30 (+1) Tips To Instantly Increase Your Amazon Affiliate Earnings

There’s a ton of information available for you to get started making money from affiliate sites using Amazon’s Associates program.

During our research, though, one aspect that a lot of marketers, teachers, and coaches fail to properly address is what to do once you’re finally making money.

We’re here to address that problem.

Remember, though, that this guide assumes you’ve already got traffic coming into your affiliate site, and are looking to increase the existing earnings.

If you haven’t already tapped into a traffic source and begun making sales, focus on doing what you can to increase the amount of visitors that are seeing your pages every day. Then come back and revisit this guide.

But First, Check Out Our Infographic

30 Actionable Tips For Affiliate Marketers

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For those of you with existing earnings and solid traffic levels, though, here are 31 tips that are going to help you instantly increase the amount of money your Associate’s based sites are bringing in each month.



Tip #1 - Split Test Your Page Copy

When we sit down at the keyboard to start writing, we all like to assume that we have an idea of what the reader is going to be looking for -- or, at least, you should have an idea of what the reader is looking for.

However, through split testing, your eyes can be opened, helping you quickly realize that what the reader was looking for was entirely different than what you’ve managed to create for them.

That’s why, once you have a post that’s churning out sales for you, you should consider split testing portions of the page copy.

AB split test

Often times, coming up with a new angle to take, you can get the visitor thinking about the product in a different way -- one that resonates with them better, and gets them to make the purchase that much easier.

If you have the post ranking highly in the search results, it’s not recommended to change the entire page out, because you risk losing the rankings and traffic.

However, if you’re testing social traffic, or a paid advertising channel, you can get away with adjusting the entire post and split testing it against your original.

Tip #2 - Link Your Images To Amazon

People love to click around once they’re on your website. This is especially true for the images you’ve include inside of the posts you’ve created that link to Amazon’s products.

If you don’t already do it, go back through your posts and make sure that the images included are being hotlinked to the Amazon product page -- using your Associates ID, of course.

link building

To get started, add the tag “target=_blank” to the links on your images, to ensure that a new window is opened up with the product and that the visitor can continue reading through your post.

Most times, the visitor will get distracted while they’re on Amazon, make their purchase, and then come back to reading your article again -- or finding new ones on your site to browse through.

To link your images to a product on Amazon, grab your affiliate link, then edit the post containing the image. Click on the image itself, and then click on the hyperlink icon in your WordPress editor toolbar. Finally, insert your affiliate link and click save.

Tip #3 - Include A Call To Action At The End Of Articles

There’s no hard-fast rule about when you should include a “Call To Action” inside of your articles, but one generally accepted time to tell your visitors what to do is at the end of your articles.

Unfortunately, a lot of affiliates simply finish their article without really telling the visitor what to do next. Remember, though, that readers like to be told exactly what to do. That’s where your call to action comes in.

add call to action

At the end of your post, take the time to let the reader know they can get more in-depth customer reviews, find out the pricing, or make their purchase by clicking on the link placed at the end of your content.

Instead of just sprinkling links throughout the article, hoping that the user will click one, tell them specifically at the end to click the link to be taken to Amazon.

Tip #4 - Split Test Your Calls To Action

Now that you’re going to be including calls to action throughout your post (and at the end, especially) you’ll also want to split test what text you’re using to convince the reader to click through to Amazon.

split test your call to action buttons

There are a few different strategies you can test, to determine which version works best with the audience that you’re creating content for. Test a few of these examples to see which one gets the highest clickthrough rating:

  • Click here to see more customer reviews
  • Click here to buy X on Amazon.com now!
  • Click here to see the latest prices on X
  • Ready to buy? Click here, now

Remember, changing up one word can mean the difference between a 5% CTR and a 10% CTR on your links. It always pays to test, test, test.

Tip #5 - Include Comparison Tables

A quick way to add another page to your site, and give your visitors a way to browse through various products that are available in your niche is through the use of comparison tables.

These tables line up anywhere from 5 to 20 different products and include a ton of different metrics that the user can sort by, giving them a chance to decide which product is right for them before they start clicking over to Amazon.

