Google & Pretty Link Plugin

Discussion in 'Google' started by gmr324, Jun 13, 2013.

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  1. #1
    I am developing a new site. However, I have a question about the latest wisdom on using link cloaking in sites. My new site is a women's fashion site where I am posting Top 10 Product articles. Within these articles, I want to make the product images be clickable with affiliate links created using Pretty Link plugin.

    So, this leads to 2 questions:

    1) Is there any problem with having up to 10 affiliate links on a page/post?

    2) Does Google interpret link cloaking as a deceptive spammy practice intended to mislead the site visitor?


    Look forward to your response

    George
     
    gmr324, Jun 13, 2013 IP
  2. Nusaint

    Nusaint Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Hello George,

    I run a web design and inspiration site.

    From my experience, it has not had any effect with rankings and have not had any correspondence from google against it. My most ranking pages have 20 to 30 affiliate links on them and are all cloaked.

    You should use a no follow attribute on all the links.

    Again, this is just from my experience.

    Regards
     
    Nusaint, Jun 13, 2013 IP
  3. SystemOAD

    SystemOAD Well-Known Member

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    #3
    As long as you nofollow the links and make sure to show google that the links are affiliate link all should be well.

    Could I just ask for your reasons to clock the links? Its not something I would recommend doing without good reason because I personally find that visitors would rather know where they are going, but if your simply changing the urls so people can't remove your affiliate id I shouldn't see it being a problem with nofollow added to all the links and a site wide disclaimer to let people know your product links are affiliate links.

    Not sure about the numbers, I wouldn't see 10 links being bad as long as the page is of good quality because google are ranking affiliate sites lower these days due to a vast majority of them just spamming up affiliate links on pages with low quality or next to no content etc.
     
    SystemOAD, Jun 13, 2013 IP
  4. gmr324

    gmr324 Active Member

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    #4
    So, the main reason for cloaking them is easier affiliate link management. In the fashion niche my site deals with, products come and go, get discontinued, out of stock, etc. So, using Pretty Link plugin lets me easily change the product links when that happens to broader brand pages versus product pages. I can do this without having to edit every post where the affiliate links become dead or obsolete.

    Hope that answers your question
     
    gmr324, Jun 13, 2013 IP
  5. Patricianian

    Patricianian Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Just one more thing to keep in mind, add value to the pages with affiliates links by having good related content and don't over optimize your page.
     
    Patricianian, Jun 13, 2013 IP
  6. iowadawg

    iowadawg Prominent Member

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    #6
    I use pretty link on my blogs. Quick and easy solutions. And with pretty link, the links created are domain links (eg: generalblogger.com/3yut) so google does not see a link off the domain. And I do make sure all the links are clicked as no-follow.
     
    iowadawg, Jun 16, 2013 IP