Product reviews have become an invaluable resource for consumers looking to make purchasing decisions. With the rise of giant online retailers like Amazon, millions of products are now just a click away for shoppers. This has created a major opportunity for entrepreneurs to build review sites focused on specific niches, products or categories. These sites generate income through a variety of affiliate marketing, advertising and other monetization models.
In this guide, we will provide a step-by-step overview of how to create a profitable review website based on Amazon products. We will cover:
- Finding a profitable niche and products to review
- Important factors for ranking high in search engines
- Building website content around reviews
- Monetization models like Amazon affiliate marketing
- Driving traffic to your review site
- Tools and helpful resources
With some hard work upfront, you can create a site that generates mostly passive income down the line. Let’s dive in and overview how to create your own successful review site.
Finding a Profitable Niche and Products to Review
The first step is researching and finding a profitable niche for your review site. You want to find a specific product category that has high search volume and online consumer demand, but not too much competition among existing review sites.
Some examples of potential profitable niches:
- Kitchen appliances like coffee makers, blenders, air fryers
- Baby gear like strollers, car seats, cribs
- Beauty products like makeup, skincare, hair care items
- Fitness equipment like treadmills, rowing machines, weights
- Tech accessories like phone cases, smart watches, drones
You can use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to identify high-traffic keywords and related terms for different niches. The higher the search volume, the better, as this indicates consumer demand. Just make sure competition isn’t overly saturated.
Once you select a specific niche, research what products within that category are bestsellers on Amazon. Sort products by ratings, reviews and Best Seller rank. Select a range of 15-25 of the top products that you could review.
For example, if you choose the niche of at-home fitness gear, some products you may want to review include:
- Peloton exercise bike
- TRX suspension trainer
- Bowflex adjustable dumbbells
- Fitbit fitness trackers
- Yoga mats, foam rollers, kettlebells
- Resistance bands, pull-up bars, ab wheels
Focus on products with hundreds or thousands of Amazon reviews already. This indicates shopper demand and more search volume for those product names.
Important Factors for Ranking High in Search Engines
Once you pick a niche and products, the next key is optimizing your site for search engines like Google. You want your review website pages to rank high when people search for “Product X review” or related terms.
Here are important factors to boost search engine optimization (SEO):
- Website speed – Use caching plugins like WP Rocket or hosting with built-in caching like WP Engine or Kinsta. Fast site speed improves rankings.
- Mobile responsiveness – Make sure your site template is fully mobile-friendly. Google now indexes mobile first.
- Keyword research – Use Google Keyword Planner and tools like SEMrush to find keywords people search when researching your products. Incorporate these organically into content.
- Page titles and meta descriptions – Make sure each review page is optimized with a title containing the main keyword, and a meta description concisely summarizing the review.
- Quality backlinks – Build backlinks from relevant websites in your niche. Haro and BuzzStream are helpful for blogger outreach.
- Structured data – Add structured data like product schema so Google understands what your pages are about. This can improve appearance in search results.
- Optimized images – Use descriptive file names, alt text and title tags on all images to describe what they show. Don’t forget image optimization.
- Site speed – Use a caching plugin like WP Rocket and fast web hosting for optimal site speed. Faster sites rank better.
Following SEO best practices will help your review pages rank high when people search for information on those products.
Building Website Content Around In-Depth Reviews
The core of your review website will obviously be detailed, high-quality reviews for each product you choose to cover. Follow these tips for creating compelling reviews:
- Buy and actually test each product – Don’t just summarize Amazon reviews. Buy each item you review so you can provide in-depth testing and pros/cons from first-hand experience.
- Use an outline template – Create an outline to structure each review consistently. Include criteria like Features, Performance, Design, Price, etc.
- Add pros and cons – Provide a bulleted list clearly summarizing the best and worst aspects you discovered while testing the product.
- Use pictures and videos – Include original, high-res photos of you unboxing and using each product. Embed relevant YouTube reviews if helpful.
- Check specs and details – Research the product specs and details so you can provide more context – size, materials, technologies, etc. Link to the product page.
- Price and availability – Mention the Amazon price and Prime availability so readers can instantly check it out.
- Comparison reviews – For popular categories, do comparison reviews of the top 2-5 models side-by-side. A table can summarize specs.
