Practically everyone knows that Amazon is one of the colossal retailers in the world. In the United States alone, it rakes in roughly 40% of all online sales. But the good news is, they also have an affiliate program. And if you play your cards right, you can make a ton of money out of it.
Introducing the Amazon Associates. This is the referral program paying commission to refer websites. At first glance, linking to an Amazon product and getting paid for it when someone buys seems to be so easy. However, there are several things to take into consideration before you can become an Amazon affiliate.
So, why should Amazon associates sign up? Because Amazon is a trusted and well-known brand across the globe with countless products to advertise, plus you are not limited to the products you link to. Every time you send traffic to Amazon through an affiliate link and a customer makes a purchase, you also get a percentage of everything they buy within the next 24 hours. Isn’t that amazing?
If this sounds too good to be true, well, it’s not. Admittedly, there are some downsides to the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program. The amount of commission you receive will depend on the type of product a customer buys. True, there are commission rates that go as high as 10% for some items, however, there are those that also go as low as 1%.
Affiliates need to remember that the percentage of the sale you get is not the sole factor in your commission. Your conversion rate is also significant since it reflects the number of people who are clicking on your affiliate link and purchasing after visiting your website. You have a 24-hour window and when that closes and the customer re-enters Amazon using another affiliate link, then you won’t get any fees from their subsequent purchases. Note that their Operating Agreement can be hard to understand and is always updated. Thus, you need to make sure you stay up-to-date and always in compliance.
How Much Do Amazon Associates Get Paid?
If you’re thinking about joining then the first thing you might ask is, is Amazon associate free? Yes, it will not cost you anything to become an associate. There is no charge when you apply, nor is there a minimum referral requirement to reach before earning referral fees with their program. Therefore, you can earn immediately. And if you’re wondering how much does Amazon Affiliate pay per click, the percentage of web visitors clicking on your Amazon Affiliate links is 10%, the estimated conversion rate on Amazon is 2%, and the average commission fee for all the products that you have promoted is 5%.
Here’s how you get paid. Profits you earn from their Affiliate Program will be paid around 60 days following the end of each month. The payment option you choose will affect how often you will receive payment since Amazon has various payment amounts for each type. A direct deposit will hold payment until you earn $10. For check payments, Amazon will hold payment until you reach minimum earnings of $100 then will also take out a $15 processing fee.
Associates also have the option to get an Amazon gift card as a payment method. Here, your fees will be on hold until your earnings reach the minimum payment of $10. There’s no need to generate a massive following so you can benefit from using these links. You can simply start by promoting the products you really use and love. Speaking of promoting through your online content, try utilizing social media management software to suit your needs and your budget. Learn more with our Capssion review.
What Does an Amazon Associate Do to Maximize Profits?
There are several things you can do to maximize your profits from their Affiliate Program. First, find a specialized niche. Yes, it’s good if your niche is something you love and are really passionate about. But you also have to do a thorough keyword search to determine which keywords can easily rank the highest.
Next, be consistent in posting value-filled, and original content across social media platforms, even YouTube. A lot of people do this through blogging. Make sure your site is up-to-date with unique content and don’t merely copy the product descriptions found on Amazon. Then, you need to optimize for specific products because most traffic to affiliate websites is coming from all these product-related searches, or reviews on specific products.
Use the exact keywords in your URL. When writing a review for instance, make sure you include the product’s brand as well as its model number in the title and the URL. And don’t forget to use a link localizer since this will enable you to redirect your visitors from different countries to a specific site. For instance, if an Australian-based user visits your site and clicks on the Amazon Affiliate Link, your link localizer will direct this user to amazon.com.au. If you forget to use a link localizer with your affiliate links, all that paid commission for the foreign traffic you drove to Amazon will simply go down the drain.
Amazon Associates Central: The Do’s and Dont’s for a Successful Affiliate Journey
Now that you have an overview of what Amazon Associates do to make money on this platform, here are some tips you should follow so you don’t get kicked out and ultimately, maximize your earning potential. But first, make sure you’ve already downloaded the Amazon Associates App to make things super convenient for you. And speaking of convenience, wouldn’t be great to save time and energy by having all your content scheduled and posted automatically even while you sleep? An efficient social media management software can do that for you, and you can learn more from our Social Champ review.
Make Sales Within 180 Days
You need to make at least three sales within the first 180 days (6 months) of joining if you want to complete your affiliate process. Yes, you can start promoting products right away but this doesn’t mean it’s already activated. Your account will only be activated and fully approved once you make your first three qualifying sales. If you fail to do this, you get kicked out. Of course, you can reapply at any time. But it’s best if you have the links on your blog website for instance. Because the last thing you want to happen is to join the affiliate program and your blog won’t be launched until the next few months. You need to make sure you have plenty of time to make those sales in the first six months.
