Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site – Quick Guide
Posted on September 12, 2014
Have you ever wanted to set up an Amazon Affiliate WordPress site? Heard about the potential riches being involved in the Amazon affiliate scheme can bring and want to try set a site of your own up? Well, then, this quick guide to setting up Amazon Affiliate WordPress site is for you!
First things first – I’m not an Amazon guru and have very little experience with affiliates but I do hope that I’m a quick learner and a good at relaying what I’ve learned. Last week I had the idea to set up an Amazon Affiliate WordPress site called PerfectChristmasPresents.com which, as the name suggests is about Christmas presents. With some luck I think that the site could do well. I like it because it’s the sort of site that won’t require year long maintenance but rather a 3 month heavy blitz with social/blogging promo and then 9 months of low-fi maintenance. The following are the steps I took to get the Amazon affiliate site up and running.
Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site – Quick Guide
1) Niche Selection
You need to define what you want your Amazon affiliate WordPress site is going to promote and sell. This is a key step and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. You want to try find a niche that has some good search volume as well as products that aren’t too cheap. I believe Amazon affiliates receive between 4% and 8.5% in commissions so when picking a niche bear that in mind, the higher the price of the products you sell the more you stand to make. Also, you don’t want to choose a niche that is too broad. Try really drill down into one specific niche and in this regard my PerfectChristmasPresents.com might not be the best example as it’s quite broad. One more tightly focused niche might be the category Christmas Gifts for Geeks for example. One final aspect to consider about niche selection is content. How easily will you be able to blog about the products that are on your affiliate site? For the Christmas niche there is a never ending supply of content that can be re-purposed and shared and so I should be able to get a lot of content on site to support all the product listings.
2) Hosting & Domain
You can’t build an Amazon affiliate WordPress site without some hosting. When picking hosting don’t go for cheap hosting and try get it so that the server is in the territory that you think might be most profitable for you. Domain wise, if you’re going very niche specific, you should try get a domain that includes some of your keywords for whatever small bit of extra SEO love Google may give you. The PerfectChristmasPresents.com site is hosted in Ireland as that’s where the bulk of our sales will probably originate from. The domain name itself is kind of long but it has some good keywords in it and the door is open for a long term branding project with it. For WordPress hosting I always use Spiral Hosting.
3) Amazon Affiliate Sign Up
Before you can sell any Amazon products on a WordPress affiliate site you need to have an affiliate account with Amazon. You can create an account for free here – https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/. The sign up process is straight forward enough with automated phone verification required for account confirmation. One point to note is the different affiliate regions (the flag in the top right of that page). If you want to sell items that are available in the .com or the .ca versions of Amazon then you’ll need to create affiliate IDs for those sites. For PerfectChristmasPresents.com (for example) I created affiliate accounts for UK, US, Canada & Spain. Note: Since setting up I’ve had issues with the .co.uk account as most products sourced originate from Amazon.com. To make sure you don’t run into same issues try pick just one Amazon affiliate to start with, get it set up and then start adding additional affiliates – best to hit the ground running.
4) Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site Theme & Plugin
So, at this stage the niche for your Amazon affiliate WordPress site has been nailed down, the domain and hosting are boxed off and you have your Amazon affiliate accounts. Now it’s time to build the site. There are a few different plugins and themes available for WordPress Amazon affiliate sites but the combo used on PerfectChristmasPresents.com are WooCommerce Amazon Affiliate WordPress Plugin in conjunction with WooCommerce Amazon Affiliates Theme. As mentioned at the top this is my first experience with an affiliates but the plugin seems extremely powerful. There was many a geeky chortle as I integrated it and got it up and running. I might do a video about the plugin at a later stage as it really is excellent. The theme, eh, kinda meh. It is a new theme and so has some bugs that the developers are working out and it is quite slimmed down feature wise. With that said though – that’s why I picked it. I wanted to be able to build the site quickly and a slimmed down theme makes that easier. There are a few pain points with the theme but I hope the theme developers will iron them out in time.
5) Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site Structure
One of the SEO goals for the site is for it to be somewhat self sufficient. Each of the different product categories – “Christmas Gifts For Mothers” for example have a tailored optimised URL slug containing “Christmas-gift-for-mums” and each product in added to that category will contain the same slug. The hope here is that I can straddle two main keywords “Christmas Presents” and “Christmas Gifts”. When setting up your Amazon Affiliate WordPress site see if you can use the categories and site structure to suck in some extra keywords.
6) Logo/Branding for Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site
If the Amazon affiliate WordPress site you’re setting up is purely going for sales with no brand in mind then no need to worry about this aspect too much. If however you think the domain has long term potential (and, I think PerfectChristmasPresents.com has a ring to it) then it might be worth in investing in a logo. The graphic designer I work with, Elena, did the logo design for the site and is the art director for all social site and graphics. Adding a clean looking brand and logo can help with peoples perception when they land on the site which may increase sales.
7) Social Media Set Up
So, by now you’ve got your domain and hosting sorted, Amazon affiliate accounts are set up and the Amazon Affiliate WordPress site is under development. At this point I think it’s time to get set up your social media sites. This step can be done at any stage really but it’s important not too overlook it. Social media can help with site traffic and referrals as well as possibly have some positive SEO benefits. PerfectChristmasPresents.com has been set up on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and I’ll use my personal G+ account to discuss it now and again. Once you have the accounts registered and secured you can then start to deck them out with profile images and start to build up a following.
8) Amazon Product Searches
At this stage your Amazon affiliate WordPress site should more or less be set up and now it’s a case of finding products to fill up your cyber shelves. This step is harder than it sounds and one that will take a bit of time. When looking for products I try find something that is highly rated with lots of positive customer reviews on Amazon. It’s also important to check the stock levels – if an item is sold out then you won’t be able to sell it as an affiliate. Another thing to keep an eye on is the supplier of the product. If it’s Amazon themselves for example then there is a much lower chance of an item being permanently sold out compared to a supplier like Fake Name Products Company for example. When choosing products it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the “products other people bought” as you can find some gems of items there. Amazon is also letting you know that those products actually sell and as an affiliate that’s what you in your site, products that actually sell.
Key Takeaways For Amazon Affiliate WordPress Sites
- Spend some time trying to find the right niche before rushing into an affiliate site and the more niche and specific the better.
- Don’t expect the affiliate site to make you a fortune overnight but be realistic (I think it’ll be Christmas 2015 before we start to see some nice profit from the site).
- For you Amazon affiliate WordPress site choose a niche that you can create a lot of content for so your site doesn’t just contain product pages.
Amazon Affiliate WordPress Sites – Wrap Up
I hope you’ve found this quick guide about how to start an Amazon affiliate WordPress site useful. If you’ve any questions about it please feel free to leave a comment below to ask. I’ll post an update about how the site does at a later stage and will probably do a detailed video about the Amazon affiliates plugin as it really is a beauty of a plugin. If you’d like me to develop an affiliate site for you then get in touch!
UPDATE: 18th December 2014
Check out my Amazon Affiliate WordPress Site Guide Follow Up Post now to see what I’ve learned since the experiment began!
Norbert
September 14, 2014 (2:07 pm)
Hi Robert,
This is a great guide for anyone that wants to create an amazon affiliate site.
Like you mentioned, niche selection is one of the most important steps. A good niche will bring you profit.
The quality and relevancy of your content is also crucial. And you also need to make it discoverable by using social media and seo.
The most important thing to understand is that it all takes time just like any other kind of business.
Robert Ryan
September 29, 2014 (3:10 pm)
Hi Norbert, glad you find the post about setting up an Amazon affiliate site useful.. And ye, niche selection is vital – too broad and you won’t get traffic, too focused and there may be no traffic to get.. Best of luck with it..
