How to Become an Affiliate Marketer: Your Step-By-Step Guide

Earning money through your blog might sound like a dream, but it’s a lot easier than you might think. In a few simple steps, you can apply to join the Amazon Associates program and you can start earning a passive income in no time at all! 

Launched in 1996, Amazon Associates is one of the world’s first affiliate marketing programs. Now that Amazon is one of the biggest online retailers in the UK and globally, joining this platform as an affiliate marketer makes more sense than ever before. 

But what exactly does it mean to be an affiliate? It’s actually quite simple. An affiliate program is a partnership between a company and a content creator, which allows them to monetise their blog or site by using easy-to-create affiliate links.

For example, when a visitor to your site or blog clicks on a link and is directed to Amazon.co.uk, you receive a commission for every successful sale.

What Do I Need to Know Before Joining the Amazon Affiliate Program?

Before you apply to become an affiliate, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Partnering with a huge platform like Amazon can be a huge boost to your blog, so it is important you have the right foundation before you start.

1. Application Review Process

Amazon looks for affiliates who offer value to potential Amazon customers, i.e. people who can offer in-depth advice or even some level of expertise on a range of products. A great example is a beauty blogger.

By creating content around the topic of beauty, viewers can literally see how products perform and are more likely to trust your recommendations. All you need is an audience and a love for sharing your favourite finds!

2. Websites

Additionally, Amazon will check all of the sites you would like to monetize, just to make sure that they meet certain content standards. For example, having an established pool of content such as blog posts gives Amazon a good idea of what you’re all about.

They want to see how your content will represent their products in the future. Content on your website must be recent (generally within the last 60 days), and it is important that you own the website too!

3. Social Networks

At the moment, social network platforms are restricted to the major players, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.tv. If you are applying via a social network profile, Amazon tends to favour pages with an established following of at least 500 people. Also, it almost goes without saying, but a public profile is a must.

How Do I Become an Affiliate Marketer with Amazon ?

It’s surprisingly simple to sign up to the Amazon Associates program, in fact, you can use your existing Amazon login, and your Amazon account information will be linked to your new Associates program account.

This is not only a time-saver, but it’s also handy because you can go back through your shopping history to quickly find products you would like to recommend.

Step 1 Of 4

First, go to the homepage of the Amazon Associates program and in the upper area, click on the button labelled ‘Join Now For Free’.

Next up, you can choose to enter the email address of your existing Amazon account and the corresponding password, or you join as a new customer by clicking on the ‘Create your Amazon account’ button.

If you’re going for option two, you’ll reach the ‘Create Account’ view for new customers. Here, you enter your name, a valid e-mail address and a password of at least six characters, which you then confirm again.

Follow the instructions and specify the Payee Name (for later payment of Commission Income), as well as your complete address and phone number. 

As the very last step of this process, you’ll be asked if, as the Payee, you’re subject to the United States legislation. This is important and, if you’re unsure, check!

Then click on ‘Next’. Another overview appears, telling you that the registration process refers solely to the UK Associates program and that you have to apply separately to participate in the Amazon affiliate programs of other countries.

You must also tick who the contact person for this account is, and again, if you are subject to the United States tax code. Then click on ‘Next’.

Step 2 Of 4

You’ve reached Step 2. In the ‘Enter Your Website(s)’ field, fill in the URL of the website or sites that you’d like to monetise using the Amazon UK Associates program. Then click on ‘Add’, and your URL will appear in the box below. Do the same in the field to the right of the screen for applications such as mobile apps.

Then click on ‘Next’.

Step 3 Of 4

In Step 3, you create your website profile. First, you enter your preferred Associates ID, which also represents your first Tracking ID. These are embedded in Associate links on your website to enable the smooth allocation of any Commission Income you earn.

In the two fields underneath, you’ll see the URLs of your previously registered websites.

After entering this information, you’ll reach the ‘Traffic & Monetization’ page. Here, you explain how visitors usually arrive at your website and add information about the current traffic to your site and how you monetise it.

Finally, you confirm the displayed CAPTCHA characters and agree to the conditions of participation; you should read these carefully in advance. Then click on ‘Finish’.

