I probably don’t need to tell you that building a successful Amazon affiliate website is not for the fainthearted.
It takes ridiculous planning, an obscene amount of patience and an uncanny ability to break through barrier after barrier of constant self-doubt.
But if there’s one thing that’ll slow you down faster than an asthmatic snail in a relay race, it’s getting that “perfect” Amazon affiliate website set up before you can start working on actually growing your business.
Whether it’s spending hours deciding on a theme…
Countless days tweaking the design until it’s just right…
Or weeks figuring out the nuances of all the “must-have” tech….
…it’s often a process that sucks the life out of you before you even get off the starting line. Not to mention the financial cost of delayed growth.
The solution is simple.
Leverage the site setup of someone who’s already fought and agonized over every microscopic detail of building that specific type of website.
I’m talkin’ about a complete framework that allows you to focus on the core drivers of your business from day one, and bypass the time-suck that so many budding authority and niche site builders get caught up in.
While there are a number of business models you could base this kind of site-build around, today we’re going to take a deep dive into the Amazon affiliate site model.
And, as the title of this post suggests, I’m not only going to show you how to assemble this framework yourself…
…I’m also gonna straight up GIVE it to you.
Just to be clear, this post is only going to cover the technical aspect of website building and not include things like choosing a domain, keyword research, niche selection, content creation, link building, and other aspects that are necessary to make a site successful.
If you are looking for the complete blueprint, check out The Authority Site System where Mark & Gael cover it all.
But if you are looking for a quick site-building fix, let’s get rocking! I’ll show you how to build an Amazon affiliate website from scratch.
How to Build Amazon Affiliate Website?
Before we get to all that, I quickly want to go over the fundamentals of the build, and what my thinking was behind it.
As we progress through this, realize that every decision was made with the specific objective of a profit-driving affiliate website in mind.
(That’s everything from hosting, design, and even the individual functions. It’s all accounted for.)
In order to understand the build — and it’s recommended that you do — you’ll first need to understand the key principles of highly-optimized, successful Amazon affiliate websites.
So, let’s break it down.
1. Hosting
Be built on a stable and secure server that allows for at least 3,000 visits per month, with the possibility of a seamless upgrade in the future. (go to implementation)
2. Content management
Offer a secure and versatile environment for the site, as well as the ability to easily create and manage large amounts of published content. (go to implementation)
3. Theme
Provide a secure framework that’s compatible with the rest of the site build, including all functionality and design aspects. Support is also a strong factor. (go to implementation)
4. Security
Be able to detect and block attacks as well as identify any potential vulnerabilities. Website recovery is also an additional but equally important thing to consider here. (go to implementation)
5. Search Engine Optimization
Be fully search engine optimized in order to rank both informational and commercial content, establishing a steady flow of organic traffic. (go to implementation)
6. Analytics
Have access to advanced data and tracking of website traffic and page/post performance across the entire site. (go to implementation)
7. Page Design
Be quick and easy to customize the layout and design of your core pages and blog content. (go to implementation)
8. Link management
Be capable of organizing all your affiliate links under one, easy-to-use roof, as well as being able to effectively swap out old affiliate links from one location. (go to implementation)
9. Product display
Be able to display linkable product boxes and comparison tables throughout your content that comply with Amazon’s TOS. (go to implementation)
10. Link localization
Redirect visitors to the correct affiliate offers based on geographic location in order to capitalize on the majority of your traffic. (go to implementation)
Previewing The Build
This build meets all the requirements I’ve outlined above and is what I would consider the leanest, most optimized and efficient setup for a successful Amazon affiliate website for you to start with.
The process can be broken up into 3 distinct phases, which are:
- Phase #1: The Foundation (go to implementation)
- Phase #2: The Bolt-Ons (go to implementation)
- Phase #3: The Design (go to implementation)
And here’s how that looks on a larger scale…
So that’s the big-picture view of what we’ll be covering, now it’s time to get down in the trenches and start building your Amazon affiliate website.
