How to Write and Use an Affiliate Link Disclosure on Your Blog

245 Shares

An affiliate link disclosure is a necessary part of affiliate marketing. If you have been following my blog monetization series of blog posts, then you know that it is possible to earn a substantial income from affiliate marketing. However, one topic that I haven’t touched on is the legal requirements for doing so.

It is your legal responsibility to disclose affiliate links on your blog. Failure to do so can result in fines and other civil penalties. In this blog post, I will explain what an affiliate link disclosure is, what your disclosure should include, how you should use it and will provide you with examples from other blogs.

*This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

An affiliate link disclosure, like the one directly above, is so small that you wouldn’t think that it’s very significant. However, this small statement is part of operating an ethical and profitable online business. Let’s think about this from the consumer’s point of view.

Imagine that you purchase a product that a friend recommends to you. However, after purchasing the product, you discover that your friend was getting part of the sale but he or she didn’t tell you this. You may wonder if he or she exaggerated the product to earn the sale and feel violated by their lack of disclosure about their relationship with the company.

How would you feel about the product? How would you feel about the friend? You would most likely feel hurt or taken advantage of, right? This is why an affiliate link disclosure is so important.

Related Posts:

What Is The FTC?

So, I guess we need to start where it all begins, the FTC. The FTC stands for the Federal Trade Commission. It is a government agency that was created in 1914 to protect consumers from false claims and advertisement.

At the time, a company could make any statement to sell a product, true or false. This resulted in unethical companies selling loads of poor quality products that resulted in customers suffering physical and financial loss. Therefore, the government created the FTC to protect consumers from harm.

The FTC and Affiliate Marketing

You need to be upfront and honest with your customers and readers in order to protect the brand you represent and your own reputation. This is why clear language and placement of your disclosure is at the heart of this FTC law that protects consumers. It is also in your best interests as a business owner.

Let’s take a look at your legal requirements and responsibilities as an affiliate marketer.

Requirements

Essentially, the FTC says that you should clearly disclose that you have a relationship with a company and that clicking on a link may result in you being compensated for your recommendation. You must also place this affiliate link disclosure in a conspicuous location where it is easy to see.

(Note: If you are NOT going to be compensated for the recommendation, then you DON’T need a disclosure).

I highly recommend that you take a moment to check out this FTC Guide, specifically the section titled, “What about affiliate or network marketing?” It goes into some detail about what is required and is short, but clear. For more detailed information, this FTC .com Disclosure Guide is more of an in-depth resource.

The FTC does not specify a specific the wording of disclosures. Essentially you just need to include the following in your disclosure to be compliant:

That you are an affiliate or have a relationship with the company.
That you may be compensated if your reader clicks on a link.

The FTC also states that your disclosure should be in an on-page, conspicuous location. This means that your reader should not have to search for the disclosure before clicking on a link and they shouldn’t have to click away from the page to read it. Instead, it should be listed in plain sight before the affiliate link. However, for clarity, the closer to the link, the better.

What You Can’t Do

Since you need to be clear that you may receive compensation if your reader clicks on a link, you can’t include your disclosure after the link. The reader needs to have the opportunity to read the disclosure before the link so that he or she can make an informed decision.

You also can’t mislead your audience. As an example, I am an affiliate of Tailwind. If I tell you that you can sign up for a free trial of their services and I don’t tell you that I may be compensated, that is misleading. Bloggers must be clear and honest.

Not only is it illegal not to be forthright, but it also damages your reputation and the credibility of your business. It’s just not worth a small commission.

You can’t mask over, conceal, or place the disclosure in a place that isn’t obvious and easy to find. The placement of your disclosure matters. If in doubt, it is best to place the disclosure at the top of your blog post or right before the affiliate link in the text. This way there is no doubt that it could have been seen.

You can’t create an off-page disclosure. That means that you have to include your disclosure on the page in which the link exists. Your reader should never have to click away to read your disclosure. However, if you would like to link to a legal disclaimer or privacy policy, this is acceptable as long as your statement fulfills the FTC requirements.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Include a Disclosure

If you fail to provide a proper affiliate link disclosure, you are breaking the law. The specific law that requires you to include a disclosure is the Consumer Review Fairness Act or CRFA. If you violate this law due to a deceptive act or practice, the FTC states that you may be subject to financial penalties and/or other civil penalties.

