Disclosures can help you comply with FTC guidelines and demonstrate your transparency with readers, building their trust in you and your recommendations.
Disclaimers should be easily understandable and easily identify affiliate links in posts, pages, and social media. They should appear close to (ideally above) each link as well as being visible on mobile devices.
Identify the Product or Service
As part of an affiliate disclosure statement, it’s essential to clearly identify the product or service being promoted through your links and use straightforward language and avoid legalese or jargon. As your audience are most likely not attorneys, avoid writing lengthy disclaimers that won’t make sense to them. If necessary, create an affiliate disclosure page on your website which links directly back to each individual post with an abbreviated version of full disclaimers for quick reference.
An effective way to disclose affiliates is to weave them into a narrative about how and why your business started, or its goals and aspirations. This helps make your brand memorable while creating trust among readers; this strategy may prove particularly useful on social media where characters may be limited for disclosures.
Ken’s Tech Tips excels at emphasizing their affiliate disclosure within their content, with prominent placement at the top of blog posts above their affiliate link and clearly labeled as such. Furthermore, they provide access to their full disclosure page should additional details be needed.
As per FTC recommendations, your disclosure should be displayed “clearly and conspicuously”, making sure it can be easily seen by visitors. Hiding it behind text or placing it in the footer are not suitable options that could result in an FTC complaint. Furthermore, responsive disclosures ensure they display properly on both desktop computers as well as mobile devices.
Disclosures are essential to building trust between you and your audience and staying out of trouble with the FTC. Imagine reading an amazing review for a fitness tracker only to discover it was sponsored by its manufacturer – that kind of mistrust is exactly why disclosures exist; they prevent missteps while simultaneously maintaining ethics in marketing practices.
Identify the Link
When writing affiliate disclosures, it’s essential that your language explains clearly and precisely the compensation arrangement between yourself and the company that produces the product linked. Avoid overly technical terms and legalese as these may not be understood by everyone who visits your website – instead focus on trigger words that immediately make visitors aware of your affiliation – such as commission, compensation or advertisement.
Make sure that your disclosures are easy for readers to read and are placed prominently on each page. Hidden disclosures or ones that blend in with page content can be difficult for readers to detect and may result in accusations of misleading advertising if investigated by the FTC. Bloggers typically include their disclosure at the top of blog posts or social media posts while some websites even feature dedicated disclosure pages so their readers can quickly find them.
As an example, The Wirecutter does an outstanding job at providing affiliate disclosures by including them at the start of every article and section, while offering a “Learn More” button that leads to an individual page where their ethics and compensation arrangements with specific products can be further explained.
Michelle at Making Sense of Cents provides another excellent example, using clear language in her affiliate disclosures and explaining her relationship to each company she endorses as well as how much money she earns through affiliate links, thus building trust amongst her audience.
Apartment Therapy, a blog dedicated to home buyers, makes it very straightforward for readers to identify affiliate links by noting at the start of each post that some products within them may earn a commission if purchased by clicking through from their link.
While these examples of effective affiliate disclosures provide some great inspiration, be sure to refer back to the FTC guidelines on proper wording and placement for disclosures within affiliate links. Above all else, remember to always remain transparent with your audience in order to create long-lasting relationships.
Identify the Affiliate
Bloggers frequently incorporate affiliate links in their product reviews and shopping roundup posts, and must disclose that they earn commission if readers click through. Not only is this good practice for keeping readers informed, but it can also build trust and transparency, which are vital when cultivating long-term relationships with an audience.
Disclosures should be placed near (but not within) an affiliate link and clearly identifiable as such. They should be easy for readers to understand without being hidden behind light colors or tiny text that makes them difficult for some mobile device users to locate. They should also remain consistent so as to not become lost or missed out of view.
One effective method for providing affiliate disclosure statements to your audience is by including an affiliate disclosure statement at the start of your blog post or sidebar. Here you can explain what affiliate marketing is and how it works, which will give your readers essential knowledge of affiliate links in general. You could also add individual disclaimers for each link within an article, or install a plugin that automatically inserts one whenever new posts or pages include affiliates links.
FTC guidelines indicate that an affiliate disclosure should be “clearly and conspicuously displayed,” so as to be visible across all pages of your website (not just homepage or terms of use pages). Furthermore, you should position it close to an affiliate link so as to maximize visibility by your audience.
Kate Troelstra from 12 Days of Design provides a straightforward disclosure statement at the top of each blog post to explain affiliate links, how she earns commissions and which programs she participates in. You can also read her full disclaimer on her About Us page which gives more detail regarding her management of affiliate partnerships.
Identify the Placement
A well-written disclosure not only complies with FTC regulations, it can also help build trust and increase engagement with your audience. A good disclosure could make the difference between readers clicking your affiliate link or bypassing it entirely – but how can you write one that is clear, concise and compliant?
First and foremost, the product or service must be clearly identified; this can be accomplished by making bold the name of it or otherwise emphasizing its importance. Furthermore, make sure that any relationships are explicitly noted with it.
Step two of disclosing compensation involves clearly declaring this fact to readers in plain language without using legalese or jargon that might mislead them. Furthermore, it’s best to announce this information alongside any promotion so as to avoid confusion and ensure compliance with FTC guidelines.
TechRadar employs an effective disclosure statement that clearly communicates their connection to any products linked to, while outlining all features and benefits before continuing with content creation. This method allows readers to make an informed decision before clicking links.
Pinch of Yum provides another outstanding example. Their affiliate disclosure is both clear and concise, providing readers with all of the details about affiliate relationships as well as providing a link for additional information. Not only is their disclosure compliant with FTC guidelines, but it also strengthens trust among readers.
Though you can include disclosures in your sidebar or affiliate page, it is more effective to add them into each blog post or article that includes affiliate links directly. This ensures they remain visible and within close proximity of them – while at the same time being easily read on all devices – by adding one at either the beginning or directly above any affiliate links.