The Best Guide To Create Amazon Associates Account

“Amazon Associates”, Amazon’s Affiliate Program, is an easy way of monetizing your website and/or blog. To get started, open Amazon, sign up and you will be instantly approved as an Associate! Then, you can place your affiliate links on your website, and when your website visitors purchase from your link, you will make commissions – easy-peasy!

But, how do you sign up? What are the steps of registering as an Associate?

In this post, I will share a step-wise guide to becoming an Amazon Associate, and to make your lives easier, I will place screenshots so you know what you need to fill and do at each step.

Whether you are a beginner looking to make a side income or an entrepreneur looking to scale your business, this guide is the best place to get the ball rolling!

What is Amazon Associates?

• To reiterate, Amazon Associates is an Affiliate Marketing platform that lets website owners and content creators register for Amazon’s Affiliate Program, create their unique links, and when people buy through their unique links, they make a commission or earn a referral.
• The Amazon Associates program does not charge anything to create an account which means that you can sign up on the Amazon Associates program for absolutely free!
• Now, if you want to know what Affiliate Marketing is and how Affiliate Marketers make commissions, you may watch my video by clicking the below link.

How Did The Amazon Associates Program Begin?

• Amazon’s popular affiliate program, Amazon Associates, was born in July 1996. It was the first affiliate program that was available to the public.
• Affiliates could place the banners or text links on their websites and visitors could go to the product page or Amazon’s home page, if they clicked the link. Secondly, if the visitors ended up purchasing the product, the affiliate from whose link the purchase was made, received a commission.
• In 1997, Amazon applied for a patent on components of an affiliate program. It was granted the patent after 3 years, in 2000.
• Initially, the Amazon Associates program covered only books. Now, it covers a myriad of products.
• It would be wise to thank Affiliate Marketers for the enormous success of Amazon. The second reason – and the main reason in my opinion – why Amazon became a giant is people place trust in them.
• Fast forward to today, according to W3 Techs, “There are over 1,00,000 sites currently using the Amazon Associates Program.”
• So, this millennial has now become a giant in the E-commerce space! (Tears of joy)

Steps To Create The Amazon Associates Account

Step 1: Open Amazon

If you are ready, please open your browser and follow the below steps to create your Amazon Associates account.

Please note that the steps remain the same regardless of your location, alright? So, even if you are from the Philippines, you can follow along. If you are from outside of India, you can click the appropriate link from the below list, and get started right away.

Country	Amazon Link
India	https://www.amazon.in/
The USA	https://www.amazon.com/
Canada	https://www.amazon.ca/
Mexico	https://www.amazon.com.mx/
Brazil	https://www.amazon.com.br/
The UK	https://www.amazon.co.uk/
Germany	https://www.amazon.de/
France	https://www.amazon.fr/
Italy	https://www.amazon.it/
Spain	https://www.amazon.es/
China	https://www.amazon.cn/
Japan	https://www.amazon.co.jp/
Australia	https://www.amazon.com.au/
The Netherlands	https://www.amazon.nl/

If you are in India, type https://www.amazon.in/ in the search bar and hit enter or press the search icon.

Step 2: The Signing Up Page

Now, once you reach the landing page, scroll down right to the bottom.

You will see the section “Make Money with Us.”

There are several  ways by which you can earn from Amazon, but, since we want to sign up for the Amazon Associates program, please click “Become an Affiliate.”

Now, when the next page loads, click the “Sign Up” button that you see at the center of the “Recommend Products. Earn Advertising Fees.” banner.

Step 3: Log In To Amazon

If you already have an account on Amazon, you can log in by entering your details. However, if you do not have an account, create your account first by clicking “Create your Amazon Account” and then follow the next steps.

Step 4: Account Information

Step 4.1: Personal Information

OK! Since I already have an account, “To whom should we issue payments?” is filled. If you create a new account, this field will be empty and you will have to enter the following:

• Name
• Address
• City
• State
• Postal Code
• Country
• Mobile number of the person who will receive payments

Step 4.2: Contact For The Account

After entering the personal details, you will be asked “Who is the main contact for this account?”

If the person whose details you entered above shall be contacted, select “The payee listed above”.

Or, if the person who should be contacted is not the one whose details you entered above, then select “Someone else – I need to enter their information.” If you select the second option, you will be asked for their name and phone number.

If you want to be contacted by Amazon, please select the first option.

Step 4.3: Tax Details

The third step on this page is to tell Amazon about taxes as per the US regulations. If are a US citizen, select “Yes”, otherwise select “No”.

I am from India, so I will select “No” and click “Next”

So, you have completed the first page of the Amazon Associates program and, on the second page, you will be asked for the website links and/or the mobile app URL.

Step 5: Website And Mobile App List

Please note that the website need not be your website only. You can enter your YouTube channel link, as well.

After pasting the links of your website and/or YouTube channel, click ‘Add’. You can enter up to 50 links or app URLs, OK?

Now, click “Next”.

Step 6.1: Profile

You are now on page 3 of the signup process, and on this page, you will have to enter details about your app or website, OK?

Step 6.1.1: Enter Your Associates’ ID

The first field that you see “What is your preferred Associates Store ID?” is like your unique username.

You can enter only alphanumeric data, i.e., only alphabets and numbers, but make sure you do not forget it. Please note that the store ID that you enter may or may not be available in which case, you will be assigned a similar store ID to the one you entered, OK?