Previously, you’d have to know HTML and how to build the tables yourself. However, a plugin called TablePress lets you launch the comparison tables on a page of your site within a few minutes.

amazon comparison table

Once you’ve gathered all the data from the bestseller’s list on Amazon, you can input it into the plugin, and build the table.

Then, you just have to place the shortcode onto the page that you’ve created, and voila, you’ve got another avenue for helping your visitors make the right buying decision, and an easy way for them to click on more of your affiliate links.

Don't let this concern you too much though; comparison tables don't have to be anything extreme or fancy. You can use a bullet point list. Check out this article on the best cat food for hairballs for an example.

Find common metrics between the products that you’re comparing to include inside of your table. For instance, if the products have a variety of sizes, colors, and other options, be sure to include them in their own field on the table, as well as a basic pricing structure, such as $ for the cheapest, and $$$$ for most expensive.

Tip #6 - Test Different Types Of Ads

There are dozens of different ways you can get the visitor to click over from your site to a product listing on Amazon -- which should be the goal for every piece of content, and affiliate link you create.

Most people, though, will stop at including a few text links, or maybe including some hyperlinked photos on their content. (You should be, after reading this, if you aren’t already.)

test different types of ads

Instead of stopping at links and photos, though, try out some of the other widgets that Amazon has available.

For the most part, you shouldn’t only rely on the widgets, such as showcases or sliders, because the CTR is going to be lower than a link or a photo included inside of your post.

However, the widgets do help increase your user engagement on the content, which can, in turn, help you generate more clicks on the links you’ve included throughout the post, too.

Don’t overdo it with the widgets. If you choose to include them, make sure that they’re working to help add to your content, instead of becoming the center of attention. Remember, these widgets are not going to convert nearly as high as a contextual link will.

Tip #7 - Create Posts Showing How Visitors Can Use The Products

A lot of Associates affiliates have one thing in common: they’ve never used the products they’re actually creating reviews on.

While we won’t necessarily get into the legality of this practice, we’ll all agree that it’s wide-spread, and generally considered socially-accepted when you’re building out affiliate sites.

product reviews

If you want to set yourself apart from the pack, though, go one step further and actually get your hands on the products you’re going to be reviewing. This can be done in a variety of ways:

  • Purchase the product, then review it, later offering it as a giveaway to your readers.
  • Reach out to a seller on Amazon, and work out a deal in exchange for free products.
  • Ask a seller on Amazon for in-depth photos in exchange for sending traffic their way.
  • Go to your local department store and take in-person photos of the product.
  • Or, ask one of your friends or family members if they own it.

Once you have legitimate pictures of the product being used, you can connect with the readers on a completely different level.

No longer are you the “spammy” affiliate site that’s just trying to make a quick buck. Instead, you’ve escalated yourself to a true reviewer, and have pictures that aren’t available anywhere else on the web.

Your reviews instantly become more trustworthy when the readers can see that you’ve legitimately used the product, and are providing honest opinions about whether or not it is a good purchase.

This not only generates more sales for you, but can set your site up to receive a lot of links down the road, when people want a reference to use on forums and other blogs.

Tip #8 - Track Your Affiliate Links

If you’re not tracking the clicks on your links, you’re leaving out a LOT of money on the table.

Most people don’t understand how to actually go about tracking their Associates links, other than creating a tracking ID inside of Amazon. You know, the one that looks like “yoursitename-20” ?

track your affiliate links

While using Amazon’s basic tracking IDs works for determining which of your sites is making the most sales, it’s an incredibly bulky and inefficient way to determine which posts and links are getting the most clicks.

To get around this problem, there's a free plugin called "Pretty Links" that lets you, well, make your links pretty.

As the name implies, the plugin will let you take your ugly affiliate links, the ones that look like:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D4IG9N6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0CSH8RTBMDQKB1WW0G1V&pf_rd_p=2437869742

And turn them into links that look like: http://yourdomain.com/linkname

Not only does it make your links look better, though, it also gives you detailed stats on which links are getting the most views and clicks.

This helps you split test different versions of the link text, while also giving you an area to focus on when you’re trying to get quick wins on your Associates sites.

Remember, if you can measure the data, you can tweak and fine tune your process -- increasing your earnings as you go.

Tip #9 - Create Ultimate “Buyer’s Guides

When a visitor lands on your site and then makes the decision to stay and read the content you’re offering up, it’s because you’ve connected with them in some way.