- Buyer’s guide content – Create additional buyer’s guides and recommendation articles for your niche that point back to your reviews.
By providing thorough and helpful reviews showcasing real experiences testing products, you build trust and authority with readers. This also helps generate clicks to your affiliate links.
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Monetization Models Like Amazon Affiliate Marketing
There are a variety of ways to monetize a review website, but the most popular and scalable model is joining affiliate programs like Amazon Associates.
With Amazon Associates, you can earn a commission percentage when site visitors click your special affiliate links and purchase products. Commissions vary by category but tend to be in the 4-10% range.
Here are tips to maximize affiliate revenue:
- Place text links to the product pages throughout each review. Don’t just add one at the end.
- Use clear affiliate disclosure like “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases”.
- Create comparison tables of specs pointing to Amazon purchase pages.
- Test using image links vs. text links for higher click-throughs.
- Place affiliate disclaimers linking to related products below each review.
You can also boost earnings by joining additional affiliate programs like:
- ShareASale – Access thousands of affiliate programs in one place.
- Rakuten Marketing – Formerly LinkShare. Another big affiliate network.
- Niche specific programs – Join affiliates for products not on Amazon, like Peloton or Mirror.
- CJ Affiliate – Work directly with brands to promote their products.
While affiliate commissions will likely make up the bulk of revenue, other monetization options include:
- Display advertising – Sign up for Google AdSense and media.net to show ads. Keep them minimal and relevant.
- Sponsored posts – Accept paid sponsorships from relevant brands to review products. Disclose these.
- Recommended product lists – Curate lists like “10 Best Blenders” with affiliate links below. Update regularly.
The great thing about affiliate sites is that revenue can continue to increase over time as your reviews rank in search and generate recurring clicks and purchases.
Driving Initial Traffic to Your Website
When first launching your site, focus on building an initial audience and traffic flow. Here are proven strategies to kick-start visitors:
- Create social media business profiles on Facebook and Instagram. Follow industry leaders in your niche and engage with followers.
- Run Facebook and Instagram ads targeted to people interested in your niche and products. Send traffic to reviews.
- Build links from coupon and deals sites pointing keywords like “Peloton promo code” to your review.
- Write and distribute press releases to niche and local media contacts announcing your new site.
- Leverage family and friends by asking them to share your site on their networks.
- Comment on forums and blogs with advice linking back to your relevant reviews.
- Connect your website to Google Analytics and add Google Search Console for performance data.
- Create video reviews and optimize with keywords. Upload to YouTube and embed on site.
Then you can move into more advanced organic and paid strategies:
- Start link building by using tools like BuzzStream to identify and contact niche websites.
- Try guest posting on authoritative sites related to your niche. Secure backlinks.
- Use follow/nofollow ratios to scale link building without over-optimizing.
- Experiment with Google and Bing ads using custom landing pages and focused keywords.
- Retarget website visitors with custom emailsequences and ads on Facebook and Instagram.
- Optimize on-page elements like H2 and H3 tags, content length, related products, etc.
By driving continuous streams of organic and paid traffic over time, you can build a sustainable review site that keeps growing.
Helpful Tools and Resources
Here are some helpful tools and resources for building and growing your Amazon affiliate review site:
- ThemeForest – Popular WordPress themes like Astra to create a professional review site design.
- SiteGround – Reliable and affordable WordPress hosting for your new website.
- WP Rocket – Caching and performance optimization plugin to speed up your site.
- ** SEMrush** – SEO and keyword research tool for optimizing content.
- LinkMiner – Software for identifying link building opportunities.
- Crello – Create custom images and graphics for pins, ads, etc.
- PicMonkey – Image editor to touch up photos of products.
- Invest in Yourself facebook group – Connect with other affiliate marketers and share advice.
- Niche Pursuits – Affiliate and monetization blog with smart tips and guides.
- Authority Hacker – SEO tactics for ranking affiliate sites higher.
- Income School – Step-by-step video courses on building affiliate sites.
The combination of choosing a profitable niche, writing in-depth reviews, monetizing through affiliates and driving continuous traffic provides a proven framework for a successful and profitable review website using Amazon products. With focus and consistent execution, you can create a site that earns thousands per month with mostly passive income.
