If you want to make money with Amazon Associates or any other product-based affiliate-marketing program, you’re going to have to know how to write effective reviews.
And when I saw effective, I say reviews that will make YOU money without screwing over your audience.
So, without further delay, I’ll give you all the rules you need for writing money-making reviews:
Rule #1 – Do Not Screw Over Your Audience
I am VERY adamant about this. Treat your readers well and they’ll keep coming back. Don’t take a one-and-done attitude when it comes to making money online.
This means you do not recommend stuff you don’t like, stuff you dont know about, and stuff you’ve never used.
Rule #2 – You Must Tell People Why Amazon Rocks!
If you’re going to push products through Amazon, then tell people why you’re doing it.
Tell them how much money they’ll save by ordering online instead of versus going to Best Buy, about Amazon’s friendly return policies, and about your own positive experiences in dealing with Amazon (if you’ve had them, of course!)
Rule #3 – All Reviews Must Be Written in Plain English With Proper Grammar
Unless you are dealing with very expensive products catering to serious enthusiasts (an example would be high-end stereo equipment), resist the urge to use big words and complicate your writing. The average person is 1000% turned off by jargon.
And if you can’t properly use commas and dashes, why should ANYONE listen to what you have to say about a product? If you can’t write properly, you’ll have ZERO credibility with your readers, and that means ZERO sales.
If you feel like you have ANY holes in your writing, buy these books right now:
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Painless Grammar by Rebecca Elliott
These two books will run you about $14 altogether and will pay for themselves in no time at all.
Rule #4 – Focus on the Basics
Your reviews serve one purpose – to get the reader to buy something.
So keep it simple, and make sure your reviews ALWAYS answer the following questions:
What does the product do?
Why is it unique?
What is good about it?
What is bad about it?
Is there a better competing product on the market?
If not, why is this one the best?
Who is it good for? (Moms, teens, business travelers, gamers, etc.)
Who is it not good for?
Rule #4 – Forget About SEO
If your reviews answer all the questions in Rule #4, and are written well as outlined in Rule #3, then you won’t have to worry about SEO.
Good-quality reviews 1) attract inbound links and 2) are well-liked by Google and other search engines.
Focus on creating good, original content, and let Google worry about the rest. This mentality will pay off long-term because you will build a quality site/blog and not end up in the doghouse because Google views you as a useless affiliate-link farm.
Rule #5 – New Products Rule, But Popular New Products Don’t
It is typically better to focus on newer products, particularly when it comes to consumer electronics, which have a short-shelf life.
Keep in mind, however, that there will always be enormous competition for reviews of hot products like the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle – so it’s not going to be easy to stand out when you’re competing with TechCrunch and Engadget.
So focus on new products that aren’t necessarily the market leaders. Trust me, you’ll have an easier time ranking high in Google for Sony’s e-reader than the Kindle.
Once you have multiple reviews that are ranking high in Google, then move on to the bigger-name products.
Rule #6 – Don’t Recycle Content That is Readily Available Everywhere Else
Don’t focus on manufacturers’ specs and information. Just put basic product information at the top of your review, and if you really want to, put the full listings at the very end of your review.
The majority of your review MUST be original content. I can’t stress that enough. If you write the same stuff as everyone else, you’ll just be pushed to the back of the line with the crowd.
Rule #7 – Spend Money to Make Money
As your site grows in readership, it will become easier and easier to get product samples to review.
But until then, don’t be afraid to put your own money down to buy a product to review, especially for lower-priced products like books that can pay for themselves quickly.
It especially pays to buy books that will enhance your knowledge of your niche, because you’ll come away with plenty of ideas for new content!
A $40 book I purchased last year has since generated over $120 in revenue for me and over $15 in February alone. I also used what I learned in that book to build my knowledge base to create other pieces of content for my readers (which builds SEO juice with Google).
So if you’re eyeballing a product for review, just buy it, especially if you think you’d want it anyway! If your review does well, you’ll get paid to use something.
And don’t forget, you can always turn around and sell whatever it is you bought to recoup some of the cost.
Rule #8 – Don’t Overlink
Put affiliate links in the beginning of your reviews, and at the end. There’s no need to go crazy with links, because you want people to stay on your page as long as possible before clicking over to Amazon.
This sounds counterintuitive, but selling a reader on a product takes time, especially if it’s expensive. Take the time to spell out why they should buy a product, and THEN send them to Amazon.
Rule #9 – Use Multiple Tracking ID’s to Test
Amazon lets you use multiple Tracking ID’s, so take advantage and use them to test out your marketing tactics.
You can use multiple tracking ID’s to measure almost anything – how individual reviews are performing, how different links work (link at beginning of review vs end), and of course, how well each of your sites are doing.
This is very important. Everyone’s path to profit is different, so you have to test to figure out exactly what works for you.
Rule # 10 – Use Plain Old Boring Text Links
My experience tells me that plain old boring text links convert best with Amazon Associates. Forget the image link boxes and all that.
Above all, do not waste valuable space on your site/blog with image link boxes – keep all links in your text where they belong.
Conclusion
I can’t say this enough times – if you create high-quality, original content for a target audience, then you will make money. It really is that simple.
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