Well, AWS works

Yeah. It depends how it's presented and organised. I think accessibility is the key. If the information the user's looking for (reviews or whatever) is clearly and easily accessible, then I don't think they're going to be too concerned about the actual aesthetics of the site when considering a purchase. After all, the big button says "buy from amazon.com" so it's quite clear they're not buying from the actual AWS site anyway.

However, a professional and clear look is important just to keep the user's interest and to prevent them from thinking "Ah, it's just another one of those sites!" and going elsewhere. It also needs to convince the user that the content presented is actually credible and not just junk.

For all of Amazon's virtues, personally speaking, I don't actually think accessibility is one. I find the Amazon site a bit cluttered with "stuff going on all over the place". The one thing an AWS site can provide over Amazon is the flexibility to provide a more focused environment in which to present information and products.

Have you had any sales yet Chris?


And if you don't make money from them, you can use them to get hundreds/thousands of backward links...

That's only any good if you have the PR to drive into the AWS site in the first place. Also, If you're using the AWS site just for backward links then you might as well just send the PR to the intended site and skip sending it to the AWS first anyway.

Know of any other affiliate programs that offer web services?

No.

You can make a bot to index argos's and index's site using tradedoubler, but it's far too complicated...

What are argos and index (users I assume) sites? And tradedoubler?

They are UK cateloge shops which have atleast one shop in every city here.

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Originally posted by chromate
Dan (GCT13), You've probably had your site open now for the longest out of all of us. How's it going? You haven't mentioned it for ages! Is it working out? :)

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Allow me take this opportunity to perform some unoriginal *****ing about Google's unfair algo changes and the like :) :rolleyes: :D

No, only kidding folks! Joke! :D

Portable DVD Player's been up for nearly two months; in that time, I've sold 7 portable DVD players which I consider a stunning success because I'm nowhere to be found in the "portable dvd player*" keyword (I'm not complaining, just stating facts here). I've also gathered 4 commissions for dvd rentals services (Netflix, Walmart) and sold a dozen DVDs.

This month I've been getting about 90 visitors per day (mostly from Google). I was deep crawled once back in December and am getting the deep love right this moment. I'm looking forward to the day I actually show up *somewhere* in Google for the "portable dvd player*" keyphrase. :)

Well, at least you're covering your costs. That's gotta be a plus :)

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Originally posted by pas
Know of any other affiliate programs that offer web services?

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No. Affiliate programs that do not offer web services this year will loose appeal. I bet the major affiliate houses are scrambling like mad to catch up and not be left too far behind in Amazon's dust.

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Originally posted by chromate
Well, at least you're covering your costs. That's gotta be a plus :)

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Definately. It's paid for hosting costs.

It's still too early to guage its success. I'm very anxious to see where it ends up on SERPs with the keywords I optimized. Taking a little longer to show up in the results than I expected, but hey it'll happen someday! :D

I agree that many AWS sites (and many sites on the web, for that matter) are just plain horrible. But I also know that my standards (and those of most of us here) are much higher than the general shopping public, and that's an important point to realize. Many people are quite satisfied with crap. Why do you think Wal-Mart does so well?

I think there are at least two ways to go with AWS.

One is to just put something, anything, up on the web, get indexed, and know that some percentage of people will hit the site, perhaps become confused, but see that Amazon button and boom... you've tagged them for the next 24 hours. Kind of a random, drive-by approach. Sure, the percentages may not be high, but neither was the amount of work put into the site, so any earnings are a pure bonus.

The other way is to put some effort into combining the technology and Amazon's vast product catalog to present the products in a specialized way that Amazon never could. You hope that by presenting useful information in a visually appealing and user-friendly way, visitors will be impressed enough to purchase from your site rather than directly from Amazon. The amount of work involved is much higher, but you hope that it will result in increased sales and perhaps even in loyal return customers.

I don't know that we're anywhere near knowing which model is "better". I do know that because I've chosen the second route, I get frustrated when I'm reminded by the owners of the junk sites that they're making gobs of money. Especially when I can't even seem to get Google to index my site yet (it's only been two weeks, but gee whiz!).

I definitely don't agree that there are not very many people doing AWS sites. I think there are many thousands, and that number is increasing every day.

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Originally posted by flyingpylon
I agree that many AWS sites (and many sites on the web, for that matter) are just plain horrible.... Many people are quite satisfied with crap. Why do you think Wal-Mart does so well?

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Disagree. WalMart doesn't sell crap, their product selection is quite fine. I look at WalMart stores as a near-perfect vehicles for giving people exactly what they want in a shopping experience. To that end, I make the assumption that WalMart has put the same kind of attention into its website, and study walmart.com's overall layout and interface.

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Originally posted by flyingpylon
[One could] put some effort into combining the technology and Amazon's vast product catalog to present the products in a specialized way that Amazon never could. You hope that by presenting useful information in a visually appealing and user-friendly way, visitors will be impressed enough to purchase from your site rather than directly from Amazon....

I don't know that we're anywhere near knowing which model is "better".

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Ahhh - but Amazon does. As AWS sites (Amazon shopping site laboratories) proliferate they'll acquire a fascinating data collection, data that could be utilized for large or subtle shifts in Amazon.com's overall desing/layout. Imagine the developers at Amazon, being able to pour over the AWS sites that convert the best (and maybe better than Amazon.com). Wouldn't you like to know which sites those are? I sure would! :D

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Originally posted by flyingpylon
...I can't even seem to get Google to index my site yet (it's only been two weeks, but gee whiz!).

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Yeah, it takes a while, some of my sites took 3-4 weeks before they were indexed.

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Originally posted by pas
Know of any other affiliate programs that offer web services?

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Alot of sites offer datafeeds (like overstock.com). But they are alot harder to implement than AWS and you need to update your data daily (or atleast weekly).

Go to http://www.abestweb.com for more info on datafeeds and affiliate programs in general...

cheers
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F platform

I'm really tempted to start an AWS site for my own. Even if I don't achieve any good rankings, it'd be nice to have all that PR power to throw around...

But don't you think they hurt the quality of search results? They're all basically cookie cutter sites siphoning sales off directly from Amazon.com. There really is no need for a middleman to take a commission.

Anyone think that Google might start cracking down on AWS sites? Maybe penalize sites with identical text?