UPDATED Dec 27, 2021. Looking for examples of Amazon Affiliate Sites? You’re in the right place!
In this post, you’ll see real sites that make money with Amazon – and you can get keywords the sites are ranking for too.
I suggest most beginners work with Amazon as an affiliate as they get started.
Why Amazon Associates? (Its affiliate program)
- Works for Any Niche: Amazon has a huge, massive diverse catalog of products — from apple peelers to Apple computers to zippers, and everything in between.
- HIGH Conversion Rates: There’s no friction to buy on Amazon. I can tell Alexa to order something for me and I’ll get it before the end of the day since I live close to an Amazon shipping hub.
- Super Easy to Join: You can sign up with Amazon Associates in minutes and start using your affiliate link.
If you’re brand new to affiliate marketing, here’s the main idea:
You refer people to a marketplace (like Amazon), and if they buy something, then you get a commission.
It’s simple referral marketing — a very old marketing method that works surprisingly well.
Let’s look at some real examples of actual Amazon Associate websites.
I’ve researched and scoured the web for sites that are public, meaning they have already been given as examples. Or the sites are large media companies rather than normal people like you and me.
Some resources to go deeper
- 🛠 Get all my templates & systems for Amazon Affiliate Sites. Download now. (opens in a new tab)
- 💰 Want to know how much you can earn from Amazon Associates sites?
- 👉🏻 See how to build an Amazon Affiliate website using the Niche Site Process. (opens in a new tab)
- 🎤 I have a podcast all about affiliate marketing, side hustles, and SEO, called the Doug.Show (opens in a new tab), or search on your podcast player.
- 🎥 Like video instead? Check my YouTube channel (opens in a new tab). I have dozens of success stories from people just like you.
Information about each Amazon Affiliate Website
I pulled information for each site to analyze what’s going on. Click here if you want over 15,000 keywords (about 1,000 keywords for each of the sites featured) – Just enter your email address and I’ll send them to you.
- Founded: When was the website started. I looked up the Whois information.
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: I checked the ahrefs (a search engine marketing tool) report to see what keywords are ranking.
- Estimated visitors: This data is just an estimate. I used the ahrefs data based on organic rankings in Google. Take these numbers with a grain of salt.
- Domain Rating: It’s the equivalent to the MOZ DA, but from ahrefs. It’s becoming the standard for professional SEOs.
- Domain Authority: The MOZ statistic. It’s not my favorite metric, but it’s the (old?) standard even though the backlink index on MOZ is behind its competitors, like ahrefs.
- Number of Indexed Pages: I used the advanced search query “site:” to see what is indexed in Google. This gives you an idea of the size of the site.
There are some video teardowns and I’ll be adding more over time. I’ll provide my commentary and will talk about what I like don’t like.
Amazon Affiliate Website Examples
These are divided into 2 sections to illustrate how a niche site can grow.
I’ll refer to them as “Micro Niche Sites” and “Authority Sites.” I don’t like the “Micro Niche Site” terminology but it’s part of the vocabulary that’s used.
Small Sites (aka: Micro Niche Sites)
You can just think of micro niche sites as small and younger. So-called micro niche sites might have less scope overall so they can’t expand easily to include other topics and review other products. The small sites are most likely owned and operated by one person. The person may have a portfolio of sites like Rob Atkinson.
Most people are interested in the smaller more traditional, Amazon Affiliate websites. They are more approachable and can give you a great idea about what these sites look like. If you already established a profitable niche site, then the bigger sites should be inspirational to you.
Big Affiliate Sites (aka: Authority Sites)
Authority sites are larger, have more content, are mature, and have a broader scope. With more scope, they can have many other products and topics included on the site.
Some of the big sites are staggeringly HUGE. Many of the sites are mostly monetized through Amazon Associates, but they might also have other affiliate offers. For example, Home Depot or NewEgg have affiliate programs that these sites can work with.
Let’s get to the Amazon Affiliate Examples…
Small Amazon Affiliate Websites
Best Roof Box
- bestroofbox.com
- Founded: January 3, 2019
- Keywords ranking in the top 1-100: 11,200 Download the keywords
- Estimated monthly visitors: 5,900
- Domain Rating: 47
- Domain Authority: 18
- Number of indexed pages: 445
Overview and traffic
My friend created this website and has been documenting the process on YouTube. So we have the inside scoop on the site including the earnings and traffic.
