WP Amaz-One Update Fixes Banner Ads – June 2012
WP Amaz-One has been updated early in June 2012. I’ve been expecting this update, and Lisa Gergets — who is very ethical about keeping her products updated — is always quick to respond to Amazon’s API changes.
This update fixes broken Amazon banner ads that had failed to load for Amazon.co.uk Associates. That’s specific to UK Amazon Associates. For everyone else, the older Amaz-One version seems to be working fine.
If you’ve bought one of my websites during or after June 2012, the video tutorials are at this YouTube link.
In the past, people have asked if I provide plugin updates to my customers. That’s not possible with my business model. My websites include far more content than others in the same price range. I could not keep the price so low if I also had to stop my work to update people’s websites. (I cannot simply provide the update files; that’s against the terms of use for premium plugins.)
So, if you like a plugin that was included with your website purchase, you’ll need to arrange for updates directly with the plugin retailer.
Frankly, if you’re earning money from your Amazon-related websites, purchasing your own copies of plugins like Amaz-One should be a high priority. That way, you receive notices like this directly, along with a download link for the updated files.
Click here to visit the WP Amaz-One Plugin website
Plugins like Amaz-One are best for people who want to automate much of the work of listing Amazon products, with descriptions. I use Amaz-One on most of my own Amazon websites, to add new product posts when I’m too busy to manually add fresh content. It’s not my only way of listing and promoting Amazon products, but it’s an important one.
When I have time to manually add products and write articles and/or lengthy reviews, I use the free WP plugin, Amazon Product in a Post.
If you’ve bought one or more of my websites with lengthy articles and reviews, WP Amaz-One is ideal to automatically supplement those posts. This postpones (and, for some, prevents) the need to write your own articles or hire someone else to write them for you.
(Note: I never recommend relying entirely on autoblogging. There’s no value there to help your webpages rank well. However, good WordPress plugins can sensibly supplement your manual updates. That’s why I recommend Amaz-One.)
If you’re serious about earning a significant income as an Amazon Associate, WP Amaz-One is among the few Amazon-related plugins I recommend. It’s not vital, but it’s tremendously helpful. That’s why I include it with many of my Shiny Websites, so customers can give Amaz-One a good “test drive” to see its value.
As I’m writing this, we’re quickly moving into the time of year when it’s essential to add content steadily to Amazon-related sites for Halloween and the Christmas holiday season. This means fresh content and product reviews about Halloween costumes, ghost-related books and ghost hunting tools, Halloween party supplies, Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving-related products, Christmas decorations, and holiday gifts.
The simplest way to do that — and still enjoy your summer holidays — is to use a premium plugin like Amaz-One. There are plenty of premium plugins for Amazon products; I own copies of most of them. That’s why I’m so enthusiastic about Lisa Gergets’ products: She actually keeps them updated. Many (and perhaps most) premium plugin sellers don’t maintain the integrity of their plugins more than six months after the initial sale.
Click here to purchase your own copy of WP Amaz-One directly from Lisa Gergets.
Amazon Affiliate Websites and Copyscape
Don't be alarmed by Copyscape notices on product listings!
Top-quality Amazon affiliate websites will trigger the “copy” alert at Copyscape.
Don’t be alarmed by that. It’s not the kind of duplicate content you should worry about.
In fact, every top-quality Amazon affiliate site should use Amazon’s content in a way that triggers the “copy” alert at Copyscape.
Amaz-One, the premium ($97) plugin included with my sites sold at ShinyWebsites.com and at Flippa, takes authorized content from Amazon. I stress “authorized,” because — if you’ve read my recent book, “The Content Curation Handbook” — you know that many Amazon affiliates are using unauthorized content. That’s a very short route to having your Amazon affiliate account closed.
The Amaz-One premium plugin I include delivers only authorized content, copied to meet Amazon’s standards and Google’s, unless you select the “unique-fy” option. (I don’t recommend using that option, and sites I create never activate it.)
Authorized content — delivered to your new websites by Amazon via their API — is not “duplicate,” it’s “syndicated.” There’s a big difference in how search engines view syndicated content.
If you’re going to be an Amazon affiliate, you’ll want to use content delivered by Amazon’s API. That’s what Amaz-One delivers. It’s why I use Amaz-One on my premium websites. (On my budget sites, I include Amazon Product in a Post, which also uses Amazon’s authorized information.)
As I explained in my book, rephrasing or spinning Amazon’s content can cost you your affiliate account. In the past, some Internet marketing “gurus” actually recommended this practice. As a writer and a successful Amazon affiliate, I was appalled by those gurus’ advice.
As it says at Amazon.com Associates Central, in section 5:
“You will be solely responsible for your site, including its development, operation, and maintenance and all materials that appear on or within it. For example, you will be solely responsible for… using the Content, your site, and the materials on or within your site in a manner that does not infringe, violate, or misappropriate any of our rights or those of any other person or entity (including copyrights, trademarks, privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or proprietary rights);”
Then, as explained at Amazon’s Product Advertising API, section 3:
“You may obtain Product Advertising Content by making calls to the Product Advertising API.”
Amazon will shut you down if you’re using their copyrighted content without permission. You can either entirely invent your own descriptions of their products (not recommended) or you can use their approved content delivered by their API.
The latter is what I recommend, and it’s what I suggested in my book.
When you buy a website from me, the actual articles at your new websites — talking about the products and related topics in general — are entirely original. I wrote them myself. They’re not outsourced, not spun, and not cloned. I write them from my personal experiences with the products or my personal experiences in the niche.
That portion of the website you buy from me should never trigger an alarm at Copyscape. (If it does, let me know and I’ll insist that the illegal content is removed from any site that’s copied it.)