Steps 6.1.2 & 6.1.3: Your Website List & Your Mobile App List

Your website list and the mobile app list fields will be filled automatically based on what you entered on the previous page.

Step 6.1.4: Describe your website and/or app

The fourth field “What are your websites or mobile apps about?” needs you to describe what type of content you post and how you plan to promote the Amazon Associate links.

If you are not sure what to type in this field, ask yourself these questions:

1. When you get your Associates link, what type of content will you create – will it be a blog post, a video, or a webinar?
2. How will you promote it to your audience? Will you share YouTube links with your audience? Will you send them emails? Will you share on social media?

Step 6.1.5: Select categories that describe your website/app

Now, let’s move to the next question, “Which of the following topics best describes your websites or mobile apps?”

Select the option which resonates with the topic of your website. For example, my topic is Marketing, which is not listed, so I selected “Other” as the primary topic.

And “other” as the secondary topic.

Step 6.1.6: What type of items do you intend to promote?

Next, “What type of Amazon items do you intend to list on your websites or apps?”

Select/check the items that you will promote on your website/app, alright?

I will promote books, and maybe ‘computers and office’. You can select as many options as you want, but I recommend you to select the ones you intend to promote.

Step 6.1.7: Specify the type of your website/app

Next, “What type are your websites or mobile apps?” My website is a content website so, I will select “Content Website.”

The secondary type will be “Other”.

Step 6.2: Traffic & Monetization

Now, we come to the “Traffic & Monetization” section.

Step 6.2.1: How do you drive traffic to your website/app?

The first question in this section is “How do you drive traffic to your website or websites?”

I run paid ads, email marketing, display advertising, social networks, SEO, blogs, and lead generation.

I also conduct webinars, so I will select “Other” as well.

Step 6.2.2: How do you generate income?

The second question is, “How do you utilize your websites and apps to generate income?”

The primary option is “Display Advertising.”

And the ‘secondary’ option will be “Other”.

Please note that my answers will be different than mine. So, please select the options accordingly.

Step 6.2.3: How do you build links?

The third question is, “How do you usually build links?”

I can select Blog Editor since I use WordPress, but I use YouTube as well, so I will select “Other”.

Step 6.2.4: How many visitors do you get every month?

The next question is “How many total unique visitors do your websites and apps get per month?”

I get around 1,200 unique visitors, so I will select “From 501 to 5,000.”

Step 6.2.5: Reason for joining the Amazon Associates program

“Whats is your primary reason for joining the Amazon Associates program?”

Obviously to monetize my site. So I will select the 2nd option.

Step 6.2.6: How did you hear about the Amazon Associates program?

The last question is “How did you hear about us?”

I first heard it on a YouTube video, so I will select “Online Search.”

Step 6.2.7: Enter captcha

Now, enter the captcha.

Step 6.2.8: Agree to the contract’s terms

And, agree to the contract terms.

I hope the steps are clear until now.

Step 7: Account Creation Successful!

And, congratulations! Your Amazon Associates account has been created with the store ID you entered in step 6.1.1.

Additionally, you will have to fill up a form to enter your payment and tax information. The form will ask you for your credit card or debit card information.

So, that was the process of creating an Amazon Associates account.

Amazon Associates’ Guidelines

Now, I would like to share a few guidelines with you about the associates’ program.

1. The first guideline is that you must generate at least 1 sale in the first 180 days of opening your Amazon Associates account. If you could not generate 1 sale in 180 days, your account will be terminated. Yes, I have been there!
2. The second guideline is to not use link shorteners. If you use Bitly or ClickMagick to shorten your links, Amazon will identify it and your account will be terminated.
3. Also, do not share links with your family, and friends. Amazon recognizes it and you could get your account terminated if you are caught red-handed.
4. You must disclose on your website or blog that you are an Amazon Associate and you will make commissions if visitors purchase from your link, OK?

Advantages of Amazon Associates

There are many advantages of becoming an Amazon Associate. A few of them are as follows:

1. Amazon Associates is used by more than 1 lakh websites all over the world.
2. You can join without paying a single penny. It is free to join.
3. You will find thousands of products to promote.
4. It has a robust reporting system to track your performance.
5. Your earnings will be deposited directly into your bank account.
6. If your visitors do not buy the product you recommended but buy some other product, you will still make a commission.

Disadvantages of Amazon Associates

There are a few disadvantages of becoming an Amazon Associate. Some of them are listed below:

1. The commission rate is lower as compared to other major Affiliate Programs. The maximum commission offered by Amazon Associates is 12%, depending on the product.
2. The cookie duration is only 24 hours. So if the visitors do not buy your product within 24 hours, you will not get the commission. However, if your product is added to the cart, the cookie will last for 89 more days.
3. You are prohibited from sending affiliate links in e-mails. This is a bummer, knowing that e-mail marketing has an ROI of 42x.
4. There are 2 payment options available. You will be paid either through direct bank account deposit, cheque, or Amazon gift card.

Conclusion

• In this post, we understood what the Amazon Associates program is about.
• Then, we walked through the steps of creating our Amazon Associates account.
• Thirdly, I shared the guidelines of the Amazon Associates program.
• Finally, we saw the pros and cons of the Amazon Associates program.

If you found the steps easy to undertsand, please share your biggest takeaway in the comments box!!!