is it necessary to tell visitors that this is an affiliate link?

I have a problem with telling visitors that "This is an affiliate link..." to me it feels like I am asking for money. I prefer to just make a link and if it gets clicked then cool.

Do you tell visitors that the link is an affiliate link or do you say click on this affiliate link to help me...?

 

If you are an American, you must disclose that you make money if you recommend a product or service and advertise that product or service. Otherwise, no, you are not required to state it and there is no reason to. I think most visitors will know advertising when they see it.

 

I never disclose this to visitors, they just click the review and buy product if they like.

 

Me too

 

I know I'm probably going against most conventional wisdom here but I usually tell people that the links are affiliate links because I like being transparent. But I usually have my links included in posts that provide value content and are not sales letters so-to-speak. My thinking behind this is that if the content is really solid and provides value to the reader / visitor, then I believe the affiliate link won't come off like I'm asking for money per se. I see it as more where the visitor enjoyed the content and in response wanted to know more so they clicked on the link. This has worked fairly well for me because it removes any pretense or appearance of misleading copy. Hopefully this helps....

 

Thank you for the replies everyone!

I really like that I did not see it that way either thank you.

I do now use a plugin that whenever I add an affiliate link to the post it marks it as affiliate and visitors can see it at the top of a post.

 

I'm glad you found value in my comment. You're very welcome...

 

I don't disclose it because it is not relevant. The only reason would be if it was the law, or if I feel like talking about it.
It's not to hide it, I don't care from which affiliate they buy from, me or someone else or even their own affiliate account if they have one. I'm just talking about products they can buy, or not, up to them. They can also find it on torrent sites, I really don't care.
Sometimes I email them and talk about my affiliate marketing business, I don't think anyone on my email lists don't know that I make money sending email with affiliate links. Maybe those who don't understand and don't care about that stuff yes.

 

Good Point James....

 

I suppose it depends on your relationships with them. Some webmasters stay anonymous and official, others lovely keep company with visitors and could ask for support.

 

no.. maybe you and everyone so know what is answer. people will not follow a link that have affiliate. so you must smart for invite everybody to follow up your affiliate link.

 

I added a plugin that lets visitors know by adding a little box at the top of the blog post that a link on a post is affiliate and I have received clicks. I'm fine with this method right now.

 

No you don't have too why should anybody know that you will make a commission for that sale?

 

No. I do lots of mail outs and i don't tell them its an affiliate link.

 

I think telling visitors "This is an affiliate link..." never going to help you. To get more click on affiliate link you should increase the trust of your brand. If you increased the trust visitors will believe in you and they try to purchase things through your website.

Hope this helped you.

 

Well, I don't do that and really I don't see any reason why I should. If it becomes law then I will comply; outside of that, for me, it's a none issue.