Ready?
Let’s do it.
PHASE #1: The Foundation
This phase is all about laying the foundation for the rest of the site, so it incorporates only the fundamental elements of the build.
While these decisions have been made with the Amazon affiliate or niche site model in mind, the principles outlined here are almost always true, regardless of the type of website you’re building.
Hosting (And Domain)
Hosting is the first step of any site build, and since it’s also a single point of failure for your entire business, it’s easily one of the most important decisions you can make at this early stage.
So, what makes a good hosting company for Amazon affiliate websites?
1. Servers
If the server your website lives on experiences frequent and extended periods of downtime, or if server performance is sub-par, that will directly impact both user experience and SEO, resulting in lower traffic and conversions.
2. Backups
Any good hosting provider will keep regular backups of your site, usually for between 7-30 days, and sometimes monthly backups that are kept for much longer periods of time.
3. Interface
With your hosting account being the hub of your website, domain, emails, backups and all of your site files, it’s important to have a backend interface that allows you control over those aspects of your business.
4. Support
When things go wrong — and things do go wrong — the time it takes to rectify those issues will depend almost entirely on the quality of your hosting provider’s support. Trust me, this is a BIG deal.
We Chose: SiteGround
SiteGround is undoubtedly one of the most respected hosting companies out there at the moment, and it’s our go-to provider for any new niche sites we build.
We went with SiteGround because they provide:
- 99.99% server uptime and very reasonable speeds on even the lowest-priced plan
- Backups are automatically created and stored every day for the last 30 days (for shared and cloud hosting)
- Live chat support with little to no waiting time to speak to an experienced chat agent
- 1-click CMS installation via Control Panel (this will be important for the next part)
As you’re registering your hosting account with SiteGround, I recommend registering your domain through them as well ($14.95/year). It just makes the setup process a lot smoother and they’re only marginally more expensive than other registrars.
How To Set It Up
- Suitable for: A single site, up to 10GB space and 10,000 monthly visits
- Cost: $64.95 per year (inc VAT)
- Link: SiteGround
A Quick Note On CDN’s
A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, allows you to store a cached version of your site’s content on servers in multiple geographical locations, meaning your content can be served to your website visitors from the most optimal location.
Not only that, but it allows you to exceed the bandwidth limitations of your hosting provider since the data isn’t necessarily being served from their servers.
I won’t get into the technical side of it here since it’s outside the scope of this article, but this is an awesome guide if you’re interested in learning about how that works.
Why am I telling you about CDN’s?
Well, because a well-known CDN called Cloudflare is now included with even entry-level SiteGround accounts – “free” is our favorite price structure 🙂
And using a CDN can give your Amazon affiliate site a speed boost, which is important because page speed is now a ranking factor in Google.
If you like what you see in the free version of Cloudflare, you can upgrade directly to their ‘Plus’ plan from your SiteGround dashboard:
WPX Hosting and WP Engine are also good choices for hosting your Amazon site, but they just didn’t tick as many boxes as SiteGround for this particular build.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with either host – SiteGround is just that bit easier for beginners to use.
You can check out our full Cloudflare review here if you’re still not sure if you need a pro CDN or not.
Content Management System (CMS)
The CMS is essentially the “skeleton” of your site, allowing you to organize and manage virtually everything from users, pages, posts, to media. It also offers a myriad of ways to extend your site’s functionality with both free and premium plugins.
What makes a good Content Management System for an Amazon affiliate website?
You need a CMS that:
- Is easy to use
- Gets updated regularly
- Can be extended through add-ons
- Isn’t just a fad
We chose: WordPress because it’s the de facto content management platform for Amazon affiliate or niche sites.
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system that is estimated to power roughly 26% of all websites on the internet.
It also has the largest and most comprehensive plugin (add-on) library of any CMS on the market.
This makes it incredibly versatile and flexible in the content publishing tasks it can handle.