The best way to rank higher in the search engines, while also connecting with your readers and convincing them to stay on your page is through a type of content called “Ultimate Buyer’s Guides”.

create ultimate buyers guide

If you’ve been around the affiliate game for any length of time, you know the type of content I’m talking about. It’s usually filled with various keywords related to the product, and can run anywhere from 2,000 words, to upwards of 10,000 or 15,000 words in some of the more extreme cases.

What these guides do, though, is give the buyer every single piece of information they could possibly need to make a decision on whether or not to purchase. They work so well, in fact, that even large brands have started creating them.

Take a look at this buyer’s guide, created for users looking to buy a radar detector:

You can see the length and depth of the content, and how far it goes into persuading the user to finally make a purchase.

By creating these types of guides on your site, you’re setting yourself up to not only capture a lot more search engine traffic (because of the sheer amount of content and keywords included) but you’re also showing the visitor that you’ve taken the time and properly researched their buying decision for them, making their life that much easier.

Tip #10 - Increase Rankings On "Easy Wins" In The SERPs

There are two factors that determine how much search engine traffic you can funnel into your site:

#1 - How high your pages rank in the search results.

#2 - How well you entice visitors to click through to your page.

seo easy wins

It’s a long time proven fact that search engine traffic is among the most profitable for affiliate review sites.

In a study by Marketing Land, an estimated 30% of traffic clicks on the #1 spot in Google, followed by a much lower 14% clicking on #2, 10% clicking on #3, and dropping off substantially when you’re ranked lower than the #4 spot.

That means, if you’re able to build more links to your review posts, you’re going to increase your placement in the search results, and obtain a much higher clickthrough rate, naturally.

However, there’s another way to effectively “swipe” traffic from the top spots, because of how users interact with the search results. As the visitors are scanning, they’re looking through the meta descriptions to determine which result may be the best fit for what they’re looking for.

That’s your chance to swoop in and grab the traffic that should have gone to the top spots. By tweaking your meta description, you can entice visitors to click through that would have normally scrolled right past your listing, and visited another page.

Tip #11 - Setting Up FB News Feed Ads

Social platforms, such as Facebook, are amazing for cheap clicks when you setup paid advertising campaigns, but require that you have an intimate understanding of the market that you’re targeting.

Because the profit margins are on the thinner side with Associates commissions, you can’t afford to just toss money at the problem and hope it pays off. That leaves major advertising platforms out.

facebook ads

However, if you can tap into your market, and understand what makes them purchase, you can setup a cheap ad campaign on Facebook, and other social platforms, getting the products in front of the people you know are going to make a purchase.

To help you get started, here is a great post by the Social Media Examiner, explaining in great detail how to setup your first news feed ad.

Remember to take your time, and start small, at first.

Tip #12 - "Best" and "Review" Keywords

If you already have a good amount of traffic coming into your affiliate sites, you’ve probably already noticed that certain keywords tend to convert higher than other types of keywords. This is because of something known as “buyer intent”.

In short, buyer intent means that each visitor that comes to your site is going to be at a different level of being ready to make a purchase.

use best and review keywords

Some are going to be interested in information only (cold traffic) while others are going to have their wallet out, looking for a recommendation on which product to buy.

Most times, the visitor will get distracted while they’re on Amazon, make their purchase, and then come back to reading your article again -- or finding new ones on your site to browse through.

You want to target those users who have their wallet out, and are eagerly waiting for you to tell them what to purchase.

An easy way to start tapping into those specific visitors is by targeting keywords such as “best widgets” and “widget reviews”. Replacing widgets with your keywords, or products in your niche.

If a user is searching for “best” or “reviews”, you know that they are at the end of the buyer’s cycle, and are ready to make a purchase.

Tip #13 - Silo Your Content, And Create Sales Funnels

If you simply write content, and hit publish, letting it all flow through your homepage without any real strategy, you’re leaving money on the table.

You can setup what is known as a “funnel” and organize your content in a way that visitors are “funneled” down into the pages of your site that make you the most money.

sales funnels

To achieve this, you’re going to need to be tracking and analyzing your existing traffic, and then get to the drawing board to figure out the best way to move visitors from the posts that do not make as much money, over to the posts that do make you money.