The site was sold for $70,000 in June 2021. (see video here)
Alex Cooper, the founder of the site, made a total profit of $79,209. (see Alex’s video)
Overall the site’s appearance is “clean” and simple but could use some improvements with its appearance and user appeal. A rather generic theme called Base WP is used and it does seem to work fine on mobile devices.
The logo is ok but has a tall, vertically oriented design meaning it takes up more space and a better option would be using a horizontal one.
Product tables, videos, and tables of contents are used throughout the content as well as buttons for affiliate links.
However, the tables in use don’t work well on mobile as they’re very tall in nature rather than a more compact & simple design with sales-oriented text.
Well-designed product tables are a huge source of potential earnings and shouldn’t be neglected for user ease of use.
The site’s sidebar is used to display other posts, ads, and AAWP Amazon bestseller widgets although sidebars aren’t really worth the bother.
Do they use a persona?
Yes, and it’s a real person, Alex Cooper. He doesn’t reveal too much, but there is some information there. Even though the site has a new owner, Alex is still listed on the about page. This is common when a site is sold, but should be agreed upon during the sales process.
It would be good to give the reader something more detailed to qualify the blogger as someone with expertise. It’s easy to do and can influence the reader’s willingness to click and buy.
Check out my FULL analysis of Best Roof Box – A 7 Video Playlist on YouTube.
Own The Yard
- owntheyard.com
- Founded: August 24, 2018
- Keywords ranking in the top 1-100: 112,000 (up from 44,512 in June 2019)
- Estimated monthly visitors: 55,800 (up from 22,800 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 39 (up from 28 in June 2019)
- Domain authority: 25
- Number of indexed pages: 822 (up from 534 in June 2019)
- Last Reported income was April 2021: $5,210
Overview and traffic
The monthly traffic is 55,700. Own the Yard generates revenue through Amazon affiliate site product links and display ads as well. Note that some ads appear to be a bit misaligned and also cover the home page header image.
Own the Yard uses a very basic implementation of the well-known GeneratePress theme: no color accents are used. It’s a very basic and rather plain, but effective minimalist approach.
The niche covers outdoor activities and accessories (for example, soccer shoes, yard games, backyard design, and more). The site has a 112K keywords ranking in the top 100. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
The content quality is ok, although informational content could use more images, especially for the how-to topics. Additionally, paragraphs appear very long on mobile devices and could use breaking up a bit.
Despite those relatively minor issues, it’s clear and easy on the eyes. The AAWP Amazon plugin is used for CTAs in buyer posts and for promoting products via the Box product template within informational posts.
In case you weren’t aware, the site is a case study project by Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits.
Do they use a persona?
Yes, Spencer lays it all out and even mentions Niche Pursuits. It’s fairly short and to the point, and there are even ads on the about page.
Swim University
- swimuniversity.com
- Founded: December 6, 2006
- Keywords ranking in the top 1-100: 91,200 (up from 74,789 in June 2020)
- Estimated monthly visitors: 152,000 (up from 133,000 in June 2020)
- Domain Rating: 66
- Domain authority: 51
- Number of indexed pages: 390
Overview and traffic
My friend (Matt Giovanisci of MoneyLab.co) owns this site and shares the earnings and many details about the site. Here are the stats from 2021:
- Affiliate Commissions: $149,991 ($162,730 in 2020)
- Digital Product Sales: $333,841 ($235,962 in 2020)
- YouTube Ad Revenue: $54,561 ($34,662 in 2020)
- Physical Product Sales: $11,026 (NEW in 2021)
- Total Revenue: $549,419 (26.78% increase) (reference)
Traffic is estimated to be about 152,000 per month. Swim University is owned by the former owner of RoastyCoffee.com, and earns money via Amazon product affiliate links as well as selling its own swimming pool care course.
