Joining Amazon.com’s Associates Central Program

As I stated earlier, Amazon.com’s Associates Central is not technically an affiliate network. I’m listing Associates Central in this article because even though it offers only one affiliate program, it does more business than most affiliate networks can generate with all their affiliate programs put together. The company is big, has a wide product base, and operates one of the most marketable affiliate programs on the Web, with one of the largest selection of products.

Associates Central also offers two choices of commission structure: Classic and Performance. These commission structures are adjusted from time to time, so you should compare them at the end of each quarter before deciding which to join, but generally speaking, the Performance structure, which includes performance incentives that bring you higher commissions for higher sales volume, is preferable to the Classic, which is a flat-rate option.

The Amazon.com affiliate program is an excellent one for beginners to join because of the wide range of products to market, which can all be tied to and working toward a collective performance tier structure. In other words, all your various campaigns for Amazon can help the other Amazon campaigns by helping you reach a higher performance tier and raise the payouts across the board.

Also, Amazon’s Associates Central not only welcomes affiliates who do search engine marketing, but when you log on to the site and click Performance Tips in the list of links on the left-hand side of the page, you find an entire section of tips for search engine marketers.

You can read case studies of businesses that have become Amazon. com affiliates and boosted their business by promoting Amazon. com merchandise. There’s also a set of discussion boards where associates help one another with tips and advice.

To join Amazon’s Associates Central, you will need to visit the Join Associates page, by either going directly to affiliateprogram.amazon.com/gp/associates/join or, more simply, clicking on the Join Associates link at the bottom of Amazon.com’s home page. Once there, you will want to click on “Want to Join? Click here for easy registration”

Account Info/Sign In.

Once you have clicked on “Want to Join? Click here for easy registration,” you will be taken to the Associates Central sign-in page. If you already have an account with Amazon under the e-mail address you would like to use, you may sign into Associates Central using that e-mail address and password. If not, you may enter your e-mail address, and you will then be taken to a quick and simple registration page before you are able to sign in.

Your Contact Information.

After you have successfully signed in, you will be taken to the general information page of the application, the first section of which is Your Contact Information, a straightforward request for your name and contact information. When you are finished, scroll down to the Your Web Site Profile portion of the application.

Your Web Site Profile.

Here you will enter the information about your web site if you have one, or you will fill out the form indicating the search engines on which you intend to place paid search ads. Amazon is a search marketing–friendly affiliate program, so this shouldn’t present any real problems for you. When you are finished filling out this portion of the form, click Continue.

Your Payee Tax Information.

After clicking Continue on the screen titled Your Web Site Profile, you will arrive at the payment information page, the first section of which is Your Payee Tax Information. Simply enter your name or business name in the Tax Name field, type your social security or tax ID number in the Tax ID Number field, and make the appropriate selection from the Organization Type drop-down menu (you’ll probably choose Individual). Once you’re finished, scroll down to Your Payment Method.

Your Payment Method.

Finally, under Your Payment Method, you may select from three different payment options. Direct deposit has a clear advantage over the pay-by-check option, which incurs a service fee, so if you have a bank account and are comfortable with the technology, then this is the option I recommend. Once you are finished, click Continue to submit your application.

Review and Submit.

Before Amazon accepts your application, it will display all of the information previously entered. Review this information carefully, then read and accept the Associates Operating Agreement beneath your information, and click on Continue to re-submit your reviewed application for consideration.