Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a little extra income through your blog. It's fairly simple: you enter into an affiliate relationship with a specific company, then promote that company's products on your blog. You might review them, or give a description of them, or simply drop mentions of them in your everyday blogs. A reader finds those products interesting, clicks on the link you include, and then makes a purchase based on your recommendation. Your affiliate rewards you with a commission for that purchase.

Sounds great, right? Affiliate marketing is a great way to make some extra money on your blog while doing many of the same things you would be doing anyway.

In order to be an affiliate blogger, however, there's one more thing you have to take into consideration: disclosures.

What is an Affiliate Disclosure?

An affiliate disclosure is simply a statement attached near the product recommendation you've made that states that you are an affiliate of that company and have been compensated for your review or recommendation. It doesn't have to be complicated or detailed. It can simply include, “I am an affiliate for XYZ brand and was compensated for this review.” If your affiliate partner provides products for you to review, you may want to include that information as part of your disclosure.

A statement attached near the product recommendation you've made that states that you are an affiliate of that company and have been compensated for your review or recommendation.

Affiliate disclosures help consumers across the internet tell the difference between a product review that was placed due to specific incentive from the brand and one that was placed with no incentive at all. In some cases, consumers won't mind if the review is paid or not: they just want to know how a specific product works and what benefits it has. In other cases, however, whether you received compensation for a review can make a big difference in how much trust a consumer places in your review as they determine whether they want to try a specific product. Affiliate disclosures can help consumers make more accurate, thought-out decisions about the products you've reviewed.

Do You Have to Share an Affiliate Disclosure?

If you are an affiliate of a particular brand, you must, according to the Federal Trade Commissions, include the fact that you were compensated for giving your review or opinion as part of your review. Your affiliate partner may also require you to disclose your connection with them any time you include a review for their products on your blog, since they want you to be honest and accurate in the information you provide to your readers. The benefit to the brand that you're affiliated with is that you're providing an honest, real-world opinion to your readers–and if they can't trust you, they'll be likely to extend that distrust to the brand, too.

What Happens if You Fail to Include an Affiliate Disclosure?

If you fail to include an affiliate disclosure as part of your product review or blog, you may face several consequences.

The FTC May Impose Fines

If the FTC takes note of your blog and the lack of an affiliate disclosure in your reviews, you may face significant fines as a result of your failure to disclose that information. In some cases, especially repeated breaches of that law on your part, you may face a complete shutdown of your blog or removal of offending pages, which could prevent you from monetizing your blog in the future.

You May Lose Your Affiliate Relationship

Your affiliate relationship may also be at stake if you fail to properly document your affiliation with that brand. Remember, the brand benefits from your honesty–and it may not appreciate your failure to disclose that relevant information.

Affiliate Disclosure Best Practices

In order to ensure that you do not make mistakes that could result in a lack of transparency or understanding regarding an affiliate relationship, make sure you use these affiliate disclosure best practices to provide more information to your readers and ensure that you remain in compliance with FTC regulations.

1. Put those disclosures in an obvious location.

You have several options for where you want to place affiliate disclosures on your website. The FTC regulation simply notes that they have to be “obvious.” That means you can place them in a sidebar, put them in the same line of text as your links, or disclose the affiliate relationship at the beginning or end of your blog. The goal is to make sure that readers can easily see why you're providing those specific links and product reviews.

2. Make your disclosure clear.

Don't tangle up a disclosure in complicated, flowery language that no one will take the time to read through and even fewer readers will understand. Instead, be honest about your affiliation. “Disclosure: I am a Company XYZ Affiliate. If you click on my link, at no extra cost to you, I will receive a commission for this purchase.” This simple statement lets consumers know what they need to know–and you can follow it up with a statement about your genuine support of the company if you like. For example, you could say, “I am an XYZ Affiliate. However, these are my favorite products for a good reason.”

3. When in doubt, include a disclosure.

“Everyone knows I'm affiliated with Company XYZ. They're clearly my sponsor.” “I disclosed this relationship in my last blog post. Do I have to do it again?” There is some gray area about how much responsibility you have to clearly and obviously disclose an affiliate relationship. However, if you're exercising best practices, then when in doubt, go ahead and include that disclosure. It doesn't hurt anything to have it on your page, but including it where necessary can keep you from facing legal trouble or losing your affiliate relationship with a company if there's trouble later.

