Affiliate Links on a Content Site and Saying So

A link that pays

A reader finishes a review of three tents, taps the link under the one that suits them, and buys it from a retailer. Some weeks later, the site that wrote the review is paid a small commission.

That is an affiliate link. The address carries a code telling the retailer who sent the buyer, and the reader pays the same price either way.

For many content sites, commissions are a large share of the income, alongside display ads. On many of those sites the arrangement is mentioned nowhere, or once, in small grey type in the footer.

Readers notice more than owners expect. The code often shows in the address bar on the retailer's page, and a reader who spots it after trusting a review feels misled.

Who expects it said

• Readers, who weigh a recommendation differently when the writer earns from it.
• Canada's advertising rules, which treat undisclosed material connections as potentially misleading.
• American rules, which matter for the many readers and programs based there.
• The affiliate programs, whose agreements usually require disclosure.
• Search engines, which want links that earn money marked as such.

The fourth is the one most often overlooked. Most program agreements include a disclosure clause, some with set wording, and a program can close an account that ignores it.

What the rules have in common

What follows is the common ground between those rules, not legal advice. Details vary between countries and programs, and a site earning seriously from affiliates should have its wording checked by a lawyer who works on advertising.

The shared principle is simple. If a writer has a connection to a product or seller that readers would not expect, and that could change how they weigh the recommendation, it should be disclosed.

A commission on sales is that kind of connection. So is a product sent free for review, or a payment for a mention.

Where the sentence belongs

Near the links. A sentence at the top of the article, before the first affiliate link, reaches every reader who reaches a link.

On every page that carries them, not only reviews: gear lists, buying guides, roundups, and how-to articles that mention a product in passing.

Visible on a phone without tapping anything. A disclosure tucked into a pop-up note, a collapsed section or the foot of a long page is present in theory and invisible in practice.

And in newsletters and social posts, where the link travels without the article around it.

Words that work

Plain words beat clever ones. "We earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It does not change the price you pay." That covers it.

Phrases such as "this post may contain partner links" leave the reader guessing what a partner is and whether money changes hands.

Avoid wording that shrinks the arrangement, such as "a tiny commission", or that suggests readers owe you a purchase. The aim is information, not a favour.

A short policy page

One page, linked from every disclosure sentence and from the footer, explains how the site makes money and how it decides what to recommend.

Say which kinds of programs the site belongs to, and whether it accepts free products, loans or paid placements. Say how each is labelled when it happens.

Say what does not influence reviews: commission rates do not decide rankings, and products are tested or researched the same way whether or not they earn anything.

Then make sure it is true. A page promising independence beside a best-of list that follows the highest commission does more harm than no page.

A worked example

An outdoor recreation site run by a couple covers campgrounds, paddling routes and gear across the province. It earns from display ads and from affiliate links in its reviews of tents, sleeping bags, stoves and dry bags.

The only disclosure was a footer link labelled Legal, leading to a page that mentioned partner programs in its fourth paragraph.

Over the summer a reader commented under a stove review that the retailer's address carried a tracking code, and asked whether the review was paid for.

It was not, but the reply had to explain an arrangement the page had never mentioned.

The couple added one sentence, in their own voice, above the first link in every review and gear list, linked to a new page called How this site makes money.

That page names the kinds of programs they use, notes that two stoves were sent free by their makers and labelled in their reviews, and explains that rankings come from testing.

The sentence also went into the newsletter template, and the affiliate links were marked so search engines treat them as paid.

Free gear and loans

A product sent free for review is a connection too, and in gear coverage it is common. So is a loan, a discount, or a trip paid for by a tourism partner.

Say so in the review itself, near the top: the maker sent this tent for testing, and we kept it. Readers then judge the review knowing that.

Keep a simple record of what arrived, from whom, and where it was disclosed. It keeps disclosures consistent as the site grows.

Disclosure and trust

Owners worry that a disclosure will put readers off clicking. The worry has the risk the wrong way round.

Readers know a site needs income, and most have seen disclosures before. What damages trust is discovering the arrangement afterwards, in an address bar or a comment thread.

A site that recommends what it would recommend anyway loses little by saying so. A site that cannot say it comfortably has a different problem to fix first.

The counter-case

A site that links to products without commissions or free samples has nothing to disclose, though a line saying so on its about page answers the question before anyone asks.

A site with an occasional affiliate link may not need a full policy page. It still needs the sentence on each page where a link earns money.

For everyone else: one plain sentence near the links, on every page that has them, and a short page explaining the rest.

Before the next post goes up

1. List every page with affiliate links.
2. Write one plain sentence about the commission.
3. Place it above the first link.
4. Check it on a phone without tapping anything.
5. Write a short page on how you earn.
6. Label free products inside each review.
7. Add the sentence to newsletters and social posts.

Step three matters most. A disclosure the reader meets only after clicking has missed the moment it exists for, however clearly it is worded.

Display ads, the other common source of a content site's income, have their own rules, covered in sticky ads on phones and the Better Ads list.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.