Navigating affiliate disclosures can be unnecessarily complex.

However, there are effective ways to get through the ins and outs of affiliate disclosures and simplify the process of adding them to your web pages.

Are you looking for tips on how to add an affiliate disclosure to WordPress?

Check out our article for a series of practical tips to help you out.

What Are Affiliate Disclosures?

An affiliate disclosure is a short notice next to or near any product placement that is included on any blogs, social media content, podcasts, videos, or digital ads that you are paid for.

This notice includes two things: an explanation of what affiliate marketing is and the confirmation that you are, in fact, getting paid to make the recommendation.

Why Do you Need Affiliate Disclosures?

The Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on affiliate disclosures are very clear: to protect consumers, product endorsements and paid product or service placement of any kind must be fully transparent and clearly marked.

it is illegal to not include a disclosure when posting a recommendation or link to any product or service if you are being compensated for it.

How to Write an Affiliate Disclosure

There are two main things an affiliate link must contain: a notice identifying a link as an affiliate link and exactly how the affiliate link works. This can be done in fully fleshed-out details or in one sentence, as long as both of the above details are included.

To create an affiliate disclosure page, go to your WordPress dashboard and go to Pages > Add New. Add your longer affiliate notice here and easily link to it for easy access.

Make your affiliate disclosure easy to understand and assume that your target audience does not know what it is. Add the link very close to the product or service you are recommending and be sure to explain how you get a commission.  

How to Add an Affiliate Disclosure to WordPress

To keep your website or blog from being flagged by the FTC, make sure you have affiliate disclosures along with every post that includes affiliate links.

We have several techniques and tips for WordPress users on the different ways they can include affiliate disclosures on their blogs or websites.

Enter Them Manually

You could type up an affiliate disclosure and manually copy and paste them onto every blog post that contains an affiliate link. This is time-consuming and there is a chance that you miss one (or a few).

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Use a Shortcode to Create Affiliate Disclosures

Using a shortcode will save you some time. It's a method that works both with the Classic and Gutenberg editors.

Create a shortcode with the affiliate disclosure statement you want to appear. Once you do this, place your disclosure on the relevant page or post, and it will show up when the page is viewed.

It's important to the correct URL to point to your disclosures page and change the wording of the link if needed.

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Use Blog Posts Tags for Automatic Affiliate Disclosures

This method helps you create automatic affiliate disclosures by adding a tag with the word "disclosure".

With the addition of some code to your WordPress theme, this method allows you to display the disclosure by using a widget or hook. Once set up you can search past posts by affiliate ID and use Bulk Edit to apply your disclosure tag.

You have the option to customize what you want your link to read such as  "This post contains affiliate links" or "Read our full disclosure here".

This is a practical way to add the affiliate tag but you still have to remember to add the tag to the post.

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Create a Reusable Block for Your Affiliate Disclosure With WordPress Gutenberg

If you use the Gutenberg editor for content you will be adding to your WordPress site, you could create a reusable block.

In a simple text block, type up your disclosure information and link. Add it to your reusable blocks. Then, place the block just before your affiliate link in each post that requires it.

Note: This method does not work on posts you have already created and posted.

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Use a Plugin to Automatically Add Disclosures to All Blog Posts

Time-saving tips are always welcome when it comes to working on our WordPress sites. If you are not comfortable editing code and the manual options are too tedious for you, there is another way: use a WordPress plugin.

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Ad Inserter

This option is not an affiliate disclosure plugin per se, but it works.

This particular plugin was designed to house Google Ads but it also makes a great tool for adding affiliate disclosures. It's customizable and easy to use, prompting you with everything in need to successfully place a disclosure.

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Affiliate WP

Affiliate WP is a handy plugin that guides you on how to set up your own affiliate program. It's an easy-to-follow plugin that also tracks your affiliates.

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Shortlinks by Pretty Links

Annoyed by your affiliate links looking wordy and unattractive. This plugin allows you to shorten your affiliate link and redirect your readers to another page and is also useful for tracking clicks.

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Auto Affiliate Links

For those who are drained by the work it takes to set up affiliate links, there is a plugin called Auto Affiliate Links. It does what its name says—it automatically adds links to every post when it detects a specific keyword.

Affiliate Disclosures on WordPress

If you have ever had questions about how to add an affiliate disclosure to WordPress, we hope this article provides all the answers you need!

Affiliate disclosures are an important part of any promotional or marketing posts, so it's crucial to get it right. If you need additional support regarding affiliate marketing or any other web or WordPress issues, don't hesitate to contact us here at Work Hero.  

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