Affiliate marketing is a valid business model, but technically, it’s often implemented poorly in WordPress.
Bloated plugins, missing rel attributes, and slow redirects can kill your SEO and conversions.
1. The rel="sponsored" standard
Since 2019, Google requires all paid/affiliate links to have the rel="sponsored" attribute.
Previously, rel="nofollow" was enough. Now, be specific.
<!-- BAD -->
<a href="https://shareasale.com/r?u=123">Buy Now</a>
<!-- OK -->
<a href="https://shareasale.com/r?u=123" rel="nofollow">Buy Now</a>
<!-- BEST (2026 Standard) -->
<a href="https://shareasale.com/r?u=123" rel="sponsored noopener noreferrer">Buy Now</a>Why? Use noopener noreferrer for security (target=“_blank”) and sponsored to protect your site from manual penalties.
2. Link cloaking: Do you need a plugin?
“Cloaking” turns ugly links (shareasale.com/r?u=123) into pretty ones (yoursite.com/go/product).
Most people install “ThirstyAffiliates” or “PrettyLinks”. Problem: These plugins load extra CSS/JS on every page even if there are no links.
The Developer Way (Native Redirects): If you have access to your server config (Nginx/Apache), handle redirects there. It’s 10x faster because PHP doesn’t even boot.
Nginx Example:
location /go/hosting {
return 301 https://kinsta.com/?kaid=EXAMPLE;
}WordPress Way (Post Type):
Create a CPT called affiliate_links. Use the post slug as the redirect key. Store the URL in post meta.
Intercept the request on template_redirect.
add_action('template_redirect', function() {
if (is_singular('affiliate_links')) {
$url = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'destination_url', true);
if ($url) {
wp_redirect($url, 301); // Or 302/307
exit;
}
}
});Zero bloat.
3. Disclosures and compliance (ftc / uokik)
Technically, you must display a disclosure before the link. Use a reusable Block or Shortcode to inject this automatically at the top of Review posts.
function affiliate_disclosure_shortcode() {
return '<div class="disclaimer">Links marked with * are affiliate links.</div>';
}
add_shortcode('ad', 'affiliate_disclosure_shortcode');Summary
- Tagging: Always use
rel="sponsored". - Performance: Avoid heavy plugins for simple redirects. Use Server Redirects or a lightweight CPT.
- Compliance: Automate disclosures with Blocks.
Keep your affiliate stack lean. Speed = Conversions.
