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Amazon doesn't like niche sites?

by FatGans
9 replies
Currently, I'm working on my first ever niche site and planning to apply for Amazon affiliate program.
As I dig deeper, I see that now more and more internet services are offering Amazon niche sites creation.
Those sites include home page article, 4-5 review articles and a couple supporting articles.

From another side, I see a growing number of posts on the internet from people complaining about their niche sites
been rejected by Amazon. Looks like even after Amazon accepted you in their affiliate program there is no guaranty
that they don't do the site review in the future and kick you out of the program if your site fails to meet Amazon's "vision".
I was planning start from a couple of product reviews, apply for the affiliate program and add more content later.

Now I'm curious if it worth to spend time and money in the face of unpredictable future.
Not sure if I should pack my site with the content, get some traffic and only after apply for the affiliate program.
#amazon #niche #sites
  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Amazon site acceptance has everything to do with unique content. And, these cookie cutter niche sites do not have unique content, and the people that buy them do not make the content unique.

    just build a site that has good content and amazon will approve the site

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    FG,

    It's been my experience that people who have difficulty getting a web site approved ... or they get booted from the program after once being approved ... typically have broken the Amazon terms of service.

    Have you taken the time to read through Amazon's documentation to see exactly what you're committing to? I think they do a decent job of explaining what they want from their affiliates.

    It's their program and you need to play by their rules.

    Amazon Operating Agreement (especially see #5 - "Responsibility for Your Site")

    Good luck to you,

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Synnuh
    I've seen a post recently on FB about a user getting disapproved for using a niche site to join. Amazon stated:

    "The Associates program is meant to integrate our Ads on websites do not relate to Amazon(i.e knitting, hiking, vacation ideas, electric reviews) to help drive traffic that we currently aren't getting. I'd suggest adding more non-amazon related or based content to help improves your chances of being accepted."
    Seems to me like Amazon is taking Google's stance from 2010/2011 and understanding how much money they're losing from people churning out massive amounts of sites like this.

    Wouldn't surprise me if history repeats itself, and Amazon goes on a mass banning spree, cleaning up the small 5-10 page niche sites designed to outrank Amazon for keywords they already rank for.

    The industry is due for a shakeup, and Google can't figure out which end is up, so they're not going to be the one doing it -- at least not anytime soon.
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    • Profile picture of the author irawr
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Synnuh View Post

      I've seen a post recently on FB about a user getting disapproved for using a niche site to join. Amazon stated:



      Seems to me like Amazon is taking Google's stance from 2010/2011 and understanding how much money they're losing from people churning out massive amounts of sites like this.

      Wouldn't surprise me if history repeats itself, and Amazon goes on a mass banning spree, cleaning up the small 5-10 page niche sites designed to outrank Amazon for keywords they already rank for.

      The industry is due for a shakeup, and Google can't figure out which end is up, so they're not going to be the one doing it -- at least not anytime soon.
      This already occurred. It wasn't as nasty as the Google/FB bannings but they started actively canning affiliates who don't play by the rules.
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      • Profile picture of the author dangordon
        I have a product review site that advertises Amazon products and I was rejected by them the first time around... and I thought I had some pretty good content on it. After I was rejected, I did a lot of reading on different forums and somewhere (sorry, can't remember where) I read that not only is Amazon looking for good and unique content, they actually look for activity on your site. Meaning, people actually commenting on your posts.


        Of course, I wasn't getting a lot of traffic at that time since my site was fairly new, so I faked the comments buy getting people on Fiverr to comment on my site. (I know, it's better to have "real" people do it, but when you are first starting out, that's very hard). I did this once a week for a month, then re-applied and got accepted.


        It could have been a fluke, since different people are responsible for reviewing your site, but I'm convinced that it helped. Now my site is actually getting real comments, traffic and generating a bit of income. Not much, but it's a start...


        Moral of the story... don't give up if Amazon shuts you down at first. Many people have been accepted the 2nd time around.


        D.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    Small, shallow Amazon niche sites are a thing of the past, and have been for a few years.

    Build a site with unique content that you've written, or that you've had written for you. If you add lots of content at once, date the posts apart a bit. Add relevant YouTube videos that are of high-quality, made of informative content. (Don't shoot yourself in the foot, though...make sure that video isn't advertising someone else's site.)

    Basically, build up a quality site that focuses on quality content, and a great reader experience. That's what they want to see.
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  • Profile picture of the author FatGans
    Thanks for replays.
    Yes, I went trough all their documentation.
    I created one pretty good unique review for the product I personally bought and use. I was hoping to apply for the affiliate program with only that review but now looks like I need to add some more content before applying.
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  • Profile picture of the author ANDREIS
    If you intend to apply for Amazon Associates Program here's what you need to do:

    - Create a decent looking site. This means that your site is not cluttered with all sorts of non related links or photos. You can use Blogger or Wordpress templates, or any template you can edit with DreamWeaver or whatever website design software you're using. Just make sure there are no broken things on your site and that everything works.
    - Have at least 15 unique articles on your site. You can make it with less or more articles but 15 is a decent number.
    - Put Facebook comment plugin on your site. It's not necessary to have a page on Facebook for your site but it would help a lot in the eyes of those reviewing your site
    - Let your posts be about subjects that have related products on Amazon
    - Make sure you rank on Google on 1st or second page for some keywords related to some products that can be found on Amazon. If you're not ranking then you can say in your application that you're using PPC to drive traffic. This is good for you too because you don't need Amazon if you have no way of getting visitors.
    -This all is not a some out of the space work. It can be done. Get to work and you'll be good to go in a week if you're newbie. If you have experience you can put yourself to work and do this in 2-3 days.
    - In short, Amazon will be happy to accept a site which has content not copied from elsewhere and that has a way of attracting visitors for their products
    - Amazon is great to work with and they are not some evil force waiting to destroy you! All they want is for you to have a normal site capable of attracting visitors for their products. They are fair if you're fair, that's the only truth.
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