Affiliate links on hubs

1. 81

   LindaJMposted 14 years ago

   I've seen some hubs with affiliate links on them... such as from Commission Junction. Is there a HubPages policy on using these types of links?

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2. 68

   relacheposted 14 years ago

   http://hubpages.com/faq/#overly_promotional

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3. 81

   LindaJMposted 14 years ago

   I read the page (thanks Relache!) ... and am still unsure of the answer. The pages I saw linked to products that were promoted on the page, so the affiliate links weren't unrelated to content. Also there probably weren't more than two links to the product. So... I guess that's okay? If not, please let me know.

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4. 60

   Thrillerposted 14 years ago

   I had asked a similar question long time back and got no clear answer to the affiliate dilemma. But one thing's clear, Hub Pages policy does NOT disallow back links specifically so I think they are OK as long they conform to the linking policy.

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The policy is very clear.  No more than two links to a single domain.
      
      An affiliate site is a domain.  So you can have two links to it. 
      
      Where some people trip up is if (say) they have three different products, all on Clickbank, and think that equates to three different domains.  It doesn't - they all count as Clickbank.
      
      Of course, if you've used duplicate content or repeat the same links on every single Hub, all bets are off!

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      1. 81

         LindaJMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I noticed they don't want links to the same domain over a lot of hubs... and I do wish they would say how much is too much. You see, I've been writing on Squidoo for about two years, and it would only be natural for me to link to some of the writing I've done there - or to my writing blog, or one of my other sites. I don't want to trip their trigger by having 50 links to one domain spread out over 100 hubs, or something like that. Stating the exact numbers allowable would help.
         
         Knowing that I shouldn't have more than 2 links to one domain on a hub helps because, since I know the exact rule, I can avoid the consequence.

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         1. 81

            MyWebsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Very well put. I agree HubPages should spell out exactly what the rules are instead of having ambiguous rules that leave us in the dark.
            
            This is something HP could improve upon. In general HP is very open and straightforward with their rules and I really appreciate this openness.

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         2. 87

            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Too much is when every single one of your Hubs points to the same domain.
            
            Virtually every one of my Hubs has at least one link to at least one of my websites.  As I have 160 Hubs and only 5 websites, that's a lot of repetitive linking, and I've had no problems.
            
            I know other Hubbers who have a standard signature at the end of most of their Hubs, which includes a link to their own website. 
            
            I think the key is to write long, content-rich Hubs so it's obvious you're not just in it for the link.

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            1. 81

               LindaJMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for the perspective!
               
               As for your last paragraph, I think I have that covered!
               
               I was surprised (and pleased) to see one of my hubs in the newsletter a few days ago (Klamath River, Northern California) so I'm guessing they like my work.
               
               I'm also managing to write hubs that don't link to my sites. I wouldn't want to link to anything that wasn't directly related to the content of the hub.

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5. 63

   Christeneposted 14 years ago

   Yes, it's ok if there are only 2 links.
   You'll get a warning note if you add too many.

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   1. 81

      LindaJMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Christene!

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      pisethzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, that's right. Hubpages allow only two affiliate links and if over the warning message will appear to huber.

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6. 81

   LindaJMposted 14 years ago

   "Can I put links in short answers?
   
   You may include links to relevant resources in short answers, but affiliate links are strictly prohibited. Short answers containing links to unrelated Hubs or other sites that are irrelevant to the question at hand may be entirely removed by an administrator, and your account might be subject to a ban."

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   1. 77

      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That is referring to the answer section. You can put affiliate links in your hubs.

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      1. 81

         LindaJMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks! ...I appreciate your feedback!

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7. 81

   LindaJMposted 14 years ago

   For hubs  .... also from the FAQ:
   
   "What does commercial mean?
   
   Commercial hubs are required to have an ad level setting of High. A Hub is considered to be commercial if it meets any of these conditions:
   
   it is monetized through a non-HubPages affiliate mechanism
   
   it contains links to other commercial sites
   
   it promotes a for-profit business, especially a business that you might have an interest in"

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8. 77

   skyfireposted 14 years ago

   You can't use more than two links to same domain. If you do that will trigger flag from HP filter and your content will be unpublished.

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   1. 81

      LindaJMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Sounds reasonable to me! So far I like all the HubPolicies. (I've been making hubs less than two weeks.)

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9. 0

   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   I guess this is the closest to the subject i was looking for in the forum so anyone that could answer this please do so.
   
   HubPages dose not allow the use of HTML so how am I supposed to place HTML links into the text on my Hubs? I thought I was doing it correctly,but looking into the fine print for some links on commission junction it states that if not all of the text is placed in the link you may not get credit for the referral.
   
   The HTML links are all that are available for most affiliates.I was trying to take just the link from between the tags,but can't be for certain that this is giving me credit for the referral.
   
   I have noticed that they allow the use of the HTML when embedding a video so do they allow the same when placing an address to an affiliate link?

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   1. 41

      Neil Ashworthposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Benjamin - use the links capsule for your affiliate links and they will remain fully intact.

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      1. 0

         BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hey great idea Neil much appreciated

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   2. 83

      timorousposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You can use the affiliate link inside a text capsule.  Simply select the text portion you want as the 'anchor text' within the paragraph, and click on the little chain-link icon on the upper right.  This will display a URL link window.
      
      Your affiliate link should include everything between the quotes starting from "http://  to where the next quotation mark is, usually after any special ID code you may have added, but before the 'target' code.  This contains everything you need to get the proper credit.
      
      
      The other parts including the <a> and <img> tags only apply to placing the banner ad on your own website page, such that the image is retrieved (and updated) from the vendor's server, instead of you pasting the image onto your web page.
      
      Placing the link in a link capsule is much the same as that above, except it's a stand alone link with some added descriptive text, rather than embedded in the paragraph.
      
      Remember..only two links to the same affiliate site.
      
      Hope that helps.

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      1. 0

         BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Timorous,that is how I had been doing it already. i was just feeling uneasy of whether doing it that way would get me credit for the click and the sale. Thanks for verifying this for me!

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         daybreakposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I hope I am understanding this correctly in that we can display a text link  but in a banner using the basic text module.
         
         Is there no way to display an affiliate banner (using the img tag)?
         
         When I try adding banners, the text module strips the img tag out.

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10. 83

    timorousposted 14 years ago

    Unfortunately, we can't use the photo capsule as a clickable banner ad.  I think Hubpages wants to discourage us from using the hub article as a promotional vehicle, unless you've written a fairly thorough article around it.
    
    My natural skin care hub is about as promotional as you can go without getting flagged.

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       daybreakposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks timorous
       
       Your explanation was clear and your skin care hub is an excellent example of what is possible. The presentation on that hub is excellent.

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       1. 83

          timorousposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          thanks very much, daybreak

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