Affiliate Link Disclosure Examples & Best Practices for Bloggers

Affiliate marketing is an incredible way to earn money online. If done right, you can earn thousands of dollars from every product you promote.

Although there are a ton of ways to increase your affiliate sales, you need to remember ONE important thing: โ€œaffiliate disclosuresโ€.

Whether you know it or not, it’s illegal to not include an affiliate disclosure when you use affiliate links within your website to make money online. 

So in this post, weโ€™ll discuss several important things like;

  • What is an affiliate disclosure?
  • Affiliate link disclosure examples 
  • Affiliate disclosure best practices and more

Letโ€™s get into the details without much ado.

What Is an Affiliate Disclosure?

An affiliate disclosure is a disclaimer statement that informs your website visitors or potential buyers that you’re being paid by the company (or product) you’re linking to as an affiliate.

Hereโ€™s the affiliate disclaimer example from BloggersPassion;

Affiliate Disclosure

As you can see above, weโ€™re currently using the affiliate disclosure at the footer and itโ€™s enabled throughout the site. That means, our footer along with the affiliate disclosure will show up no matter what post youโ€™re reading on BloggersPassion.

Did you know that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can take legal action or set hefty fines for anyone recommending a company or product without proper disclosures present?

If youโ€™re living in the US or promoting a brand, product, or company thatโ€™s based in the US, you MUST comply with the FTC guidelines. So make sure to include an affiliate disclaimer on your website if youโ€™re promoting affiliate products.

Side note: If youโ€™re curious, visit this page to read all the FTC guidelines on Internet marketing where you can download a FREE PDF. It also offers practical tips on how to create effective disclosures online.

Want to create an effective affiliate disclosure on your website? Are you looking for the best affiliate disclosure examples? This section is exclusively for you where weโ€™ll show you three amazing websites that use affiliate disclosures effectively.

1. Affiliate Disclaimer Example from Smart Passive Income

We love Pat Flynn and his blog Smart Passive Income. Pat teaches how to build successful online businesses from scratch and also talks about the PROVEN affiliate marketing strategies to grow your affiliate commissions.

He has one of the best affiliate disclaimers on the Internet (see it here).

Have a look;

pat flynn affiliate disclaimer

As you can see, his affiliate disclaimer is completely personalized and he clearly tells his audience that heโ€™ll earn an affiliate commission for any purchases you make from his website.

If youโ€™re planning to build a personal brand with your blog and also promoting affiliate products, you should definitely check out his disclaimer page for inspiration. 

2. Affiliate Disclaimer Example from Pinch of Yum

Pinch of Yum is one of the most popular food blogs on the web and there are over 1 million people who follow this amazing blog on Instagram.

Hereโ€™s how the Pinch of Yum blogโ€™s affiliate disclosure looks like (see it from here);

affiliate disclaimer pinch of yum

As you can see, on their โ€œgetting started with your own food blogโ€ page, they show their disclaimer on top of the page where it gets maximum visibility. 

If youโ€™re planning to promote an affiliate product or creating a resource page (or a guide where you include multiple affiliate links), itโ€™s a good idea to follow this blogโ€™s approach.

3. Affiliate Disclaimer Example from Dr. Axe

DrAxe.com is one of the top natural health websites in the world. Dr. Josh Axe is the founder of the blog whoโ€™s a doctor of chiropractic, and certified doctor of natural medicine. 

Hereโ€™s how the Dr. Axe blogโ€™s affiliate disclaimer page looks like (read it here);

affiliate disclaimer axe

As you can see, his blogโ€™s affiliate disclosure page is pretty simple, straightforward, and concise. 

If you want to create a small yet effective affiliate disclosure on your website, you can take inspiration from this blog. 

How to Write an Affiliate Disclosure: 6 Best Practices for Website Owners

Before jumping into the affiliate link disclosure best practices, here are two simple things you MUST include in your affiliate disclosures;

  • that you may receive a commission for recommending products from your website
  • that you have affiliate links on your website or blog

Letโ€™s now talk about the best practices for writing affiliate link disclosures on your website.