Even when you buy a content website from me — sites that include themes and articles, but no domain name — I limit the number of sites I’ll sell; there should never been so many articles matching mine that Copyscape returns a high duplicate count.
However, when Amazon’s approved content is part of an article, that approved content will be flagged as a “copy” because… well, it should be a copy.
If you start making up the official product description, or closely rephrase any reviews, that’s where you can get into trouble with Amazon. Use only Amazon’s API content, delivered by a premium plugin like Amaz-One. (And never use the rewrite/spin option in it, when you use it to add new articles. When I set up the sites, that option was not activated.)
You can add your own comments to the post. In fact, I recommend that. That’s why I build my websites with such rich product-related articles, to get you started.
If you’re going to have Amazon affiliate sites, you’ll want sites like the ones that I create. The Amazon API content will be a direct copy of Amazon’s official product descriptions, as it should be.
If you’ve bought an Amazon affiliate site with product descriptions that don’t trigger the Copyscape alarm, please make sure your new site isn’t violating Amazon’s copyrights.
Can You Make Money with Amaz-One?
This morning, someone asked me if people make money with Amaz-One.
I’m asked that question regularly. (People also ask me if anyone really makes money as an Amazon affiliate, or if — like me — they should go into the business of selling websites.)
Here’s what I said in my email, this morning. (Amusingly, my reply to him bounced back to me. He gave me a non-existent Gmail address. Weird.)
I’ve edited my reply a little, to give you a more in-depth answer.
As I see it, the question isn’t really about Amaz-One, it’s about Amazon. So, yes, I’m making money from my Amazon sites, and most of my sites are now using Amaz-One.
Amaz-One is just a tool that makes listing Amazon products faster and easier.
So, I can’t say which clicks are from Amaz-One listings and which are the ones where I used WP-Dollar or Amazon Product in a Post, or listed the Amazon product by hand. (I’ve been an Amazon affiliate for so long, my main affiliate ID doesn’t even have a -20 on it. Really.)
I can tell you that Amaz-One makes adding Amazon products so easy, I may phase out my website-building business and focus more on my own Amazon affiliate sites. In the last two months, since I started using Amaz-One, my Amazon income has increased dramatically… which it should, if only because I’m listing more products now.
Amazon pays you a commission on every product bought during a visit the resulted from your link… not just the product you linked to. It doesn’t matter if the person buys the product you recommended, or skips it and does other shopping at Amazon. That’s an important detail!
I promote art books at one of my sites, and they’re currently among my best-sellers and — weirdly? — I sell a ridiculous number of matching luggage sets. (No, I don’t have any Amazon links to luggage of any kind.)
I have no idea which of my links they clicked on when they started, before they landed at luggage.
So, what you’re really asking is if anyone’s making money as an Amazon affiliate.
I can assure you that the people who do talk about their Amazon affiliate successes — including Phil Henderson, Simon Greenhalgh (Linkwhizz at Warrior Forum) and Dan Brock — have definitely made money as Amazon affiliates… sometimes huge money. I’ve taken courses by each of them, and learned a lot.
(None of those are affiliate links. Phil is as real and solidly honest as it gets, and he earns my highest praise for anything he does. Simon is a genius who blurts wonderful tips while sharing rock-solid marketing advice. Mr. Brock is another genius whose email deluge drives me crazy sometimes, but his training includes hidden little gems that make the annoyances worthwhile.)
I could also find names of people who are earning a full year’s income in one month each year, either for the Halloween market or Christmas market.
There are lots & lots of strategies to do well with Amazon. It’s mostly a case of picking one business model and focusing on it, big time. Don’t let yourself get lost in the sea of “make money overnight” claims. Nobody really makes money overnight… not consistently, and not like the ads suggest.
The more Amazon products you talk about, the more your readers have an opportunity to click on Amazon product links. So, using Amaz-One gives you an opportunity to make money more easily. That’s all it does… but, for me anyway, that’s enough.
In addition, most people who make lots of money with Amazon… they’re not talking about it. I mean, what’s the point?
It’s like most careers. For example, most authors don’t teach writing courses, and only their publishers are likely to mention how much the authors earn from their books.
(I don’t tell people what my pen names are, I don’t teach writing courses, and I don’t divulge how much my own books earn. And, yes, my own books — the ones I’ve written — are my main income source. I build websites to sell, and have my own websites, for fun. That said, my Amazon affiliate income is quickly reaching the level I earn from my books. That’s pretty amazing.)
All Amaz-One does is make it easy to add Amazon products to your website. You tell the plugin what you’d like listed, how often, and how many words (up to 1000) to draw from the Amazon description. It adds the photo, the current price, the “buy now” button, and the description, automatically. (You can edit it, up to the word count you’ve chosen.)
You can buy Amaz-One to see for yourself, or you can buy one of my sites (or anyone else’s, who’s selling sites with that plugin) for a lot less than Amaz-One sells for, and see how it works.
After you’ve tried an Amazon affiliate site for a few months, you can decide if it’s something you enjoy and if you’d like to buy the plugin for yourself, and use it on all the sites you own.
Or, like most of my customers, you can just keep buying ready-made sites that have the plugin pre-installed. It all depends on how you want to spend your time… starting with a basic site, already built for you, or if you like to build your sites from scratch.
So, that’s my answer to the question, “Can you really make money with Amaz-One?” and “Can you really make money with Amazon?”
Very simply, yes.
If being an Amazon affiliate wasn’t a viable business model, I wouldn’t build and sell Amazon affiliate websites. My integrity isn’t for sale. I’d use that time to write more books, or paint landscapes, or do something else.