It ranks for 91,200 keywords in the top 100 positions – a large number overall. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
It’s a great-looking and informative site with clear text, a nice color palette, and clear/simple CTAs in place. In addition, it’s easy to navigate and the information is legitimately good. The owner uses a friendly, casual, and helpful content style to build trust & appeal to visitors.
The WordPress theme is Carbonate, created from scratch by Matt. You can get it here. I use it on a couple of my sites.
Swim U uses a plugin called Lasso for product display management and affiliate link management.
It’s a very fast-loading site – as little as 0.6 seconds according to GTMetrix.com as he purposely avoids elements that add size and bog down site speed.
Do they use a persona?
An About page does exist, although it’s very hard to find as the link is in the footer only. The site owner doesn’t use a persona but instead his real image & full name along with explaining his credentials.
Roasty Coffee
- roastycoffee.com
- Founded: January 21, 2015
- Keywords ranking in the top 1-100: 149,000 (up from 122,865 in June 2019)
- Estimated monthly visitors: 312,000 (up from 306,000 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 64
- Domain authority: 44
- Number of indexed pages: 1060 (up from 346 in June 2019)
Overview and traffic
Matt Giovinsci started this site and has documented some of the early days here. Traffic is estimated to be about 312,000 per month. Roast Coffee earns money not just through Amazon affiliate commissions but via MediaVine display ads as well, both in informational and buyer posts, too.
RC ranks in the top 100 for a fantastic 149K keywords despite being of moderate size. In fact, it’s several times smaller than some other sites listed here with a similar keyword ranking. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
This is a great example of an affiliate site done well – it’s easy to navigate, easy to read, and very simple & clean. It’s a very professional looking site that shines with its simplicity and good quality content too.
In fact, the theme is Carbonate created by the original site owner (see Doug’s interview with Matt here). Custom conversion rate optimization (CRO) changes (custom product tables & above-the-fold text links) have been used along with AAWP-based customized product boxes for the call-to-action (CTA) elements in buyer posts.
The Shortcodes Ultimate plugin is also used for text note boxes and other features in content to make them stand out.
As a side note, it’s a very fast-loading site. That’s due to both the simplicity and the custom theme used. Although display ads are used the display options have been turned down to keep page load times great and avoid impacting the user experience much.
Do they use a persona?
No, there doesn’t appear to be any persona or About Us page or information at all. Only an email address and not even a contact form either.
Car Seat Answers
- carseatanswers.com
- Founded: June 2013
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 4,700
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 3,800
- Domain Rating: 31
- Domain Authority: 19
- Number of Indexed Pages: 45
🎥 Watch the video teardown on YouTube
Overview and Traffic
Traffic was estimated to be as high as 20,000+ per month in early 2016, then the site has dropped to about 3,500 visitors per month. It’s a big drop, but the site has been consistent for several years!
At the end of 2021, there’s an uptick in traffic. It’s surprising since the site seems to be the exact same size (45 indexed pages) as it was years ago. It seems like the site is just sitting there pulling in traffic. I expect this is a passive income site since it looks the same as it always has!
CSA ranks for 4,700 keywords, down from the previous 4,941 when it was first reviewed. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a clean theme and it’s simple. I like it a lot since it shows off the products and demonstrates the creator didn’t complicate choosing a theme.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, but it’s a weak about page. It states the site was created by a “stay-at-home dad with 2 daughters.” It may be true, but a reader of the site won’t develop any emotional attachment to that.
It adds a touch of credibility, but not much. I’d add an image of the family to make it all more believable.
Live Longer Running
- livelongerrunning.com
- Founded: Sept 2013
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 909 (up from 475 in June 2019)
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 243
- Domain Authority: 30
- Number of Indexed Pages: 33
Watch the teardown video on YouTube.
Overview and Traffic
Traffic is estimated much lower than when I first featured this site, just 243 visitors per month — down from 1,000 to 8,600 per month.
It’s another site with gradually dwindling traffic (again, highly likely due to a lack of work plus Google updates consequences).
LLR ranks for 909 keywords now – another low overall count. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a clean theme that looks modern and simple. It’s oriented towards reviews and the site features a left hand sidebar with star ratings. The images seem to be broken on many of the pages. The reviews are very short overall and that’s probably why LLR ranks for so few keywords.