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Any type of affiliate websites (and pretty much any type of website, for that matter)
- Cost: Free
- Link: Visit WordPress
Theme
Your theme essentially sits on top of your Content Management System (in this case, WordPress) and is responsible for the overall look and functionality of your site.
What makes a good WordPress theme for an Amazon affiliate website?
Or to put it another way, your CMS is the metal endoskeleton of your site, and your theme is the fleshy exterior.
So what qualities should you look for in your WordPress theme?
1. Code
A well-coded theme will result in better overall performance, speed and, most importantly, security.
2. Updates
Regular and timely updates help fight against new and emerging threats, and also often improve site functionality.
3. Compatibility
Plugins are a crucial component of any WordPress build in order to extend and fine-tune its functionality, so it’s important that the theme is compatible with these third-party add-ons.
4. Design
Freedom to make changes to the layout and design without having to dive into the core code, and risk breaking components of the theme itself.
5. Support
Your theme is one of the core ingredients of a site build, and it’s also where most “issues” tend to arise. For that reason, having a reliable support channel is essential.
6. Longevity
Building your niche site on a soon-to-be abandoned and outdated theme could leave your site open to an attack further down the line.
We Chose: GeneratePress as our theme of choice for this Amazon affiliate site build.
GeneratePress is one of the newer themes on the market but it has already made quite a name for itself for being, as it says on the tin, “simple, lightweight and free.”
We suggest paying $49.95 for GeneratePress Premium to get more customization options, plus it’s part of the site build.
We went with GeneratePress because:
- The code is super lean and highly-optimized for speed and performance
- It’s regularly updated with new and useful features, as well as being patched against potential security exploits
- There are minimal conflicts with plugins and other addons
- It allows for plenty of design and layout customization through the theme settings
- The support offered via GeneratePress premium member forum is outstanding (and publicly searchable
- The developer has openly stated that he’s in it for the long haul (read here)
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Any type of Amazon affiliate website (and pretty much any type of niche site)
- Cost: It’s a free theme, but for this build, you’ll need the ‘GP Premium’ add-on to get access to extended customization features.
- Link: GeneratePress Premium
OceanWP, Astra and the Genesis Framework are other alternatives you may want to consider. They are frequently recommended by others though I haven’t personally tested them myself.
You could also opt for something more niche-specific on a marketplace like ThemeForest, but you risk buying a bloated, poorly supported theme.
So try to stick with themes you know or recognize or the one we just recommended above.
PHASE #2: The Bolt-Ons
At this stage, we’ve set up a hosting account, installed a content management system, and even settled on a theme.
For most people, this is where an Amazon affiliate site build typically ends.
Of course, what we’re building here isn’t just an ordinary setup.
We’re creating something that incorporates the core design and functionality principles of this website model.
In other words, something that can be defined as the necessary framework for a successful Amazon affiliate website.
So, on that basis, we’re now going to take this beyond the basic setup and start bolting on some extra functionality.
This will include:
- Some general additions that I recommend adding to any new site build
- And, of course, some additions that are very specific to affiliate site builds in particular
As you’ve no doubt guessed, the way to achieve all this is through the use of WordPress plugins and third-party services, so let’s hop to it.
Additional Security
Even with a solid content management system and a well-coded theme (like GeneratePress), savvy hackers can still penetrate your site.
You can significantly reduce the chances of this happening though by adding an extra layer of security to your site.
Most other guides will recommend one of a handful of security plugins for WordPress.
But we’ve already introduced you to a more streamlined way to keep your site secure – Cloudflare.
You see, Cloudflare is far more than just a CDN.
The free version alone has a stack of site security features built-in, and the Pro version takes that to the next level.
And all of this happens in the background so you won’t even need to install a plug-in.
Cloudflare “plugs” straight into your WordPress site (once you swap your DNS over to them) and gets to work right away protecting your site from attack.
We went with Cloudflare because:
- It’s a cloud-based industry-leading solution for both content delivery and site security
- It also protects your site from hotlinking and email scrapers
- You get DDoS support as standard
- Cloudflare speeds your site up, whereas most security plugins actually slow your site down
How To Install & Set It Up
Cloudflare Free is already part of your SiteGround hosting account, so you don’t need to do anything else.