I’ve enjoyed being an Amazon affiliate, and though I’m not currently earning a full-time income from it — or trying to — I know that it works. Choose one business model, and perhaps one niche, and start there. Don’t get distracted. Just keep your focus on one thing. Once it’s doing well, you can build on that and try other things.
But, when you’re starting out, being an Amazon affiliate is one of the surest ways to earn money. Amaz-One simply makes the work easier, and gives you a chance to earn more money, faster.
WP Amaz-One Update – Use HTML
If you’ve updated to the latest (Feb 2012) version of WP Amaz-One, you may be surprised by what you don’t see: Content in the main Edit Post screen.
I talked about that in my review of the WP Amazon-One update. (In fact, I haven’t updated the plugin on many of my websites, including several that I’m selling.* The plugin is working fine for me at those sites, and I’m happy to wait for the next update, if it restores the ability to edit the post in the normal Edit Post screen.)
Here’s a tip to make it easier when editing your post in the February 2012 version of WP Amaz-One: You can use basic HTML within the Custom Fields screen.
I recommend the following steps when using the updated plugin.
1. Always choose the 1000 characters option in the settings. This gives you the maximum space to work with. (No matter what you do, your post cannot exceed the limit you selected in the settings.)
2. Then, go to the post you’d like to edit. When you get there, the Edit Post panel will be blank.
3. Scroll down to the Custom Fields section of your screen. If you don’t see it, click on Screen Options.
Then, select Custom Fields.
4. In the Custom Fields section, your post text is in the “amazon description” field. (It will be regular text, without HTML. In my screenshot, I’d already added the HTML to improve the post.)
5. Edit the text to add basic HTML. (In brackets: P for paragraph, I for italics, B for bold, and so on.)
If you do anything except add the basic HTML, be sure to separate your own content from the content fed to your site through Amazon’s API. (If I add comments, I put them first and then say, “Here’s the official product description from Amazon.com,” or something like that.)
Above all, do not change the wording in Amazon’s content. You can break it up with punctuation or line breaks, and/or add your own comments, clearly separated from Amazon’s content, but that’s all.
From my experience, you cannot use LI for line item. Instead, I’m using P (for paragraph) and adding an asterisk for the list item indication.
6. Keep a second tab (or window) open with the Preview version of your post. That way, you can see when you’ve exceeded the character limit of your post.
When you’re happy with your post, click “Update” to save it.
That’s all there is to it.
As I’ve said before, if you’re using Amaz-One for its intended purpose — to automatically update your website with Amazon products in autopilot mode — this update works better than ever. It has lots of very cool bells & whistles.
However, if you’re someone who prefers more control over your posts and you like to edit or enhance them, you’ll use the technique I’ve just showed you to edit the post in your Custom Fields areas.
*If you bought a website from me and it has the old version of Amaz-One, you can continue to use it… or you can ask me to install the Feb 2012 update for you, free of charge. To update the plugin, I will need access to your WP Dashboard. (Not sure if you have the old version of Amaz-One? Click here for more info.)
Ordinarily, I don’t update plugins for customers after the purchase. That’s a service you can add as a client, but with the large number of websites that I sell, I can’t offer free and continuous updates. (If I did, I’d spend all day, every day, updating sites.)
WP Amaz-One Update – Review and Tips
Until the February 2012 update, I managed my Amazon affiliate sites with the WP Amaz-One plugin. It’s not inexpensive and it’s not perfect, but — for anyone with an Amazon affiliate site — it’s been essential. And, even since this early February update, it’s still a very useful plugin.
In February 2012, an important WP Amaz-One plugin update was released. If you had the older version and you’re not sure how to update, click here for my tutorial with screenshots.
My review: Some good, some not-so-good
Here’s my preliminary review of this update:
This update was important for a couple of reasons, including the latest WordPress update and policy changes at some social media sites, regarding automatic posting. The update handles those two issues.
This Amaz-One plugin update also includes some cool new features, such as the ability to change the post layout, select different Amazon buttons to use, and automatically add product-related videos from YouTube.
However, some of these new features are clearly in development. (That’s fine. The only way a plugin developer knows what works and what doesn’t — after a limited beta release — is to see what happens when all users use the new version.)
Later in this post, and in a later post, I’ll explain what I’m doing to work around the temporary snags.
New buttons, new layout options
I love the new Amazon buttons. The red is definitely my favorite, since it’s been shown that red tends to trigger action. However, yellow (or gold) triggers right-brain activity, so someone may react (and buy) more emotionally with the gold buttons. (Your mileage may vary, of course.)
I like the new layout, but I tend to use the plain vanilla version anyway.
The video option is brilliant, when it works. So far, with a day and a half of testing, it’s only accurate half the time. A “visit England” post featuring a guidebook review… it included a Tanya Roberts video, “Tanya Roberts Outrageous Love…” Umm… not quite what I had in mind.
If you find the wrong video on your post, you can delete it by clicking the Delete button in the Custom Fields section of your WordPress post screen.
—
If you don’t see the Custom Fields sections on your Post screen, here’s what to do:
1. Click on “Screen Options” at the upper right corner of the dashboard.
Then, a whole list of options will open at the top of your dashboard. Be sure “Custom Fields” is checked. Then, reclick on “Screen Options” and that list will close.
—
Once you do see the Custom Fields options in your Post screen, continue with these steps.
Here’s a screenshot of the button to click. (I think you can update the keywords and see if you get a better video, but I haven’t tried that yet.)
I can live with that. I mean, it’s a cool option, when the bugs are worked out… if they can be. (People can spam YouTube videos with fake titles and keywords, so I’m not sure that any plugin will always add good, relevant videos.)