Most times, this can be as easy as inserting a link inside of the low earning posts, letting readers know that they can find more information about products that may fill their need by clicking through to other posts on your site.

Other times, you’re going to need to get creative. You know your site better than anyone, so step back and take a look at it from a 10,000ft view. Try to visualize how people move around your site, and then come up with a strategic plan for getting them to end up where you want them -- on pages that make you money.

While the traffic that you funnel to your sales pages may not convert as well as hot traffic coming in for buyer’s keywords, it’s still a great way to increase your earnings, and well worth the time you’ll put into making it a seamless transition for your visitors.

Tip #14 - Write A "Best Sellers" List

Another great way to increase the earnings on your site is by creating a “best sellers” list of products that other people have purchased.

This list can be generated straight from Amazon and are fairly easy to produce -- all you’re doing is introducing your visitors to what the bestselling products are in your niche. Easy enough, right?

best sellers list

To get started, go to Amazon.com and browse over to your niche’s product categories. Then, once you’re at the category listing page, click on “Sort By” and select “Avg. Customer Review”.

Now, you’ll be given a list of the products in your niche that have the highest reviews by customers who have purchased them -- the “best sellers” list.

Choose the top 3-5, or even up to 10, if you’re feeling frisky, and begin to write your post.

Most times, a small 100-200 word blurb on each is more than enough to introduce your reader’s to the product, and summarize the benefits, and why so many customers prefer it over the many others that are available to buy.

Tip #15 - Sell More, Cheaper Priced Products

When you’re trying to increase the amount you make from Amazon each month, a great way to do it is by increasing the amount you make off of each product that you do sell.

As you’re just getting started on Amazon, and the month starts over, your commission level is going to be reset at 4%. While that’s livable for a lot of people, you want to get into the higher tiers of commissions as quickly as possible.

sell more cheaper products

If you sell enough products, you can earn up to 8.5% commissions, effectively more than doubling the amount you earn each month. It’s not always so cut-and-dried, though, when it comes to increasing the amount of products you sell each month.

You can either increase the amount of traffic you have coming into your site (fairly difficult, for the most part) or you can start promoting much lower priced items, that will sell a lot more often.

By promoting lower cost items, you’re going to make a lot more sales. And making more sales means that your commission level quickly starts to bump up from 4%, to 5%, 6%, and on, until you’re at the 8.5% commission tier.

Tip #16 - Consider Selling Your Own Products

One of the hardest aspects of getting started building your own eCommerce business is figuring out what niche to target, and products to sell. Thankfully, with a profitable affiliate site, you’ve already proven the market, and know exactly what makes your readers buy.

That’s why branching out into dropshipping, or even buying inventory that you can sell on Amazon, yourself, is a great way to increase the earnings from your affiliate site. You know the products people buy, and how often they buy them.

sell your own products

That means, all you have to do is spend your commission checks on picking up inventory, and learning how to properly manage it.

Most times, the visitor will get distracted while they’re on Amazon, make their purchase, and then come back to reading your article again -- or finding new ones on your site to browse through.

Then you can start utilizing the Fulfillment By Amazon platform to make the same sales, at a much higher profit margin than your standard affiliate commission levels.

Tip #17 - Promote High-End Products

On the flip side of the coin as Tip #15, which recommends you sell lower priced products to increase your commission level, you can also sell higher priced products to earn a lot more from each sale that you generate.

Think about it, if you’re at a 6% commission level, and you sell a $20 product. You’re going to get paid $1.20. Not bad, if you can do that dozens of times each day.

promote high end products

Now think about another scenario where you’re selling a $1,000 product at the same 6% commission level. You’re going to make $60 off the sale -- and only need to pull that off once, or twice a day, to hit a substantial income from your affiliate site.

If there are highly priced products available in your niche, get to writing about them.

Take it one step further, and try to get your hands on the product so you can create the most in-depth review on the internet, and you stand to make a lot more than 1 or 2 sales a day.

Tip #18 - Remove Other Monetization Methods

If you’ve got your site loaded down with different forms of monetization or advertising, you’re actually shooting yourself in the foot as far as your overall earnings go.

It’s easy to understand why people do this, though. The more opportunities you’ve got to make money, the more money you make, right?

