Are you planning to make or do you have an affiliate website? Then you probably will use affiliate links on your website. If you do you probably need an affiliate disclaimer on your website. Do you know what an affiliate disclaimer is? In this post I will address what an affiliate disclaimer is, who needs an affiliate disclaimer, why you need an affiliate disclaimer and how to make an affiliate disclaimer on a website.
Photo: Unsplash
Before you read the rest of my article I want to inform you according to best practices with information that may be important to you:
Affiliate disclaimer: This post contain affiliate links which means I will get a commission at no extra cost for you if you should click through and make a purchase.
Third party disclaimer: We are not legally responsible for what happens when you click on third party links because have no control over third parties websites, content, functionality or security and can not be held responsible for any technical or other damage to your device such as computer, mobile or tablet used when clicking on a link to connect to other platforms, download material, install, modify or distribute any material, software or other.
Earnings and result disclaimer: Programs or products mentioned in this post that involve earning money will not work for everyone and there is no guarantee for success because there are to many factors that influence the results such as skills, circumstances and knowledge that we have no control over. Our Intention is to provide you with good potential opportunities and tools that can be helpful to your success.
Opinion disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed in posts on are my own and not Privacy Policies views or opinions. Projections in this post are not endorsements.
Legal disclaimer: I have to inform you that I am no lawyer and I do not provide any legal advice on these matters. I urge anyone to contact a professional lawyer regarding legal matters regarding your own website. I am only giving you my insights into what I have learned so far in my process of creating a website and hope that this can be helpful to you who read my post.
Become aware of best practices and requirements
When creating a website or having a website, there are many things to be aware of as an affiliate marketer. When you start a website, you need a privacy policy. But as you go along and add content to your site and affiliate links, you need to update your site with affiliate disclaimers too. There are many other types of disclaimers you might need too but in this post I am mainly focusing on affiliate disclaimers.
In my previous post How to make a Privacy Policy for your website I would recommend you to read this post as well.
I wrote about how to protect your visitors, customers and clients privacy online and how you can make a privacy policy for a website. Today I will continue on this path because an affiliate disclaimer is connected to your privacy policy.
Affiliate – what does it mean?
Photo: Unsplash
To be an affiliate means you are having links to other peoples products on your website. As an example I am an affiliate of Privacy Policies. I have their affiliate links in my posts and in my sidebar and on my freebies page. If someone sign up to Privacy Policies through the affiliate links on my website I will get a commission from Privacy Policies if someone makes a purchase of their products via my links.
Affiliate marketing is based on affiliates that write about and/or having links to other peoples products on their website and generate traffic and customers in return of a commission when visitors on their website purchase via their affiliate links. You can read more about affiliate marketing on Wikipedia.
What is an affiliate website?
An affiliate website is any website that have affiliate links added on their website.
What is an affiliate link?
An affiliate link is basically a link that the affiliate get from the merchant so that the merchant knows which affiliate made a sale and who is eligible for commission. It can be a text link, a pretty link, a customized link, a banner, a widget, a video just to mention the most common ones. Affiliate links have tracking cookies of different lengths. From 7-90 days This give the merchant a foundation for analytics. It means that if you click on an affiliate link the merchant will get information about which affiliate website generated the click and they also collect data from you and your behavior online after clicking on their link. They will get information about how you move around on their website, what articles you read or what products you look at, how long time you stay on their site or if you download or purchase anything. They do this to learn how to give their customers the best experience and offers.
What is an affiliate disclaimer?
An affiliate disclaimer is a notice you give to your customer on your website or on your post to let them know that you will get commissions if they click on one of your affiliate links. Being transparent with this is much better than hiding it.
Your visitors love transparency better than hiding the fact that you get a commission. Affiliate links are very common on most websites. Influencers, affiliate marketers and many small businesses use this. No visitor wants to feel mislead or being an object for deception.
However, not all people online are transparent and tell their visitors that they make money online by recommending a product on their website. This is called deceptive or misleading marketing practices.
There is nothing wrong or illegal with having affiliate links on your website as long as you tell your visitors that you earn money if they purchase from you when they click through on your links.
Just think about it for a moment. When you visit a website online don't you trust the website more if they have a disclaimer?
If an influencer you love are using a product and promote it on their website and do not say that they earn money for using or promoting it. What do you think about that? Wouldn't you find it more trustable if this influencer said they would get a commission if you click on their link? I know I would.