Older posts
Then there’s what happens to posts from the earlier version of Amaz-One. It looks like 95% of them are fine, but — now and then — one of them goes wonky. The price is $0.00 or something weird like that. Again, with automated posting software of any kind, there will be some errors.
One of my posts vanished from the on-screen navigation, but it’s still in the Sitemap. Weird, but — as I said — almost every plugin has glitches. This one isn’t critical. I’m only mentioning it so, if it happens at your website, you don’t panic.
The blank screen
It’s a little unsettling to see the post screen completely blank, so I can’t edit the post or add to it, in that screen. However — in the Feb 2012 update — you can use the Custom Fields options to edit your post. (See that link for screenshots.)
Then, save your edited post as you usually do.
My only problem so far? I’m generally limited to the 250- or 500-character post size that I initially specified. (I’m saying “generally” because once — and only once, so far — I was able to expand the post so it’s longer. I’m still trying to get this sorted out, with the Amaz-One developer.)
My summary
In general, this plugin does what it’s supposed to do, and it does it better than before: It automatically posts Amazon products, with reviews (if you want to include them), on a schedule.
So, I’m still using this plugin and including it in sites that I sell at Shiny Websites.
However, at this point, I don’t see any easy, reliable way to expand Amaz-One reviews the way I like to. I’m talking about the kinds of edits I make, described in my articles, Amazon Product Posts – Adding Content, and How to Enhance Your Amazon Product Posts.
I hope that Amaz-One will resolve this issue, soon. The developer assured me on 16 Feb 2012, “We are working on making some changes as per feedback from users. Will soon send updated version where it will be easy to change the content.” (Emphasis added.)
So, fingers crossed, the update will arrive soon.
In addition, I know that most people don’t do the kinds of editing that I do. So, it may not be an issue for you, at all.
My temporary fix for Amazon expanded reviews and posts
Until the new update — the one that once again allows us to change the post text easily — here’s what I’m doing:
First, I’m still using WP Amaz-One. It finds products and adds them as tagged posts, quickly, efficiently, and on a drip-feed schedule. Generally, I’m leaving those posts as-is. So, if you buy one of my Shiny Websites, you’ll still receive that plugin.
And, I’m still writing expanded reviews and related articles… but separately.
For that, I find the ASIN (or ISBN) for the product, by clicking on the product link (“Read more” or the “buy now” button) in the Amaz-One post.
Then, I look at the URL where I landed. It’ll look like this: 
That set of numbers (sometimes letters + numbers) immediately following the /dp/ are the ASIN. (Do not include the % or anything after that.)
I enter that into another, free plugin, Amazon Product in Post.
To install that plugin, here’s what to do.
First, go to Plugins > Add New in your WP dashboard.
Then, use the Search from on the Plugins – Add New page. Type in “Amazon Product.” That’s usually enough to locate the correct plugin.
The next screenshot shows the plugin you’re looking for. Install it and activate it.
Once it’s activated, you’ll need to add your Amazon keys and your Amazon affiliate ID so you receive your affiliate commissions for each product. You’ll do that in the Amazon PIP > Amazon PIP Options screen, on your WP dashboard.
With that set up, I’m writing the kinds of extended reviews I’ve usually included with some of my Amaz-One posts. Then, I enter the ASIN number (as explained above) into the Amazon PIP form, and ask it to post the product links below the post contents.
I can set that post to appear the same day as the related Amaz-One post, or on an earlier or later date.
Why use both plugins?
I know people will ask me why I’m using both plugins. The simplest answer is: Because I can*… but that’s a little too quick an answer, so let me explain.
First, Amaz-One is a good plugin and I’m hoping that another update will make it as useful as it was in the past.
For now, it automatically finds and posts Amazon products for me, on a drip-feed schedule. If I’m too busy to add anything else to my website, it’s still updating on its own, so my website always looks fresh for the search engines. That’s important. It’s also the primary purpose of Amaz-One.
So, it’s worth keeping.
In addition, my new websites will include both Amaz-One and Amazon Product in a Post plugins. Together, these plugins allow me (and you) to have a fresh website, running on autopilot. And, you and I can add the content-rich articles that make these websites stand out, attract more traffic, and earn more money.
Questions? Comments? Use the comment form with this article, so I can reply.
——–
*I tried running both WP-Dollar and Amaz-One, together, but it looks like the database gets confused. I can’t have both activated at the same time. Even with one active and one not, the combination have conflicts. So, though I’m happy to add WP Dollar for clients who prefer that, I can’t recommend having both installed on the same site.
On the other hand, Amazon Product in a Post and Amaz-One can run simultaneously without problems. That’s what I’m using.
Amaz-One Update – Feb 2012
Note: This tutorial is outdated. And, at some point, my illustrations vanished from my WP files. This page is too old for me to bother locating one year+ old graphics to restore. The instructions are still good, but the pictures… I may get back to this, later, but not now.
The new (February 2012) WP Amaz-One update is a major update, so — if you were already using WP Amaz-One — you’ll replace the plugin, not simply upgrade it… if you want to update it, that is. I recommend reading all of my reviews and articles about Amaz-One, before making that decision. For many of my sites, I’m continuing to use the old version.
However, most people will want the newest version of Amaz-One.
Here’s how to do that. (You may want to print out these directions, to follow along as you update your WP Amaz-One plugin.)
If you’re not sure if you have the current WP Amaz-One, here’s what to look for:
On the right side of your posts panel, you should see various Amazon “buy now” buttons. They’ll look like the following screenshot.