Do they use a Persona?
No, the site doesn’t even have an about page. It’s too bad since runners would usually look for some credible sources. I run myself and like to hear about what other runners are into.
I would definitely add an about page with definitive running credentials.
Pick My Shaver
- pickmyshaver.com
- Founded: Sept 2013
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 2,700
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 1,200
- Domain Rating: 31
- Domain Authority: 21
- Number of Indexed Pages: 81 (down from 118 in June 2019)
Watch the video teardown on YouTube.
Overview and Traffic
Traffic as of Dec 2021 is estimated to have fallen to only about 1,200 per month. That’s down from the previous 4,200 to 57,000 per month I first reported.
PMS also now ranks for fewer keywords: 2,700 – that’s quite a fall from the previous 6,472 keywords. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
The theme is clean and showcases the images well. I like the homepage design for a niche site as far as linking out to parts of the site. Something looks amateur about the site logo like the font looks silly. Plus, you have the odd navigation menu with the block background.
It’s interesting that fewer pages are indexed now than a few years ago. I expect the pages are still there, but Google has decided to not index those pages. I assume it’s due to neglect and not being updated.
Do they use a Persona?
No. The about page refers to a team of people that are into shavers. I’ve mentioned it a few times already: adding an image of a person makes the site seem more credible.
Luxury Shaves
- luxuryshaves.com
- Founded: Feb 2013
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 4,600
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 575
- Domain Rating: 10
- Domain Authority: 16
- Number of Indexed Pages: 397 (was 297 in June 2019)
Watch the YouTube teardown video.
Overview and Traffic
This site was sold for $25,000 a few years ago and was covered in the success story with Dom Wells. If you take a look at the backlink profile, you’ll notice that there are a LOT of gray hat (i.e. spammy) backlinks.
Traffic was estimated to be 3,100 to 20,200 per month. However, looking at the above organic traffic graph it’s clear there has been a significant loss over time.
LS ranks for 6,181 keywords as of March 2020. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
It’s a clean WordPress theme with white space. The homepage links throughout the site and gets visitors to other parts of the site.
The site has about 100 articles that publish since I first featured the site on this list. So the owner has been busy. It’s pretty interesting seeing a site transition to a new owner and see how the work they put in works out.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, the owner updated the about page with a full editorial team. So there is a full about page with info about what the site is about and why it was started. Plus, with the editorial team listed, it seems very professional — with a barber on the team. (At least, they say it’s a barber…)
100 Days of Real Food
- 100daysofrealfood.com
- Founded: May 2010
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 113,000 (down from 146,879 in June 2019)
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 92,700
- Domain Authority: 71 (AHRefs)
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 1,580 results
Watch the video teardown on YouTube.
Overview and Traffic
This site is really a food and personal blog that’s grown up. It’s been around for a long time in internet years. There is some monetization with Amazon, but it’s more of a blog than most of the other sites on this list. That said, check out the cool “shopping” section of the site.
Traffic when we first covered it here was reported to be 161k to 827k per month but has fallen a bit to an estimated 114K/month. I would not be surprised if they have 1M + visitors per month if you consider social traffic. She has about 1.5M Facebook fans, 9,600 YouTube subscribers, and 128k followers on Instagram.
Despite a decrease in traffic, the site is still doing much better than many sites.
They use a theme that looks to be proprietary. It looks clean and customized. There is a tabbed interface that delivers a large amount of data – everything you’d want to know about a product.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, and if you want to see the gold standard for an About page, then study this one.
Authority Sites – BIG Amazon Websites
The takeaways on these sites are that they’ve been around for a while overall – some more than 5++ years. Keep that in mind when you look at the traffic stats and the amount of content.
If you have years of work dedicated to an Amazon Affiliate website and a team working on it, you can imagine that you’ll have a beast on your hands.
Baby Gear Lab
- babygearlab.com
- Founded: Feb 2010
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 190,000
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 327,000 (up from 123,909 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 56
- Domain Authority: 52
- Number of Indexed Pages: 1,670
Watch the video teardown here.
Overview and Traffic
This site used to get a staggering amount of traffic, estimated to be 283k to 500k per month. It’s had a dip in 2018-2019, but traffic is moving up at the end of 2021.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they have 1M + visitors per month if you consider social traffic.
