Do you want to boost your income by promoting products on Amazon?
The Amazon Affiliate program enjoys wild success, taking up more than 45% of the affiliate network market share . Since the launch of this program in 1996, it has massively grown, with Amazon having an inventory of over 350 million products shipped to 100+ countries. There is plenty of room to capitalize on this platform.
So how do you start your journey to becoming an Amazon affiliate? This guide offers insights on how to join this program and what it takes to succeed.
What Is the Amazon Affiliate Program and How Does It Work?
The Amazon Affiliate program, also known as Amazon Associates, is an affiliate marketing program targeting online brands, influencers, website owners, and publishers who can advertise products on Amazon.
As an Amazon affiliate, you will not hold any inventory. Instead, you will use your online popularity and connection with your audience to drive quality traffic to Amazon. You will then earn referral fees/commissions from customers who use your links to visit the ecommerce platform and make purchases.
Your referral fees will be based on Amazon’s fixed commission income rates . These rates significantly differ between product categories, ranging from 1% to 20%.
Note : Amazon’s fixed commission income rates are regularly updated, and your exact earnings will depend on the latest rates by the vendor. Some product categories also have 0% commission, and customer purchases from these links do not guarantee payments.
What Are the Requirements for Joining the Amazon Affiliate Program?
There are Associate policies you must understand and meet, as noncompliance may result in a ban. Most of these guidelines touch on ethical promotion, and it is vital to understand them before you apply to join.
Here is an overview of the rules you need to adhere to:
- Your site, channel, or app must be publicly available and contain original content. Your content should not violate intellectual property rights, contain obscene/sexual material, promote illegal activities, or target children under 13.
- All your Amazon affiliate links should not be shortened, distributed through a client-side software/device, or be used for offline promotions, in eBooks, private messages, or email.
- You must disclose to your audience that you earn from your affiliate links or referrals.
- You must not make any misleading or false claims when promoting a product.
- You need a robust cookie policy to track, report, and calculate your earnings.
- You should, generally, not include product prices in your content, as prices are subject to change. If you have to mention product prices, you must include the time and date of the last price update.
- You must not bid on Amazon trademarks or branded terms.
- Your site should not mimic the design, color, and layout of Amazon.
- You must not offer any incentives or promotions to any person or entity who purchases from your affiliate links.
Steps To Become an Amazon Affiliate
- Have an active website, blog, or online brand
To become an Amazon affiliate, you must first have an active online presence. You will need a website, blog, channel, or online brand with a target audience that can bring in traffic.
You will be expected to describe the purpose of your site or channel and the audience you are targeting. Before starting your application, it is vital to narrow down your brand’s theme and know your audience’s interests.
- Go to Amazon’s Associates page and sign up
If you have an active website, blog, or online brand, you can visit Amazon Associates to sign up for the affiliate marketing program. Once you click the “Sign up” button, you will be prompted to log in using your Amazon account or to create a new one.
- Provide your account information
After signing up, you will be required to create an Amazon Associates account. The details associated with your Amazon account, including your name, address, and phone number, will be used unless you enter new information.
- Add your website, app, or channel
Once your account information has been updated, the next step involves entering your websites and mobile apps. Amazon allows you to add a maximum of 50 websites or mobile apps that you will use to promote your affiliate links.
- Set up your profile
The next step is setting up your profile, and in this section, you will be required to choose your preferred associates’ store ID (usually your business name) and explain what your websites or apps are about. You will also be required to select the type of Amazon items you intend to promote.
- Answer questions on traffic and monetization
In this stage, you will explain how you drive traffic to your platforms. You’ll also explain how you intend to utilize these platforms to generate income, and how you usually build links. You’ll also be asked about the number of unique visitors your site receives monthly and your primary reason for joining the Amazon affiliate program.
- Provide your tax and payment information
Lastly, you must provide your tax and payment information to complete your application. Amazon will then provide you with a unique Associate ID, which you will use to verify your account once approved.
Note : Amazon allows you to provide your tax and payment information later (after your application has been approved).