Wrong.

remove other monetization methods

Instead of collectively increasing your earnings, you’re actually distracting visitors away from the monetization avenues that pay you the most money.

In this case, the automated ads you’ve got on the site, such as AdSense and Outbrain, are actually costing you money. The cheap clicks you’re generating could be being sent over to Amazon, generating you a substantially higher commission.

And even if the users aren’t going to click over to Amazon, by getting rid of these ad units, you’re distracting less of your visitors, giving them the chance to click on an affiliate link.

Tip #19 - Target More Longtail Keywords

Going back to the “buyers intent” and where the visitor is at on the chain of just wanting to read some entertaining content vs pulling out their wallet and making a purchase, longer keywords are (generally) going to convert better than shorter, “head” keywords.

As an example, think about the keyword “widgets” and compare it to “how do I X with widget”. Which do you think is going to be more targeted, and easier to potentially promote a product as the solution to their problem?

target longtail keywords

Can you even spot a problem with the keyword “widgets”? Chances are, you can spot numerous. That makes it incredibly difficult to effectively solve all of the problems within one post.

Now, look at the second example, “how do I X with widget”. The visitor has a problem and needs a solution. Can you see how much easier it would be to solve their problem, and recommend a product as the solution to it?

Targeting “longtail” keywords also gives you a lot more chances to rank higher in the search engines, because most websites focus on the “head” keywords vs the much lower searched for longtails.

Tip #20 - Stop Looking Like A Spammer

If you’ve produced a bunch of content, built a WordPress site, and slapped it all up onto a stock theme, you’re probably coming off as a spammer.

Whether you realize it, or not, the human brain subconsciously judges your website based on appearances long before the visitor even reads the first sentence in your post.

stop looking like a spammer

That means you’ve got milliseconds to make the right impression, and then your content has to pick up the visitor and move them from the beginning of your post, to the end where your call to action resides.

Spending a bit of time on the look, feel, and functionality of your site goes a long way towards keeping visitors from bouncing back to the search results, or the site they previously came from -- giving you the chance to make more money.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to pull off, either. There are numerous gigs on sites like Fiverr, where you can get a cheap logo designed, and then go pick up a good looking theme from a marketplace like Envato.

After, ensure the first few sentences and the headline of your content grabs the visitors attention, and then start watching your bounce rate decrease. And when your bounce rate decreases, you’re getting more users to the end of the content -- where you have a chance to make money.

Tip #21 - Get Ideas From Other Products Customers Have Purchased

If you’ve spent any length of time as an Associates affiliate, you’ve probably realized that the products you’re promoting from your site aren’t always the products that customers end up purchasing.

In fact, if you stop and take a look through your recent sales history, you may be shocked at some of the stuff people have purchased after clicking on one of your affiliate links.

get ideas from other products

After all, Amazon gives you semi-anonymous shopping capabilities, so people tend to buy the types of things that they wouldn’t be caught dead purchasing from a local retailer, where their friends and family might see them.

Now, we’re not telling you to rush out and start promoting all those off-the-wall products that your visitors have purchased. You may end up turning off a large portion of your readers.

However, you can use this list of crazy products to generate some ideas that your readers may actually find useful, and begin including them into the content you produce.

Tip #22 - Track, Record, Analyze, Evaluate, Repeat.

What isn’t measured, can’t be improved. That means, even though you’re running Analytics (you are, right?) and have installed Pretty Links (Tip #8 -- go back.), if you’re not measuring and analyzing the results, you’re not doing what it takes to improve them.

Implementing proper tracking is just the first step. Once you have numbers to base your decisions off of, you need to actually start recording them from week-to-week, or month-to-month, and then spending the time evaluating them to figure out where you can earn some quick wins.

track analyze and repeat

Don’t just track your stats, though. If you make a change to a headline, or adjust a call to action, document it. Over time, you’re going to be making so many changes that it will be impossible for you to remember where you started from.

You can use any spreadsheet software to build the list of metrics -- Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and OpenOffice Calc are some of our favorites. Create a few different headings that track the amount of traffic you’re getting, how many clicks you’ve generated, and how many of those clicks have led to making a sale.