You should NOT trick your website visitors. Make your affiliate disclosures extremely clear and easy to understand. A clear affiliate disclosure could be as simple as โ€œan affiliate link”, “paid link”, or “Aff Link” which you can use while adding affiliate links.

Hereโ€™s an example;

affiliate link disclosure example

As you can see above, whenever you use an affiliate link, you can quickly mention it as an affiliate link in the brackets.  

2. Your affiliate disclosure should be clearly visible 

Your website visitors should NOT hunt for your affiliate disclosures as they should be placed near any affiliate link or in a visible location that they will notice easily.

The best place for bloggers to show affiliate link disclosures are;

  • At the top of the blog post (on every post you include affiliate links)
  • or beside the affiliate link mentioning (such as โ€œaffiliate linkโ€)

Hereโ€™s an example;

affiliate disclaimer katie

As you can see above, the affiliate disclosure is displayed at the very top of the blog post and is clearly visible.

The best practice for affiliate link disclosure is this: whenever youโ€™re using affiliate links to promote products, make sure to add a disclosure. 

Especially go through all your high-traffic (or income-generating) posts and see if youโ€™ve added an affiliate disclosure if youโ€™re promoting any affiliate products. If not, add a small one or two-line disclaimer to stay safe.

4. If youโ€™re NOT sure, just include one

If youโ€™re unaware of which posts to include your affiliate disclosures, just include one as thereโ€™s NOTHING wrong. Youโ€™re just being extra safe. It also builds trust with your audience.

5. Use (or tweak) this affiliate disclosure template

If youโ€™re struggling to create an affiliate link disclosure, we recommend you either use or make some changes to the following affiliate disclaimer template.

โ€œAffiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, Iโ€™ll receive a small commission. I only recommend products that I use and love. Thank you for your support.โ€

6. Install an affiliate disclosure plugin

As we already discussed, when youโ€™re promoting products of companies from the US, UK, or Canada, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requires an affiliate disclosure from bloggers.

But when you have a ton of blog posts on your blog, adding affiliate link disclosures manually can take a lot of time.

To overcome this problem, you can consider installing free plugins like WP Affiliate Disclosure. This plugin helps you easily add a customizable affiliate disclosure that will automatically display on all your posts (or specific posts). 

Hereโ€™s how it looks like;

affiliate disclaimer plugin

As you can see above, you can easily include a disclosure at the top (or end) of your blog posts. You can show them on all the pages or certain pages where youโ€™ve included affiliate links.

7. Make sure to include an Amazon Associates disclosure 

If youโ€™re promoting Amazon affiliate products on your site, you must include an affiliate disclosure.

Hereโ€™s a simple way to do it.

You can use a simple disclaimer such as;

โ€œAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.โ€

In fact, Amazon itself recommends you to use it to identify yourself as an Amazon Associate partner.

affiliate disclaimer amazon

You can also check out the latest guidelines from Amazon Associates if youโ€™re promoting their products.

Essential Resources for Affiliate Marketers:

No matter what your location is, itโ€™s always a good idea to include affiliate disclosures on your websites to avoid legal complications in the future. 

Affiliate disclosures also help you build trust with your website audience, so be sure to include them whenever you promote affiliate products.

Do you have any more questions about affiliate link disclosures and their best practices? Let us know them in the comments. 

Here are some of the related questions around affiliate link disclosures and their best practices.

What is an affiliate link?

An affiliate link is a UNIQUE URL that contains an affiliateโ€™s ID assigned to a specific product or service. If someone clicks the affiliate link to purchase something, the affiliate gets commission depending on the product they promote.

How to create an affiliate link?

To create an affiliate link, you need to first find a product to promote. Then, you should sign up for their affiliate program so theyโ€™ll give you an affiliate link to promote the product. When someone purchases their product through your affiliate link, youโ€™ll get paid.

