I am a very successful Amazon affiliate. Because I make part-time what many folks make at a full-time job, I can do things and have things that others cannot. For this, I am very thankful. To read more about my IM experience, visit my About Me page.
As a recognized expert when it comes to earning with the Amazon Associates program, I provide information that comes from experience, not theory.
My Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint (Revision 3)
I own several product review sites monetized with Amazon affiliate links. The sites are built far differently than what many "gurus" will suggest. As a result, I get to spend most of my time actually creating quality content rather than spending endless hours backlinking and researching keywords.
The best part is that with just simple social bookmarking, many of my sites are indexed and ranking on page one of Google within 72 hours in most cases. As such, I am generating affiliate link clicks and commissions within a week of site creation because my traffic is laser-targeted and ready to buy.
Thisguide details my personal strategy for building Amazon review sites that convert and require almost no backlinking at all. This 14-page guide reveals my own strategy for identifying low-competition products as well as a full-page diagram of how I lay out my own product review pages.
In this guide, I discuss:
- How I identify HOT products that people are going crazy over RIGHT NOW – Using a technique that typically isn’t discussed in the open, you can use this strategy to identify products that THOUSANDS of people are ACTIVELY looking to purchase RIGHT NOW!
- My strategy for finding low competition products – Everyone wants the latest and greatest widget. Learn how I find the newest products that people are searching for. I also uncover how I find hidden "oldie-but-goodie" gems that nobody else if promoting.
- The plugins I use & why I use them – There are key WordPress plugins that I use to add some cool functionality to my sites. There are others that I use to get indexed and ranked quickly. Learn what they are.
- My personal review format – This guide even provides an illustrated diagram of what my product review sites look like.
- My keys to a successful authority site – Although 3-page mini-sites may be effective to a degree, authority sites are where it’s at. They are far easier to maintain and more cost effective as well. Learn how I do it.
THIS GUIDE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!
My blueprint has been rolled into my latest INTERACTIVE OFFERING:
Newbie’s Guide to Product Review Sites
The Newbie’s Guide to Product Review Sites includes all of the same great information that my blueprint did and a whole lot more! It also presents it in an INTERACTIVE format so the LARGE community of owners and I can now discuss it and exchange tips and tricks!
It’s a living, breathing guide that will be updated regularly!
Whether you are a newbie or not, this is the DEFINITIVE GUIDE to building product review sites.
In addition to lots of great, interactive information, the Newbie’s Guide provides you with the same checklist that I use when building my sites and sites for my clients. It also provides you with LIVE DATA FEEDS of the latest and greatest LOW-COMPETITION products, drastically reducing your research time when looking for easy-to-rank products! We even have a GOOGLE FEED coming!
Click here to read more about the Newbie’s Guide to Product Review Sites.
Do you help people develop blogs to go with amazon stores?
I actually build full on sites for folks.
Hi I have recently purchased your blueprint, I was wondering if there was a discount if I was to upgrade to review sites made easy
Is there a reason why you post only 1-2 articles per day? From your experience does posting more, say like 10 posts in one day, negatively affect the site?
Just a preference.
Great post. Very refreshing given all the duplicate content out there. Thanks for doing something original.
He has completely eliminated the learning curve and done 99% of the work for you.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for answering my earlier questions.
Couple more for you.
What exactly is included with your Amazon Affiliate Starter kit? Is the blueprint and review sites made easy a part of it.
In other words, does the kit include everything I need to start building amazon sites, finding keywords, using themes or plugins and ranking the sites?
It is sort of confusing trying to figure out which product to buy here.
I see from comments on WF that you use onlywire. Is it necessary to have this in the beginning. I ask because $99 a month is kind of steep when starting out.
Thanks for your answers.
Hi RJ….
I’ve rolled everything up into Review Sites Made Easy. This product includes the Blueprint, the WordPress theme, the back-end review system, and several how-to videos.
It’s everything you need to get started.
You do not need to pay $99 for OnlyWire to get started. The trial allows for 300 submissions.
Tom
I saw your comment about auto blogging plugins in a thread on WF after posting the above question.
As I can see, you are not a fan of them.
One last questions, do you suggest any themes to use in your blueprint? I’m looking for a theme that looks clean and allows for posting content along with the product. I don’t like the store type sites that display lots of products without much content.
Thanks again.
Hi RJ…
I will admit I own 1 or 2 Amazon autoblogs and they do earn income. That said, I built my own proprietary spinning system that’s product-specific so I’m certain very few, if any, are doing it the way I am. That said, I wouldn’t recommend autoblogging to most people.
As for theme recommendation, I included the GazpoMag theme with my Review Sites Made Easy software because it’s niche-agnostic and can be used for any niche. It’s clean and fits your needs.
Tom
Hello,
While researching info about WPZone Builder on the WF, I came across your site.
I’m interested in your blueprint but have one question.