Then, grab a pen and paper, and start documenting any changes that you make. Once you make consistent effort to not only track, but to analyze, and tweak, you’ll start seeing increases in your earnings each month.

Tip #23 - Build An Email List

There’s an old adage in the digital marketing realm, that goes something like “the money is in the list”.

Now, for the sake of your affiliate site, that list is going to be your email list -- or people who have given up their email address in exchange for receiving the messages you are going to be sending their way.

To get you started, jump onto aWeber or GetResponse, and setup your account. Then, you’re going to need two key ingredients to make it all work.

build an email list

The first is a lead magnet. The second is a series of emails referred to as an “autoresponder”.

Your lead magnet is exactly as the name implies: a “magnet” that attracts “leads” to subscribe to your email list. Now, don’t overthink this. For the most part, you can combine some of your best blog posts into one eBook, save it as a .pdf file, and use it as your magnet.

The second ingredient is your series of autoresponder emails.

Again, this can be some of your best blog posts, in condensed versions, with links that point to the blog posts themselves. Spend time putting together 4-5 of these emails, and then upload them to either aWeber or GetResponse -- whichever you signed up with.

Once you’ve put together both ingredients, include a subscription box in your sidebar, and throughout posts that aren’t actively linking to Amazon in an attempt to generate sales.

Here's a classic post from Smart Passive Income's Pat Flynn, showing you in-depth how to create your autoresponder series.

Remember, keep the distractions to a minimum to make the most sales. You’ll have to make a personal decision, though, about which is more important to you -- building your email list, or making the affiliate sale.

Tip #24 - Write Sales Promos During The Holidays & Large Shopping Periods

There are certain times of the year when you’re going to make more sales than normal.

If you’re promoting products that are primarily used during the summer, springtime is going to be a great time for you. Likewise, if the products are used more during the winter, autumn is going to produce substantially higher sales from your site.

write holiday sales promos

One time period that lifts the sales rates for every Associates based site, though, is at the end of the year. It’s not unheard of for people to generate 10 times the amount of sales they would normally make, during the holiday promotional period.

Black Friday, for instance, is a consumer’s dream -- especially when it comes to buying online. To get prepared for the holiday season, make sure that you’re increasing the amount of promotion you’re doing in the months before the sales start to pick up.

If you’re caught with your pants down, and try to start promoting at the beginning of December, you’re going to make more sales, but not nearly as many as you would if you were to start preparing for the holiday season during, say, October and November.

Tip #25 - Remove The Amazon aStore From Your Site

Just about every Amazon Associates affiliate has tried to implement them at some point in time: the aStore widget.

If they’ve actually stuck with using the widget on their site for long enough to measure the results, though, they’ve probably realized that the widgets simply don’t convert.

remove amazon astore

It’s advised that, if you’re running an aStore widget on your own site, that you split test to verify the results, but from our testing, the aStore simply doesn’t convert.

Direct links inside of your content do convert, and convert very well.

Tip #26 - Leverage Social Media

Tip #11 introduces you to the power of paid advertising using social media platforms. But you can take it one step further, and tap into the massive amounts of traffic that’s available on sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and others for free.

Utilizing this strategy requires a little creativity on your part, because, most times, you aren’t going to be able to find a group or a page that’s strictly related to the types of products you’re promoting on Amazon.

leverage social media

Let’s go back to our radar detector example. You’re not going to find a group of 10,000 people who are eagerly waiting for some authority blogger to post up the newest radar detector for them to look at.

What you will find, though, if you focus on thinking about the marketing (people who buy those radar detectors) and where the market hangs out, you’ll find hundreds of thousands of people who would be interested in reading a blog post showing them how to get the most of their radar detector, and safely avoid getting a speeding ticket while they’re enjoying their ride.

Where would those people be hanging out? In car groups. Car enthusiasts are the people who buy radar detectors.

Do you think that if you joined a bunch of car groups, and provided useful content to help them not only avoid a speeding ticket (with a detector) but also how to beat the ticket in court, should they get one, that you wouldn’t get people to click through to your site?

Of course, you would. You’re getting a relevant message in front of people who will potentially make a purchase.

Just keep it from becoming a spam fest, or you’re going to get banned from the groups. They tend to have a low tolerance for spammers, which you’ll quickly learn if you jump in and start posting links.

