Amazon mightn’t be the only game in town when it comes to affiliate marketing but there’s no denying that it’s the most popular. Thanks to its simplicity, it also happens to be where most affiliate marketers make their first few dollars online.
I’ve been a proud Amazon affiliate for many years now and my only gripe with the program is the rate of commission, it’s not exactly generous. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s therefore very easy to find yourself working for peanuts.
Should you find yourself earning less than you’d like with Amazon, here are eight simple tips for changing that fact.
Choose the Right Products
The biggest mistake that I see people making when it comes to low Amazon earnings is simply targeting the wrong products. Fail at product selection and you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle from day one.
Just because you can rank for something, that doesn’t mean that you should be promoting it. Avoid products that cost less than a $100, your cut of the profits simply isn’t worth the work. And secondly, stick to products with positive reviews. Quite simply, they sell better.
Include as Many Links as Possible
Every Amazon link that you add to your website has the potential to boost your income. There’s therefore no reason whatsoever to be limiting yourself to product widgets. You should be adding links everywhere.
The most trusted part of any webpage is its body of text. You should therefore be adding approximately one link for every two paragraphs of text on your site. And every time you add a product image, that image should be linking directly to that products Amazon page.
Write In Depth Reviews
In depth reviews are well known for being some of the highest converting pages on Amazon niche sites. They’re not easy to write but in terms of the reward that they offer, they are well worth your time.
Aim to write reviews that are both informational and positive. The information will attract interest and the positive nature of the review will attract the sale.
Write Bestseller Lists
After in depth reviews, best seller lists tend to lead to the most conversions. They are easy to create, offer genuine value to the reader and typically include no less than ten different products to tempt your readers towards Amazon.
For best results, use Google’s keyword tool to determine the kind of bestseller list that people are most searching for. You might be surprised by how many times people search for “bestselling X 2013”.
Collect Subscribers
Don’t underestimate the power of list building when it comes to promoting physical products. Unlike internet marketing websites, subscription options are noticeably absent on most Amazon niche websites and this leads to visitors being far more open to signing up.
Use this fact to your advantage by including subscription options on all of your sites. Consider offering a small informational product in return. There are few things more valuable to an affiliate marketer than a well built list of potential customers.
Double Down at Christmas
One of my favourite things about being an Amazon affiliate is watching my sales increase every November. To really maximise your holiday season profits however, it’s important not to leave your sites on autopilot.
Everyone likes passive income but if you’re not working hard in Autumn, you’re missing out on some serious money. Add content that specifically addresses the holiday season and let your subscribers know all about the seasons hottest products.
Boost Your Commission with Low Value Products
As you are likely aware, the more products you sell on Amazon, the better your rate of commission. If you’re not yet at a rate of 6.5% (>31 products per month), you should work on changing this immediately.
The easiest way to boost your sales numbers is to target low value products that cost less than twenty dollars. The profit might be pitiful but unlike expensive products, they tend to fly off the shelves.
And for each sale you make, you’ll be one step closer to the next commission bracket.
Track Your Performance
Finally, there’s the small matter of tracking codes, it’s vital that you know where your sales are coming from. If you don’t know what’s working and what’s not, how can you react accordingly?
At the very minimum, you should be using a different tracking code for each website you own. You can add up to a hundred different tracking codes to your Amazon account here:
http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/add-tracking-ids.html
