Question 1

Should you 'nofollow' affiliate links?

Accepted Answer

Any link that is paid for (which includes affiliate links), should use the rel="nofollow" HTML attribute. With recent updates by Google, it is recommended you also add "sponsored" your rel tag. So you should use rel="sponsored nofollow" for any affiliate link since not every search engine uses of the 'sponsored' tag.

Question 2

What is Pretty Links?

Accepted Answer

[mal_affiliate_link merchant='prettylinks' child='cloak1' text='Pretty Links' /] is a WordPress plugin to manage redirection links. It is primarily used for managing affiliate links. It allows you to manage and cloak your links all in one place.

Question 3

Is URL masking bad for SEO?

Accepted Answer

No. If you are using URL masking for an affiliate link you must use the rel="sponsored nofollow" HTML attribute. Otherwise affiliate links can affect SEO negatively.

If the masked URL isn't paid, then Google will determine the destination URL. Though if you can use a direct link, you should always first.

link cloaking

Why You Must Cloak Your Affiliate Links