If you don’t see those, also check in your Amaz-One > Create Campaign screen, just to be sure. First, click on “WP Amaz-One” in your main WP dashboard screen. It’ll look like the screenshot, below. (The name turns red on my dashboard when I hover the cursor over it.)
From there, click on “Create Campaign.” It’s indicated by the arrow in the next screenshot.
If you already have the updated Amaz-One (Feb 2012), your screen should include the Amazon button options, shown in the next screenshot.
If you don’t see those buttons, you have an older version of Amaz-One. The February 2012 update adds those buttons, a video option, and more.
Here are the steps to take to install your update:
First, in your WordPress dashboard, go to your Plugins panel. Deactivate and delete the old Amaz-One.
Then, go to Plugins > Add New .
Choose “Upload” in the next screen.
In the upload form, search your hard drive for the new Amaz-One zipped file. (Remember: All plugins must be in .zip format, before you can upload them.)
In the next screen, click to activate it.
Don’t worry! All the settings and posts should remain from the previous Amaz-One installation.
Finally, be sure to watch the new videos about this update.
You’ll find the tutorials links from your WordPress dashboard. First, click on “WP Amaz-One.” Then, click on “Tutorials.”
The next screenshot shows the list of video tutorials. Click on any one to watch it. There are lots of changes and improvements in this new version of Amaz-One, so be sure to watch the videos.
The most important one is Video #4, Creating a Campaign. Pay close attention around the 13 minute mark. That’s where you’ll discover why your posts look blank in the Visual/HTML screens, and how to edit your posts… if you want to.
However…
If you click on that tutorial video link, you may see this. (It’s a screenshot from 15 Feb 2012.)
Don’t panic. At least as I’m writing this, you can still see the video at YouTube. (Link: http://youtu.be/qrMT8XlJOVU ) Either click on that link, or go to YouTube and search for “Lisa Gergets.” She has a series of how-to videos there.
Have a question or comment? Please leave them as comments. If you have questions, others will too. So, I’ll answer them here — in comments or as a new article — so everyone can discover the answers.
Amazon Product Posts – The Quick SEO Tweaks
Any basic Amazon product post can stand on its own and sell products. However, to rank well at search engines, it’s smart to make some minor tweaks to at least some of your Amazon product posts.
For on-page SEO, I use (and recommend) one of two methods:
1) Use SEO Scorer (a paid plugin included with all of my websites) plus All-In-One SEO plugin, a free plugin.
2) Or, use Yoast’s WordPress SEO, a free plugin. (You’ll find it at WordPress.org, and Yoast’s own site offers tutorials for more in-depth use of that plugin.)
Either way, here are the absolute basics to make your Amazon product post look better to search engines. These are the exact steps I take, before I do anything else:
1. Change the time of the post. If you’re using a plugin that automatically creates your Amazon product posts — such as Amaz-One, included with many of my websites — you’ll want to change the time the post is scheduled to appear.
It’s reasonable that, every Monday, you might post a new product at your Amazon affiliate website. Some people maintain a posting routine like that.
However, it’s going to look automated (or more than a little OCD) if every new product post appears at exactly 3:17 p.m.
You’ll edit that in the “Publish on” section at the right side of your New Posts screen, in your WordPress dashboard.
After you’ve changed the time (and possibly the date), be sure to click OK to save that new date or time. (The OK button appears only while you’re editing the publish date and time.)
2. Add a page description. You’ll do that in the Description section (in All-In-One SEO plugin) or in the Meta Description (in Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin).
Do your best to keep the description under 160 characters. Also, it can help to include a call to action, such as “Read what our reviewers said.” Or, especially for a critical review, you can ask a question such as “Do you know the truth about this product?”
Though classic lines such as “Don’t buy [product name] until you read this review,” etc., still work… well, they’ve been overused. If you like that approach, try to come up with an original line.
Note: You do not have to enter the title of your article in the SEO plugin form. It will default to the existing post title.
3. Add keywords or keyword phrases.
Finally, add four to six keywords (or keyword phrases) in the keywords section of your SEO plugin. Four is ideal.
Avoid repeating any words. So, for this cookbook review and product post, I didn’t say “cookbook” or “Moosewood” more than once, although I could have. (In other words, I could have said, “Moosebook cookbook, cookbook reviews, Moosewood reviews, New Classics.” But, I didn’t. That could look like something called keywords stuffing.)
Note: If you’re using Yoast’s excellent WordPress SEO plugin — as I do on many of my sites, even if I’m also using SEO Scorer — you may need to manually add the keywords option to your post panel.
To do that, in your WordPress Dashboard, go to the foot of the left column and click where you see a wrench (spanner) shape on a yellow background, and the letters “SEO” next to them. Then, click on “Dashboard” in the drop-down menu.
Be sure to check the box next to the meta keywords option, and save the changes.
4. (Optional) Double-check your Categories and Tags.
Sometimes, auto-posting plugins like WP-Dollar and Amaz-One generate categories and tags from the titles of the Amazon products.
If your post is better suited to a different Category, now is the time to change that.
You can double-check Tags as your posts appear, or go through the entire list in the Tags section of your Dashboard. (It’s under Posts.)
I like to go through the list right after I’ve added a new Amazon product posts campaign.
I start at the end of the list, and work my way to the front. That’s so the list doesn’t readjust itself as I work, making it possible to skip Tags without realizing it.
I look for punctuation, as well as words like from, and, the, and new, and anything else that doesn’t really make sense in a Tags list.
Remember: You don’t have to change anything on your Amazon product posts. If your sales are good, don’t fix what isn’t broken!
However, if you’d like to improve your traffic, your search engine rankings, and your sales, it’s smart to improve at least some of your posts. You don’t have to tweak every one of them. You don’t even need to tweak the majority of them.
