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How To Increase Amazon Affiliate Earnings
Most affiliate marketers start their career building Amazon affiliate sites.
I am no different. During my journey in this field, I’ve learned a number of strategies to boost Amazon affiliate earnings.
Some are quick and easy to implement and others concern your online business as a whole and the longer term.
One thing you need to keep in mind as an Amazon associate is that things constantly evolve and Amazon can change its terms at any time without notice.
However, there are some tactics that will always help you excel in the Amazon Associates program.
Let’s have a look at how you can boost your Amazon Affiliate Earnings
Ways To Make Money With Amazon Associates
Below you’ll find shortlisted all the different ways to make money with Amazon Associates.
They will be discussed in greater details later in this article.
- Go for long tail keywords
- Go for buyer intent keywords
- Create content that is great
- Put together “best” lists
- Create striking comparison charts
- Use local links to earn international commissions
- Use quizzes and segment your email marketing lists to personalise your recommendations
- Create useful buying guides
- Use images to make your copy more visual
- See where people click with heat maps and monetize these areas
- Incorporate in-content links
- Use a profit analytics tools for Amazon sellers
Create Striking Comparison Charts
Comparison charts are a great way to make your site stand out as people will start buying more comparing the different products on the charts.
Not only do they make your content more visual and improve quality, they also look fantastic and boost your conversion rate.
This way you can kill two birds with one stone as you will both make more sales and rank higher in Google attracting more traffic.
There are numerous WordPress plugins allowing you to create and customize comparison charts.
What I recommend is to use Elementor.
Make More Personal Recommendations
A great tactic is to recommend to your visitors the products that suit them best.
You do that by quizzing them to find out what these are.
For example, you can ask them about an issue they might be facing and if they answer “yes” then, you can ask further clarification questions and drive them to a personalized recommendation with your Amazon affiliate link.
It is not as complicated as it sounds. I recommend a 3 question quiz.
You will also see better conversion rates.
Email Marketing For Amazon Affiliates
This is not about adding your Amazon affiliate links in your emails. Such thing is not allowed!
What you can do instead is to use email marketing to drive your subscribers to your blog where you have placed your affiliate links.
For example, you can use the quiz mentioned above, ask people for their email addresses to send them their results. send them their results by email and drive them to the most relevant blog article based on their quiz answers.
If they are looking to buy a smart notebook, you can send them your personal recommendation by email.
Let’s say that you are recommending the Rocketbook notebooks. You can then direct them to your blog article about Rocketbook notebooks to help them determine which Rocketbook notebook is best for them.
You will need an email service provider to do this. My favourite is AWeber.
Target Keywords Closer To The Buying Stage
Potential buyers make general queries first and move on to more specific searches when they reach the buying stage.
You want to target the keywords they are searching for when they reach this buying stage.
Let’s say that your article is about affiliate marketing books. Instead of targeting general keywords like “affiliate marketing books” or “what is affiliate marketing”, you need to target keywords that people are searching for when they are ready to buy.
Here are some examples:
- best affiliate marketing books
- affiliate marketing books for beginners
- best selling affiliate marketing books
Clearly, people searching for such keywords are ready to buy. If you manage to attract such traffic, you will improve your conversion rate and boost your commissions.
Another smart way to target buying keywords is to use comparison keywords. For example, Logitech Webcam vs Sony Camcorder when it comes to best cameras for YouTube.
You need to make an in depth comparison of the features of each camera and people will click your Amazon affiliate link for whichever product they choose to purchase.
They are already ready to buy. They just need more information on the features to determine which model is best for them. You just need to drive them to your article to compare the features.
Go For Long Tail Keywords
Let’s use the affiliate marketing books example we used above.
Don’t limit yourself to “best affiliate marketing books”. You should also go for longer search phrases even if they have low search volume.
The traffic per keyword you will get is relatively less but such keywords come with high conversion rates.
For example, you could target “best affiliate marketing books you must read” or “best affiliate marketing books you should have”. These are all long tail keywords people that are ready to buy search for.
There isn’t as much competition for long tail keywords making easier for you to rank.
Use Localized Links For International Commissions
The standard Amazon affiliate link is the US one.
When you get clicks from international visitors though, you miss out on potential commissions.
There is a solution and it is called Amazon One Link. It is Amazon affiliate program’s free link localization feature.
It is easy to set up.
However, do note that for some strange reason occasionally, it is not available. so, if you don’t see it right one, don’t worry. Just check back at a later date.
With Amazon One Link you affiliate links from Amazon dynamically get localized. If a UK visitor clicks your links, they get directed to Amazon.co.uk and you still get a commission if they buy an item.
If you are getting a lot of non-US traffic, it is worth it.
As you would need to sign up for each country’s Amazon Associates program and this takes time, focus on the countries you get the most traffic from.
Add Affiliate Links To Images
Often, when people read product reviews, they click on the relevant images.
If you haven’t added your affiliate link to it, you might be missing out on Amazon traffic and sales.
