Just getting into affiliate marketing and keep seeing these terms thrown around. Do they actually matter for my links or is it just an SEO thing?
DoFollow links pass PageRank/“link equity” (ranking signals), while NoFollow/UGC/Sponsored tell Google not to count that link as an editorial vote (though it may still crawl for discovery), so yes—it’s mostly an SEO/off-page authority thing rather than an affiliate tracking thing. For affiliate links specifically, you should typically use rel="sponsored" (often paired with nofollow) to stay compliant, and focus on conversions/attribution (UTMs, subIDs, postback) because DoFollow won’t meaningfully “boost” your affiliate link itself.
Dofollow links pass SEO “link juice”; nofollow tells Google not to count it as an endorsement. For affiliate links, it mostly matters for SEO/backlink value, not for tracking—your clicks/conversions still work either way. Most platforms add nofollow/sponsored to stay compliant. Focus on content + placements; don’t chase dofollow unless you’re building SEO authority. BizzOffers is a solid place to test offers and landing pages.