You've just decided that you want to become an Amazon Associate. You may even have read our guide on what becoming an Amazon Associate entails, but there are still some things that you need to know about this program before signing up.
The first thing we should mention is that being an Amazon Associates means nothing more than having your name listed as "Amazon" next to your product description (or other information) when someone clicks through from another site. In fact, all of us here at MakeUseOf are affiliates ourselves!
Here's how to check whether any given website has an open-in-app Amazon affiliate link (that is, a link which will take visitors directly into the Amazon App Store). This way you'll be able to see whether they're really using the affiliate system properly.
In theory, yes, though most people aren't going to earn much with them. The best way to monetize these links is by creating sponsored reviews, although those only work if your readers actually buy stuff from Amazon. If you don't believe me, try posting this review yourself. It won't show up until you click through to the relevant product page.
Even then, you might not make anything. For example, I was once paid $0.03 per sale after writing an article for TechRadar, despite having over 200 sales overall. So while Amazon does pay out commission on certain products, the payout isn't guaranteed.
However, if you're looking to build a blog around reviewing products, you could potentially rake in quite a bit of cash. There's also the option of setting up shop selling physical goods, such as books, gadgets, etc., which would allow you to sell actual merchandise rather than digital files. That said, you'd probably need to invest a lot of time doing so.
It's worth noting that many publishers use their own software to create articles rather than uploading content straight onto Amazon.com. These services usually offer tools like AdSense integration, making it easy for publishers who write about digital media to generate revenue from their sites.
If you already have an account set up with Google AdSense and/or Facebook Ads, then chances are you're good to go. However, if you haven't got either yet, you'll need to register with each platform separately. Once done, log back into your existing accounts and select the appropriate publisher dashboard -- this will give you access to the correct links you need to promote your posts.
This process varies depending on what kind of account you have, but generally speaking, you'll need to send in proof of identity documents. Most likely, you'll need to supply a passport photo along with your address details. As long as you meet the requirements, you'll receive an email confirming your application status within 24 hours.
Once approved, you should now have access to a unique Amazon Associates URL. To view this, simply head to your profile and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Clicking on the text "View Your Link" will reveal your username, followed by the URL.
Alternatively, you can search for "view your associate id". Again, this will display your username, followed by the URL. Either option works perfectly fine.
As mentioned above, all you need to do is look under your user name in the top right corner of your browser window. On desktop browsers, this will appear as two buttons labelled "Sign Up" and "Login", respectively. A small blue bar will sit underneath both options indicating exactly where you can find your link.
On iOS devices, tap the three vertical dots button in the upper left hand side of the screen, then choose Account Settings. Scroll down until you reach Signing In With Apple and follow the instructions. At the end of the setup process, you should enter your credentials and wait for your new link to arrive via SMS message. Alternatively, you can download the AMI Mobile App for Android and iPhone users.
When logged in, you'll be able to easily locate your Amazon Associate ID number. Simply type your ID number into the box provided and hit Search.
For whatever reason, Amazon uses numbers instead of letters to identify different kinds of Associates. Each person is assigned a unique ID number, which can help you track your progress across multiple platforms.
An Amazon Associate's ID starts at 1 and increments every time you submit a piece of data. For instance, if you registered with a particular service and received an e-mail confirmation message containing your ID number, that's one submission. Submitting again will result in a second ID number.
By logging into your account regularly, you can keep tabs on your earnings and see which websites are sending you the most commissions.
Additionally, if you ever change jobs, you can transfer your ID between companies without losing too much time. Just remember to ensure that your previous ID remains active so that everything stays updated correctly.
To transfer your ID, visit My Associates, click Add Associate, then press Next Step. After entering your current ID number, click Continue. Enter your new ID number, confirm your request, then click Save Associate Info. Finally, verify the info and let Amazon know that you wish to transfer the information.
If you suddenly lose your Amazon Associate ID, you can contact support and ask them to reset it for you. Keep in mind that you must provide sufficient evidence of identification, including a copy of your driver's license or passport.
Unfortunately, you cannot recover IDs that were previously deleted unless you have a backup somewhere else. Therefore, we recommend keeping copies of important information stored away safely.
Where to share amazon affiliate links
Now that you know how to find your Amazon Associate ID, you can start sharing your links everywhere. There are several ways to do this, starting off with social networks.