- Start generating Amazon Affiliate links and promoting them
After creating your Amazon affiliate account, you can access your Personal Associate page, where you can search and create links for any products. You will also see your performance dashboard, which offers an overview of your monthly earnings, total clicks from your links, number of ordered & shipped items, and conversion rates.
You can start generating Amazon affiliate links and promoting them on your site, channel, or app at this stage. Remember to adhere to Amazon’s guidelines when using your affiliate links to avoid having your account banned.
How To Earn More Money With the Amazon Affiliate Program
Applying for the Amazon Affiliate program is the easiest step in your journey to becoming an affiliate marketer. The hardest part is ensuring you can consistently make enough sales from your target audience and build a stream of passive income.
To help you out, here are the top tips to earn more money with the Amazon Affiliate program:
- Choose and specialize in a niche
The secret to building a successful affiliate marketing brand is to focus on a niche that best resonates with your audience. By choosing a niche, your site will be more authoritative and easily attract the right traffic so that you can convert leads into sales.
When choosing a niche for your brand, prioritize a topic that you are passionate about. This way, you will quickly become an expert in your industry and have insight into problems that your target audience faces. You can then offer solutions to these problems by recommending specific Amazon products to your website visitors.
Before settling on a niche, take time to do your research and learn how popular and profitable the specific category is. Go through market research reports and observe trends in the affiliate marketing industry to avoid settling for a niche with minimal opportunities for growth and profits.
- Implement white hat SEO strategies
Building a profitable affiliate marketing program takes time, and the most efficient way to get a grip on your target audience is through search engine optimization (SEO). By making sure your website and content are optimized for search engines, you will grow your organic traffic and be able to sell more products.
You must keep up with the ever-changing world of search engine algorithms and implement white-hat SEO techniques in your marketing. Remember, SEO is a never-ending process involving practices such as:
- Competitor analysis
- In-depth keyword research
- Improving website loading speed, and title and content optimization.
- Post engaging content on multiple platforms
When it comes to affiliate marketing, content is king, and the more engaging content you can create and post, the easier it will be to reach out to a larger audience. Some of the best practices to adhere to when creating and publishing content are:
- Use multiple platforms
Creating original and engaging content is never enough to stand out as an affiliate marketer. You will need to distribute your content across multiple platforms to help foster trust with your followers.
For example, you can run a blog and YouTube channel to improve your outreach and get more people to acknowledge your brand as an authority.
- Do product reviews and comparisons
One of the best ways to drive more traffic to Amazon from your affiliate links is by writing product reviews and comparisons. Firstly, since these are high-intent posts, anyone reading them is most likely looking for a product to buy. Secondly, by providing an overview of a product’s unique qualities or features, your audience will have an extra reason to make that purchase.
- Run a blog
Blogging is at the core of every strong Amazon affiliate marketing strategy. It provides many opportunities for product mentions and affiliate links. Blog consistently, focusing on generating high-quality posts that are SEO optimized and relevant to your target audience.
- Promote your site/app on social media and search engines
You need as much traffic as possible to drive more referrals to Amazon and earn more commissions. One way to cover all your bases is by promoting your website, mobile app, or channel on social media and search engines.
You can do this by having a dedicated page on social networks for your site or app and advertising these platforms using paid social ads or pay-per-click ads. You could also partner with popular influencers who target a similar audience to promote your platform and help attract more traffic.
- Join top-rated affiliate marketing platforms
A quick and efficient way to maximize your brand’s potential is to join top-rated affiliate marketing platforms, such as Refersion . The software will allow you to accelerate your growth by having access to premium tools and Amazon merchants paying above-average commissions to affiliate marketers.
Start Your Amazon Affiliate Journey on the Right Foot
Joining the Amazon affiliate program is an efficient way to start earning from your passion. While you should not hope for overnight success as a beginner affiliate, you can work your way to the top with the right approach. A highly efficient way of doing this is to partner with Refersion . They provide valuable resources and numerous revenue opportunities for affiliates.
