Wouldn’t it be great if you could sit back and make money—even when you weren’t actually doing anything? With an affiliate program, you can! As an affiliate, you direct people to another (usually commercial) website, and if and when they purchase something there, you make a percentage of the sale.

This article will focus on the Amazon affiliate program, which is, for my money, the easiest one out there for new webmasters to use. It covers all the basics, from deciding to become an affiliate to signing up to the most strategic placing for your affiliate links.

So who should become an affiliate? Well, obviously, your site has to be in line with Amazon’s affiliate requirements. If you’re an adult porn site, you needn’t bother applying. But outside of that caveat, the appropriate sites for an Amazon affiliate program are pretty broad. Is there any chance that visitors to your site might be interested in books, music, DVDs, clothing, jewelry, or anything else that Amazon provides? If the answer is yes—and it probably will be, since Amazon sells a lot of stuff—then you may want to consider joining Amazon as an affiliate.

Amazon’s signup page is simplicity in digital form. Read the terms of service very carefully, so you don’t accidentally do anything illegal or get kicked off the program once you do get in. But, ToS aside, signing up is as simple as filling out their online form, then waiting until they review your site and get back to you.

As you’re filling out the form, on a separate piece of paper, jot down the questions and your answers. (If the screen shot function works on your computer, you can also use this feature. Make sure you get the screen once you scroll down, as well.) Keep this in a safe place, a filing cabinet or a safebox. Especially keep track of the email and password you used to sign up. Nothing is more embarrassing than forgetting how to get into your affiliate program.

Once your site has been approved and you can access your account, you’ll want to start building links (with Amazon’s program, this is easier than it sounds, trust me). Take a few minutes to look around your project page. Familiarize yourself with the location of your reports (scroll down), the links in the top left, and the general layout of the account.

At the top of the page on the left-hand side, you should see several links and sublinks, including one which says “Build Links”. By following this link, you will find six different kinds of links, including a search box link. You can “play around” a little bit and practice building links. When you find a link you like, copy and paste the code they provide to your website. From their end, it’s as easy as that.

Which brings us to another aspect of affiliate marketing: your website. What sort of links should you choose? Where should you place them? Should you be specific, recommending one particular book per link, or general, linking to an entire section?

First, let’s talk about placement. In the case of the image links (whether banner links, search box, or other), they need to be placed where people can see them. The left-hand side of the page is going to be the most visible for most visitors. Because we read left to right, our eyes are naturally drawn to the left. More people will see your link if you place it on the left-hand side of your site than on the right.

Strive for a clean, uncluttered look; don’t load the page down with advertisements.

Text links work best in context. For example, say you have an article on your page about car engines. At the end of the article, you might include a text link to a specific Amazon book, such as John Muir’s How to Keep Your Volkswagon Alive. These links may actually be your most effective; you know what your visitors are interested in, and you have a book that is relevant to your subject.

Use a combination of image links and text links, to achieve the best results. You don’t, for example, have to use each of the six kinds of links, but you should use at least two or three. Recommend a balance of specific products and general areas. A variety of links is your best bet.

Webmasters with very small sites may say, “But I only get ten or twenty visitors a week. Is it really worth it to become an affiliate?” The answer is a resounding Yes. It doesn’t cost anything to join Amazon, and you can start putting the building blocks in place so that as your site traffic grows, you’ll already be an affiliate.

Don’t expect to get rich off an affiliate program, no matter how many visitors your site gets. This isn’t a way to buy a cruise twice a year. But it’s the gift that keeps on giving. For a little up-front effort, you can get your affiliate links in place…and then do nothing! The links do all the work for you.

Finally, have fun! You’re recommending products you love and actually making money for it. What could be better than that?