Julie
September 16, 2014 (4:26 am)
Robert,
Is it allowed to cloak the Amazon’s associate links in our sites? I mean, as long as our visitors can still see the url in the address bar, right? No? Enlighten me, please. Thanks!
Robert Ryan
September 29, 2014 (3:09 pm)
Hi Julie, as far as I am aware you have to be overt and make it known to visitors that you are an Amazon associate and as such you shouldn’t cloak your affiliate links.
julies
September 22, 2014 (2:48 pm)
Hey Robert,
I was a participant at Amazon associates program until they sent me an email saying they’re terminating my account. Woah! Your words of advice would be helpful. Thank you.
Robert Ryan
September 29, 2014 (3:07 pm)
Hi Julies, sorry to here your Amazon associates program has been terminated. Not much advice I can give really – they are tight lipped with giving really useful info about how to comply with the rules. If you query with them you might be able to find out what rule you’ve infringed upon and try rectify.. best of luck with it, Rob
Mark
October 17, 2014 (6:54 pm)
Hey Robert, great article for the amazon affiliate newbie like myself. Quick question related to your theme’s cart functionality. I really like how your site allows the user to add products to the cart, then “send” all products to amazon for purchase (as opposed to sending the user directly to amazon when the cart button is clicked for each product). How exactly does this functionality work? Is it part of the WooCommerce plugin or theme? Or is there specific code needed on the WordPress site? Thanks again!
Robert Ryan
October 20, 2014 (1:29 pm)
Hi Mark, ye, it’s part of the the plugin functionality that works in conjunction with WooCommerce to give the cart interface. I think it’s a pretty neat way to implement Amazon affiliates with WordPress as it gives a nicer shopping/browsing experience rather than people being redirected to Amazon straight away.. Hope that helps, Rob
aaliyah
March 28, 2015 (5:07 am)
I am thinking of buying the same which you are using. How is your experience so far, bugs and all..have they improved at all?
About the cart, does this plugin or theme have option of being redirected to Amazon also?
Robert Ryan
April 13, 2015 (3:36 pm)
Hi Aaliyah, thanks for reading and your comment. To be fair there have been a few updates to the plugin and theme which has improved it for Amazon affiliates. And yes, the car does redirect to Amazon. You can use the cart functionality so that customers add all products to cart but when they go to purchase they get redirected to Amazon.
Dave Nicosia
March 4, 2015 (5:02 am)
Hey there Robert, first time reader here. Great guide, I like how it is from the point of view of somebody new to building Amazon Sites. I’m looking forward to how this works out come Christmas of 2015! (I’m off to read part two now…)
Robert Ryan
April 13, 2015 (3:30 pm)
Thanks for reading Dave, always nice to get you first time readers here.. Ye, I figured an honest account of the process would be useful and prior that that site I had very limited experience with affiliates and what not..
Alan
April 11, 2015 (2:20 am)
Hi,
That was a great article. I am not using woo commerce. I have developed an amazon affiliate script. Can you suggest any method to driving traffic to my website.
Robert Ryan
April 13, 2015 (3:38 pm)
Hi Alan, thanks for reading and hope you found my Amazon affiliate guide for WordPress useful. As for getting traffic, it’s all about content, content and SEO. Check out some of my other articles about SEO and social media as they fit into the amazon affiliate puzzle and feel free to contact me then to discuss with any questions you have..
Dweepayan
August 22, 2016 (4:28 am)
Hey, Robert, incredible article for the amazon associate beginner like myself. The snappy inquiry identified with your topic’s truck usefulness. I truly like how your site permits the client to add items to the truck, then “send” all items to amazon for procurement (rather than sending the client specifically to amazon when the truck catch is clicked for every item). How precisely does this usefulness work? Is it a player in the WooCommerce module or subject? On the other hand is there a particular code required on the WordPress site? Much appreciated once more!
Robert Ryan
August 22, 2016 (11:04 am)
Hi Dweepayan, thanks for the comment. This functionality is native to the affiliate theme/plugin setup and no coding is required. And, I agree, it is a nice feature. Hope that helps..