Step 4 Of 4

You’ve now successfully applied to participate in the Amazon.co.uk Associates program. Next, an Amazon Associates team member will review your registration form and assess the suitability of your website.

Usually, you’ll receive feedback within 12 to 24 hours about whether your website has been accepted, but you’ll already have access to all the functionality of the Amazon Associates website.

In addition, you can sign up for another Amazon EU affiliate program without having to re-enter all your details.

Enter Your Payment Information

You can enter your payment information by clicking on ‘Now’. In the following view, you decide whether you want to receive payouts as Amazon Gift Certificates or by direct deposit.

When you put a check mark for ‘Pay me by direct deposit’, a new window opens. Enter your bank details, and click on ‘Submit’.

What Happens Once You’re Approved?

After your application to the Amazon Associates program has been approved, there are two major documents you’ll need to read through before you really get going.

The Operating Agreement

While it might be tempting to skip the fine print, it is important to read the EU Associates Program Operating Agreement. Here you’ll find the answers to pretty much any questions you might have about being an Amazon Affiliate.

While the differences in commissions might make you think it’s better to build a blog around one of the higher earning topics, this can be misleading. The best way of guaranteeing a passive income is by creating content around a topic where you have a strong interest.

Your readers or audience will be able to easily identify your passion and consequently take your recommendations much more seriously.
When you are approved, you will get an Affiliate ID and it will look something like abcde-21. The 21 is the UK element of the code and shows you’re an affiliate based in the UK.

What Else Do I Need to Know About the Amazon Affiliate Program?

One of the many benefits of working with Amazon as an affiliate marketer is the number of tools at your disposal. If you thought Amazon was intuitive as an online shopping platform, then you’ll be happy to know it’s just as easy to use as an affiliate marketer.

1. Tracking IDs

As an Amazon partner, you can use Tracking IDs to analyse the performance of your website and its various subpages. You can create up to 100 Tracking IDs; and if you have multiple websites participating in the Amazon Associates program, you can add new Tracking IDs to different elements of them to help you distinguish between advertising reimbursements more easily, or to help you take a variety of different measures to test the earning potential of your pages.

All Commission Income generated by your different Tracking IDs are summarised under your Associates ID. It’s vital that each of your affiliate links contain your unique Tracking ID. While the links are automatically generated, it’s always a good idea to manually double check each link to make sure it links to the right product and includes your unique ID.

This ensures that Amazon can link each relevant click and sale to your account – and pay you the commission you deserve!

2. Amazon’s Advertising Tools

Within the Amazon Associates program, you have a huge range of pre-designed advertising tools at your disposal. There’s no need to be a web designer, you can easily embed text links, image links, and banners.

The various advertising tools can be selected from within the Amazon Associates site, and can be embedded directly into the backend of your site. You can also find them via the SiteStripe app and apply them directly from the Amazon shop page.

3. SiteStripe

SiteStripe is an application, similar to a toolbar, which you will see on the Amazon.co.uk shop page in the upper left area as soon as you visit the shop page as a participant of the Amazon Associates program. With SiteStripe, you can save time by instantly creating Affiliate links directly on the Amazon.co.uk shop page, without having to visit the Amazon Associates website.

The SiteStripe tool also enables you to quickly and easily create an Affiliate link to each Amazon.co.uk store page in just a few moments, and even share it on Facebook or Twitter at the same time.

To use Site Stripe, you simply navigate to any product page on the Amazon Shop, and click on the button for a Text, Image, or Text + Image link. Even a ‘short link’ can be created as a text link with just a few clicks.

Now that you have read through those important documents and have a good idea of how the program works, you can start adding Amazon Affiliate links to your website.

Got Your Amazon Affiliate Login and Ready to Start? 

Now that you have followed our step-by-step process and made your application, it’s time to find out even more about your future as an Amazon affiliate. 
Want to know more about Amazon’s handy helpers like SiteStripe or advertising support? What about how you can boost your affiliate blog with plug-ins? Explore our guides and find all the answers you need to get your affiliate marketing career underway!