The New FTC Rules

There is much confusion going on regarding the new FTC rules. They are not very specific as to what is expected of bloggers and affiliate marketers.

I took the time to read the 81 page pdf file, but many questions were still left unanswered. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to put a little not beside each affiliate link stating that it is such, or if I can simply create a disclosure page and list my affiliate relations there. The rules are very unclear on this.

But perhaps the rules have nothing to do with this...because they focus a lot on paid reviews, and those using testimonies. The rules are quite clear on how to disclose a paid review...it has to be done within each review. Also they are clear on how to use testimonies and disclaimers...stating that they will have to be specific and give a general impression on the consumer.

So perhaps those are the only two major focuses of where they expect to see some change? At this point what I will do is create a disclosure page, and if I see others labeling each affiliate link, then maybe I'll follow suit, but for now I think that is just silly.

How To Thank Those Who Link To You Without Doing a Link Exchange

When someone links to one of my sites, this first thing I want to do is link back to them. But I realized that when I do that, any value that is placed on that link by Google will automatically drop, because as soon as I link back, Google sees that as a link exchange.

Link exchanges are not bad to help increase the traffic to your site, but they will not help you in the search engine rankings.

I thought of a great way to return the favor...and I'm sure I'm not the first one to think about this, but I think it is a great idea!

With all the social media, and social networking sites there are plenty of ways to return the favor and send some traffic to the sites that link to you. Another thing that you can do, is blog about the other site, or add a link back from your blog. This way, they are getting traffic which they otherwise would not get, and the link on their site back to yours will be valued in the eyes of Google.