The following is an interview with an Amazon affiliate marketer and programmer,Tom. We have met him on BWH forum. He has created some threads at the forum with excellent information for new affiliate marketers. One of them was a step by step blueprint on Amazon Keyword Research & Site Building, an excellent guide for any new Amazon affiliate marketer ( link below to the interview ).
NM: Hi Tom, Thank you very much for your taking the time to give the interview. We appreciate a lot. We are excited to have you on board. Our readers will learn a lot from you. Many will get the chance to fix issues of their non-performing amazon websites. Many new affiliate marketers will find the right direction to build new sites. Would you please give us a brief introduction about you?
NM: I’m a tech entrepreneur. Part businessman, part programmer, full problem solver and one of my areas of passion is Internet Marketing and SEO.
Right now I’m focused on building an empire of Amazon review sites. I have several review sites ranking in Google and I’m actively working on building more, and improving the rankings of my current ones.
I also have some other software projects on the go just now, but I’m not ready to publicly talk about those. 🙂
NM: Almost in every niche or topics Amazon review sites are built. Many of them are already failed to earn decent income consistently. Do you think there is still any chance of building profitable Amazon niche site?
Tom: Amazon review sites have gotten incredibly popular and Amazon is more profitable than ever.
It’s not a quick money making scheme, but if someone works hard and makes a solid plan of action that they take action on over 6 months to a year, it’s very do-able to get up to $500 to $1000 per month within a year.
From there, that money can be reinvested into more sites and within another year most people can be making $5k/month on full autopilot.
That’s the best thing about Amazon review sites. They are pretty much 99% hands off once they’re up and ranking.
NM: What are most important factors should be taken care of to make successful website?
Tom: IMO the single most important factor is niche selection. I see too many newcomers picking incredibly difficult niches where they’re competing with experienced SEOs with 5 figure monthly SEO budgets, when they themselves have no experience and maybe $100 to spend.
Choosing a low competition niche will MASSIVELY increase your chances of success.
NM: If you observe most of the Amazon review sites are built following the same pattern. The home page has some introductions followed by a comparison chart, things to consider, the excerpt of top 5 product reviews and conclusion sections. If you analyse the other contents in the site, you will find most of them have product review pages and a few “how to guide” or general articles. Will this model work in future as well? Do they fall in a thin content category site? Is there any chance of getting any soft or hard penalty if there is any manual review by Google?
Tom: I think it’s a great formula and I can’t see it changing anytime soon. The big review authority sites like http://www.toptenreviews.com/ use this formula.
The key to making it work long term is to create SUPER articles of 3000-5000 words, and really go into detail. A 1000 word article won’t cut it anymore.
NM: How these types of sites can be improved further?
TomSplit testing different types of buttons and tables. Trying different colors and wordings. As long as any clickable images are the product image on Amazon, and buttons are clearly marked “Buy from Amazon” you’ll be safe. Always have an Amazon rep check over your page after making changes you’re unsure about, though.
NM : What can be done to make a non-performing amazon affiliate site to make profitable?
Tom : More keyword research. Looking into potential juicy keywords the site owners might be missing and optimize those by creating bigger, more targeted pages. Specifically making sure that products being targeted are at least $50, preferably $80-$100+
NM: What are your link building strategies for Amazon niche sites?
Tom : I test out different things for different sites. I tend not to do the exact same thing twice, since I like to find out what effect different SEO plans will have.
I generally create manual web 2’s on tier 1, as well as some manual comments, bookmarks and social links. I use 301 redirects to pump up my 301’s, and for the extra power PBN links. All brand and naked anchors on tier1.
NM: Do you write or hire writers for Amazon site? If you hire writers, that are the sources?
Tom : I have a fantastic team of writers that produces all my website and tier 1 content. I don’t write for my Amazon sites. I prefer to write about things I love, like business and SEO!
NM: What are your Top 5 things you want to share or tell amazon affiliate marketers who build sites to promote products.
Tom :
- Get really strong at on-page SEO and siloing
- Constantly be looking out for niche ideas. They are all around you in daily life.
- Remember: SEO is a long slow game. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get instant results.
- Be persistent!
- Enjoy what you do.
NM: Tom, thank you very much. I wish you all the best.
Tom: You are most welcome.
Link To Tom’s Guide On Amazon Site Building on BHW forum.