If you want to upgrade to Cloudflare Plus you can do that from your SiteGround dashboard:
- Suitable for: Any website that takes security and user experience seriously.
- Cost: The free version is pretty comprehensive, but the Pro/Plus only costs $20 per month so is more than worth it.
- Link: Cloudflare
Search Engine Optimization
Every site should take advantage of organic traffic from search engines like Google.
An Amazon affiliate site is no exception.
Tools that aid in on-page optimization offer quick wins in that department, and often lead to a significant increase in visitors to your site.
What makes a good on-page SEO plugin?
1. Page analysis
Automatic scanning of your posts and pages to ensure on-page standards have been met.
2. Snippet preview
The ability to preview search snippets to ensure they fit within SEO guidelines.
3. Technical SEO
Extended control over technical aspects of search engine optimization. For example, the ability to easily prevent crawling by search engines on a page-by-page basis.
4. Guidance
With potentially dozens of on-page factors to consider, having a tool look at your site as a whole, and suggest on-page content improvements, is always handy.
We chose: SEOPress
Though WordPress is generally well-optimized for SEO purposes, SEOPress gives you some extra settings that would otherwise require custom coding or dedicated plugins.
Note: Fans of Authority Hacker will know that we recently swapped from using Yoast to SEOPress both internally and for The Authority Site System course.
We went with SEOPress because:
- It offers real-time post and page analysis
- It works with page builders
- You get live snippet previews your meta title and description
- The feature set in the free version is better than most paid SEO plugins
- It has an intuitive dashboard that allows you direct control over key functions
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Any website that is looking to improve its on-page SEO optimization
- Cost: The free version is good enough on its own, but you can upgrade to Premium for $39 per year, for unlimited sites
- Link: Visit SEOPress.
A few popular alternatives to SEOPress are All In One SEO Pack and RankMath.
Each of these plugins performs very similar functions, so it’s really just a matter of personal preference.
Web Analytics
Website analytics is the only way to truly measure and track the growth of your affiliate marketing site, and doing so is crucial if you want to identify what’s really moving the needle in your business.
Because the more that needle moves, the more money you should be making.
So what makes a good web analytics service for affiliate sites?
1. Traffic
Analyze and dissect your website traffic based on various filters.
2. Pages
Get a detailed breakdown of the performance of all posts and pages on your site.
3. Real-time
View and analyze website traffic data and page performance data in real-time.
4. Tracking
Ability to set and track goals based on any number of variables.
We chose: Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the “Don” of the web analytics world, and this free software does just about everything you’ll ever need from an analytics tool.
We went with Google Analytics because:
- It offers detailed traffic reporting based on everything from the user’s location to their demographic.
- It allows you to view your best (and worst) performing content based on metrics like page views, time on page, and page value.
- It provides real-time reporting that includes data on traffic source, search keyword, user location, and more.
- You can set up goal tracking around metrics like URL destination, visit duration, and even “custom events”.
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Any type of site, especially if your plan is to make money from it
- Price: Free
- Link: Google Analytics
If you want to get down and dirty with Google Analytics, check out Measure School on YouTube.
You’ll find tons of free, very detailed videos that many people would gladly pay for if they were part of a training course.
If, for some reason, you’re not a fan of Google Analytics, Clicky is a popular (freemium) alternative.
Based on this comparison, it appears to hold its own against GA.
Page Design
Normally, your WordPress theme takes care of any customization needs you have for your overall site design.
But, as customizable as GeneratePress is, there are certain tools available that make the design process even easier – page builders.
Page builders are popular because they override the standard WP editor, which is notoriously bad for anything outside of basic content production.
What makes a good page builder for affiliate sites?
1. Ease of use
UI/UX is one of the biggest factors to consider because it directly influences productivity and output.
