Comments on: Affiliate Links – To Hide or Not to Hide – What’s Your Opinion?

By: Steve at MakingAMillionDollars

Steve at MakingAMillionDollars — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:35:44 +0000

It seems to me that most blogs that use WordPress.org have link cloaking. There are many advantages to cloaking the links. It is not really the fact you want to hide the affiliate links from potential customers, but the fact you are trying to help your SEO.

By: Twinge

Twinge — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:26:28 +0000

A bit of an old topic, but a thought -

Considering the nature of this site and how open you are about your earnings and stuff in general, it really would make the most sense for you to be completely open about your affiliate links. It just seems odd that it isn’t clear that you’re getting a portion of the sales of the eHow eBook you recommend, for example, considering how open and transparent you are everywhere else on this site.

For more general thoughts on the subject… I’d say it is situational, but the default should probably be to be open and public about it, especially if you’re reviewing a product on a blog or something. I think most readers will appreciate the honesty and be happy to support someone they like — and I would wager (no idea for sure of course) that the people that would be most put-off by a person openly saying they get a commission on an affiliate link are people that will be able to easily tell if a link is affiliate-based or not anyway, so you probably aren’t really better off in the long run hiding the fact.

I do agree that a split test would be the only reasonable way to say with reasonable certainty though.

By: Freed Income

Freed Income — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:20:07 +0000

I really don’t mind either way if you acknowledge that you have displayed an affiliate link. For example, I’ve seen cases were bloggers acknowledge the links in the article at the end kind of like a disclaimer. If you choose not to do it this way, I like it better when it is obfuscated. If it is obfuscated it says to me “yes I am trying to make a little coin on this link, but I took an extra step to make sure it wasn’t gaudy”.

By: Sterling

Sterling — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:34:39 +0000

If I’m willing to recommend something and there is a possibility for getting paid for my recommendation, I will. I took the time to check something out and use it, so I should be paid for that. ‘Hiding’ a link isn’t something I think of, if I shorten it or do a / from my site, it is for tracking or other such purposes.

As an internet marketing my job is to make money, so my people should assume ANY link from me is an affiliate link, even if it doesn’t look like one. Over 1/3 of my income is from such links, so I’ll do whatever it takes to get someone to click on something I believe in. If more people would click on the link if it was hidden, I would do that. But, that comes from standing behind what I recommend!

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:46:43 +0000

Hey Carl, thanks a lot for the info. I’ll definitely check out some of John’s material on affiliate linkage. Cheers!

By: Carl Coddington

Carl Coddington — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:47:33 +0000

This discussion has been covered many times at johnchow.com He makes his affiliates blatantly obvious in some spots and hidden in others.

By: The Happy Rock

The Happy Rock — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:20:50 +0000

As a reader I personally don’t like disguised links(either shortened or php scripted). There is just way too much baggage for me to want to give s second thought as to the transparency of the link that I am clicking.

Sloppiness of affiliate link is a good reason to destroy transparency for the reader.

As a writer I want to be able to inspire trust and loyalty. I want to be more focused on gaining people trust that losing a click or two people who don’t trust me. If you gain their trust they will be more than willing to support you in the future.

Finally, as a writer please don’t write stuff just to post affiliate links and please show actual experiences and results when recommending a product.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:15:28 +0000

I personally like to create a hyperlink, but not put the full link out there: to me, it just looks sloppy. I agree with another comment above that you should earn the trust of your readers over time, and that it probably won’t make too much of a difference to them, but I just like the cleaner look. Also, I liked what someone said about making sure that you review the link openly and honestly with your audience.

By: Zoul

Zoul — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:19:32 +0000

Hi Pat,

I just found out about your site. I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve read so far. I’m planning to read your blog entry since you first started this site of yours.

The truth is, I like my 9-5 job but what I really want in life is to spend more quality time with my love ones. I’ve been searching online for the past 3 weeks to have passive income but most seems too good to be true.

Finally, after searching highs and lows, without much sleep, I managed to find your site. Keep it up. I’m eager to learn how you went through this past 1 year to create passive income.

Best Regards,
Zoul

By: LS

LS — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:21:06 +0000

I don’t see any reason to hide. As long as you are sincere in your recommendation or review of a product, I don’t see any reason why anyone would have a problem with an affiliate link.