Replace Your Links When You Get Kicked Out
Imagine writing a ton of amazing content and you have plenty of links on your website, YouTube, etc. Then you get kicked out and you needed to reapply, but forgot to replace your links? What a waste! When you reapply Amazon makes a brand new account for you that goes with a brand new affiliate ID. So even if your old links still lead visitors to Amazon, you won’t get any commissions for them and these will not count as sales. So to prevent yourself from all this angst and anxiety- don’t forget to replace your links!
Utilize the Amazon Required Affiliate Disclosure
Amazon requires their affiliates to mention specifically that you are an Amazon Partner and subsequently earn from qualifying sales. It is not enough that you put a general affiliate disclosure on your blog posts, pages, or YouTube content that you post online. There is a specific affiliate language that you must use so you won’t get into trouble.
Never Incentivize Your Viewers to Use Your Links
Do not incentivize your audience to use your links since disclosures are a personal thing. You may get banned from their affiliate program. Yes, you can lead people to use your links, but you cannot add language around them that incentivizes people to use them. For example, by using this link you’re supporting me and my dream to travel the world, etc. This is strictly forbidden. Just stay away from such language, especially when you’re featuring affiliate links from Amazon.
Promote Beneficial Amazon Products
Just because Amazon sells virtually anything and everything, from toothpicks to submarines (pun intended), it doesn’t mean you ought to do this as well. Promote products that you know will be beneficial to people, products they can actually use and make their everyday lives better. Choose products that are relevant to your personal brand or niche, that way you are actually helping solve a problem, not adding to it by creating unnecessary expenses.
Leverage Amazon Bounty and Special Offers
If you lead your viewers to Amazon then they sign up for an Amazon Prime Account or Amazon Business Account, then Amazon gives you a set fee which is known as a bounty. This can range from 3, 10, or 20 dollars. It’s not much but when it all adds up it can lead to a substantial amount. You can also get paid even if the customers don’t buy anything. For instance, if you lead your viewers to create a wedding or baby registry on Amazon, you get around 3-5 dollars. So keep an eye on Amazon’s bounty pages and get their links to promote such services especially if they will give value to your audience.
On Sharing Amazon Affiliate Links
Do not promote your banners or affiliate links in offline spaces. Don’t use private conversations like WhatsApp, Messenger, or Facebook, even pdfs or emails are not allowed. Amazon needs to track and see where traffic is coming from specifically. So they do not allow you to use their links anywhere but public pages, even sharing them in a private Facebook group can get you in trouble. So be very careful when sharing these links. If you want to share it via email then send them to a page on your public blog then embed the affiliate links in there. You can even create specific landing pages where they can click over to get to Amazon.
Do Not Divulge the Price
Amazon has a very strict rule against affiliates embedding the price of a product during promotion. You cannot add the price unless you’re sure you can update it 24/7. If you are a blogger with a full calendar then it’s really not worth your time, manually updating the price of each item. Furthermore, Amazon wants to prevent any confusion for customers. Amazon often has fluctuating prices, prices that go up and down really fast. So you don’t want to send people to a product saying it’s 10 bucks and then leaving them disappointed because the price just switched to 50.
Comparison Table for Amazon Products
Help your audience choose a product by creating product comparison tables. It’s silly to assume that everyone in the audience has the same taste or preference. So pick some products for review and compare their features, price point, and ultimately, what you think is the best product to get a bang for their buck. But basically pull up the most vital info pertaining to each of these products.
Amazon Banners
Avoid spammy Amazon banners being displayed in your blog randomly. Amazon does not forbid this, don’t worry. However, this will totally annoy your audience especially if they randomly pop up in your sidebar or other various places. They won’t pay attention to them, very few people will click on them, and it may even hurt your relationship with your viewers which is the last thing you want to happen.
Use the Correct Format
Don’t add your Amazon affiliate links using varying formats. Add the link to your anchor text, the specific text or phrase, or the name of the product to get to it. Add photos and banners to make sure you’re optimizing the link placement to increase your clicks as well as conversions with the traffic you already have. Also, don’t cloak, hide, or mask your Amazon links. Grab them as they are and place them on your blog- period. Don’t attempt to do anything spammy with it so you’re good to go.
Amazon Associates: Get Good and Get Rich!
There are a lot of things to take into consideration before signing up to become an Amazon associate. You will need to invest a lot of time and energy into learning the ropes, but if you’re patient enough and determined to succeed, then you’re well on your way toward a life of financial freedom! For more tips and tricks on how to monetize your online presence, check our post How Much Do YouTubers Make 2023: Your Comprehensive Guide to A YouTuber’s Revenue.
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