Are you interested in learning more about how to work as an affiliate or how to make money blogging? Contact me today or sign up for my affiliate marketing course, “The Affiliate Blogger Academy” to get started.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a little extra income through your blog. It's fairly simple: you enter into an affiliate relationship with a specific company, then promote that company's products on your blog. You might review them, or give a description of them, or simply drop mentions of them in your everyday blogs. A reader finds those products interesting, clicks on the link you include, and then makes a purchase based on your recommendation. Your affiliate rewards you with a commission for that purchase.

Sounds great, right? Affiliate marketing is a great way to make some extra money on your blog while doing many of the same things you would be doing anyway.

In order to be an affiliate blogger, however, there's one more thing you have to take into consideration: disclosures.

What is an Affiliate Disclosure?

An affiliate disclosure is simply a statement attached near the product recommendation you've made that states that you are an affiliate of that company and have been compensated for your review or recommendation. It doesn't have to be complicated or detailed. It can simply include, “I am an affiliate for XYZ brand and was compensated for this review.” If your affiliate partner provides products for you to review, you may want to include that information as part of your disclosure.

Affiliate disclosures help consumers across the internet tell the difference between a product review that was placed due to specific incentive from the brand and one that was placed with no incentive at all. In some cases, consumers won't mind if the review is paid or not: they just want to know how a specific product works and what benefits it has. In other cases, however, whether you received compensation for a review can make a big difference in how much trust a consumer places in your review as they determine whether they want to try a specific product. Affiliate disclosures can help consumers make more accurate, thought-out decisions about the products you've reviewed.

Do You Have to Share an Affiliate Disclosure?

If you are an affiliate of a particular brand, you must, according to the Federal Trade Commissions, include the fact that you were compensated for giving your review or opinion as part of your review. Your affiliate partner may also require you to disclose your connection with them any time you include a review for their products on your blog, since they want you to be honest and accurate in the information you provide to your readers. The benefit to the brand that you're affiliated with is that you're providing an honest, real-world opinion to your readers–and if they can't trust you, they'll be likely to extend that distrust to the brand, too.

What Happens if You Fail to Include an Affiliate Disclosure?

If you fail to include an affiliate disclosure as part of your product review or blog, you may face several consequences.

The FTC May Impose Fines

If the FTC takes note of your blog and the lack of an affiliate disclosure in your reviews, you may face significant fines as a result of your failure to disclose that information. In some cases, especially repeated breaches of that law on your part, you may face a complete shutdown of your blog or removal of offending pages, which could prevent you from monetizing your blog in the future.

You May Lose Your Affiliate Relationship

Your affiliate relationship may also be at stake if you fail to properly document your affiliation with that brand. Remember, the brand benefits from your honesty–and it may not appreciate your failure to disclose that relevant information.

Affiliate Disclosure Best Practices

In order to ensure that you do not make mistakes that could result in a lack of transparency or understanding regarding an affiliate relationship, make sure you use these affiliate disclosure best practices to provide more information to your readers and ensure that you remain in compliance with FTC regulations.

1. Put those disclosures in an obvious location.

You have several options for where you want to place affiliate disclosures on your website. The FTC regulation simply notes that they have to be “obvious.” That means you can place them in a sidebar, put them in the same line of text as your links, or disclose the affiliate relationship at the beginning or end of your blog. The goal is to make sure that readers can easily see why you're providing those specific links and product reviews.

2. Make your disclosure clear.

Don't tangle up a disclosure in complicated, flowery language that no one will take the time to read through and even fewer readers will understand. Instead, be honest about your affiliation. “Disclosure: I am a Company XYZ Affiliate. If you click on my link, at no extra cost to you, I will receive a commission for this purchase.” This simple statement lets consumers know what they need to know–and you can follow it up with a statement about your genuine support of the company if you like. For example, you could say, “I am an XYZ Affiliate. However, these are my favorite products for a good reason.”

3. When in doubt, include a disclosure.

“Everyone knows I'm affiliated with Company XYZ. They're clearly my sponsor.” “I disclosed this relationship in my last blog post. Do I have to do it again?” There is some gray area about how much responsibility you have to clearly and obviously disclose an affiliate relationship. However, if you're exercising best practices, then when in doubt, go ahead and include that disclosure. It doesn't hurt anything to have it on your page, but including it where necessary can keep you from facing legal trouble or losing your affiliate relationship with a company if there's trouble later.

Are you interested in learning more about how to work as an affiliate or how to make money blogging? Contact me today or sign up for my affiliate marketing course, “The Affiliate Blogger Academy” to get started.