The more traffic you send to Amazon, the more sales you will make.
Incorporate In-Content Links
Using in-content links, you can send more traffic to Amazon.
Did you know that they are the links that get clicked the most?
Focusing solely on images with links and Amazon banners doesn’t cut it. Links within your content will significantly increase the traffic you send to Amazon.
Luckily, you don’t need any plug ins to add in-content links. It is very easy to pull them from Amazon.
Log into your Amazon Associates account. Identify the item you want to generate a link for. At the top, you will see an Amazon Associates SiteStripe banner. Click “Get Link” and then “Text”. Select “Full Link” and copy the shortcode to insert in your article.
It is that simple.
See Where People Click Using Heat Maps
With heat maps you can see exactly where your website visitors click.
Here is an example from Hotjar:
Heat maps will help determine what the best places to place your affiliate links, comparison tables and ads are.
Test The Amazon Add To Cart Option To Benefit From The Amazon Affiliate 90 Day Cookie
When you use your regular Amazon affiliate link, the cookie duration is 24 hours.
There is a way to get a 90 day cookie though.
You can create a link that adds the product to someone’s Amazon cart when they click on it. The cookie duration in this case increases form 24 hours to 90 days.
I don’t know of a way to manually create such links but there are tools you can use such as AmalinksPro.
Create High Quality Content
Higher quality content ranks better in Google and converts better.
To do so, you need to better understand what your readers are looking for and offer it to them.
One way is to do your research and create highly targeted content. Another way is to check out what your competition is doing and do it better.
For example, you can use comparison charts, the current date or use best lists to do better than your competitors.
Also, keep updating content that already ranks. I use Ahrefs to see the keywords my competitors rank for and incorporate as many of these keywords in my articles as possible.
SurferSEO is another tool you can use to improve your on-page SEO.
Make Comparisons
A great type of long rail keyword to go for is Brand Name A vs. Brand Name B or Brand A Alternatives.
Remember to always be honest when writing such articles.
Your readers need to trust you to follow your recommendations and make a purchase.
Don’t be afraid to make a reference to the disadvantages or cons of a product.
You will actually make more sales by being fair, gaining the trust of your readers.
Put Together Best Seller Lists
A best seller list contains the products the sell the most under a product category.
Let’s say I wanted to write an article on how to start a podcast. My best seller list could be a list of the top 7 USB podcast microphones on Amazon.
A way to do it, is to visit Amazon.com/BestSellers select the relevant category and create your list based on the results. Then, add your affiliate links.
Take Advantage Of Your Competition
On some occasions, your own products might not be a good fit for your audience.
Why miss out on sales when you could talk about your competitors’ products instead and use your affiliate links to earn commissions.
You could be selling your own products and also use your Amazon affiliate links to promote competing products as well. This will will improve your income diversification as well.
Perform Deals Curation
There are several sites that crawl the web for discount codes and deals and populate them on their site. Usually, they are affiliates so they earn commissions when people buy.
And it works. Because who doesn’t love a good deal?
You do the same with Amazon at a smaller scale.
Every month or week, check out Amazon and identify those products in your niche that are being sold at a price below retail price.
Then, create a Deals page and add it to your main navigation menu on your site.
Every time you add a deal, you automatically send an email using an email autoresponder to let them know.
The email autoresponder I recommend is AWeber.
Don’t Forget The Low Dollar Products
Most people focus solely on high dollar products.
As a result, there is a content gap when it comes to low dollar products.
If you manage to sell a few hundred of these low dollar products on top of your high dollar products, you could earn big money.
Keywords for low dollar products are easier to rank for as there is less competition.
To maximize your earnings make sure you have good mix of both low and high dollar products and don’t focus just on the big fish.
Take An Affiliate Marketing Course
By taking a high quality affiliate marketing course teaching you how to build a niche or authority site, you will expand your knowledge in Amazon affiliate marketing and understand how it works better.
You will also get to see real life case studies and learn what not to do.
If you need a step by guide, I recommend the following courses:
- The Authority Site System By Authority Hacker for authority sites
- Matt Diggity’s Affiliate Lab for niche sites
You can read my full Authority Hacker review here and Affiliate Lab review here.
Get Your $398 Authority Site System Discount
Get Your $200 Affiliate Lab Discount
Amazon Commission Rates Keep Changing
Amazon commission rates change frequently and often, without notice. Don’t be surprised if you experience this.
The most recent changes were in 2017 when they changed the commission rate structure and 2020 when they dropped the rates in some categories.
A lot of product categories commission rates have dropped below 4%.
You can quickly check the Amazon Associates program affiliate sale rate here.
Good affiliate income can still be earned from Amazon so don’t get discouraged by these changes.
How To Deal With Changing Amazon Commission Rates
Before creating content, double check the latest rates.
You don’t want to spend time on product categories that will get you less than 4%. It involves too much work for hardly any money.
You can also use affiliate links from other networks or experiment with display ads, if you already have serious traffic.
