How to Disclose Affiliate Links Without Scaring Away Your Readers
If you make money through affiliate marketing, eventually you run into the disclosure question. Where do I put it? What does it have to say? Do I have to plaster THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK all over the page?
And perhaps the biggest worry: If I tell people I might earn a commission, will they stop trusting me?
I think we sometimes make this much harder than it needs to be.
If I recommend something useful to you and the company sends me a few dollars because you bought it through my link, there is nothing inherently wrong with that arrangement. But you deserve to know about it.
That is really the point of an affiliate disclosure. You don’t need to apologize for earning a commission. You just shouldn’t hide the fact that you may earn one.
What Is an Affiliate Disclosure?
An affiliate disclosure simply tells readers that you have a financial relationship connected to a recommendation or link.
For example:
Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you purchase through one of them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
That’s understandable. No decoder ring required.
Compare that with something like:
This post may contain commissionable links pursuant to various commercial relationships.
Technically impressive. Practically useless.
People shouldn’t need a lawyer, an accountant and a Ouija board to determine whether you might get paid.
Why Affiliate Disclosures Matter
The Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement guidance is based on a fairly simple idea. If there is a relationship between you and the company that could affect how someone evaluates your recommendation, people should know about that relationship.
That includes affiliate commissions. It can also include things besides direct cash payments. If a company gives you a free product, substantial discount, trip, service, credit or some other benefit in exchange for exposure or connected to your recommendation, that relationship may need to be disclosed as well.
And there is another reason I think disclosure matters that has nothing to do with government rules: trust.
Affiliate marketing works much better when people trust the person making the recommendation. Trying to sneak an affiliate relationship past someone isn’t exactly a great way to build that trust.
Don’t Treat Your Commission Like a Dirty Secret
This is where some affiliate marketers get weird.
They’ll write 2,000 words explaining why something is the greatest product since sliced bread. Then somewhere near the bottom of the page, hidden between the privacy policy and the copyright notice, they’ll whisper:
Pssst… I might get paid.
Why?
If I recommend a web host, software program, book, service or other product that I genuinely believe is useful, I’m not embarrassed if the company has an affiliate program.
I would much rather tell you:
I use this. I like it. Here’s what I like about it. Here’s what I don’t like about it. And yes, if you buy it through my link, I may earn a commission.
Now you have the information you need to decide what my recommendation is worth. That’s much more useful than pretending money has nothing to do with a business website about making money.
Where Should the Disclosure Go?
This is one of the most important parts. A disclosure buried on a general affiliate-disclosure page isn’t necessarily enough by itself.
Having a sitewide disclosure page is useful because it can explain your overall policy in more detail, but readers shouldn’t have to hunt for it. The FTC’s guidance says disclosures should be clear and conspicuous, and the closer they are to the recommendation, the better.
In practical terms, if an article contains affiliate recommendations, put a straightforward disclosure somewhere readers will actually see it before or near those recommendations.
Don’t hide it at the very bottom of a long article, behind an obscure link, inside your terms and conditions, in tiny text, in a giant pile of hashtags, or somewhere readers must click “more” to discover it.
If people have to conduct an archaeological expedition to find your disclosure, you’ve probably missed the point.
Is Saying “Affiliate Link” Enough?
Not necessarily. This surprised me the first time I really looked into the FTC guidance.
People who work online all day know what an affiliate link is. A normal reader may not. Calling something an affiliate link doesn’t automatically tell the reader:
Joe gets paid if I buy through this.
The FTC specifically warns that consumers may not understand what the phrase means. That’s why plain English is better.
For example:
I may earn a commission if you purchase through this link.
There. Mystery solved.
Simple Affiliate Disclosure Examples
You don’t need a 600-word disclaimer every time you recommend a $20 product. Here are several approaches that communicate the important part.
Simple:
I may earn a commission if you purchase through links in this article, at no additional cost to you.
More conversational:
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy something through one of them, I may earn a commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra.
When you’ve personally used the product:
I use this service myself. The link below is also my affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you sign up through it.
When discussing several products:
Some of the companies mentioned below have affiliate programs. I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of my links.
Notice what all of these have in common: they tell the reader that money may change hands. That’s the useful information.
You Still Have to Tell the Truth
Disclosure doesn’t magically make everything else acceptable.
You can’t write:
This miracle software will make you $10,000 next Tuesday while you sleep!
…and then fix it with:
By the way, affiliate link.
Affiliate recommendations still need to be honest. If you’ve never used something personally, don’t imply that you have. If a product has limitations, don’t hide them. If results vary, don’t present the best possible outcome as if everyone gets it. If you don’t know something, say you don’t know.
One of the easiest ways to destroy trust is to pretend every product you promote is flawless. Nothing is flawless.
Except perhaps Pepsi Zero.
Although I usually end up with Coke Zero because it’s on sale more often.
What About Reviews?
Reviews deserve extra care because readers are specifically relying on your opinion. If you’re reviewing a product and can earn a commission when somebody buys it, that relationship should be obvious.
