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Wordpress and Amazon Affiliates

by wisedave
16 replies
Hello,

I have been trolling WF and a couple of others in an attempt to gain a little knowledge about Amazon Affiliates. I have a couple of questions I am hoping somebody can help with.

I will be using Wordpress to built the sites. What is your opinion about the most effective theme? I guess this will be a matter of opinion, but there has to be a reason why you like the theme besides 'it looks cool'.

Would you recommend any plug ins to help with the core reason behind building the site? More specifically....related to Amazon and not just the standard SEO and Google plugins.

Another key questions is would you recommend designing the site as a 'review site', or more like a shop?

Thanks to any efforts put into this....along with older posts, any fresh input would be appreciated!

Have some fun,

Dave
#affiliates #amazon #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author joeho
    I am currently using wordpress review theme and is working well for me. For me i bulit a review site instead like a shop. Just made sure ur review content is good.
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      I have been selling Amazon products for several years (among several other endeavors ). I don't think the theme you choose has any bearing at all on your success, although I will say, a while back I (foolishly) invested in the Home Business Wordpress Review Theme. This was a complete mistake. Because it is recommended by one Amazon expert, it is used by hundreds who purchased his guide. It clearly creates too much of a footprint.

      Just use any WP theme you are comfortable with. Keep it clean and simple. Add some great review content of your own, walking prospective purchasers through the product with clear sub-headings and bullet lists.

      Don't use Amazon's own links. Use text links of your own.

      There is a lot of good and bad advice about Amazon here on the WF, so in the end it's up to you to follow your own preferences and see what works.
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    • Profile picture of the author williamrose
      I prefer review sites also.

      Themes really are a personal preference but I really like the standard wordpress theme (and so do many others.) It's clean, simple and easy to customize. I just make up a header and call to action image with xHeader (free)

      There's a ton of information regarding Amazon on this forum and even some great free courses to be found (Gaz Cooper's sig link springs to mind.)
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        When most people go hunting for a theme, what they're mainly looking at are the graphics - the header picture in particular.

        As long as the theme is easy to navigate and doesn't distract from your mission, you can tweak pictures and color schemes.

        As for your second question, if you are looking to build stand-alone sites, you likely want to stick to reviews. Shop sites can work well if they are an adjunct to a solid content site (if you have a site offering fishing information, a tackle shop added on is a service for visitors).

        I don't care much for the Amazon-specific plugins. Too many people are using them to put the same scraped content on their sites. While there's no "duplicate content penalty", if I'm hunting for something and I find the same scraped info on every site I visit, I won't give anyone credit. I'll just go straight to Amazon, and if an affiliate cookie is still active, so be it.

        But I'd rather not rely on the luck of the draw for referral fees...
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        • Profile picture of the author Tom Ryan
          The themes I like to use are Flexibility & Thesis. Both themes are very customizable, so I can tweak them to fit my needs.

          As far as amazon specific plugins, I don't use them. Some like them, but I prefer to create unique content.

          I create all my amazon sites as review sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author wisedave
    Thanks for all of the inpur so far.....

    I guess what I meant by a 'good theme' was something that does not have too much fluff and is 'easy on the eye'. Some themes would be better than others I would have to think.

    I am a total rookie to WP, so the learning curve is steep....

    Cheers,

    Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author IMhunt
    wordpress review theme works great for me. if you want you can add products in the sidebar also, other than in the review
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  • Profile picture of the author clou
    Hi,
    My suggestion is you to use shoperpress theme. The theme has an option to get amazon products embed on your website. But there are plenty of good themes. I like striking from themeforest among all the themes online.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Franklin
    Personally, I like the product review style blogs to sell Amazon products. Furthermore, simple themes with non-jarring colors always work best....Here's a great starting point:

    Best 2 Column Wordpress Themes
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  • Profile picture of the author BlueCollar
    I like well researched, original, and unique product reviews. I totally agree with a few others that most amazon plugins create almost all duplicate content.
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  • Profile picture of the author foxtrot3
    Here's my favorite free WP theme. It's very versatile and gives the user an amazing amount of control. There's even a user forum.

    Weaver | WordPress Weaver
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  • Profile picture of the author DR's Fynest
    I set up my Amazon sites as review sites. Also, call me paranoid, but I'm another one who avoids a certain theme that has become wildly popular among Amazon Affiliates.

    There are plenty of free themes (including the default WP theme) that fit the bill nicely.

    All you should be looking for in a theme is that it looks clean and minimalist. I always go with 2 columns and the sidebar has to be on the right side. Since people read left to right, the first thing visitors see is the content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Reed7
    Flexibility Theme, free, and as it states, very flexible, 1-2-3 column options, quick theme color change, etc., especially if just starting out. This is also a nice review theme format, and great for affiliate site.
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  • Profile picture of the author steve cooper
    I'd go for a review site rather than a shop, I just match a theme with the product that I'm promoting, just look through the free themes that word press provide and try them out.
    I'd also recommend Gaz Cooper's AMZ Academy and if you get in quick the membership is still free.....I'm not one of his relatives by the way LOL
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