As an Amazon affiliate, one of the best ways to showcase and promote your recommended products is by creating eye-catching product boxes. They typically include a product image, title, short description, pricing, and a button to purchase.
These display boxes allow you to highlight key details about the item, include attractive imagery, and make it easy for your readers to click through and purchase.
In the past, creating these Amazon product boxes with images often required a paid tool like Lasso or AAWP or extensive custom coding. This is because Amazon only allows affiliates to display product images and pricing via its official API.
However, I’m excited to share a free method to build professional-looking Amazon affiliate product boxes in about 30 seconds!
This method is for self-hosted WordPress bloggers.
I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process, from choosing your products to customizing the design. By the end, you’ll have everything you need to boost your Amazon affiliate earnings with high-converting product displays, all while remaining compliant!
Here’s what mine looks like:
Get Access to the Amazon Affiliate Product API
Before we start, you’ll need access to the Amazon API if you don’t have it already. If you have it, skip to the next section. If you don’t, here is how to get access:
PA-API Prerequisites
To get access to the Amazon Affiliate Program PA-API, there are a few key prerequisites:
First and foremost, you must be an active member of the Amazon Associates program. This means you have signed up for an Amazon Associates account and have been approved to participate.
You must have generated at least 3 sales in the last 30 days.
Once you have met these prerequisites, you’ll be able to access the Amazon Affiliate Program API and leverage its features to enhance your affiliate marketing efforts, such as retrieving product data, generating affiliate links, and tracking sales and commissions.
Request API Access
Once you have an active Amazon Affiliate account, you need to apply for access to the Amazon Affiliate Program API. This is done through the Amazon Affiliate Program dashboard.
To request access to the Amazon Associates API, you need to:
- Navigate to “Tools” menu and look for the “Product Advertising API” option.
- Click on the “Apply for API Access” button.
- Fill out the application form, providing details about your website and how you plan to use the API by creating product boxes.
- Submit the application.
After submitting your application, Amazon will review your request.
Once approved, Amazon will provide you with the necessary API credentials, including an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key. Write these down! These credentials will allow you to authenticate and make requests to the Amazon Product Advertising API.
Unfortunately, after getting approval, Amazon makes you wait 2 full days before they allow you to actually use the Access Key credentials made for you!
Auto Amazon Links Plugin
After searching high and low, I found a plugin that lets me create stunning product boxes using only the product’s ASIN or a keyword. I’ll show you how.
Download the Auto Amazon Links plugin on your site.
Once you activate the plugin, you’ll see a bunch of options to click on the side menu like “Manage Units” and “Add Units.” Ignore those. They have usage limits so it isn’t worth setting them up.
Instead, we’re going to use the plugin through its built-in shortcodes.
To start, we need to add our Amazon Access Key and Secret Key. Click Settings under the plugin name on the side admin menu bar.
Fill in your Associate ID, Access Key, and Secret Key. Click Submit to save the information.
Click over to the Default tab near the top of the screen. This is where you can control how the widget looks. You can customize the order of information, the button, and more.
Now, to use the plugin, you simply go to any Post and add a “Custom HTML” block.
There are 2 main shortcodes I use to display products. The first is a simple ASIN product display. The second displays a product based on a keyword search.
What is an ASIN? An ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) is a unique 10-character alphanumeric identifier that Amazon assigns to each product listed on its platform. The ASIN allows Amazon to track and manage product information, photos, pricing, and inventory across the Amazon ecosystem. The ASIN is located after /dp/ in any Amazon product URL.
Display Amazon Widget by ASIN
To display a product widget when you know the ASIN, simply use this code:
[amazon_auto_links asin='0804139296']
Display Amazon Widget by Keyword Search
Now let’s say you don’t have a specific product in mind, but you just want to pull the top result for a particular keyword. The Search option will do just that! You can even specify the number of results you want to appear. Here is the code:
[amazon_auto_links search='keyword here' count='3']
How easy is that?
Remember, you can adjust how you want the widget to appear using the “Default” tab.
You can also specify a number of other shortcode customizations, all of which are found under the Help menu and then “Tips” tab!
I’ve customized the product title, the description, the description length, the associate tag, and more – all from within the shortcode!
Navigate here to see all the options:
yoursite.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_type=amazon_auto_links&page=aal_help&tab=tips
Don’t Forget Compliance
When using the Amazon Affiliate Program API, you must adhere to Amazon’s program policies and terms of service.
I believe Amazon may take a closer look at the accounts of affiliates who use its API, and possibly audit them.
Make sure to properly disclose your affiliate relationship, maintain accurate product pricing information, and follow Amazon’s guidelines for using their intellectual property.