2. Elements
These are the building blocks used to design your page. Generally, the more building block variations you have, the more you can achieve in terms of design.
3. Flexibility
Not only being able to customize elements to your liking, but also control certain aspects of the page, including things like responsiveness, for example.
4. Templates
The ability to import pre-made templates and save your own for reuse later is a huge time saver.
5. Support
Page builders have so many moving parts that you likely will run into issues at some point, so having access to reliable support is important.
We chose: Elementor.
Elementor is a visual page builder for WordPress, and easily one of the better options available for affiliate marketing pros and novices alike.
That’s why 2,000,000 professionals use Elementor as their page builder of choice.
We use Elementor simply because it’s the most versatile page builder on the market right now, and allows us to create the exact layout and design we want for our sites.
We went with Elementor because:
- It’s easy to use, especially in comparison to most other page builders on the market
- Even the free version has a great selection of design and layout elements
- The inline editing makes creating long-form content a breeze
- It has a comprehensive template library
- This page builder is constantly updated with new features
- The Elementor community is great, and you get 24/7 support with Elementor Pro
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Pretty much any website you can think of, including affiliate sites
- Cost: $49 per year, per site ($99 for 3 sites)
- Link: Elementor Pro
You can read our full review of Elementor here.
Link Management
Link management plugins allow you to build up a library of commonly used affiliate links, so you can insert them multiple times throughout your site while only having to update the link from one central location.
What makes a good link management plugin?
1. Custom URL structure
Having control over the URL structure, and being able to use a custom structure, is always welcome.
2. Quickly add links
Being able to add new affiliate links on-the-fly is a massive time saver.
3. Nofollow option
The ability to nofollow affiliate links is helpful in meeting Google’s quality guidelines.
4. Link click reporting
Seeing what links are generating the most clicks will allow you to identify what offers and positions are working on a page.
We Chose: Thirsty Affiliates (Price; Free)
Thirsty Affiliates is a plugin offering a suite of tools to help affiliate marketers monetize their blog quickly and efficiently.
At its most basic level, it’s also a pretty damn good link management plugin for Amazon affiliates.
We went with Thirsty Affiliates because:
- You can easily add new links from the dashboard (or in the post/page editor)
- You can nofollow affiliate links with the click of a button
- It has basic link click reporting to see how many people are clicking on your affiliate links
- It’s now Amazon compliant
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Affiliate sites
- Cost: The base plugin is free, but you can upgrade to the Pro version for $49/year
- Link: Thirsty Affiliates
Thirsty Affiliates recently released a major update to their plugin that allows the “smart uncloaking” of Amazon affiliate links.
Amazon doesn’t like cloaked links, so you need to be careful not to accidentally stray outside their TOS.
Product Boxes & Tables
Using product boxes and tables to present your product recommendations has been “best practice” for Amazon affiliate sites for quite some time, especially for reviews of Amazon products.
The good news is there are plugins available that make it super easy to implement them with zero coding required.
What makes a good product table plugin?
1. Design
Pre-set styles for product boxes and tables, as well as customization options to align them with your branding.
2. Ease of use
No complicated setup or coding required – it should have a clean, intuitive user interface.
3. Nofollow option
The ability to nofollow affiliate links to avoid triggering Google.
4. Compliance
Must meet Amazon’s strict terms regarding images, pricing, ratings, and buttons.
We Chose: Amazon Associates for WordPress (AAWP)
AAWP is a perfect addition to this build because it allows you to quickly and easily pull in product information in the form of tables and product boxes.
These are the same tables that form the basis of Amazon product review pages.
Best of all, it does this through Amazon’s API, so it’s 100% compliant with Amazon’s Terms of Service.
We went with AAWP because:
- It’s Amazon-compliant (you won’t get banned)
- You can easily create product boxes and embed shortcodes throughout your content
- Ideal for reviewing Amazon products
- Easily create product tables with comparisons and labels
- Automatically applies your Amazon affiliate link to every product box and table
- Comes with a number of templates and pre-designed layouts
How To Install & Set It Up
- Link to tutorial: https://getaawp.com/docs/article/guide/
- Suitable for: Amazon affiliate sites
- Cost: $39
- Link: Amazon Associates for WordPress
If you’ve been following us, you may have heard the Amazon Podcast we recorded, highlighting why it’s so crucial to stay on the right side of the (Amazon) law.