Facebook allows you to embed a post into a web page, meaning that anyone visiting your page can click through to purchase something. By adding a line of code, you can automatically add your Amazon Associate ID to the post's HTML source code. This will generate a clickable link that takes customers directly to the Amazon store.
Twitter offers similar functionality, allowing you to include a special anchor tag in your tweets. When clicked, it will direct viewers to Amazon's landing page.
Google+ does not currently support linking to Amazon, however, you can use its +1 feature to enable your followers to vote on your posts. Doing so encourages others to interact with your content, thus increasing your visibility.
YouTube also supports linking to Amazon, though there are no built-in features to do so. Instead, you'll need to manually upload videos to YouTube and insert a callout directing viewers to the relevant Amazon page.
There are plenty of other apps available for smartphones that you can install on your phone, tablet or computer. Some of the better ones include Shareaholic, TweetFolio, Pocket, SlideShare, Instapaper, Evernote, Readability, and GoodReader.
These apps are useful because they let you bookmark pages and save images for later viewing. They also allow you to quickly share photos, movies, and PDFs with friends and colleagues. Many of these apps also let you browse the Web, complete tasks offline, and sync with Dropbox and Google Drive.
Most importantly, you shouldn’t worry too much about losing your Amazon Associate ID. Even if you forget your password, you can always retrieve it by contacting customer care.
But it’s important to note that Amazon doesn’t require you to use your Associate ID to claim rewards. Anytime you refer somebody to Amazon, you can pick up extra points regardless of whether they use your ID or not.
So, if you forgot your ID, you could still redeem referral bonuses and accumulate enough points to qualify for free items like Kindle Unlimited subscriptions or early access to popular titles.
Finally, if you somehow manage to remove or delete your Amazon Associate ID, you can restore it immediately by following the steps outlined above. All you have to do is fill out a form and attach the required documentation. Unfortunately, you can’t restore your ID if the original document was misplaced or destroyed.
Amazon Associates Program (ADP) was launched by Jeff Bezos on September 20th, 2005. Since then many people have joined this program that help earn extra income from their online efforts. This program allows its members to promote products of other companies and receive commission without any sales effort.
You know what we are talking about when we say “affiliate marketing” right? When you refer someone who buys something through your link, you will be rewarded with commissions based on the price of the product sold. If they buy more than $25 worth of merchandise, you could make as much as 25% of the total sale value. So let’s see how you can join Amazon Associates program and start earning money by promoting some amazing products and services available only at Amazon!
If you don't want to miss out on such opportunities, you need to register yourself as an Amazon associate. You can easily do so using our step-by-step guide below. But before getting started, here's a quick overview of the basic things you should know about Amazon Associates program.
When you first visit Amazon.com after signing up with ADP/Associates, you will automatically redirected to the home page. On top left corner of the homepage there would be a blue button named "Sign In." Clicking on this button will take you directly to the ADP dashboard. As soon as you click on Sign In, you'll land on the following screen:
Here, you need to enter your email address and password. Once done, you will be able to access all features provided by ADP. For example, you can view your account information, change your profile picture, add new contacts, manage subscriptions etc.
After logging in, you'll notice a dropdown menu on the top right side of the screen called Account Settings. From here, select Accounts & Subscriptions under My Account Options section. Then, choose Add New Account option located down further in the same window.
A pop-up box will appear asking whether you'd like to continue creating a new account or just go back to main settings area. Choose Continue option to continue creating your user id. After completing this process, you will be taken to another screen which contains all subscription details related to your account. Select the Create Account Now option to complete registration process.
Now, you've created your own ADP account. So, next thing you must do is to create an Amazon Associate ID. To do this, head over to the ADP Dashboard again and click on the Sign Up Now button on the top left of the page. A popup box will appear asking whether you'd like to continue to create a new account or return to previous setting screen. Go ahead and choose the second option i.e., Return to Previous Page.
Once clicked, you'll be directed to the Sign Up form. Enter your name and email along with a valid phone number. Next, provide a unique username for your Amazon associate ID. Make sure you remember this username because it will be used later on while accessing your account. Also, enter a password for your new account. Finally, confirm your email address.
The last step requires you to accept Terms & Conditions. Scroll down until you see the checkbox labeled --I agree to these terms-- and tick the corresponding box. The final step involves entering your billing info. Provide your full name, zip code, date of birth, gender, country, credit card numbers and expiration dates.
At the end, you will be asked to verify your payment method before proceeding to the final stage. Your Amazon associates dashboard will now load, filled with useful tools.