What is affiliate link disclosure?

Affiliate disclosure is a way to let your website visitors know that the products you mention and link to in your content may be affiliate products and you may get paid for that.

Is affiliate link disclosure necessary?

Yes, since promoting products for profit is regulated by law (in the majority of the countries), affiliate link disclosures are a legal necessity.

In the US, if you use affiliate links anywhere on your website, youโ€™re required by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to include an affiliate link disclaimer.ย 

Should I create an affiliate disclosure page on my website?

While itโ€™s NOT mandatory to create an exclusive affiliate disclosure on your website as long as youโ€™re showing affiliate link disclosures on any page where you promote affiliate products.

But itโ€™s a good practice to have a dedicated affiliate disclaimer page especially when youโ€™re using affiliate networks such as Amazon Associates.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting othersโ€™ products or services. As an affiliate, you earn a commission whenever someone purchases something using your affiliate referral link. The affiliate link is unique to each affiliate and includes an ID thatโ€™s specific to the product.

What are some popular affiliate networks?

Here are some of the most popular affiliate networks you can join to promote a wide range of affiliate products.

– Amazon Associates
– ClickBank
– CJ Affiliate
– ShareASale
– eBay Partner Network
– Awinย 
– Impact (Radius)

Where can I put my affiliate links?

As an affiliate for a product, you may want to include your affiliate links in the following channels.

– Your website or blog posts
– Inside your emails
– Social media handles like Facebook, Twitter

Just make sure to read the affiliate guidelines of the product you promote as few product vendors donโ€™t let you use affiliate links in some channels such as PPC ads.ย 

Avatar for Anil Agarwal
About Author
Anil Agarwal is the Founder of Bloggerspassion. He is a full-time blogger and SEO expert who has been helping people build profitable blogs for over a decade Now. He has been featured in Over 100 Publications including Forbes, The HuffPost, HubSpot, Shopify, Semrush, Kinsta, Bluehost, Hostinger and G2.com etc. Know more about Anil Agarwal from here.

Reader Comments (5)

  1. I was looking to develop an affiliate marketing website. It’s important for users to know the disclosure. Appreciate the advice

    Reply
  2. Hi,

    I use a link to my disclaimer page at the end of the post like this:

    *Affiliate Links Disclaimer

    I don’t write the whole disclosure within the post. I want to know is it fine or should I write the complete disclosure on each and every post?

    Reply
  3. Thanks for the good info, Anil. I have the disclosures pretty well covered I think (keeping them at the top of every post using the Ad Inserter plugin you mention above, as well as some other plugins Iโ€™ve found); however, Iโ€™m beginning to see some of the disclosure statements themselves show up in the SERPs (even when I have the meta descriptions, etc all set up for each post in Yoast). So, thatโ€™s disturbing. I have looked for answers about how to make the affiliate disclosure statements themselves โ€œnoindexโ€ but cannot find anything on the topic. If you have any ideas, I would be most grateful! Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Hello Anil,

    Disclosing your affiliate links definitely helps people to understand that you are a genuine person and showing your affiliate relationship with them. It will definitely help you to build trust and also increase sales and conversions. Thanks for sharing this amazing post.

    Regards,
    Vishwajeet Kumar

    Reply
  5. Hi Anil.

    Affiliate disclosures is a must when we offer it. It can be on a blog post to an email. One has to make sure it is clear to the reader that you are an affiliate of the product and/or service. I always put it on and it works in two ways. It is for FTC regulations, but more than that, followers will be more apt to buy from you. It is because we already built the know, like and trust factor with our blogs and especially our email list.
    I only like to affiliate things I have purchased and used myself. There can be many pro and cons about the product, and I like to mention it so it is very clear to my followers that it is a good thing.
    I like the plugin you mentioned here. I just might give it a whirl.

    Thanks!
    -Donna

    Reply

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