Have a look at what your competitors are doing. You might come across a tactic you haven’t though about.
What If I’m Just Starting A Website?
If you are brand new, things are less complicated as you can just pick the product categories with the highest pay outs right away.
Don’t neglect other monetization methods such as other affiliate programs and networks and pay per click ads.
Obviously, the commission rates is not the only factor that will determine to get into a niche but it is one to consider.
Focus On Products With High Conversion Rates
Amazon pays you for the sales you make and not for the traffic you drive to them.
It is important to focus more on the best sellers and best converting products.
These are the most popular products so your audience is more likely to buy them.
How To Find High Converting Products
Here are the 3 signs that reveal whether a product is high converting:
- Review History: Buyers pay attention to Amazon reviews. No or poor reviews are are a bad sign so don’t feature such products. Focus on products with positive reviews.
- High Quality Images: High converting products usually come with professionally taken photographs. If you see products with a few low quality images, stay away from them.
- Prime Shipping: Amazon Prime member not only prefer buying items with Prime Shipping but they also tend to spend double on average. When possible, focus on such products and avoid creating content on seller fulfilled products.
Use An Accurate Profit Analytics Tool For Amazon Sellers
It will help you increase sales and profit by optimizing the following:
- Inventory management
- PPC optimization
- Request A Review automation and email follow ups
- Refunds for lost inventory
- Listing change alerts
- Users and rights management
A Word Of Caution About Amazon Associates
Many affiliate marketers have had their Amazon Associates accounts banned because they violated the service terms.
At the time of writing this article, I’ve made sure everything I’ve written is in compliance with their latest terms of service.
If you are thinking about starting an Amazon affiliate site, make sure you double check Amazon’s terms of service just in case they have changed again.
Amazon Affiliate Program FAQs
We’ve already covered the tactics you can use to improve your Amazon affiliate earnings.
I’ll now answer the most frequently asked questions about the Amazon Associates program.
Are Amazon Associates Different From Amazon Affiliates?
No, they are the same thing. The official term is Amazon Associates.
What Is An Amazon Affiliate?
An Amazon Affiliate is someone who sends traffic to Amazon and generates income when these visitors end up making a purchase.
How Does The Amazon Affiliate Program Work?
The Amazon Affiliate Program works by letting you link to Amazon products.
When a visitor you have sent to Amazon clicking your affiliate link buys a product within 24 hours, you earn commission.
You earn commission even if they buy a different product instead.
What Are Amazon Affiliate Links?
You can get Amazon affiliate link from the SiteStripe banner when you sign in your Amazon Associates account and search for your product of interest.
You can generate text, image or text + image link. Usually, I select text or image and retrieve the full link.
If you select the image, also select Large otherwise, it will be too small.
What Is The Latest Amazon Affiliate Commission Rate?
Each product category has its own commission rate.
At the time of writing this article, commission rate range between 0% – 10%.
Here is the latest Amazon Affiliate Commission Rate table:
Check this link to always get the lates rates as they keep changing.
Does Amazon Affiliate Pay Per Click?
Amazon does not pay per click. They pay each time someone buys a product from your affiliate link.
Can You Place Amazon Affiliate Links On Facebook?
You can place an Amazon affiliate link on Facebook provide the post is not a paid ad or boosted post.
Always, disclose that this link is an affiliate link.
Find out more about affiliate marketing on Facebook here.
Can You Place Amazon Affiliate Links On YouTube?
Yes, you can place Amazon affiliate links on YouTube as long as you disclose that these are affiliate links.
How Long Does The Amazon Affiliate Cookie Last?
After someone clicks on your affiliate link, you have 24 hours to earn commission.
There is one exception though.
If your affiliate link is an “Add to cart” link, you have 90 days to earn commission.
Can You Earn Money From The Amazon Bounty Program As An Amazon Affiliate?
Yes, you can.
This is a great option especially, if your audience buys books or music.
With the Amazon Bounty Program, you earn a flat rate, if you get someone to sign up for Amazon service offerings such as Kindle Unlimited Free Trials or Prime Unlimited Music.
You can find more information on Amazon’s Bounty Program here.
If You Are An Amazon Seller, Can You Also Be An Amazon Affiliate?
Yes, this is possible.
Note that you are not going to earn more money by using your affiliate links to promote your own products.
Can You Place Your Amazon Links On Your Social Media Platforms?
It depends on the social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest. Each of them has their own terms of service.
You need to check what they are and follow them.
What Next?
Hope you enjoyed this article on how to boost you Amazon affiliate earnings.
With the tactics I’ve shared with you, you can maximize the traffic you send to Amazon as well as improve your conversion rate.
Amazon is a platform that people trust so direct traffic to them and let them work for you.
Apart form the tactics I have covered, taking an affiliate marketing course can really speed up the process of implementing them successfully.
I have taken both the Authority Site System and Affiliate Lab and I highly recommend them.
Get Your $398 Authority Site System Discount
Get Your $200 Affiliate Lab Discount
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