Everything You Should Know About Affiliate Link Disclosures
Everything You Should Know About Affiliate Link Disclosures
An affiliate link is a link the merchants use to record the amount of traffic the affiliate provides them. This link is unique and contains the ID of the affiliate. These links are the main factors of affiliate marketing.
Merchants and affiliates both benefit from an affiliate link. However, keeping affiliate links disclosed might prove to be an issue from the legal point of view. Consumers can also claim to know if someone is directly benefiting from their purchase. To maintain a legal and trusting business practice, one should use affiliate link disclosure to protect them from a lawsuit.
Affiliate Link Disclosure: What They Are
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in the US insists that you use affiliate link disclosures to visitors to ensure your business practice remains ethical. Learn more in this article at the Federal Trade Commission’s official website.
This helps build a trusting relationship between the buyer and the seller. Buyers put their faith in the site they’re purchasing from once they notice their honesty. Many might consider this a hassle to get engaged in, but it helps the buyers to be more transparent when they see the disclosure being showcased. So if your website contains a link that provides commissions to affiliates, you must let the visitors know what they’re investing in.
FTC also instructed that disclosures must be easy to read and placed in clear sight. You cannot put the disclosure in places where it wouldn’t be noticeable, put it right under the affiliate link if possible. The FTC keeps checking affiliate activities and updating the policies to ensure consumer protection and legal business practices.
Write A Disclosure
Your affiliate disclosure should include the statement clarified that the affiliate link will provide a commission to another party. Keep the language as simple as possible, avoid using complex and technical terms. Keep it to the point and use keywords as “commission” or “compensation”. Also, be sure to use formats that support almost all the devices. You don’t want your visitor to be unable to see what you out up. To help you understand it better, here’s an example:
You can use templates for writing disclosures if you face any difficulties. Many free templates can help you with a disclosure. Here are some sources:
Using templates will make it much easier for you to write a disclosure for your business.
Disclosure Placement
You cannot put the disclosure in the “About” section of your websites as the chances of visitors checking it out are pretty slim. You must:
- Place the disclosure where it is most noticeable, preferably near the title of your post
- Avoid using words that can confuse people rather than giving them an idea of what you’re disclosing to them
- Put disclosures in places like endorsements, sponsors and reviews as well
If you want, you can put a detailed disclosure on a separate page and put the hyperlink on the target page. But you have to mention specifically what it is. You cannot use vague and poor terms like “Disclaimer” for your hyperlinks. It should say something along the lines of, “To view the full disclosure of the affiliate link, click here”.
Examples of affiliate link disclosures:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3527298/nordvpn-review.html
https://www.vpnmentor.com/reviews/nordvpn/
Final Thoughts
If you’re new in the affiliate marketing program, be sure to learn about the policies and guidelines regarding affiliate disclosure. Follow the tips and instructions mentioned above to create a commendable affiliate disclosure. The more transparent you are with your consumers, the better it will be for all the parties involved.
If visitors sense your honesty, you will be rewarded with their loyalty and an ethical business environment.