There are maximum penalties for these violations that seem to range between $16,000 and $40,000, depending on which law you break and how you broke it. Needless to say, if you have a small blog or business, it is not worth taking the chance to lose it all just because you don’t have a simple disclosure.

Affiliate Link Disclosure Examples

With all of that being said, you should know that your affiliate link disclosure doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s pretty simple.

All you need is a short statement that says that you have an affiliation with a third-party that may compensate you if a reader makes a purchase after clicking one of your affiliate links.

The following are some affiliate links that you can use as a springboard for your own affiliate link disclosure. These statements are for information purposes. However, some of the websites offer affiliate link disclosure templates or swipe copy, if you choose to visit the attached links.

Disclosure 1

This first affiliate link disclosure comes from Chrissy over at Affiliate Mom Squad. As the title implies, she teaches moms how to use affiliate marketing so that they can make money from home and spend more time with their children. The following is her statement:

“This page may contain affiliate links, meaning I receive commissions for purchases made through those links, at no cost to you. Please read my Disclosure for more info.”

As you can see, she includes the information that she is using affiliate links and may receive commissions. This is the only information that she needs to include, but she goes a step farther and includes additional information for her audience via a link if they would like more information.

Note: She includes a template on her blog, but it is for an off-page disclosure, not the on-page disclosure required by the FTC.

Disclosure 2

This example by Ana of The She Approach adds a personal touch to the disclosure, which is perfectly legal. This allows the audience to make a connection with her as a person.

“Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any purchase made through such links will award me a small commission (at absolutely no extra cost for you). These funds help me feed my dog and keep this blog up and running. Learn more about it here.”

Like Chrissy, Ana includes a link to additional information via an off-page disclosure and privacy policy. This isn’t required, but it’s a good idea. You can download a template for your own affiliate link disclosure over at her blog via the link above.

Disclosure 3

Kimi of Kimi Kinsey has an awesome brand voice and that voice shines in her affiliate link disclosure. I love how she found a way to infuse her personality into an otherwise dull statement.

“This post contains affiliate links. That means if you use them to make a purchase, I’ll earn enough money from that sale to maybe buy myself something pretty – because I probably deserve it.”

Not only do I love Kimi’s spin on the disclosure, but she also offers a free download of examples that you are free to steal. Be sure to check it out on her blog!

Placement

I’m going to stick with the same three blogs above to show you where these awesome bloggers place their disclosures.

After the Featured Image

First up, this is a screenshot from Affiliate Mom Squad’s blog post, “7 of The Best Courses & eBooks to Learn Affiliate Marketing.”

I have highlighted the affiliate link disclosure so that you can locate it easily. It’s hard to tell here, but Chrissy places this disclosure under her featured image following the introduction to this blog post. Most importantly, she places it before any links.

Something that she also does is turn the entire disclosure into a link to her disclaimer and the color is pink and text italic. This helps it stand out from the rest of the text on her blog and makes it easy to find.

Within The Text – Near The First Link

Ana uses a different approach than other bloggers in her blog post, “The Best Amazon Business Books of All Time That Every Blogger & Online Entrepreneur Should Read.”

As you can see, her disclaimer, which is highlighted in blue in the screenshot above, is at the end of the introduction, but above the first link. It’s hard to tell, but this is the paragraph before the first affiliate link appears. Since the FTC favors links in close proximity and around the link, this is good placement.

If the audience is reading this post, he or she will undoubtedly come across this disclaimer before clicking on a link.

Free Swipe Copy

If you are still stumped, you can steal the following affiliate link disclosure from me here. Just keep in mind that I am not an attorney and this in no way is legal advice and is for informational purposes only. You can see my full legal disclaimer or contact me if you have more questions.

Text to copy:

“This post contains affiliate links. That means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links.”

Feel free to personalize this text and make it your own as Ana and Kimi have done in their examples. Your statement doesn’t have to be boring, it just needs to be clear and placed where your reader can find it easily.

Now Use Your Affiliate Link Disclosure

Now that you have an affiliate link disclosure, it’s time to get started with affiliate marketing. If you would like more information on how to create a Legal Disclaimer to further protect your blog, you can read my post, “How to Write a Legal Disclaimer for Your Blog and Why You Need One.”

You can also download my free legal disclaimer worksheet while you are there or you can sign up for the email list below to receive your free copy. Be sure to sign up to stay on top of new posts, blogging news, and to receive exclusive content and notifications of freebies as they become available.