Work with the time you have. Avoid trading one tedious job (your 9-to-5 job) for a different tedious job you do at home.
As soon as you can outsource this work, do. The simple tasks, like the ones on this page, are the easiest and least expensive to outsource.
These simple tweaks are the ones I add to my own Amazon product posts. Sometimes, I don’t have time for them, or I forget about them for awhile. (I’m busy, too.) So far, my websites and Amazon sales are doing fine.
However, attention to the simple, little SEO details can make a big difference in your online success. So, try to find time (or hire outsourcers) to handle these tweaks.
For additional SEO tips to improve your Amazon affiliate sites, see:
Amazon Product Posts – The Quick SEO Tweaks
Any basic Amazon product post can stand on its own and sell products. However, to rank well at search engines, it’s smart to make some minor tweaks to at least some of your Amazon product posts.
For on-page SEO, I use (and recommend) All-In-One SEO plugin, or use Yoast’s WordPress SEO. Both are free plugins available at WordPress.org. I usually include one of them, preinstalled with my websites.
Here are the absolute basics to make your Amazon product post look better to search engines. These are the exact steps I take, before I do anything else:
1. Change the time of the post. If you’re using a plugin that automatically creates your Amazon product posts — such as Amaz-One, included with many of my websites — you’ll want to change the time the post is scheduled to appear.
It’s reasonable that, every Monday, you might post a new product at your Amazon affiliate website. Some people maintain a posting routine like that.
However, it’s going to look automated (or more than a little OCD) if every new product post appears at exactly 3:17 p.m.
You’ll edit that in the “Publish on” section at the right side of your New Posts screen, in your WordPress dashboard.
After you’ve changed the time (and possibly the date), be sure to click OK to save that new date or time. (The OK button appears only while you’re editing the publish date and time.)
2. Add a page description. You’ll do that in the Description section (in All-In-One SEO plugin) or in the Meta Description (in Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin).
Do your best to keep the description under 160 characters. Also, it can help to include a call to action, such as “Read what our reviewers said.” Or, especially for a critical review, you can ask a question such as “Do you know the truth about this product?”
Though classic lines such as “Don’t buy [product name] until you read this review,” etc., still work… well, they’ve been overused. If you like that approach, try to come up with an original line.
Note: You do not have to enter the title of your article in the SEO plugin form. It will default to the existing post title.
3. Add keywords or keyword phrases.
Finally, add four to six keywords (or keyword phrases) in the keywords section of your SEO plugin. Four is ideal.
Avoid repeating any words. So, for this cookbook review and product post, I didn’t say “cookbook” or “Moosewood” more than once, although I could have. (In other words, I could have said, “Moosebook cookbook, cookbook reviews, Moosewood reviews, New Classics.” But, I didn’t. That could look like something called keywords stuffing.)
Note: If you’re using Yoast’s excellent WordPress SEO plugin — as I do on many of my sites, even if I’m also using SEO Scorer — you may need to manually add the keywords option to your post panel.
To do that, in your WordPress Dashboard, go to the foot of the left column and click where you see a wrench (spanner) shape on a yellow background, and the letters “SEO” next to them. Then, click on “Dashboard” in the drop-down menu.
Be sure to check the box next to the meta keywords option, and save the changes.
4. (Optional) Double-check your Categories and Tags.
Sometimes, auto-posting plugins like WP-Dollar and Amaz-One generate categories and tags from the titles of the Amazon products.
If your post is better suited to a different Category, now is the time to change that.
You can double-check Tags as your posts appear, or go through the entire list in the Tags section of your Dashboard. (It’s under Posts.)
I like to go through the list right after I’ve added a new Amazon product posts campaign.
I start at the end of the list, and work my way to the front. That’s so the list doesn’t readjust itself as I work, making it possible to skip Tags without realizing it.
I look for punctuation, as well as words like from, and, the, and new, and anything else that doesn’t really make sense in a Tags list.
Remember: You don’t have to change anything on your Amazon product posts. If your sales are good, don’t fix what isn’t broken!
However, if you’d like to improve your traffic, your search engine rankings, and your sales, it’s smart to improve at least some of your posts. You don’t have to tweak every one of them. You don’t even need to tweak the majority of them.
Work with the time you have. Avoid trading one tedious job (your 9-to-5 job) for a different tedious job you do at home.
As soon as you can outsource this work, do. The simple tasks, like the ones on this page, are the easiest and least expensive to outsource.
These simple tweaks are the ones I add to my own Amazon product posts. Sometimes, I don’t have time for them, or I forget about them for awhile. (I’m busy, too.) So far, my websites and Amazon sales are doing fine.
In addition, to rank well at Google, it’s better to under-SEO your posts than tweak them to absolute, 110% perfection. According to many professionals, and a comment by Matt Cutts at SXSW, hyper-fantastic SEO can be a red flag. Your site should look real, not cookie-cutter or automated.
Attention to the simple, little SEO details can make a big difference in your online success. So, try to find time (or hire skilled, up-to-date outsourcers) to handle these tweaks.
For additional SEO tips to improve your Amazon affiliate sites, see:
Amazon Product Posts – Adding Content
How to Enhance Your Amazon Product Posts
Not using Amaz-One yet? I include it with all of my Shiny Websites and most of my auction sites.
Amazon Product Posts – Adding Content
Product posts are the heart of any Amazon affiliate website. They usually include the name of the product, a photo of it, a description by the manufacturer, and a few reviews. These posts also include a “buy now” link to encourage your visitors to purchase through your affiliate link.
However, when you’re using software such as Amaz-One, WP-Dollar, or other WordPress plugins, that’s all you get: The content from Amazon.
