Amazon Associates Affiliate Program – Experiment Intro
The internet is filled with articles and videos that make it sound easy to earn big with the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program. Unfortunately, many of these are clickbait. The true goal is to collect your email address, sell you a “course”, or simply have you watch their video so they can earn ad revenue.
In 2020 I will run a series of experiments where I try the Amazon Associates affiliate program on a variety of websites and report back my real results.
Amazon Associate Requirements
Before you sign up for Amazon Associates, I urge you to read their documentation. Make sure your website is ready with appropriate content and traffic. Be sure to properly disclose that you are an affiliate and know what will count as a qualifying sale.
Timeline Summary
December 2019 – Determination has set in! December is the month that I will:
- Research Amazon Associate options. (Most of my websites are WordPress. Do I want to use a plugin to make this easier?)
- Decide which websites I want to try what options on.
- Sign up for the Amazon Associates Affiliate Program
- Make sure my websites are ready to meet program requirements.
- Come up with a plan to keep my websites alive with fresh content.
January 2020 – I actually started putting Amazon Associates links on a few pages late December. But this is the month I officially want to start my Amazon Associates experiment!
March 2020 – I had a plan. It was a good plan that started strong! But life happened and I got busy with other things. Luckily, some of those other things have led to purchases I want to review. Time to dive back in!
May 2020 – This month started with stress! My grandmother was in the hospital. I could not visit because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring Break never ended. My daughter had to graduate without telling her friends and teachers goodbye. And my Amazon Associates account was in danger of being closed if I didn’t generate three qualifying purchases before mid-June.
… Then it happened. My first qualifying referral! Then another, then another! I met the requirements for Amazon to review my site and officially approve my Amazon Associate application!
July 2020 – FIRST PAYMENT! Amazon Associates is for real! I knew they would be. But it feels good to see that first direct deposit of $12.47 sitting in my bank account. 🙂
Amazon Associate Experiments
- Experiement Intro – Summary of my experiment and overall timeline.
- Experiment 0 – The Amazon Associates aStore (Discontinued) My 2008 Amazon Associates experience. aStores were discontinued in 2017.
- Experiment 1 – Links and Banners Embedded Amazon generated links and banners, embedded in my articles. Can open the Amazon App for an easy mobile shopping experience.
- Experiment 2 – Native ads and links on product pages. Amazon generated links and banners, embedded on my WooCommerce product pages. (I offer a product on my website, also show a link for a similar Amazon item.)
- Experiment 3 – WooZone plugin for WooCommerce using On-Site cart. This option looks like I am selling items from my own website. But when visitors try to check out, they are directed to an Amazon page that can auto-fill their cart. Downside: The Amazon page is not mobile-friendly.
- Experiment 4 – WooZone Plugin for WooCommerce NOT using on-site cart. This option can look like I am selling items from my own website. But instead of adding an item to the cart, you will be taken to the product information page on Amazon.
