I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, but I couldn't find the exact topic I'm looking for. In light of the latest Adwords attack on affiliate sites, I'm pretty much giving up PPC and focussing on article marketing and SEO. It's going to involve many hours of work to get things on track again and I want to be sure I'm heading in the right direction. I have a basic understanding of SEO, but there's LOTS I still don't understand. Based on a training manual I purchased when I first became an affiliate marketer, I have purchased different domain names that I use specifically for the purpose of redirecting to cloak my affiliate link. I have no direct affiliate links on my site. I have a feeling that is what has saved my sites from being slapped up to this point by Adwords. I've noticed that almost all of my competition is no longer running ads for various products. I'm sure my days are numbered and it's just a matter of time before I get shut down also. Several of my sites are generically ranked on page one of Google at the present time, but I keep reading that Google doesn't like redirects or "doorway pages." I'm not sure I really understand what a doorway page is and if what I'm doing would be considered a doorway page. I've also read that some are predicting that the Adwords crackdown is just the beginning -- that it will eventually extend to Google generic listings also. I just don't want to be doing something that in a couple of months will cause my site to get completely shut down by Google. Can anyone tell me if using these redirects is something that can get my site banned or have a negative effect on my page ranking, either now or in the future? In case I haven't explained myself very well, what I do is purchase a domain -- xyzproduct.info -- and use it as the link on my site, but I have it redirected it to my affiliate link so that the affiliate link itself doesn't display on my website. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
redirecting and cloaking will definately hurt search engine ranking, not sure if your site will get banned. you are better off creating a site containing the affilate product information and let your visitors click to get to the affiliate page.
Not sure if I'm understanding what you're saying when you say "create a site containing the affiliate product information and let your visitors click to get to the affiliate page." I have a site that is a pre-sell page. The visitor clicks the affiliate link to go to the publisher's site. I guess I'm not understanding the difference between that and what you're describing. Could you clarify what it is you're saying, please? Thanks!
what you are doing is probably ok, just make sure your page don't just contain link to one site, because that is a gateway, and search engine don't like it. someone correct me if i am wrong
No Lynda, what you are doing should be OK. Search engine cloaking will get you in trouble but that's a totally different animal. Link cloaking or link redirects should not get you in trouble. Some are saying that you need to start no following affiliate links though. So you might want to add no follow. Here's a discussion about it and more info. Nofollow Affiliate Links or Google May Penalize You