How Many Affiliate Links in a Post?
So, one of the questions asked most often, is how many affiliate links can we put in one post? And you can almost guarantee that it will be met with a barrage of answers that say "one link for every 500 words". And yes, in the past, I have been guilty of suggesting the same response.
However, it's simply not true! I suspect at one point, somebody simply came up with that figure and it has been handed down through the years.
In fact, Google has recently confirmed that the number of affiliate links will have no detrimental effect on ranking. I am going to add a few quotes here from John Mueller at Google, as I couldn't say it better myself!
"You can place as many affiliate links on a page as you want without worrying about a penalty or demotion."
"The ratio of links to article length is also totally irrelevant.”
"If the content on a page isn’t what Google considers valuable, it won’t rank regardless if it has dozens of affiliate links or none at all."
However, please don't rush off and start adding hundreds of links to your posts! If the content is not good enough and doesn't answer the searcher's intent, then your post won't be ranked highly and nobody will see your links anyway!
Above all, note this final quote.
Edited: I didn't realise that Richard was also writing a blog post on the same subject! You can read his take on the subject below.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/richardgb/blog/content-is-im...
Recent Comments
56
Thank you for sharing, Diane.
I remember I was struggling at the start about the subject.
Same goes with if it is okay to add affiliate links in our first posts or not.
Just been overwhelmed as there were different answers.
Content is King and this is what Google value though.
It is a very interesting statement from Google.
If they think we will capture interest we succeed. According to Google.
Google decides if we have what it takes to land high enough to be seen.
So affilate links can be added with no penalty. Just don't destroy the content when doing so.
At Last...
Another WA SEO Urban Myth (from the last decade and possibly the 2000s) debunked!!
Will that get me into trouble?
Oops.
Hahaha...
I can now go back to NOT answering questions about how most of my product reviews are ranking 1, 2 and 3 with around 30 affiliate links per page.
It's all about quality and not trying to adhere to some type of SEO numbers game.
Partha
p.s. Are you sure John wrote this and not me? (or Peter Andre or The Rock) LOL
If there is ever a movie called Google Meets a Mysterious Girl in Jumanji, you are going to struggle to play all the roles lol.
Thank you for that Diane,
The "not so good content" inability to rank regardless of Affiliate links, makes sense. But what I found really interesting was the fact Google won't demonise your post if it included a few or indeed many links.
Up until now, I have been dutifully adding a "resource page" for all my affiliate links to ensure I didn't incur the wrath of Google or dilute the user experience....
Really interesting...:)
See more comments
Hi Diane,
Thank you for reminding us. I’ve always been weary about how many affiliate links I can insert in a single post.
I’m use to inserting two-three links for one post. I’m mindful when it comes to whether I’m unintentionally spamming or not.
But that’s great to know. Mueller from Google explained that very well.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Eric