Monetize Your Blog With Amazon Affiliate Links
As bloggers who intend to make a living online, we have to be creative in the way we choose to monetize our blogs and diversify those income streams as much as we can. This post will show you how to make money from your blog as an Amazon affiliate, regardless of what your niche is.
Affiliate marketing is how I make a big majority of my money blogging (find out how I made my first $10,000 here) and I highly recommend learning more about it if you’re struggling to monetize your blog.
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- How To Make Your First $1,000 In Affiliate Sales
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But the question I get asked most often by bloggers that are just starting out is “How do I find an affiliate programme that fits my blog?”
There are lots of bloggers out there who think that affiliate marketing won’t work for them because of their niche. There seems to be an idea floating around that affiliate marketing only really works for those who write about blogging and making money online, and potentially fashion bloggers.
And that couldn’t be further from the truth!
One of the most popular (and potentially profitable) programmes is the Amazon affiliate programme, and that is because bloggers of any and every niche can find something to promote on Amazon.
Why choose to join the Amazon affiliate programme?
Amazon is one of the world’s biggest marketplaces and the largest Internet retailer in the world. I don’t know about you, but if I’m thinking about buying something online, Amazon is usually the first place I go to look for it.
And because Amazon is so popular, it’s well-trusted by most people. (I personally don’t know a single person that hasn’t bought from there at least once, rather less heard about the company.)
One of the things that holds people back from making a purchase online is not being able to trust the vendor. Will the product be what it says it is in the description? Are my payment details safe? Is this item going to arrive in time? Can I get a refund if I need one? And so on.
But anyone who ever made a purchase on Amazon knows that the website is trustworthy, which means that people don’t ever second-guess buying from the platform.
For Amazon affiliates, this means that your blog readers and audience are not going to have any problems buying through your link (if you recommend the right products).
RELATED: How to Add Amazon Affiliate Links to Your Blog Posts
And because Amazon is amazing at what they do, their conversion rates are crazy, which means that customers always end up buying more than just one product (and if they used your link to place the order, you get a commision for everything in their cart!).
This is amazing news for bloggers because besides being trustworthy, Amazon sells everything under the sun which means that, as an Amazon Affiliate you will be able to find things perfect for your target audience, regardless of your niche.
(Take me for example. I blog about blogging, and yet I still found books, office supplies, photo equipment and a lot more to recommend to my readers on Amazon.)
How does the Amazon Affiliate Program work?
Being an Amazon affiliate works the same way as any other affiliate programme. If you’re completely new to affiliate marketing check out my free affiliate marketing course for bloggers. (This video course will be super helpful if you’re not sure exactly what products to promote to your audience that they would actually want to buy.)
Simply sign up to the Amazon affiliate programme here (also called Amazon Associates) to get started. Keep in mind that you should sign up to the Amazon Associates program in the geographical area of your target audience. So, if your audience is US based, you should sign up for US programme. If you have readers both in the US and UK, you should sign up for both programs separately.
Once you fill out all the required information to get your account set up, you’ll usually be approved within 24-48 hours and you’ll be able to generate special affiliate links for products that you want to promote on your blog (more on this below).
Whenever someone purchases something from Amazon using one of your affiliate links you’ll receive a commission of up to 15%. (Amazon has different commission structures for each product category.)
Amazon has two cookie periods.
- The first is 24 hours – if your reader places an order within 24 hours of clicking your affiliate link, you will earn a commission. This applies to the first order only. So, if they place a second order within that 24 hour window, you won’t receive a commission on the second order unless they have clicked on your affiliate link a second time.
- The second cookie period is 90 days. This happens when a reader clicks on your affiliate link, adds the item to their cart but doesn’t purchase it immediately. This usually occurs with higher-priced items when the reader needs time to think about the purchase or to shop around and check reviews etc. If they complete that purchase within the 90 day window, you will still receive your commission.
Keep in mind that Amazon requires you to make a sale within the first 180 days of your sign-up to confirm you.
Amazon also has a Bounty Program that rewards if you people use your link to create things like a Baby or Wedding Registry, sign up for a Prime account or a free trial. (Log into your affiliate dashboard and check the current bounties here!)
For example, at the moment, Amazon will reward you $5 for every person that signs up for the Amazon Fresh free trial (so they don’t even have to buy anything for you to receive a commision!), $3 for every person that tries the Amazon Music Unlimited free trial or creates a free wedding registry with them and so on!
Amazon is creating unlimited possibilities for their affiliate to earn, and all you have to do is start promoting them!
How to make more affiliate sales as an Amazon Affiliate
Whether you’re a new Amazon affiliate or you’re just looking for ways to make more affiliate sales, there are lots of tips and tricks that you can implement into your affiliate marketing strategy to increase your income.
And the first step in being a successful Amazon affiliate is to choose the right products to promote.
Whilst you might be tempted to promote anything and everything, it’s highly unlikely that this will work for you! Here are a few products that are actually going to bring you sales:
- Products that you have bought/used and loved
- Products that you know your audience NEEDS
- Products that are in the price range of your readers
How to add affiliate links to your blog
There are lots of ways that you can add your Amazon affiliate links to your blog.
The easiest way to add links is to include contextual links. These are products that you mention in passing because they are relevant to what you’re talking about, but they are not the “start of the show”.
For example, if you’re writing a post about working from home, you might mention your new coffee machine that makes amazing coffee that helps you start your day right. Then you would add a link to that coffee machine when you mention it, and that’s it.
Another really popular way of including links on your blog is to write product reviews. This will only work if you actually own and use the product that you are reviewing because your review has to be in-depth and helpful to the reader. And ideally, it needs to reflect your experience with that product, with a focus on the benefits you get from it personally.
Note: It’s against Amazon’s terms to use reviews left by other buyers, it must be an original review by you.
And last but not least, you can create gift guides or round-up posts (ex: 10 Vintage Photo Frames Under $20 or The Ultimate Gift Guide For A Baby Shower) to showcase multiple Amazon products in one post.
All in all, Amazon’s affiliate program is a tool that any blogger (in any niche) can use to make money with their blog and it has the potential to be a great earner if you know what you’re doing! So, what are you waiting for? Sign-up for an account today and make your first affiliate sale!
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💎 RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
If you’re still looking for resources to boost your affiliate income, here are a few things that I love and recommend:
Are you an Amazon affiliate already? And have you tried any new strategies to boost your earnings? Let me know in the comments section below!
Hi, Thank you for sharing blog on amazon affiliate, its very helpful.
I love your videos I am just a beginner in affiliate marketing so everything is confusing. I look for videos with you to help me along. I just applied with amazon for affiliate marketer. thank you soooo much
So so happy to hear that my tutorials helped, Grace! You got this!
Need help working as Affiliate with Amazon