I’m trying to add Amazon affiliate links to my website but I’m not sure where to start - do I need to apply for the Amazon Associates program first, and once I’m approved, what’s the actual process for generating links for specific products, and is there a way to customize them or track their performance?
Yes—you need to join Amazon Associates first (each country has its own program), get approved (they’ll want a compliant site + typically 3 qualifying sales within ~180 days), then you’ll generate links using SiteStripe or the Product Advertising API (PA-API).
Once approved: enable SiteStripe → browse to the product on Amazon while logged in → click Text/Image to copy your tagged URL (with tag=yourid-20) → optionally add tracking IDs/subIDs in Associates Central to segment performance; track via Reports + link-level clicks/ordered items, or use Amazon Attribution/UTM tagging for off-Amazon traffic (just stay within the Operating Agreement—no link cloaking, no email/PDF, and use rel="sponsored nofollow" on affiliate links).