If you haven’t listened to it yet, I suggest you put aside some time to do so.
Link Localization
Unless you plan to have a region-specific affiliate site, not all your affiliate offers will be relevant to every person who visits your niche site.
That’s why link localization, which redirects users to their respective country’s Amazon store, is a godsend for capturing lost revenue.
Not using some form of link localization means you are potentially leaving a lot of money on the table.
What makes a good link localization service?
1. Easy setup
With the scale of affiliate links you’re likely to be implemented on your site, it should take minimal time and effort to insert localized links.
2. Compatibility
It should work with Amazon stores in all major countries.
3. Speed
Minimal link redirect delay to maintain user experience (and avoid conversion drop).
4. Compliance
Again, this should be compliant with Amazon’s terms, which includes non-cloaking of links.
We Chose: Amazon OneLink
OneLink is still fairly new, and it currently only supports a handful of countries.
Regardless, this is a very welcome replacement for something like Genius Links, which is a popular third-party alternative that does carry some risk in terms of Amazon compliance.
We went with Amazon OneLink because:
- It’s very easy to set up
- It works with Amazon stores in the US, Canada, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Japan
- The link redirection is fast
OneLink is from Amazon, so it’s inherently compliant with their TOS - Unlike riskier alternatives, it’s also free to use
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Amazon affiliate sites
- Cost: Free
- Link: Amazon OneLink
Auto Linking (Optional)
Auto linking allows you to define words or phrases to be automatically hyperlinked based on predefined settings.
It’s great for Amazon affiliate sites since it not only saves time but also prevents you from missing link opportunities within your content and review posts.
This one was sort of thrown in for good measure, and it’s by no means an essential plugin, but it’s still something I wanted to mention as I know some people will appreciate the convenience.
We chose: ThirstyAffiliates Pro
The ‘Autolinker’ tool in Thirsty Affiliates Pro is the most comprehensive and easy-to-use we’ve seen so far.
Contact Form
No contact page is complete without a contact form, and while it’s not entirely necessary to have a contact page on your niche site, it does help you to build credibility and trust with your audience.
Simply put, you appear more like a regular content publisher and less like an affiliate.
The other perk is that it saves you from having to publish your email address, so you can save yourself from that potential deluge of spam.
What makes a good contact form plugin?
It should be easy to set up, configure, style and should be either free or very cheap.
We chose: WP Forms Lite
WP Forms Lite has quickly established itself as a contact form plugin of choice because of its drag-and-drop functionality.
And while it’s not the most advanced form builder around, it is very “plug and play” which makes it ideal for this build.
We went with WP Forms Lite because:
- The setup “wizard” does pretty much all of the work for you
- The drag-and-drop interface is a breath of fresh air in comparison to similar plugins
- It’s fully mobile responsive
- You get integrations for popular autoresponders like MailChimp, etc.
- It’s free, baby!
How To Install & Set It Up
- Suitable for: Any website
- Cost: WPForms Lite is free
- Link: WPForms Lite
PHASE #3: The Design
Let me start off by saying that I’m faaaar from a professional designer, so this site design isn’t going to revolutionize the industry by any means.
What I am offering, though, is something that doesn’t look like the typical affiliate sites you tend to see everywhere nowadays…*cough* Focus Blog.
Even though there’s no “correct” way to design an Amazon affiliate site, there are some fundamental rules that should be followed.
Both in a general sense and for affiliate sites specifically.
Now, I won’t go into the fundamentals of good website design here, simply because that would need an entire post by itself. (Besides, it’s covered here, here and here.)
In a nutshell, I took the core lessons from those articles, sprinkled in a little inspiration from various other affiliate sites, and eventually came up with something that I believe ticks all the right boxes.