There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve had remarkable success with websites that simply auto-load the product posts.
However, to rank well at search engines such as Google, you’ll want to add more content to some of those product posts.
If you want to do that — and it’s not necessary — here are the basic steps to follow.
At right is a typical product post generated by Amaz-One. It looks pretty good. It’s a post about a cookbook called “Moosewood Restaurant – New Classics.”
(I’ve set Amaz-One so it includes reviews in the product post itself, but not on the website’s homepage.)
The only problem with this post is that legendary “duplicate content” issue.
If this post is all that’s at your website, Google (and other search engines) won’t see any reason to feature your Amazon product post above the hundreds of others.
So, it’s helpful if you give them a good reason to like you better than other, similar websites.
Google wants to see things like:
- Steady activity at your website. This includes frequently-added posts, comments by visitors, and so on.
- Posts that include more than just content pulled from Amazon.
- Articles that provide unique, helpful content that’s relevant to your niche.
- Links back to your website, preferably from respected websites.
- Additional, related media: Audios, Videos, more photos, maybe a PDF people can download, and so on.
Here are the basic steps I take on some (not all) of the Amazon product posts at my websites.
Step One – Read the reviews
The first thing I do is go to Amazon and study the editorial reviews. Here’s what that looks like, for the Moosewood book. (If that’s too small to read, click here to see the page at Amazon. It will open in a new window.)
I’ve highlighted (with yellow) the phrases that I can use for a good, enhanced review.
And, if that’s not enough to work with, I can see more editorial reviews (where the red arrow is pointing, in my illustration, above.)
Then, I skim the best and worst review for the product, for more review ideas.
Then, tell a story that includes the important points
Here’s the first draft of my lead-in to the Amazon product information. It took me less than 30 minutes to write.
Moosewood cookbooks are great. I’ve been a fan of Moosewood’s recipes since my kids were little. Moosewood made it easy to feed them healthy food they really liked.
However, when Moosewood came out with this Moosewood Restaurant – New Classics, I was nervous. I firmly believe you shouldn’t fix what wasn’t broken in the first place.
When I received this cookbook, I anxiously flipped through its pages, worried that I’d see something too fancy, and too far removed from Moosewood’s classic, homestyle cooking.
Instead, I found recipes that are delicious and easy to make. I’d always liked their recipes for black beans, but their new recipe, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash is tasty, healthy, and it’s really economical.
We’re big fans of real, homemade macaroni and cheese. So, I was delighted and surprised when I saw Moosewood’s yummy recipe for Macaroni and Cheese with Tofu. Wow! Why didn’t I think of adding tofu to our favorite mac & cheese dinners?
We live near the coast, so the chapter on seafood was an instant hit in my kitchen. And, with a family on-the-go, the sections on sandwiches and wraps — a great alternative to fast food, when we’re on the road – just might make this my favorite Moosewood cookbook so far.
One of my biggest complaints about many “healthy” cookbooks as well as restaurant recipes, is the ingredients. Sometimes, the recipes call for ingredients I’ve never heard of, and I’m not about to run all over town, trying to find products I can’t even pronounce.
So, though most of the recipes use ingredients already in my kitchen, I was delighted to see the section on substitutions in this cookbook, too. (This could be especially useful for people with food allergies, or on restricted diets.) The vegan recipe for mock sour cream is especially good.
Though this cookbook continues in the Moosewood tradition of dairy-rich vegetarian meals, there are enough vegan recipes to balance your diet with low-fat gourmet treats.
Some readers objected to the number of recipes that include soy products. In many cases, I could just leave the soy products (tofu, tempeh, etc.) out of the recipe. At other times, I was able to substitute other, everyday ingredients. (We’re not strict vegetarians, so chicken and buffalo burgers are among the ingredients I can include, instead.)
Others felt that that ingredients were too exotic, citing goat cheese as “unfamiliar.” In my family, feta cheese and other goat cheeses are part of our regular meals. So, if foods like that seem too strange for you, I recommend more mainstream cookbooks.
Another reader felt the recipes were more side dishes than entrees. In my kitchen, that was a big reason we love this Moosewood cookbook! For many of us, eating healthier means eating a wider variety of vegetables at each meal. So, for my family, this cookbook is exactly what we’ve wanted.
With Moosewood Restaurant – New Classics, I’m making more — and more interesting — dishes for our meals. And, because I’m making more, many of those dishes stretch for a second day. Dinners have become an evolving celebration, as I make a few new dishes each day.
All in all, I think this is one of the best Moosewood cookbooks, so far.
At the foot of that, I added:
Here’s what the publisher said about this wonderful cookbook.
HOW TO ADD THAT KIND OF TEXT TO YOUR REVIEW
To enter all that text in the review, I couldn’t just start typing in the Visual tab of the product post. The code just didn’t want to budge to let me separate my review from the rest of the post.
So, I clicked on the HTML tab. Here’s how the original, 40-word post looked in that tab:
See where the red arrow points in that illustration? That’s where you’ll place your cursor, and hit “Enter” a few times to clear some space. That simply moves the HTML text down a few lines. It won’t affect the final review. It’s just a way to create more space to add more text.
In that HTML tab, I started writing my extra review information. Then, I went back to the Visual tab to continue writing. That way, I could use things like bold and italics, and see what the finished results would look like.
After that, I left the original Amaz-One content “as is” and simply added another graphic at the top of the product post.
THE FINISHED REVIEW
On the right, here’s what the finished product post looked like.
In addition to providing unique and useful content, my review took a 40-word post and turned it into a 630-word post. The whole thing took me less than half an hour.
