Could you imagine a life where you made enough money to survive on without having to leave home? Sounds pretty awesome right? You get to play video games, knit or do whatever makes you happy while the internet pretty much takes care of all your needs. This is what affiliate marketing promises. In the past few years, more and more people have become invested in this online mint. This means that coming in this late you will have a lot of competition to deal with. However, if you have the right tools to start out you will be playing in the affiliate website big leagues in no time.
One of the most popular shopping websites for affiliates is Amazon. It has the highest conversion rates and some pretty decent commissions. However, there is a lot of competition in the many different niches available. Below are 12 foolproof tips that should help you gain an advantage and create a name for your website in this business.
1.Settle on a specific niche
This is one piece of advice that you will hear everywhere. Find your niche and you are good to go. On Amazon, you can pretty much find anything from food and farm equipment to electronics and child toys. The best way to make it as an affiliate business is choosing one of these fields and focusing your energy on it. In this case it is best to choose something that is both in demand and familiar to you. You don’t want to run a website about firearm accessories when you have absolutely no experience with them. Your readers will sense your inexperience from a mile away and leave you high and dry.
2. A good looking website translates into more conversions
Have you ever opened a page on the internet with a layout so incredibly bland that you felt like giving up on the internet forever and renewing your library card? Your reaction was probably not that dramatic but if you have come across such websites you know how discouraging they can be. It doesn’t matter how good the content is. If you do not focus your resources and energy on making your website attractive, there will be a lot of library card renewals if you know what I mean. You do not have to go all out on animation and graphics. Just have a neat layout and some color to prevent monotony. It is also important to have other forms of media including pictures and videos to capture your audience’s interest.
3. Make your content interesting and relevant
So you have chosen your niche and are pretty confident that you can be an actual authority in the field. The next thing is to determine what content you want to post on your site. It is important in this case to ensure that your posts are relevant to the niche and the client’s needs. It is also important to make it interesting. Remember that you are dealing with human beings and it will take more than an interesting title to get them interested enough to follow the links.
4. Link through images
This is a trade secret that not very many Amazon affiliate websites use. Linking to websites has been shown to has some pretty impressive conversion rates. Please remember that not everyone likes to read. Some people are sold by the pictures and will not need to go through the review to make up their mind. To make life easier for such clients, simply include links in the images and their labels to allow direct access to amazon.
5. With links, the more the merrier
When it comes to links in the content, the more you have the better for your website. It is not enough to have just one link through the title or something else mainstream like that. Think outside the box and have extra links littered throughout the content. It could be a link to Amazon reviews in the pros and cons section. It could be a link to the Amazon product description as you talk about the products features. Just make sure to exercise moderation. You don’t want your content to be a sea of links. Here is a great expert roundup about powerful link-building methods that you should definitely check out.
6. Focus on reviews to get customers interested
When setting up an Amazon affiliate website, it goes without saying that you can never go wrong with product reviews. With online shopping, clients want to know more about what they are about to buy from an outsider’s point of view. Posting reviews therefore helps you establish your website as a reliable authority in the specific niche you chose. This is exactly why you need to choose something that you are actually interested in.
7. Include product comparison in your content
Something else clients really appreciate is comparison reviews. In this case, a simple comparison grid featuring key specifications from the main competing products will do. It makes the reader’s job a whole lot easier when it comes to deciding on the products to buy.
8. Reach out to subscribers through email
This is the one of the most effective way to ensure that your readers keep coming back for more. Having them subscribe to an email list ensures that they are always kept in the loop. This is in terms of what you post and things like new products they might be interested in.
9. Capitalize on holiday offers, deals and discounts
Statistics have shown that sales on Amazon increase significantly during holidays including Christmas, Thanksgiving and others like Valentines as well as back-to-school seasons. As an affiliate website, it is important for you to take advantage of this increased demand for your own benefit. One way to do this is by including content relevant to these seasons. You can have articles on things like how to choose the perfect valentines gift. Or you could offer shopping tips for people over high traffic seasons like Black Friday. Such content is extremely seasonally relevant and will have your website flooded with traffic in no time. Just ensure to have links to different products on amazon to capitalize on this.
10. Sell more of the cheaper merchandise
People will always appreciate affordability. It is therefore important for you as you are figuring out how to make money with amazon affiliate websites to focus on cheap products. These tend to sell faster and in higher quantities. With time, it will improve your website’s rankings and open up opportunities for you to earn higher commissions from Amazon.
11. Rank the products on a regular basis
For some reason, readers really love lists. Maybe it is the thought of buying something that is considered the best in the world that makes them so excited. You can therefore never go wrong with such content while you learn how to make money on amazon affiliate sites. A really effective rank is that of best-selling products. Publish this on a regular basis and you will keep your readers very happy.
12. Openly market Amazon
As an affiliate website, your job is to make the website you are linking to look good. It is therefore always a great idea to ensure that you link to the site and market it as often as you can and as naturally as possible. Any kind of increased traffic to Amazon through you will earn you lots. You might have a site on phone reviews but earn money when a client buys a couch on Amazon after following your link. The point is to get them on the website whatever it takes.
Bottom line- Can you really make money with Amazon affiliate programs?
The answer is yes. If you follow the 12 tips highlighted above, you should be raking in that money in no time. In a nutshell, find out what you are good at, keep your reader’s interested and market amazon like your life depends on it. Do all this and you will be smiling all the way to the bank.