Amazon Affiliates: How to Become One and Earn Money

Amazon Affiliates is the largest affiliate program online and it allows content creators, publishers, and basically anyone with an audience to utilize their web traffic and make money, all by promoting Amazon products.

But how do you make money with affiliate marketing? Once you become an Amazon Affiliate, also known as an Amazon Associate, you’ll generate bespoke links to Amazon products. Every time someone clicks on your links and purchases a product, you’ll receive a commission.

For example, if you start an interiors blog where you post about interior design trends, ideas, and DIYs, you can utilize Amazon Affiliates to make money.

Within your blog posts you can link to Amazon interior products and every time one of your readers clicks that link and purchases the item off the back of your recommendation, you’ll earn money.

Amazon Affiliates’ commissions range from 1% to 20% depending on the product category you’re linking to.

How much money you make from Amazon Affiliates will depend on various factors.

Firstly it will depend on your audience size and how engaged they are with your content. After all, if nobody is clicking on your links and purchasing your recommendations, then you aren’t going to earn a cent.

How much you earn will also depend on your niche and the commission rate for products related to that.

Compared to other affiliate partners online, Amazon’s commission rates are relatively low and vary greatly depending on the product category.

For example, the commission rate for TVs and video games is 2% while luxury beauty can earn you a commission of up to 10%.

You could earn anything from $100 a month right through to $10,000 a month. It really is that varied.

If you want to make big bucks via Amazon Affiliates then you’re going to need to commit to your own personal branding and digital marketing. You’ll need to build up your reputation and drive as much traffic to your platforms as possible.

In order to become an Amazon Associate you’ll need to apply to join the program and there are various requirements you’ll have to meet to get approved.

First things first you’ll need to have your own website, app, or YouTube channel where you own the content. Your website must feature original content and be publicly available. You also need to use links on your website, so that you can feature your Amazon Affiliate links.

You’ll also need to be in charge of the content and management of your website and your content topics will need to meet Amazon’s strict regulations (e.g. nothing illegal!)

Once approved you also can’t use your Amazon Affiliate links in certain marketing materials such as ebooks or on client-side software such as plugins or downloadable content.

When using Amazon Affiliate links you must always be honest with your audience, and not try to hide your links or bid on Amazon’s trademarks or keywords.

Becoming an Amazon Affiliate is a super simple process and once complete, gives you the opportunity to earn considerable online income.

Step 1: Have Your Own Website, App, or YouTube Channel

In order to become an Amazon Associate you’ll need to have already set up your own website, app, or YouTube channel.

Step 2: Visit the Amazon Associates Website and Click Sign Up

Head to the Amazon Affiliates website and select sign up. You’ll be asked to either sign in to an existing Amazon account or create a new one.

Step 3: Add Your Personal Details

Here Amazon will ask you to select the Amazon account you want to link your affiliates to as well as require you to input the address of your website, app, or YouTube channel.

You’ll also need to provide Amazon with information about the type of content you create and the category or products you intend to link to at this stage.

Amazon will also ask you how you drive traffic to your channel/website such as via email marketing, social media or SEO, etc as well as your usual traffic numbers.

Step 4: Provide Your Payment and Tax Information

Once you’ve set up your profile, you’ll need to give Amazon your payment information (so that you can get paid your commissions) as well as your tax details.

You can do this now or come back and add this information at a later stage once you’ve started making money.

Step 5: Await Approval and Generate Links

Now all that’s left to do is await approval. Once your Amazon Affiliates profile has been approved by Amazon, you can begin generating affiliate links and using them within your content.

If you’ve decided that Amazon Affiliates is the right choice for you, we’ve listed some expert tips below to help you make as much money as possible.

• Find a niche. If you want to convince people to purchase your recommendations, you need to prove that you can be trusted on the topic. Finding a niche that you can focus on, rather than promoting too many different product types, will help to build trust and drive more targeted and engaged traffic to your affiliate links.
• Focus on SEO. Creating original content gives you a great chance to focus on the SEO of your website. If you can target users who are actively searching for your topics, you have a much higher chance of converting them via your affiliate links.
• Create original content. By creating original content that’s useful to your audience, you’re giving yourself the perfect place to feature your affiliate links.
• Don’t spam. It can be tempting to go overboard with how many affiliate links you feature but if you’re using too many in one piece of content, users will be put off and certainly won’t be convinced to make a purchase. Stick to just one to two affiliate links per piece of original content you create.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money online without actually selling anything.

A program such as Amazon Affiliates gives you the chance to earn as much or as little money as you like, all whilst benefiting from the global success and reputation of the Amazon brand.

Whether you’ve already built up a loyal audience or you’re starting from scratch, you get out what you put in when it comes to Amazon Affiliates, meaning if you’re willing to commit the time and effort, your rewards could be fruitful.

Let us know in the comments if this article has inspired you to sign up for Amazon Affiliates or if you’ve already used the program, comment with your thoughts!