If I do that to just one Amazon product post each week, it turns my website into one with far greater value for my readers… and in the eyes of search engines like Google.
KEEP IT EASY, FUN AND SIMPLE
Remember, I don’t write something this long for every product post. In fact, I’d probably do this for just one product per month.
In general, I add about one or two paragraphs to every third or fourth review.
(That’s a ten-minute job at most, once you get used to doing this. Or, if you’re simply not a writer, it’s something you can outsource.)
I also add an occasional article, related video, or a relevant podcast.
I talk about that in my article, How to Enhance Your Amazon Product Posts.
As I said at the beginning of this, you can leave your Amazon product posts exactly as they are.
As long as they keep appearing on an irregular schedule, and you add original content now & then to keep the site fresh, you may be fine.
I’ve been amazed at how little I need to do, to maintain a good spot at Google. Of course, a lot depends on the niche, the competition, my domain name, and so on.
However, to be sure you rank well in your niche, it’s helpful to include more than just basic Amazon product posts.
If you have any questions about this, leave a comment or use my Contact form, linked above. I’m happy to be helpful when I can!
How to Enhance Your Amazon Product Posts
If you’re starting with a basic Amazon website, it probably has product descriptions and illustrations, and maybe a review or two with each post.
That basic post is pulled directly from Amazon’s site, if you’re using a plugin like WP Amaz-One or WP Dollar.
Though I’ve had surprising success with sites that include just that information, I like to enhance some of my product posts with additional content.
Here are some post enhancement tips you may find useful.
Add your opinions, or others’
Visit the Amazon page for the product. Skim two of the top reviews and two of the most negative reviews.
With that information, you have a good idea of the pros and cons of the product.
Summarize them in your own words, before the product description. Then, say something like, “Here’s the official description of the product,” and let the auto-generated Amazon content follow it.
Add another graphic
If you have enough unique, added content at the top of the post, you can add another graphic.
Studies suggest that it shouldn’t be another photo of the product. Instead, it should be a picture that’s related to it, or how a person might feel when they own the product (happy), or something like that.
If all else fails, a cute baby animal photo always works.
Most of my images come from Stock.xchng. They’re free. I use the Advanced Search, entering my keyword and then selecting “Restricted OK > No.” I click on the thumbnail of the photo that appeals to me, and then save the next image that appears, not the huge one you’d see at the next click.
There are many other websites with free photos and illustrations. Be sure to read their terms of use. Just because a photo is at Flickr and it has a Creative Commons license, doesn’t mean you can use it any way you’d like to. (Usually, Flickr photos require at least a copyright symbol and the name of the photographer.)
Link to another, related product or post
Since you’re starting with Amazon’s own content, it’s not unique. It will help you at search engines and attract visitors, if you add as much original and unique content as you can.
Maybe you’d like to link to another post at your website, talking about a related product. (Get ideas from Amazon’s own page for the initial product. Check where Amazon says something like, “People who bought this product also purchased…”)
Then, give a brief summary of why your visitor should also look at that post.
For example, if I were reviewing a book about ghost photography, I might want to create a post about a good digital camera that takes great photos in low-light conditions.
At the book review, I might say, “If you’re hoping to take great ghost photos, here’s a camera I recommend.” Then, I’d link to my review post about that camera, or I’d link directly to the Amazon page for that camera.
Create related posts with curated content
I’m a big fan of curated content. It can be the key to great content, hiding in plain site.
Basically, you’re finding great links to related subjects, sharing a small part of the article at each link, and making sure your reader can visit that link easily.
Then, you explain why you’ve included it, so your post is content-rich and original, not just a bunch of links. (Well, a few sites like Drudge Report have been successful listing only links, or minimal added content, like Fark.)
One of my favorite, geeky articles about what makes curated content work is this one by Robin Good. I actually printed that and put it in one of the how-to notebooks on top of my desk.
If your website features books or movies, you could create a curated article with a relevant interview (printed, audio or YouTube) linked in your post or even included in it.
To make it easy to find relevant content to include, I add Content Buddy to most of my websites. (That plus the Amaz-One plugin are a dynamic duo, and good reasons to buy websites from me, since both are usually included in my sites.)
However, I’m also a fan of desktop curation software called CurationSoft. (I have the pro version, but you can try the free version to see how it works.) Though I’ve successfully used Content Buddy (and include it in most of the sites I sell), CurationSoft is the curation software I actually use. For my purposes, it’s a little more robust than Content Buddy… but the latter is fine when you’re deciding whether to include curated content at your website.
What to do with curated content
If you’re adding just a single blurb/link, you can include it above or below the Amazon product description.
Otherwise, I like to create a separate post with the curated content. Not only is it a magnet to attract (and keep) readers, you can use that post to link to your Amazon product post, and vice versa. This gives your site more depth.
Once you develop the habit of adding curated content, it’s a breeze to assemble. Or, if you’re someone (like me) who loves “ooh, shiny!” trivia and information, it can be fun. However, there can be a learning curve. Have patience!
(If all else fails, ask me to create some curated content for your specific niche. That’s on my to-do list for my new-for-2012 PLR site.)
Naked works, too!
Remember, you don’t have to enhance or embellish any of your Amazon product posts.
From what I’ve seen, a steady stream of related product posts — with no additions at all — can rank well and generate traffic and sales.
However, to make your site memorable and bookmark-worthy, with a low bounce rate, it’s smart to enhancing some of your Amazon product posts.
Whether you add your own opinions, extra photos, YouTube videos, or curated content, there are plenty of easy and relevant ways to expand and enhance your Amazon product posts.
Give it a try. See what happens. You may have more fun with your websites, and earn more money at the same time.
