Search engines can usually recognize that a link has been received through an affiliate partnership agreement, which makes them equivalent to sponsored links. Sponsored backlinks do not pass on page authority. Therefore, affiliate links do not directly help SEO.

When you sign up for an affiliate program or establish an affiliate partnership, you either have a code you have to share with the users you’re sending to your partner, or the page the users are landing on is altered to showcase you will receive proceeds from conversions. Search engines can recognize these signals and categorize the links between you and your affiliate partner as sponsored – even if the link is not appropriately flagged as nofollow or sponsored.

Affiliate partnerships may have indirect benefits for SEO, like shared website traffic from affiliate links, or increased brand awareness. However, if you’re considering affiliate marketing solely for SEO – we recommend you focus on other initiatives to drive more organic backlinks.

Contact Fire&Spark to discuss ways your website can leverage its off-site SEO.