Do you use any plugins like WPZB? Do plugins like those help even if I build sites according to your blueprint?
Thanks
I don’t use plugins like that since my own software (Review Sites Made Easy) allows me to create well-designed reviews in less than 15 minutes.
Hello, I think soon I’ll buy your guide when I sell a domain…
Now a question, do you use to have an static home page as home page of just the lastest posts there?
Some of my sites just show the last several posts and others show a static. I have no preference.
Hi Tom,
I’m an Amazon affiliate myself and was really interested in purchasing your guide…However, before I do that, wanted to know the difference between the 2 reports you’ve mentioned above; ie:1) My Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint and 2) Building a Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time
I’m already earning somewhere close to $100/month with Amazon and know about SEO, layout, writing reviews etc but am having problem ranking my individual pages for their respective keywords. So don’t you think your 2nd report is more suited for me?
Regards,
Armaan
Hi Armaan…
TBH, I’m probably going to take the second one off the market in the coming days. The Amazon Review Site Blueprint is more in-depth than the second one.
Tom
So do you mean to say the 2nd report is outdated or that the 1st one covers the 2nd one as well?
From what I read about your 2 reports, the 1st one includes themes, how to structure reviews etc…I already know all that so might not be interested in that…What I’m looking for is how to build an authority site using long tail keywords that can be ranked quite easily and monetizing each of those posts with Amazon….so I guess the 2nd one is a better fir for me right?
I wouldn’t say the longtail one is "outdated". It’s just not as detailed as the blueprint. To clarify: the Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint talks about my personal strategies for building Amazon review sites and how I identify low competition products.
The Ultimate Product Review System is a WSO that features the full version of the software (includes 11 themes, 6 review templates, and instructions.
My Amazon Affiliate Starter Kit is geared toward the new Amazon affiliate. It includes a "lite" version of the Ultimate Product Review System, my blueprint guide, and 5 or 6 high-def step-by-step instruction videos.
The Building a Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time tutorial is a very brief explanation of how to search for low competition products.
I bought your Amazon program last night and it opened my eyes. I know how to target long tail keywords, but I never thought of doing it your way. One question though, and I have look all over without finding an answer:
How do you create your Advanced Amazon Buy Now Button? I found the images, but do you just use your typical affiliate link to the product or is there a better way?
Also, do you cloak your affiliate links at all?
Hi Benjamin…
If you go into the Amazon Web Services section, they provide the HTML code for you to customize. I’ve implemented this code into the one or two of the review templates in the full version of the Ultimate Product Review System.
I cloak my links on some sites and on others, I do not.
Tom
Hi wolfmmiii,
I just purchased your course (Invoice ID is 4kd3dupoks34bu5aa5ilcztx0c8ookc4o4gk0w8) and I’m starting to go through it. I just had a quick question. Do I keep writing reviews about the products I pick? Or, do I simply write a review about one product and move on to the next product? I’m asking this based on two concerns I have:
1) How do I keep the content of my site fresh, if its only one review per product?
2) And, without any backlink building, don’t I run the risk of losing Google ranking for my low-hanging review article once the product "takes off" and other, more authoritative sites, start writing about it?
Thanks for your feed back, wolfmmiii.
Hi Ricardo…
I only post one review per product and then I move onto the next one. Without backlinking, you certainly can run the risk of losing rankings for products that become popular. However, since most products that you’ll be promoting will generally fly under the radar, it’s usually not an issue. Now, if you do hit a grand slam with a product, by all means, do some linkbuilding if you desire.
Thanks for purchasing! I hope it helps you find success.
Tom
Intresting reading here, could be a something to test out. Do you use exact match domains for the product or more of a general domain name? I have several domains and some of them could be used for testing unless it should be an exact match. In another hand, you say you make four figures a month. How many sites do you have for reach up to that level?
I do not use exact-match domains. I prefer brandable domains, of which, I own just a handful of.
Does your Amazon Blueprint (which I’ve just bought) include the method you describe in "Building A Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time"?
Hi Raych…The Blueprint is a much more in-depth guide that does cover what’s in “Building A Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time”.
I like the information about creating content instead of doing back links. Your post on creating a site using long tail keywords, very interesting. I’m always looking to educate myself on making better Amazon Niche sites. I will get your tutorial review very soon.
Debbie
Azon Store Themes
Hi Wolfmmiii!
I just bought your ‘My Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint’. It’s Good, tought me a few things. You do talk straight forward sense on Warrior forum about different ways to sell on Amazon.
I’ve started to look for products to review this way now. Have you ever been asked by Google to enter a Captcha when performing the Amazon search query on Google Search Page? I have, but I just logged into Adwords and never got asked again for that day.
Regards Alan….
