In my previous post I have given you a complete overview of all link types that Amazon Associates affiliate program provides that you can use to link to Amazon. As I have discussed, these links are broken up into two groups as follows:
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Page Content links
- Product Links
- Text Links
- aStore
Advertising Slot links
- Recommended Product Links
- Omakase Links
- Easy Links
- Search Boxes
In this post I will give you some more details about the Page Content links (specifically, Product Links) and in my upcoming post I will give you more details about the remaining Page Content Links and the Advertising Slot links.
Page Content links are the most successful link types in the Amazon Associates program, offering affiliates ways to link directly to the desired products in the Amazon catalog. Because of this ability to pick products, you are able to specifically match the content of your site to some number of products in the Amazon catalog.
As an example of this, if your site is about new cell phone gadgets, you may want to link to some products in the Amazon catalog like the Treo 700 or the Blackberry 8700g:
If your site is about affiliate marketing (such as this one), you may want to offer your viewers a web store with books about affiliate marketing.
The nice benefit here is that while you make suggestions about the products, they are not viewed as simple advertising by your readers. Instead, these suggestions are viewed as your editorial perspective on what your readers should be reading or using (or buying). This type of a suggestion carries with it a significantly higher call to action than a simple ad for a product. As a result, you will see a significantly higher level of conversion for your products. Best yet, because these links live in the main content portion of your page, you can still have your existing advertising links, bringing you additional income.
One note of caution when you use content links. Because your readers view such links are your editorial opinion, be sure that you have explored these suggestions yourself. Nothing will ruin your credibility faster than suggesting products that people try and find worthless. Amazon makes this process very easy with product reviews, so you can be sure to not suggest any products that a large number of existing customers find unacceptable.
Let's take a look at each link type individually.
Product Links
Product link allows you to like to a single product in the Amazon catalog. You have two ways of creating the HTML code you will need to put on your site:
| 1. | By typing in the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN). |
| You can find this number on any Amazon product detail page under "Product Details" section, ASIN line. If you see a product you want to purchase, copy this number (or write it down). Once you are in the "Build Links" section of Amazon Associates Central, simply copy this number in the "keyword or ASIN/ISBN" field. | |
| 2. | If you are looking to link to a book and you know the book's ISBN number, you may type it in here as well. |
| 3. | Select a keyword to search Amazon's catalog. |
| Tip: You should select a product line before you search for a keyword. Amazon's product search is not very smart (reminds me of pre-Google web search engines) and you need to give it a lot of help before it will find you the product you are looking for. Try typing in "Treo" before you select the product line and you will get quite a large number of carrying cases before you get the actual Treo. |
Once you've selected the product, you have an option to generate a link that has:
| or |   |
or | Affiliate Selling: Building Revenue on the Web |
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| Text and Image | Image Only | Text Only |
Tip: If you choose to use Image Only or Text Only links, I strongly suggest you include the code at the bottom of the page that enables Product Previews that was launched by Amazon Associates recently. At this time, Amazon does not offer Product Previews for the Text and Image Link type and I hope they add Product Previews for this link type soon. For more information on Product Previews, refer to my previous post titled Amazon.com Associates Team Launches Product Previews.
In my next post, I will review Text Links and the Amazon aStore; I will then review Advertising Slot Links.
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