How To Disclose Links For Affiliate Marketing
How To Disclose Links For Affiliate Marketing
If you are in this business long enough you will know that…
affiliate link disclosure is not an option for Affiliate Marketers.
It’s a MUST.
In fact, skipping it means you’ll be going against the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines.
You don’t want that.
You don’t want to end up getting sued by your followers because they had no idea you get commissions for every purchase they make.
Don’t worry, though.
If you’re confused about affiliate link disclosure, you won’t be anymore by the time you finish reading this blog article.
In it, we’ll talk about:
- Exactly what affiliate link disclosure is
- How to disclose affiliate links
- Best practices to follow for affiliate link disclosure
- 3 best practice examples to get your creative juices flowing
Are you ready?
Let’s dive right in.
This post may contain affiliate links which means we may receive a commission from purchases made through links. We only recommend products we rank as well rated and we can personally used: Learn more on our Private Policy page
What Is Affiliate Link Disclosure (& Why You Need IT)?
Let us imagine.
You own dogs and you want to find the best dog food brand out there.
So you go online and read a blog.
The blog promotes Brand X to you, so you go ahead and buy it.
But when you feed Brand X to your dog, it dies.
You’re angry, upset and confused.
Why did this Author recommends this awful product to you?
Later, you realize that Author X never cared about your dog.
They promoted Brand X for the commissions they would get when people bought with their links.
What would that make you feel?
Scammed.
Furious.
Betrayed.
We’d all be.
And on the side of the affiliate marketer, who probably didn’t know the product they were promoting was awful?
Yes, it’s scary.
Just take a look at this:
Rest assure!
You do NOT want something like this for your business.
And,,
–that’s why you need affiliate link disclosure.
It’s the legal disclaimer that will save you a great deal of trouble if anything goes wrong with your promotions.
Also, it’ll help you to build trust with your audience.
It is like laying your cards on the table,,,
–honestly telling them that you’ll get something out of their purchase.
If they still buy, awesome!
If they don’t, you just saved yourself a potential headache.
Make sense?
Here’s Google description of affiliate link disclosure:
How to Disclose Affiliate Links (It’s Actually Easy!)
With all things being equal,,
–disclosing affiliate links is simple.
All you need to do is tell your audience that when they buy a product you’re promoting, you get a small commission from the sale.
Easy as pie, right?
Wrong.
Ask a bunch of affiliate marketers how they disclose affiliate links, and you’ll probably come up with a thousand different answers.
Some will tell you to hide your affiliate link disclosure in the T&Cs of your blog.
Others will tell you to put it in your footer, where it’ll never see the light of day.
Yet others will tell you to put it in your About page.
Try not to do none of these.
The best way to disclose your affiliate links is to make them as clear as possible.
At the beginning of your blog, in font that’s easy to see?
YES.
Check out this example.
Source: @smartfinders.org
Clear as day, right?
That’s the only proper way to disclose your affiliate links.
Put them right in front of your readers’ eyes, in font so they can’t miss it.
Be honest.
Trust us, it’ll be worth it.
3 Best Practices You Can’t Miss for Affiliate Link Disclosure
#1 Best Practice For Affiliate Disclosure Link (Be Clear & Obvious)
You need to be visible and honest.
Clear as mud?
Put yourself in the shoes of your readers.
A ton of these people won’t know what an affiliate link is.
They probably won’t have a clue that there’s a whole industry with billions of dollars in cash behind it.
And they’ll feel lost if you drop in a jargon-heavy sentence like, “Affiliate links included in this blog.”
So, here’s some good advice.
Use plain English in your affiliate link disclosures.
Look at how we did our disclosure:
(This post may contain affiliate links which means we may receive a commission from purchases made through links. We only recommend products we rank as well rated and we can personally used: Learn more on our Private Policy Page)
This is clear and it gives sufficient detail to the reader.
#2 Best Practice For Affiliate Disclosure Link (Try Not To Be Shakespeare)
Sorry but we don’t need that kind of writing in blogs.
Instead, we need brief, concise writing.
And the same goes for affiliate link disclosures.
Instead of writing a 200-word piece explaining what affiliate links are and how they work…
…stick to 2-3 clean, simple sentences.
For example:
“Hey guys! I’ve tried these products and absolutely love them. That’s why I’m recommending them to you – but if you buy, I’ll also make a little money, with no added expense to you.”
This is honest and simple.
And!
Online readers are all about wanting things kind of simplicity.
#3 Best Practice For Affiliate Disclosure Link (Be Yourself)
The plain truth is, this can be hard.
It’s one thing to tell readers what affiliate links are…
…and quite another to inject your personality into your disclosure.
Good rule of thumb?
Write the same way you write your blog.
If you have an upbeat, fun tone, write the same way in your disclosure.
If you have a serious, professional tone, keep it up in your disclosure.
And so on.
Here’s an example of a crisp, simple tone from Jonathan Fields.
Some Creative Link Disclosure Ideas For You
The Luminous:
Here’s good advice.
Forget all the jargon and talk to your audience like they’re real people.
Check out how The Luminous does it below.
Making Sense of Cents
To stay clear of trouble, it’s a great idea to create an affiliate link disclosure template you can use at the top of every blog you publish.
We use a plugin call (WP Affiliate Disclosure).
Don’t worry.
It doesn’t need to be long.
And it doesn’t need to be annoying.
It only needs to be something like this:
How To Disclose Links For Affiliate Marketing
A lot of people think affiliate marketing is a hack to earn loads of money overnight.
But it’s not.
In truth, it’s just like any other honest business.
Which means, there are rules on what you can and can’t do.
One thing you can’t do is deceive your audience.
This means if you make money from any of their purchases, you have to tell them outright.
Clear, right?
It is.
Because having read this brief guide, you now know exactly how to disclose an affiliate links.
You know why it’s important to do so,,
–plus you see some best practices and inspirational ideas you can use for your own blog.
So!
–If you haven’t been disclosing your affiliate links until now, it’s time to do so.
Because the truth is, you might go undiscovered for years to come.
Or someone might sue you tomorrow.
So, don’t take the risk.
Reach for that creativity and show your audience how honest you are by disclosing your affiliate earnings to them!
We hope this article was helpful and please leave us your feedback and comment below
