Shareasale... I am looking into them.
Affiliate Marketing | | unikey0 -
Affiliate site
I have a client I am doing SEO work for. He sells a system that helps people win at video keno. He sells a system for like $200 that shows people step by step how to play and win. Its a good site and he has a ton of verified winnings. My point in saying that, its not a fly-by-night system he wrote in his basement. I know - gambling, not easy for SEO. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Wouldn't this potentially be perfect for affiliate marketing? He offers a good commission to whoever sends him traffic if they buy. If anybody could direct me to a resource or two that is reputable and would handle as much of the set up and management of this I would be very grateful! Thank you! Matthew
Affiliate Marketing | | Mrupp440 -
How to prevent affiliates from bringing negative SEO?
Hi there, I'm just about to integrate iDevAffiliate network for one of my sites, however it occurred to me that affiliates may (unfortunately) resort to black hat methods without me becoming aware of it, which could pass negative link juice to my site. Is there any way to use affiliate networks such as iDev without causing this problem? I was thinking of simply using a different URL, but the problem is that 301 redirects won't mitigate the issue. Thanks!
Affiliate Marketing | | freeunlocks0 -
Please recommend an affiliate program
I'm a bit surprised there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on their already on SEOMoz, so I'd appreciate any insight into this for a client of mine who is a currently a startup There are lots of options from massive brand names like Google and Amazon right down to countless services I've never heard before. For a smaller start-up with a technical edge. specifically service subscriptions for the webcam / video camera type of market, what would be an effective and cost friendly options to explore? Any shared experience is very appreciated. Here is a list that pretty well captures the top 10, so these are all under consideration: http://www.problogger.net/archives/category/affiliate-programs/ Cheers, Chris
Affiliate Marketing | | cbubinas0 -
Will giving a blogger an affiliate url to my site reduce her links' seo value to me?
If a blogger were to write a post about one of my products and link to my product page, would giving her an affiliate url to link to rather than the normal link spoil the seo value of the link? So instead of mysite.com/product-one it would be mysite.com/affiliate/blogger/product-one Google would think... this is a transaction not a vote of confidence?
Affiliate Marketing | | Brocberry0 -
Best way to start affiliate marketing a new mens magazine website?
I have just started up a new mens magazine website featuring articles, videos, sports news and photos to help drive traffic to the website. I write all the articles myself and do the social media updates in my spare time. I was wondering if anyone has any tips on the best way to start doing affiliate marketing for a new website? I was inspired to do this by successful internet marketers who make a passive income off their websites. So far I have added Amazon and William Hill as affiliate links as I think my target market will be looking for these types of product links. Also, for anyone who has experience in this, how long it taken for your blog to become successful and make money? Many thanks, Alex
Affiliate Marketing | | AlexBarnes0