How To Create An Amazon Affiliate Store With WordPress

An Amazon affiliate store allows you to earn commissions by selling products from Amazon.com. It is probably one of the easiest ways of making money online with no risk and close to zero overhead. In this post, we’ll show you how to create an Amazon affiliate store with WordPress even if you are a newbie.

We will also share some infallible tips on how to earn well from your Amazon affiliate store.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

Content:

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the process of earning an income every time you promote a company’s product or service and generate a sale. It is a performance-based marketing strategy where you get paid only when you drive a sale. Therefore, no sale, no income.

There are primarily three (3) parties involved in this kind of arrangement. They are the affiliate, merchant, and customer. Below is a basic model showing how affiliate marketing works.

In some cases, a network stands as an intermediary between the affiliate and the merchant.

Now, you can find a plethora of affiliate platforms on the internet. The most popular ones include Amazon associates program, ShareASale, Rakuten Affiliate network, Commission Junction, etc.

As you know, our focus is on the Amazon Associates affiliates platform. To start earning through this platform, however, you need an Amazon affiliate store.

What is an Amazon Affiliate Store?

An Amazon affiliate store is a website where you promote products listed on Amazon.

As an affiliate store owner, your role is to drive traffic to Amazon.com through the affiliate links on your website. You earn when they purchase things on Amazon.

It is different from a traditional online store where you source products, receive orders, ship products to customers, and keep records.

Amazon affiliate stores are popular among affiliate marketers for the following reasons:

There are millions of products on Amazon. You can choose from any of them.
Getting started doesn’t cost a lot.
You don’t stock products, take inventory or ship products. Amazon handles all of that efficiently.
You get a commission even if your visitor orders for a different item.
It is reputable and reliable.

Now that you know what an Amazon affiliate store is and its benefits, let’s get into how to build one with WordPress.

Getting Started: How to Create an Amazon Affiliate Store in WordPress

Don’t let its name scare you, building an Amazon affiliate store in WordPress is easy, even if you have no technical background. Do these six (6) things and you are good to go:

Set up your WordPress site (if you don’t have one)
Install an eCommerce plugin like WooCommerce
Sign up for the Amazon affiliate program
Add Amazon affiliate products to your site
Customize your store with a WooCommerce-ready theme
Promote your store

We’ll explain each step in the following sections.

Step 1: Build a WordPress Site

First things first, you will need a domain name, web host, and an SSL certificate.

Domain name: This is your site’s unique address (such as goodamazonstuff.com). On average, a domain name costs between $10 -$15 per annum.
Web host: A hosting company provides all technologies and services required for your website to be visible online. You can get a WordPress hosting account with a reputable web host for as low as $2.95 per month (for a shared hosting account). For better speed and performance, you can opt for fully managed web hosting which may be up to $250 per month.
SSL certificate: This is a digital certificate that authenticates your websites and protects information shared on your website by your visitors. SSL certificate costs about $69.99 / year. Note that many web hosts will issue an SSL certificate to you for free when you sign up with them.

After purchasing these 3 items, set up WordPress. Again, many web hosts (like Bluehost, Dreamhost, Hostgator, etc.) come with WordPress one-click installs. This means you do not need to install WordPress manually. Just a few clicks and your WordPress site will be live.

If your web host does not come with this feature, you can use the famous five minutes WordPress install. You may also contact our team of WordPress experts to help out with this phase.

After installation, your WordPress dashboard should look like this:

Step 2: Install WooCommerce

The next thing to do is to install and activate the WooCommerce plugin. If you do not know how to do this, please read our detailed guide on how to install the WooCommerce plugin. Note that there are other eCommerce plugins available in the WP plugin repository. However, we have chosen WooCommerce because it is the world’s most popular open-source eCommerce solution.

Upon activation, WooCommerce launches the setup wizard. You’ll be prompted to enter your store details, currency, payment methods, location, etc.

Since you are creating an affiliate store, you don’t need to enter these details. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Skip setup store details to skip setup.

Now that you have installed the WooCommerce plugin, you need to join Amazon’s affiliate program. When you do, you will be able to start adding products to your site with your unique affiliate ID. The next step shows you how.

Step 3: Sign up for Amazon Affiliate Account

Go to the Amazon Affiliate program website and click Sign Up.

Next, you’ll be required to log in to your existing Amazon account using an email address and password. Since you do not have one yet, click Create your Amazon Account.

To create an account, you only need to enter your name, email, and password of at least 6 characters. Then click Create your Amazon account.

Next, you will be asked to solve a puzzle and verify your email address via an OTP sent to your email.

OTP is an acronym for One Time Password.

If you did not receive the OTP, do the following:

Confirm that you entered the correct email.
Check your spam folder or junk email folder.
Click Resend OTP.

After verifying your email, configure your newly created account by filling your details in the boxes provided.

Follow all on-screen instructions to complete your profile. Upon completion, you will get a success message like this:

Step 4: Add Amazon Products

WooCommerce allows you to add external affiliate products to your WordPress website. It provides a native user experience and integrates affiliate products into your website flawlessly.

To add a product from Amazon, go to Products >> Add New on your dashboard. Then, provide a title for your product and add a detailed description in the post editor.

Now scroll down to the ‘product data’ section. Select External/Affiliate Product in the ‘Product type’ dropdown menu.

Now enter the product affiliate URL. To get the URL, log in to your Amazon Associates account dashboard. Then search for the product. A list of products related to your search appears on your screen. Click the Get link button for your preferred item.

On the resulting page, click the Text Only tab. Then, under ‘Get HTML Code for This Product Link’, select Standard Link or Short Link. We selected the Short Link option.