Do I need an affiliate disclaimer on my website?
If you have affiliate links on your website you need an affiliate disclaimer or you risk in the worst case that your content will be banned for violating federal and International laws. FTC have created a requirement guide for affiliate marketers you might find useful to read.
How to make an affiliate disclaimer
It does not take much time to make a disclaimer and it is all worth it. I would recommend you to make the disclaimer short, easy and clear to understand for your visitor, reader or viewer. The disclaimer should contain a statement that you have affiliate links on your website and what happens when they click on them. Do you get a commission per click or per purchase when your visitors click through on your links and buy the product you write about? This must be clear in the statement.
My #1 recommendation for creating an affiliate disclaimer:
Can I copy an affiliate disclaimer?
Basically no, you can not copy an affiliate disclaimer, because an affiliate disclaimer is protected by copyright. However, if the owner of the disclaimer offers you to copy their disclaimer in full or as a template, you can do it.
Where to put the disclaimer on your website?
The general rule and best practice is to put the affiliate disclaimer before the affiliate link and as close to the affiliate link as possible. The main reason for this is that it should be visible and not hidden. Showing transparency builds more trust.
When you create a blog post, article, review or any other post on your website that contain affiliate links you need a disclaimer. I normally put mine on top of my blog post after the intro, but you can put it on top of your page, at the bottom of your page, at the bottom of your blog post or in connection with your link. It is important that you put it before the affiliate link. You can also do all of these to be sure that your disclaimer is visible. The best is to put it close to the link.
Extra affiliate disclaimers
This is important to note. Amazon Affiliates need an extra affiliate disclaimer beside the link to Amazon products. Did you know that? It is not enough just to have your regular disclaimer. I have seen many bloggers, influencers and affiliate marketers who does not know this or do this. Some merchants wants you to place an affiliate disclaimer beside their affiliate links or else you may be disapproved as an affiliate. You do not want this to happen so it is better to safeguard yourself by doing what they ask.
Other types of disclaimers you might need on your site
Affiliate marketers and bloggers often need more than just an affiliate disclaimer. I discovered while creating and updating my own website with affiliate disclaimers that I needed more than just an affiliate disclaimer. I write about making money training programs, I write about grammar programs, I write about business tools in many categories. Since I have many affiliate partners in different categories I needed some extra disclaimers. Maybe you do too?
Take a good look at your website today and ask yourself if you need any of the disclaimers I have listed below:
Earning disclaimer – If you are writing about programs or strategies that can generate income to others it is important to make a statement that this program does not work for everyone even if it worked for you or others. You need to tell your reader that there are many factors involved when it comes to being successful. That the program or strategy are a resource and intended to help your reader on the journey.
I have many affiliate links to Wealthy Affiliate on my website which is a website builder, host and a learning platform to affiliate marketing. When I write reviews about Wealthy affiliate and the product they offer I need some extra disclaimers .
I have added all of these disclaimers in my privacy policy and are constantly updating my posts with disclaimers.
No guaranteed results: You need to make a disclaimer that says there are no guaranteed results. Example: I cannot garantee that the Wealthy Affiliate program works for everyone because there are so many factors that can determine whether a person is successful or not. There can be circumstances, mindset and skills that impact the outcome.
And I can not guarantee that downloading and generating an affiliate disclaimer from privacy policies on your website means that your website is up to date at all times.
Opinion disclaimer: All opinions you express on your own website are yours and not the views and opinions of your affiliate partner.
Third parties' disclaimer: A statement that tell your visitors that if they click on any links on your website belonging to a third party you are not responsible for what happens when they click on these links. You need to explain that you have no control over third party content, website or functionality and that the links are not product endorsements.
Legal disclaimers – If you are not giving professional legal advice and urge your visitors to contact a professional lawyer regarding legal matters
Health disclaimers – if you have affiliate links to health products you need this disclaimer.
There are many other niche disclaimers you might need as well that I will not address or mention in this post.Disclaimers are almost a whole science in itself in my opinion. My point is you need to all the time make sure to the best of your knowledge that your website is updated according to the best practices and law.
Endorsements: I found it very helpful to read FTC guides on endorsements.Endorsements are when you receive a financial compensation or something of value for mentioning a product or sponsored for using, liking a product. Examples. If you are paid to give a customer review or pay someone to give a customer review, If you receive or give free products in return for a review, paid video streaming, paid travel reviews, future discounts and free product samples to mention some so you get an idea.