Is it perfect?
No.
Is it enough to build a highly-profitable affiliate business? Abso-friggin-lutely.
The Site Layout & Design
Before I walk you through the steps to implement this design yourself, I should probably give you a preview of what it actually looks like, if you haven’t seen it already.
And here’s a video explaining some of my design choices:
How To Steal This Build
At first, I thought about turning this into a follow-me-as-I-build-it tutorial.
But the thing is, if you want to build your Amazon affiliate site from scratch, you can find those types of video tutorials inside The Authority Site System.
So, instead of (poorly) cannibalizing some of our premium training, I’m just going to GIVE you what I’ve built and show you how to modify it from there.
So here’s the deal.
I’ve put together a download for this entire build which allows you to import the setup exactly the way I’ve outlined in this post.
This includes every free/freemium plugin I recommended in the last section, as well as the site design shown in the preview video above.
So, yeah, there will be some stuff you have to do manually, and some plugins that cost money, but there’s just no way around that without breaking the law.
Follow the steps below.
How To Import This Build
Video summary:
- Step 1: Before you can import this build, you will need to have purchased hosting and installed a fresh copy of WordPress.
- Step 2: Search for, install and activate the free plugin, ‘All-in-one WP Migration’, which will allow you to quickly and easily import the site build.
- Step 3: Download the import file using the link above, and then choose the ‘Import’ option in WP Migration then ‘Import From’ and then ‘File’.
- Step 4: Once the import is complete (pay attention to all the prompts), click to update the permalink structure – you’ll need to log in again before you can do that.
- Step 5: This time you need to login with username: niall and password: password
- Step 6: Go to ‘Users > Add New’ and create a new username and password for yourself with an ‘Administrator’ role. Log into your new administration user account and delete the user ‘niall’ (this is very important).
- Step 7: Purchase and install the premium plugins following the setup videos in phase #1 and #2. (These are GeneratePress Premium, Elementor, and AAWP.)
- Step 8: Head over to the plugins tab and update any plugins that are currently outdated.
Note: Please, please remember to remove the default username “niall” from ‘Users’ once you’ve created your new administrator account.
How To Make Core Changes
Here’s a quick video showing you how to make core changes to your site:
Video summary:
1. Change Your Site Logo
Dashboard -> Appearance -> Customize -> Site Identity-> Click on ‘Change Logo’.
2. Change Global Colors
Click on Pages -> All Pages -> locate the Homepage -> ‘Edit with Elementor’ -> Click on the 3 lines in the top left-hand corner -> Click on ‘Default Colors’.
3. Change Global Styling
Click on Pages -> All Pages -> locate the Homepage -> ‘Edit with Elementor’ -> Click on the 3 lines in the top left-hand corner -> Click on ‘Default Fonts’.
4. Change Copyright Text
Dashboard -> Templates -> Theme Builder -> Site Footer-> Edit with Elementor -> Click on the copyright text to change it.
5. Change Earnings Disclaimer
Dashboard -> Templates -> Theme Builder -> Site Footer-> Edit with Elementor -> Click on the ‘Earnings Disclaimer’ text to change it.
6. Change Appearance of Links
Dashboard -> Templates -> Theme Builder -> Site Header-> Edit with Elementor -> Click on the navigation menu -> Click on the ‘Style’ header in the left-hand menu -> Choose new styling for ‘Normal’, ‘Hover’ and ‘Active States’.
7. Add Post Category
Dashboard -> Posts -> All Categories -> Type in category ‘Name’ and ‘Slug’ -> Click ‘Add New Category’.
8. Remove Post Category
Dashboard -> Posts -> All Categories -> hover over the category you want to remove and click ‘Delete’ -> Confirm that you want to delete this category. You cannot delete your default category, which is ‘Alpha’ for this site – you can only rename it.