Copy the URL and paste it into WordPress as your Product URL. Also, enter a ‘Button text’ for the product.

Side Note: Leave the ‘Regular price’ and ‘Sale price’ fields blank. According to Amazon’s affiliate program policy, you shouldn’t enter product prices manually. Users will check for prices on Amazon.com.

Below the product data, provide a brief description of the product. Consequently, this description will appear on the storefront page, product category pages, and in search engine results.

Next, click Set product image (by your right) to add a product image. This image will appear on the shop page. You may also add product gallery images. They appear when a customer opens the product page.

Finally, click the Publish button to publish the product on your website.

To add another product, go to Products >> Add New and repeat the process. You will, likewise, need to do this for each product.

Side note: There are other necessary plugins to install apart from WooCommerce. For more details, see our list of must-have plugins for every website.

Step 5: Customize Your WordPress Amazon Affiliate Store

The appearance of your store sometimes determines if a visitor will stay or leave your site. A well-arranged store with the right colors and font is what you need. To achieve this, use one of our best WooCommerce themes. The themes control how your website looks and feels.

Also, you can power up your store with some WooCommerce add-ons and plugins for WordPress. They help to add extra features to your Amazon affiliate store. See some of the plugins you can use on your website:

EasyAzon: Every amazon product on your website needs a link. But going back and forth copying links from your affiliate dashboard takes time. This is where EasyAzon comes in. It helps to add Amazon affiliate links to your pages and posts without leaving the WP admin. It also allows readers to add products to their cart automatically.

Pretty Links: This is a simple plugin that helps you beautify, track, shrink, and manage amazon links on your WordPress website. It also enables you to see which links are getting the most clicks and which ones are underperforming.

WooCommerce Amazon Affiliates (WZone): This plugin helps you to connect your WooCommerce-based store with Amazon. Upon activation, you can automatically sync Amazon products as WooCommerce products. So, when a visitor adds an item to their cart, they’ll be directed to Amazon to checkout.

You can also create a true dropshipping arrangement with this plugin. In this case, a shopper can actually buy products from your site. Then, you place an order on Amazon for that product. Although this arrangement requires some work on your part, it gives you control over your profits.

Step 6: Grow Your WordPress Amazon Affiliate Store

Now that your store is fully set up, the next thing is to grow your business. Here are a couple of things to do to grow your store:

Optimize your affiliate store for search engines. Learn how to do this with our complete guide on WooCommerce SEO.
Track your site’s traffic with Google Analytics. With this tool, you can identify products that are doing well and those that aren’t doing well. See our step-by-step guide on how to add Google Analytics to your website.
Build a community of loyal readers through email marketing. Send valuable content to your subscribers. Direct them to click on other valuable content and from there encourage them to purchase products on your site.
Use social media. Your potential customers are most likely on social media. Write reviews and promote your store on your social media networks. You can also place the products in front of more people by taking advantage of paid ads.

Above all, add quality content, best-selling products, and helpful reviews to your website.

Receiving Payment From the Amazon Affiliates Program

As an Amazon affiliate partner, you won’t get paid until you have made sales worth at least $10. If you prefer to receive payment via direct bank deposit, Amazon gift card, or by check, you must have made at least $100 plus $15 for processing. If you do not reach the minimum threshold in a month, your balance will be added to the sales you make the following month. Also, note that Amazon pays their affiliates after 60 days. So, the commission for January will be paid in late March.

Side note: Before receiving payment, you must submit your tax information.

WordPress Amazon Affiliate Store: Bonus Tips

These tips can further help you in your quest to run a profitable amazon affiliate store.

Go For a Profitable Niche

Some niches are more profitable than others. If you have found a niche, put it to the test and make sure it’s going to work.

Perform online research to know if there are plenty of products to review. Also, see if the affiliate commissions you’ll get are worth the effort you will put in.

Diversify Your Income

Consider promoting products from other affiliate websites. You can also sell your own eCommerce products. It will help you earn more from your online store.

Disclose Your Affiliate Partnership

Amazon’s program policies require you to state that you will earn a commission when visitors buy a product.

Outsource The Technical Aspects To Experts

If you do not maintain your store, you will lose your visitors. To clarify, maintaining your store involves resolving errors, performing WP core updates and theme & plugin updates, uptime monitoring, security scans, etc. In short, it’s a lot of work.

It makes more sense to allow an expert to handle all technicalities while you focus on growing your store. This will help you stay productive. Fixrunner offers all-round WordPress support and maintenance. You’ll get premium support for your eCommerce store, speed optimization, on-page SEO optimization, and every other thing you need to keep your store in ship shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions frequently asked by users.

Can I earn from the Amazon affiliate store without building a store?

Yes, you can. If you own a WordPress blog, you can add affiliate links to your posts. If that is the case for you, you can skip all WooCommerce-related steps.

Since I am promoting Amazon products, can I copy content directly from Amazon for my product pages?

Not at all. Based on Amazon’s policy, you shouldn’t copy content directly from Amazon.com.

You can add your own reviews, product descriptions, and copy images from the manufacturer’s website.

Can anyone join the Amazon Affiliate program?

Yes, anyone can join the Amazon Affiliates program regardless of their location.

Conclusion – Amazon Affiliate Store in WordPress

Need we say more? Amazon Affiliate Program is one of the oldest and most sought-after affiliate marketing platforms in the world. If you are looking for a way to earn passive income online, start by creating an affiliate store using WordPress.

Amazon affiliate marketing isn’t a piece of cake, we know. But then, guys like Spencer Haws of Niche pursuits, Doug Cunnington of nichesiteproject.com, and several others have made a living through this means.

For other ways of making money on your site, read our guide on how to monetize your blog.