Hi Alan…I’m glad you like the guide. Yes, I do occasionally get prompted with a captcha.
hey tom, what number of searches per month keywords do you go for and how do you determine if they are low competition?
thanks
I don’t worry about search volume. My blueprint guide goes into detail on how I identify low competition products and products that are easy to rank.
Is the "Building a Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time" included in the "Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint"? If not, what is the difference between them?
Hi Jackie…
Building a Product Review Site One Long-Tail at a Time is a very short read and talks primarily about the theory behind building a site around low-competition products. The blueprint covers the same info plus a bunch more stuff and is much more in-depth.
Tom
I bought it from your WSO on Warrior Forum for Ultimate Product Review System Lite version for $19 , but I did not get Bonus Content there. I paid it using Paypal with Invoice ID:4kd3dtvcsqamqcesx0mqm4x3k88ok4ko0ws8gkg
Regards,
Stevel
Oh, OK. Gotcha. Thanks for purchasing the review system! I don’t include the blueprint as a bonus on the lite version. However, I’ll make an exception for ya. I’ll send the blueprint over to your paypal address sometime today.
Hi,
I just bought your Ultimate Product Review System today. I liked it. But can I get your Personal Amazon Review Site Blueprint as a bonus? I still have no idea how to select my products for my own product review sites.
Thanks,
Stevel
Hi Steve…
I’m glad you liked the Ultimate Product Review System! If you purchased it through my WSO on Warrior Forum, it should have come with "Bonus Content" folder. Inside that folder is the blueprint.
Tom
Does your strategy work for non-product based items such as lead generation, pay per call, and/or email submits that aren’t related to brand names?
For example, I’m promoting a CPA offer about debt consolidation…would I be able to use this guide for promoting an offer like debt consolidation?
Hi Brittany…
This strategy is best suited for for physical products. Now, since the Ultimate Product Review System is more about site formatting and review templates, that product might be useful for you. However, the blueprint probably wouldn’t help you.
Tom
Ok, thanks for the response!
Just one more question…
How seo optimized are your review articles? Do you focus them on researched keywords?
Thanks for the help!
Hi,
I was wondering how many purely informational articles (how to’s, buyer guides, etc.) you have on your Amazon sites?
Thanks,
Brendan
Hi Brendan…
Very few actually. It’s something I do want to ramp up but since my actual reviews typically rank so well and so quickly, it’s hard for me to motivate myself to add other content.
Tom
Interested in your ‘Build a site one keyword at a time" tutorial. Just one question before I buy it; do you need Market Samurai to get your keywords? I tried MS a while ago, and it just constantly crashed on me.
Hi ..My tutorials go over how I do things personally with my own sites. Since I target low competition products, I don’t use any keyword tools. My tutorial explains how I do it. The amazon blueprint gets into more detail.
Hi,
The biggest problem that I have with creating these sites is:
creation of the website: which to use – wordpress, blogger, freehand html, etc. There’s so many themes/layouts/formats, which ones convert the best and allow you to still look ok to readers so they wont leave immediately
Is this covered in your book? If so, I’m going to grab it
Hi Justin…
I use WordPress exclusively for my money sites. I might use the odd blogger blog occasionally but it’s rare and usually for testing/research. My Amazon blueprint provides a full-page diagram of how I lay out my review sites. Themes are largely overrated. They don’t have as big an impact on conversions as people think. Content does. As such, pick a clean theme that’s not cluttered and go for it!
Tom
Quick question for you, is it best to build a site that is reviewing several different products all within the same category such as cameras or is it better to focus on a single item?
Thanks
Brent
Hi Brent…
I prefer niche sites that cover several products. For example, if I knew cameras very well, I’d create a site like pointandclick.com and provide reviews of many different digital cameras, broken down by category (SLR, point/shoot, professional, underwater, etc). Focusing on a single product becomes trouble when that product is no longer available or has been replaced by a newer model.
Tom
Just bought and read your Amazon Review Site Blueprint. I liked it!
Thanks Tak! I’m glad you liked it. I hope it helps you in your Amazon endeavors! My goal was to provide a fairly quick read while giving actionable advice based on my own experiences. I believe I’ve accomplished that with this tutorial.
Your blueprint summary says your posts rank within 72 hours. How do you do that? Are you using a blog network or link wheel?
Hi Joanne…
The combination of keyword selection, good content, and the initial bookmarking are typically enough to get the bots crawling my sites. Since I target low-competition products, Google is just dying to find good content about them. I’m more than happy to oblige. Google rewards me as a result. I have no need for blog networks or link wheels.
Tom
I don’t have enough posts on WF to PM so hopefully you can answer my question here. Does the Amazon Blueprint provide a sample site or info about how your own site layout looks?
Hi Stephan…
You can always leave a Visitor Message on my WF profile as well. However, I’m glad to answer here also. Yes, the blueprint does give an example of what layout I use. It’s a full-page diagram of what content goes where and how I have my affiliate links setup.
Regards,
Tom