There are two types of Amazon Associate links – Regular Links and Affiliate Links. While both work pretty similar, there are few important differences between them. Let us look closer at each type of link.
Regular Link - These links contain text that reads ‘click here’ or 'visit site' or any other phrase that directs visitors to the seller’s web page. They usually come with no specific URL attached.
Affiliate Link - Instead of directing traffic to the seller’s webpage, these links redirect users to the merchant’s landing page. Upon visiting the landing page, customers might be presented offers and discounts on various items offered by merchants.
For instance, if you were looking for books on Amazon, you may encounter several book titles listed on the search results page. Among those books, you might spot one titled "Book1" with a Buy It Now price of $9.99. By clicking on Book 1 title, you will be sent to Amazon.com. There, you may also find additional options including Kindle eBooks, Audible audiobooks, apps and games, music albums, movies, TV shows, video games and toys among others.
On the other hand, if you click on the link displayed on the search result page, you won’t reach the purchase page but instead be taken straight to the associated store’s landing page.
To sum up, regular links direct traffic to the seller’s webpage whereas affiliate links lead to a separate landing page displaying different products.
As mentioned earlier, Amazon affiliates are compensated when referring potential buyers to the company’s website. However, the amount varies depending upon the category of goods being promoted. According to Amazon policy, affiliates are entitled to 70%-75% of the net revenue generated via the purchased item.
In addition to this, Amazon provides a tiered payouts system which determines the percentage of earned commission based on three factors:
Number of referrals
Total purchases made by referred customer
Average order value per referral
An average order value refers to the total dollar amount spent across all orders placed by individual shoppers during a defined period. Generally speaking, Amazon pays higher commissions to sellers whose customers spend more compared to low spending ones.
For more detailed information regarding Amazon Associates compensation guidelines, please visit this page.
Do you think you can make money by joining Amazon Associates program? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. We'd love to hear from you!
When someone clicks your link from within their browser, they are going directly to Amazon. But what about when you click that same link via your smartphone's web browser? How does this differ? And what happens if you try to add those links back into your phone without knowing whether they have been set-up properly? What should you look out for?
Your first thought might be "I don't want to pay any extra fees". This isn't necessarily true though - most of these services will charge between $1-$5 per sale depending on which service you choose. If you're selling products with high margins (e.g., electronics), then you could make money even without paying anything at all!
So let's take a quick tour through some of the different types of links available on Amazon so we can understand how each one works, and how you can check them to see if they've been registered correctly.
There are three main ways to advertise on Amazon using affiliates:
Create your own page on the site itself – You'll need to register yourself as an affiliate before adding links here. The registration process is fairly simple and only takes a few minutes. Once completed, you simply copy the HTML code for the relevant section of your webpage onto the 'Links' tab under the 'Add A Link To Your Website Or Blog' heading.
Set up a widget on your blog – Widgets allow you to embed a small piece of content such as a short video clip or image gallery across multiple websites. Again, registering as an Amazon Affiliate allows you to put links here. Just paste the code provided by Amazon into the box, enter your email address and press submit.
Posting links from another source – In order to post other people's links to Amazon, you must become an Amazon Associates member. It's worth noting however that while there may be no fee involved in creating your account, setting up specific links to sell your products requires additional payment. For more information, read our guide to becoming an Amazon Affiliate (it won't cost you a penny).
Once you have created a new Amazon account, go to Account Settings > Sign Up As An Associate. From here, you can associate your account with various third party sites. Click Edit Profile next to the domain name listed below. Add the text shown above the field, including 'Amazon', followed by your unique ID number.
You will also need to create a tracking ID. This needs to start with AMZN_ and contain numbers and letters. For example, AMZN_123ABC1234. When you reach the Tracking ID screen, select Create New Tracking ID. Give it a meaningful name, and ensure that you save it somewhere safe (such as Google Drive) because you cannot change it later.
Then, whenever you wish to include a particular link on your website or social media accounts, just replace the existing text with your tracking ID instead. Any sales made via this link will automatically be attributed to your Amazon account.
If you haven't already done so, head over to your dashboard once again. On the left hand side navigation bar, you'll now notice two options labeled "Associates" & "Affiliates". These represent your current level of involvement with Amazon. We recommend opening both tabs unless you plan to actively manage your business online. By default, you'll be assigned to the "Affiliates" option.