Tip #27 - Create Your Own Graphics

Every Associates affiliate does the same thing: jumps onto Amazon, finds the product they want to promote, swipes some images, writes some content, and then uploads the images to their site.

Think about that for a second. Just about every single affiliate you’re going to be competing against is doing the same thing you’re probably guilty of already doing.

create your own graphics

So how do you set yourself apart? You create your own graphics.

Even if it’s taking the stock photos, and adding some of your own flare to them -- through text, borders, or backgrounds -- you need to stop using the stock photos. Customers have been trained to spot an affiliate because of the fact that they throw up the stock images, and move onto writing the next post.

If you really want to set yourself apart, put your money where your mouth is and go out to buy the products that you’re going to be reviewing.

Not only does this give you hands on photos that will help your readers picture themselves using the product, but you’re going to instantly set yourself apart from the rest of the herd of affiliates who are stuck using stock photos.

If you don’t have the money to go out and buy all the products, try a new approach.

Reach out to the vendors who are selling the products on Amazon, let them know about your existing traffic numbers, and tell them that you will refer traffic directly to their pages in exchange for getting your hands on products to review.

Then, let them know that the products are going to be used as part of a giveaway to your members (of your email list, perhaps?) which helps the vendors grow their own business.

Step up your game, if you want to make more money from your affiliate sites.

Tip #28 - Monetize Your International Traffic

It’s a little known fact that traffic coming in from international sources doesn’t get you paid through Amazon Associates. You don’t have to continue leaking those sales, though.

If your website is primarily based around United States traffic, for instance, only the sales coming from the U.S. are going to generate commissions for you.

That means, if a visitor from the U.K. finds your site, you’re not going to get paid on any sales you generate through them.

monetize international traffic

To stop these sales leaks from happening on your affiliate sites, consider using a service or plugin, such as EasyAzon.

What EasyAzon does is “localize” your affiliate links.

If a customer comes from the UK and lands on your site, then clicks a link that takes them to Amazon, EasyAzon will send them to the U.K. version of Amazon, versus sending them to the U.S. version.

In essence, you’re going to capture a sale that you would never have gotten previously.

Keep in mind, though, any sales generated through international versions of Amazon are going to slow the payouts you receive. Rather than receiving a direct deposit at the end of the month, you’ll usually have to wait for a paper check to show up in your mailbox.

Even with paper checks being the case, and taking longer to arrive, you’re still getting paid for sales that you would never have gotten before.

Tip #29 - Tap Into Other Website’s Readers

Guest posting on other people’s websites gives your Associates affiliate sites two distinct advantages.

  • First, you gain authoritative links that help you rank better in the search engines.
  • Second, you tap into an existing audience who are already interested in purchasing the types of products that you’re promoting.
guest post

A lot of people get hung up when it comes to putting themselves out into the wild world, and start asking for the chance to guest post on blogs that could help them grow their business.

We’re here to tell you that all you have to do is get the first email sent out -- the remaining emails get easier, and easier. Once you get your first accepted submission, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sending them out sooner.

To get started, search Google for “niche blog”, where you replace “niche” with your keywords, or your niche topic. Then gather a list of 100-200 blogs.

Once you have a list built, start going through each site until you find either a contact form, an email address that you can mail to, or a social media profile that the owner of the blog seems to be active on.

Then, visit this post on Builder's Society that shows you how to perform outreach better than most professionals.

Tip #30 - Give Choices, But Not Too Many

When you’re creating content that’s promoting products, there’s one rule that you want to keep in mind: less is more.

By that, we mean that less options is usually better than giving your visitor 5-10 different options for products to choose from.

not too many choices

What typically happens, when you give the visitor too many choices, is a state of confusion, and a lack of action -- the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

Instead of creating lists of 10 products that you think your audience will be interested in, try cutting back to a much smaller list.

For instance, using 2-3 products in a post is going to perform substantially better than a post that contains 5-7 products.

Likewise, a post that is centered around one product, alone, is going to perform substantially better than one that contains 2-3 products.

Instead of confusing your visitors, which leads to them not buying anything, try cutting back the amount of choices you’re offering, and watch your conversion rates increase.