Personally, I think the strongest reviews explain both sides. What do you like? What don’t you like? Who is it good for? Who should probably skip it? How much does it cost? Are there recurring expenses? Are there cheaper alternatives?
And here’s a particularly useful question: Would you recommend it if there were no commission?
If the answer is no, maybe the problem isn’t your disclosure. Maybe it’s the product.
Affiliate Disclosures in Email
Affiliate links in email aren’t exempt from common sense. If you’re recommending something in an email and can earn a commission from that recommendation, tell the reader.
It doesn’t need to dominate the message. Something as simple as:
This is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through it.
gets the point across.
I already talk more extensively about building trust and using affiliate links responsibly in my guide to email marketing for affiliate marketers.
Email subscribers gave you permission to enter their inbox. Don’t reward that trust with disguised advertisements.
Affiliate Disclosures on Facebook and Other Social Media
Social media creates another problem: space and visibility. You may not have a full article surrounding the recommendation, which makes clarity even more important.
The FTC advises putting disclosures where people are likely to notice them as part of the endorsement itself rather than hiding them in a profile page or beneath a pile of hashtags.
Plain wording works:
Affiliate link — I may earn a commission if you purchase.
Or:
I may earn a commission from purchases made through this link.
You don’t need fourteen paragraphs. You need clarity.
The same general principle applies whether you’re using Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok or whatever social network we’re all pretending we’ll still be using ten years from now.
What About YouTube and Video?
Video adds another wrinkle. If you’re recommending a product on camera and you have a financial relationship with the company, simply hiding the disclosure in the video description may not be enough.
The FTC advises that affiliate relationships connected to video recommendations may need to be disclosed in the video itself as well as near affiliate links in the description. That makes sense because someone watching your video may never open the description.
So say it:
The links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission.
That took about five seconds. Nobody died.
What If the Product Was Free?
Free can still have value. If a company sends you something for free and you talk about it publicly, readers or viewers may reasonably care that you didn’t pay for it.
So disclose it:
The company sent me this product for free. They didn’t pay me for the review.
If there is also an affiliate relationship:
The company provided the product, and I may also earn a commission from purchases through my links.
Now everybody knows what’s going on. Simple.
What If I Don’t Get Paid?
Then don’t invent a financial relationship that doesn’t exist.
If you’re linking to a business merely because it’s useful to the reader and you receive nothing from that link, there isn’t an affiliate commission to disclose. Not every outbound link on the internet requires a warning label.
Sometimes a link is just a link. What a concept.
A Disclosure Doesn’t Replace a Good Recommendation
The disclosure is only one small part of affiliate marketing. The more important question is whether the recommendation actually helps somebody.
I’ve always believed affiliate marketing works best when everyone gets something from the transaction. The customer gets a useful product, the company gets a customer, and the affiliate gets paid for connecting the two.
That’s why I have called affiliate marketing a win-win online opportunity.
But that only works long term if the person in the middle doesn’t destroy the relationship by recommending garbage simply because the commission looks good.
Before promoting something, take the time to evaluate the product, the company and the affiliate program. Look at the actual product value, cost to the customer, refund and cancellation policies, affiliate terms, commission rules, tracking, customer service, recurring charges, reputation and promotional restrictions.
A great commission doesn’t rescue a terrible product. My guide to choosing the right affiliate product to promote goes deeper into that decision.
Does Disclosure Hurt Affiliate Sales?
Some marketers worry that telling people about the commission will cause them to bypass the affiliate link. Maybe occasionally somebody will. You can’t control that.
But I would rather build a website where readers understand how the business works than try to squeeze one hidden commission out of somebody.
Good affiliate marketing isn’t about tricking someone into clicking. It’s about becoming a source they trust enough to come back to. If someone knows I might make money from a recommendation and still values my opinion, that’s a much stronger relationship than one built on hoping they don’t notice.
Affiliate Marketing Isn’t Something to Apologize For
You are running a business. Businesses make money.
A salesperson earns a commission. A television station sells advertising. A newspaper sells ads. Google isn’t running search results out of the goodness of its heart. And an affiliate marketer may earn a commission for sending a company a customer.
There is nothing shameful about that.
The important part is being upfront about the relationship and making recommendations worth listening to. Tell people when you may get paid, recommend things you actually believe have value, explain the good and the bad, and don’t make claims you can’t support.
Then get back to doing the part that actually matters: helping people make better decisions.
If you’re still learning how affiliate marketing fits into an online business, you may also want to read Why Affiliate Marketing Is a Win-Win Online Opportunity, 7 Steps to Affiliate Marketing Profits, and my guide to choosing the right affiliate product to promote.
And when you’re ready to look at another possible way to build income online:
Explore the opportunity featured below.
This article provides general information about affiliate marketing and advertising disclosures. It is not legal advice. Rules, platform policies and individual circumstances can vary. Review the current Federal Trade Commission guidance and the terms of the programs and platforms you use.