Testimonials: If you use testimonials on your site
How to Update your Privacy Policy with the affiliate disclaimer
When you have made your affiliate disclaimer it is time to update your privacy policy. You can do this by adding a clause to your privacy policy. A separate affiliate disclaimer page is another option where you can update your website with an affiliate disclaimer. You can also put it in your terms and conditions page.
Where and when to use an affiliate disclaimer on your website
Every time you create a blog post, article, video, screen cast that contain affiliate links in any form, shape or color you need to add it.
Final thoughts – Get an affiliate disclaimer if you have affiliate links!
I think you see the value of having an affiliate disclaimer in your privacy policy, on your website or in your post after reading my article. Right? The rules for affiliate links are clear. If you use affiliate links – you need an affiliate disclaimer. Hopefully you already have one. If not generate your affiliate disclaimer now with privacy policies
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any questions regarding this just leave it in the comments below and I will try to answer you to the best of my knowledge.
* Opinion Disclaimer: All views and opinions that may be expressed in this post are my own and not any view or opinion of privacy policies.*
I would be very grateful if you share this post on your social media or with a friend who might need to hear this.
Hello there, thanks alot for sharing this awesome article I know it would definitely be of great help to the public as it has been of help to me…I just started my website and I must say I never thought about it puting an affiliate disclaimer on it and after reading I can see how useful it is…I would go and add it right away…thanks once more for the tips.
Hi there! you are welcome! Glad you found it useful.
Having an affiliate disclaimer does build trust. I can say it as a customer and I have started a blog and want to create affiliate disclaimers for my site.
I didn’t know that the closer we place the affiliate disclaimer to our affiliate links, the better. And now that I read it, it makes sense. I didn’t know either that Amazon requires specific affiliate disclaimers. I’ll be careful about this.
Thank you very much for this post.
Hi Paolo! I think there are many who do not know this unfortunately. Starting a website the priorities lays often elsewhere. To get the website up and to write content.
As an affiliate marketer, an affiliate disclaimer is a very important thing for you to do on your website and the way you have explained here on your website makes me understand even better because I am still somewhat a beginner to all this. Also happy that you can also expand my knowledge on what an affiliate is and what the affiliate link means.
Hi Payton! Thanks a lot for airing your thoughts. You are so right. It is important to be transparent. Happy to hear you learned what an affiliate link and an affiliate is. Being an affiliate marketer this is basic knowledge you need to know. There are of course other definitions as well you can find online. As a beginner it can be wise to make an update schedule regularly so you are sure to be updated to best practices.
Thanks for bringing this to the notice of the public cause this is something that is a necessity for websites. I appreciate this cause i was a victim of this when i first started due to inexperience and lack of knowledge of it. People need to comply with these regulations as a whole. It will really help business websites generally.
Thank You Kaycee for sharing your thoughts about this. It is often inexperience, lack of knowledge or ignorance that are the reasons for websites who does not have it. .Learning about disclaimers is a must for everybody online. Also having a Privacy policy. You might also want to read my post about Privacy Policy.
Hey there, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful information.I did not know that I am not allowed to copy an affiliate disclaimer and I am glad I saw your article on time before getting my self into big trouble ,thank you so much and I am looking forward to learning more from your site
Hi Audrey! Glad that you found my article informative and helpful to you. You might want to read my post about Privacy Policy as well.
Hello there, I have really enjoyed my time here on your site and it is really lovely to finally find an answer to a question you have had in mind for a long time and I am really happy about it. Creating disclaimers is really important as you give clarity and immunity of yourself towards that business and that is really good for people to trust how good you are
Hi Justin! Yes Affiliate Disclaimers is a must if you are a Freelancer. Glad you found the answer to your question.
Nice one. The above discussed are very important to our website and business especially the affiliate disclaimer. I think that our readers or visitors reserved the right to know if we’re affiliated to what we promote or talk about. Having them not knowing makes us look not honest to them, and will make them feel as if we just want to make a sale off them. But by having some disclaimers on our site build more trust.
Hi Kelvin! Yes, you are absolutely right. Many are afraid of putting the affiliate disclaimer in a post because they think it destroys the look of their post or website and will loose readers or customers. In fact statistics shows another story. People are generally more inclined to trust you if you have disclaimers on your website. And as you mention – Being honest is very important. No one likes to feel that they are being tricked or lied to.