Bonus Tip - Keep Your End Goal In Mind

With all of these tips, there’s really only one tip that you need to keep in mind, and let resonate through your being: get people to move from your site, over to Amazon.

Then, let Amazon make the sale -- they spend millions, upon millions of dollars, converting people from shoppers to buyers. Unless you’re a professional copywriter, they’ll always do better than you can.

keep your end goal in mind

Anytime you set out to create a new piece of content, adjust or tweak a headline on your blog post, plan out how you’re going to funnel visitors to your money pages, whatever the case is, keep your end goal in mind -- moving people from your site, over to Amazon.

Say it out loud, right now: “My only goal is to move visitors from my website to Amazon.”

The rest will fall into place.

Now It's Time To Get To Work

With so many tips at your disposal, chances are that you can make a huge impact on your monthly earnings -- if you actually take action on what we’ve laid out here for you.

Most people, though, are simply going to read this, make plans to put some of the tips into action, and then never actually put in the effort to do it.

That’s why, if you even implement just a few of the time-tested and proven tips we’ve just given you, you’re going to be light years ahead of your competition.

So what are you going to do? Sit on the information? Or grow your monthly earnings?

17 thoughts on “30 (+1) Tips To Instantly Increase Your Amazon Affiliate Earnings”

  1. There are some great tips here to help increase my Amazon Affiliate income. I am going to implement some of them now, and see how well they work.

    Thanks for taking the time to write it all out for us.

  2. Hello Andrew,

    Recently I have joined some affiliate program and start to promote products. I agree with all points what you have discuss here. People basically want to know what benefits they will get from a product. So In the product review article we need to focus on benefits instead of features. Features automatically come when we explain benefits. Overall the article is good and useful. Thanks for sharing.

    Thanks & regards,

  3. Hi,

    Greta tips. I would like to differ on one point.
    Be careful using services like pretty link. Amazon prohibit
    any link shortening service that prevent them from tracking clicks.

    I think services like pretty links are against amazon’s terms of service.

    Hope it helps

  4. According to Amazon TOS you have to visually show to you’re linking to Amazon. Apart from the URL (if not shortened) an image link will not show that it’s going to Amazon, unlike a button, which might have “Buy on Amazon”.

    So is this still allowed?

  5. I believe you have to point out that when visitor cliks on link/image/button it is going to point them to amazon, so if there is an image I would suggest either a alt/title tag with text or maby a link or text that says “click on the product image to check the current price at amazon”. And yes about the link shortening it is in their TOS that you cannot hide the link, they suggest using their link shortening service though.

  6. Hey Andrew,

    Great post! Tons of great info!

    Have you ever looked into our service, Geniuslink, for geo-localizing your Amazon links? We have a WordPress Plugin (Amazon Link Engine) and several other really easy ways to use our service to earn commissions internationally with your links. We work very closely with Amazon and have even become their recommended tool for geo-localizing your Associates links. We have a patented “product matching algorithm” that auto-magically finds the product your linking to in the user’s local Amazon store.

    Worth taking a look if you haven’t already.

    Cheers,
    Taylor

  7. Hi Taylor, thanks for stopping by.

    We are currently using EasyAzon, but if you could write in a couple of short lines what sets you apart from them, I’d definitely consider switching teams.

  8. The very first money I made as an online marketer was in affiliate marketing. Great post!

  9. Great post! Lots of money making tips that everyone should try and use on their websites. I certainly will be using some of these tips on my blog. Thanks very much!

  10. Great post! Lots of money making tips that everyone should try and use on their websites. I certainly will be using some of these tips on my blog. Thanks very much!

  11. So many amazing tips! I think that can be overwhelming for complete beginners looking for tips.

    My biggest tip for complete beginners that has helped lots of beginning affiliates – is to forget all of the advanced tips – and simply start a website in a niche you are interested in, crank out a lot of relevant high quality articles, and mix in your Amazon affiliate links within your articles. Focus on your content only. ONce you start getting a littl etraffic – learn SEO and only THEN start using the advanced tiips as you learn.

    If you are a complete beginner – don;t get overwhelmed with all of these tips – just get your site live and crank out that content!

  12. Hello Andrew, I just started using amazon affiliate few days ago. I’ve got well over 100clicks but I’m yet to earn anything. Does it take long for my earning dashboard to be updated?

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