How To Edit Your Homepage
Here’s a quick video showing you how to edit the homepage of your Amazon affiliate website:
Video summary:
1. Edit Your Homepage
Dashboard -> Pages -> All Pages -> locate the ‘Homepage’ -> click ‘Edit with Elementor’
2. Change Your Banner Image
Dashboard -> Pages -> All Pages -> locate the ‘Homepage’ -> ‘Edit with Elementor’-> hover over image -> click the 6 dots above it (Edit Section) -> Style menu -> hover over ‘Image’ -> Click on ‘Choose Image’
3. Change Header Text
Click on header text -> Change it inline or from the left-hand menu. Follow the same process for the sub-header text.
4. Change Body Text
Click on the text block “The reason why we built this site” -> Make whatever changes are required.
5. Change ‘About the Author’ Image
Click on the author image -> hover over ‘Profile Picture’ -> Click ‘Change Image’
6. Change ‘About the Author’ Text
Your author name and ‘Biography’ can only be edited from the left-hand menu.
How To Edit Your Blog Posts
Here’s a quick video showing you how to edit your blog posts:
Video summary:
1. Add New Blog Post
WordPress dashboard -> Posts -> Add New -> Add title to post -> Click on ‘Save draft’.
2. Add Featured Image
From the right-hand menu click on ‘Set Featured Image’ -> Choose new image from ‘Media Library’ -> Click on ‘Select’-> Click on ‘Save draft’.
3. Choose Styling Options
Scroll down to ‘Sidebars’ -> Choose ‘Content (no sidebars)’ and then from ‘Page Builder Container’ choose ‘Full Width’ -> Click on ‘Publish’
4. Change Permalink
WordPress dashboard -> Posts -> All Posts-> click ‘Edit’ -> select ‘Permalink’ item from right-hand menu – > edit permalink as required -> Click ‘Update’.
5. Duplicate Post
WordPress dashboard -> Posts -> All Posts-> click ‘Clone’ -> Change cloned blog post as required.
6. Change Title and Meta Description
WordPress dashboard -> Posts -> All Posts-> click ‘Edit’ for post you want to update -> scroll down to ‘Title’ section -> Create SEO-friendly title -> Create SEO-friendly Meta Description -> Click ‘Update’
7. Delete Blog Post
WordPress dashboard -> Posts -> All Posts-> hover over post you want to remove -> Click ‘Trash’.
How To Edit Your About Page
Here’s a quick video showing you how to edit your “About Us” page:
Video summary:
1. Edit About Us Page
WordPress dashboard -> Pages -> All Pages -> click ‘Edit with Elementor’ -> Make desired changes -> Click on ‘Update’.
Other Skills
Yes, there are tons of other affiliate programs out there. But time and experience has shown that Amazon is simply an easier platform for beginners to use – you can investigate other affiliate programs when you’re making money with Amazon.
Basically, trying to manage multiple programs can be daunting for an affiliate. Amazon just makes things easier for anyone new to affiliate marketing.
We also didn’t cover how to write a product review because that’s a whole different skill set, plus we already blogged about how to write review posts here.
You can find out how to find a great domain name in our post on how to make money blogging, so that’s another topic covered – we know people struggle with domain names.
Oh, and review sites are fine, but you should work towards making your site an authority in its niche. That’s one of the best ways to leave those cookie cutter review sites eating your digital dust.
Did I Miss Anything?
I’ve tried my best to cover every scenario I can think of when it comes to modifying the site design to your needs, but there’s bound to be some minor things that I’ve missed.
If that’s the case, and you need help making other changes to this build, just leave a comment below and I’ll do what I can to help out.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a complete Amazon affiliate website build that incorporates the fundamental principles and functions of a successful affiliate site.
A framework that allows you to skip the usual BS and get straight to what really moves the needle – producing content and building links, all with the goal of earning you passive income i.e. cash money.
One more thing….
This is somewhat of an experimental post, and depending on the reception it gets we may decide to release more website builds like this based on different site models.
Let me know in the comments if that’s something you’re interested in, and if there’s anything I can do to improve this format.