To switch to the "Associate" option, follow the instructions outlined earlier. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the blue button labelled "Change Status." Underneath this, you'll find four options: "Registered," "Active," "Suspended" & "Disqualified", along with a dropdown menu allowing you to pick "All Categories" or "Only Active." Choose whichever suits your requirements best and hit Save Changes.
Now, every time you create a link on your website or social media profiles, you'll receive notifications telling you exactly which category it belongs to. The categories range from "General Merchandise" to "Health & Beauty Products" and everything else in between. They help you keep track of which links belong to whom and prevent accidental duplicates from appearing on your profile.
The most basic way of using affiliate links involves copying the code found on a website or social network profile and pasting it into your WordPress or Tumblr posts. Alternatively, you can write custom scripts and integrate them into Facebook plugins like Fanpagekarma or TweetKarma.
For instance, you could place a snippet of code inside a YouTube comment box, Twitter header, Instagram bio or anywhere else you'd normally insert text. Whenever somebody visits this part of your website, they’ll be redirected to Amazon.com/shop/.
Alternatively, you could install apps on Android or iOS devices which send users to certain pages based on keywords entered from the search function. Apps such as ShopSavvy and Shoppee run off keyword searches and redirect the user to the appropriate product listing.
Another method involves inserting special codes into eCommerce checkout forms. Users who complete the form will be taken straight to Amazon.com/shop/, and any items purchased will be credited to your account.
Finally, you can create landing pages which direct visitors to certain products. For example, consider a website designed to promote a book series. Instead of linking directly to each individual title, you could provide readers with a free eBook sample and offer them the opportunity to purchase the full books after reading the preview.
In addition to these methods, you can also earn commissions by promoting Amazon products outside of its platform. There are plenty of companies offering paid promotions on forums, blogs and other popular platforms.
An important point to remember here is that although you can display links to Amazon products on your website, you are technically allowed to do so but aren't required to. So long as your audience knows you're an Amazon affiliate, you are legally free to showcase whatever you please - even competitors'. However, if you are displaying links to products that compete against yours, we highly advise keeping things professional by avoiding any mention of price comparisons or similar features.
This question comes up quite often, especially among beginners and intermediates. After all, it seems obvious right? Well, unfortunately, it doesn't really matter what type of link you clicked - you can always end up being sent to Amazon anyway.
A good rule of thumb is to assume that any link leading to Amazon.com/shop/ is affiliated until proven otherwise. If you spot something suspicious, double-check the URL and hover over the word "Shop" to reveal further details. If nothing appears, move forward assuming it's affiliated.
However, bear in mind that some brands use different variations of the word shop (for example "Shopping") or simply omit the word altogether (for example "Buy"). Therefore, if you suspect a link has been set-up incorrectly, you may still wind up on Amazon regardless.
As far as identifying links goes, there are several tools available online. One useful resource is the Amazon Associates Mobile App Directory. This lists every single mobile application currently hosted on the Amazon marketplace, providing a handy checklist for checking URLs.
Other resources include the following:
The Amazon Associates Site List – Lists every official Amazon affiliate partner alongside their respective logos.
The Amazon Affiliates API – Allows developers to access data related to Amazon Associates programs.
The Amazon Associates Guidebook – Guides you through the entire process of becoming an Amazon Associate and includes detailed explanations of each step.
Before moving on, it's important to clarify one final concept. All of the aforementioned methods involve sending traffic to Amazon.com/shop/. But why stop there? Why not give customers the chance to browse your own store too?
We call these kinds of links "affiliate URLs". Although they appear identical to regular links, they work slightly differently. Rather than sending traffic to a destination on Amazon.com, they instruct the user's device to visit a given location on your website instead.
These usually reside within the footer of your website or blog, and act much like hyperlinks. The difference lies in the fact that they lead to a separate page rather than taking the visitor to a different section of your site.
That said, if you do decide to implement an affiliate URL into your marketing strategy, be wary of Amazon's terms and conditions. Because of the nature of affiliate marketing, you are responsible for ensuring that your site complies with Amazon's rules regarding copyright infringement, spamming and unauthorized advertising. Failure to comply could result in suspension of your affiliation agreement.
It's also worthwhile pointing out that Amazon reserves the right to terminate anyone's partnership at any time for any reason whatsoever. Be aware that Amazon operates according to strict guidelines and that many companies have had to close their doors due to unfair termination policies.
Just follow our battle-tested guidelines and rake in the profits.