Are you looking for the best ways to make money from your blog? The Amazon Associates Program is one of the most popular ways for bloggers to monetize their blogs. When you sign up for the program, you can earn a commission when your readers click on links to Amazon and make a purchase through those links. It can be a great way to earn some extra money, especially if your blog already has a large amount of traffic. Affiliate marketing works well if you have a blog that can link out to various products. For example, you might be a food blogger who links to cooking equipment or ingredients.
But how much can you actually earn with the Amazon Associates program, and does your chosen niche make a difference? Putting Amazon affiliate links on your blog isn’t necessarily a lot of work, but you don’t want to invest the time to do it (and potentially affect your blog’s brand) if it’s not going to pay off.
How much commission you can earn from each purchase via an Amazon Associates link depends on the type of product. It’s also affected by whether the purchase is a direct purchase (in the same category as the product you linked to) or an indirect purchase (a product from a different category). Of course, the actual monetary amount you earn depends on how many people make a purchase after clicking your links.
So how much does the Amazon Associates Program pay, and what could you earn if you start including affiliate links on your site?
What Is the Amazon Associates Program?
If you’re still not sure what the Amazon Associates program is or how it works, here’s a short explanation.
Affiliate marketing works by brands paying bloggers (and others) to promote their products. The blogger inserts a special link on their site and when someone clicks that link and makes a purchase, the blogger earns a small commission. The commission can be as low as 1% or as high as 10% or more of the purchase price.
The Amazon Associates Program is one of the most popular options for affiliate marketing because Amazon has such a broad range of products. The diverse product range makes the affiliate program suitable for bloggers in an array of niches.
How Do You Join the Amazon Associates Program?
Anyone can join the Amazon Associates Program if they have a qualifying website, and it doesn’t cost anything. All you need to do is make sure you own the website, that it’s publicly available, and that you have a minimum of 10 blog posts. Once you apply, your website will be reviewed for approval.
However, it’s smart to ensure you have an adequate amount of traffic first. The reason for this is that new affiliates need to make three sales in their first 180 days. Your account will be closed if you don’t achieve this, although you can reopen it later.
How Much Commission Does the Amazon Associates Program Pay?
On average, you can earn anywhere from $100/£80 to $20,000/£16,000 per month with the Amazon Associates Program. Obviously, that’s a pretty big range. However, there are several factors influencing how much the program pays and what you can earn.
One important thing to note is that different products have different commission rates. This means that your niche is likely to affect the commission you’re paid too.
At the highest rate, Amazon will pay 20% for Amazon Games. Luxury beauty products and Amazon Explore pay a 10% commission, music pays 5%, physical books pay 4.5%, and furniture and home products will net you a 3% commission. On the lower end, Amazon Fresh and groceries offer only a 1% commission, while you won’t get anything from gift cards, alcohol, or Prime Now.
Take a look at the Amazon Associates website for a full list of which categories have which commission rates.
You can earn money from indirect purchases, so the buyer doesn’t have to buy the product you linked to for you to get a commission. You can also earn money from Bounty Events, which allows you to get a commission from signups to Prime, Amazon Baby Registry, Home Services, and other Amazon services.
In addition to varying commission rates, your earnings will obviously be affected by the amount of traffic to your site and how relevant your links are. The more traffic you get, the more likely it is that people will click on your links (if they’re relevant to your readers’ interests) and make a purchase.
The majority of people using the Amazon Associates Program earn less than $10,000/£8,000 per year. Casual bloggers are likely to earn less compared to people who have set up niche blogs purely for the purpose of affiliate marketing.
If you want to monetize your blog, it’s smart to combine Amazon Associates with other affiliate programs and other types of income. However, Amazon Associates can be a good choice if you’re just looking for a form of fairly passive income that will give you some extra pocket money.
How Much Can Food Bloggers Earn from the Amazon Associates Program?
Food bloggers are likely to be linking to two main types of products: ingredients and equipment.
Ingredients will likely fetch a commission of 1% on each sale (Amazon Fresh and Groceries categories). Cooking and baking equipment could get a 4.5% commission, as it counts in the Kitchen category. Other home products (such as tableware) have a 3% commission.
Food blogging is one of the most popular niches, which makes it very competitive. However, it also means there’s potential to make a lot of money from affiliate links and other income.
As a food blogger, you can expect to earn from around $500/£400 to $5,000/£4,000 per year just from Amazon. Many food bloggers make more money from other affiliate programs and other forms of income.
How Much Can Travel Bloggers Earn from the Amazon Associates Program?
Travel blogging is another popular, competitive niche. Travel bloggers could link to a range of Amazon products, including virtual experiences from Amazon Explore, which fetch a 10% commission. You could link to travel books, travel accessories, fashion, outdoor equipment, and more, with commission rates usually at around 1-5%.
Some travel bloggers are very high earners, while others who aren’t working on their blogs full-time will earn a lot less. As with other niches, travel bloggers also often make more from other income streams than they do from Amazon Associates.
Travel bloggers could make an average of $1,000 per year when you’re just getting started or up to $3,000 per year once you start building more steam.
How Much Can Fashion Bloggers Earn from the Amazon Associates Program?
Fashion products generally pay a 4% commission on sales from Amazon Associates. This includes shoes, jewelry, and accessories.
Fashion bloggers can link to a broad range of products, particularly all kinds of clothes and accessories. Fashion bloggers also often make use of social media and earn income via being an influencer and seeking sponsors.
With a modest number of page views, fashion bloggers could make $2,000/£1,600 to $3,000/£2,400 per year from Amazon Associates. Other affiliate programs could boost this amount, but fashion bloggers also often find that advertising is a profitable way to monetize their blogs.
How Much Can Mom Bloggers Earn from the Amazon Associates Program?
Mom/mum bloggers can blog about a range of subjects. If you’re in this blogging niche, you might write about parenting or other family matters, as well as other topics that are relevant to women and mothers.
The products you link to could be wide-ranging. There might be books you want to promote, or maybe you want to link to toys, games, home items, and more. You could have lots of opportunities to post links if you’re a more generalist blogger covering a lot of topics.
In fact, even smaller blogs could earn a decent amount from placing plenty of links. While you don’t want to overdo it, some bloggers in this niche have managed to earn $1,000/£800 in a month with smart link placement. However, a more modest income would be about $300/£240 per month or $3,600/£2,880 per year.
How Much Can Health and Fitness Bloggers Earn from the Amazon Associates Program?
Health and fitness bloggers are likely to link to products such as workout equipment, workout clothes, health accessories, and healthy foods. They might cover topics relating to working out, eating healthy, or specific health issues such as diabetes or losing weight.
Health and personal care products fetch a commission of 1% from Amazon Associates, but other related products could provide a commission of 4%. Many health bloggers link to healthy ingredients for recipes, kitchen equipment, or items like personal water bottles too.
Health and fitness bloggers can also earn somewhere in the range of $3,000/£2,400 to $5,000/£4,000 per year.