BGL now ranks for 190,000 keywords. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a great interface or theme that looks to be proprietary. It looks clean and customized. There is a tabbed interface that delivers a large amount of data – everything you’d want to know about a product.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, the site was founded by Juliet Spurrier, MD, the “Mom-in-Chief”. That’s great to build up goodwill towards the site. If you read the about page, you’ll enjoy some excellent copywriting that tells you you’re in the right place. If you’re looking for a great about page for your site, look at this page.
Dog Food Advisor
- dogfoodadvisor.com
- Founded: July 2008
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 275,000 (up from 175,487 in June 2019)
- Estimated Visitors Monthly: 1,000,000 (up from 529,832 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 76
- Domain Authority: 58
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 10,600 results
Watch the video teardown on YouTube.
Overview and Traffic
Traffic is higher at 1M visitors per month than previous estimates of 469k. I would not be surprised if they have a few million visitors per month as typically estimates are lower than the actual visitor count.
DFA ranks for 275,000 keywords in the top 100. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
DFA has a simple and clean interface. It’s a great example of a straightforward theme with a no-frills homepage. It’s just some text links and that’s it. They have an image of a puppy – CUTE! But they didn’t waste time or resources on trying to make a fancy landing page.
They do have an active blog that publishes often.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, the site was founded by Mike Sagman (another doctor, dentist), the Managing editor. The about page is another great example of how to write a great about page.
Mike also reveals the team working on the site:
- two dedicated research assistants
- an experienced social media admin
- one extraordinarily knowledgeable veterinarian
Outdoor Gear Lab
- outdoorgearlab.com
- Founded: Feb 2010
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 1,000,000 (up from 410,585 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 2.6M (up from 689,298 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 72
- Domain Authority: 60
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 8,870 results (up from 6,600 in June 2019)
Overview and Traffic
You’ll notice that the name is really similar to the Baby site. In fact, the sites are owned by the same people.
Traffic had a lower period during 2018 but the site has consistently grown over the years. And the traffic exploded during the second half of 2021.
OGL now ranks about 1M keywords, and they’ve added about 2,000 pieces of content since the last time I checked in. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a great interface or theme that is exactly the same as the Baby Gear Lab site.
Do they use a Persona?
Yes, this one is super similar to the Baby Gear Lab. Chris McNamara is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief. He’s a climber and outdoorsman so that builds a lot of credibility for the site overall. The about page hasn’t changed much is the last few years.
The Wirecutter
- thewirecutter.com
- Founded: Sept 2011, Sold to New York Times in 2016
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 7.2M (up from 3,718,987 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 14.7M (up from 4,590,691 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 83 for wirecutter subdomain (94 for NY Times overall)
- Domain Authority: 82 for wirecutter subdomain
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 4,040 results
Overview and Traffic
The Wirecutter was created by Brian Lam, the former Editorial Director at Gizmodo. Gizmodo is a big tech blog and is owned by Gawker Media so Brian is no stranger to publishing great content. You can see this site focuses on home items and you can see the long-form content.
It was sold to the New York Times for a reported $30M in 2016. (ref) You can see in the traffic estimate graph when the NY Times move the site to the main nytimes.com domain. From an SEO standpoint, it was a great move to help more content rank since the nytimes.com is one of the most trusted domains online.
Traffic is estimated to be 14.7M! I’ve pulled the data in Dec 2021, so the seasonal traffic (due to the retail season) is higher. Traffic estimates dip down to 7M to 8M during the middle of the year.
TWC ranks for an astounding 7.2M keywords, which means it has increased with time as the site grows. I don’t think I have that many words on my sites! Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a simple theme and have a mostly text-based homepage. The key thing that The Wirecutter has going on is very thorough and high-quality reviews. The reviews are written by experts in the field, whatever field that might be, and they even explain why they are qualified in each post. Great credibility.
(Side note: TheSweetHome.com, which I covered here previously, is no longer active. It redirects to TheWireCutter.com now)
Do they use a Persona?
No. They have a great about page for a review site though. It’s framed around actually reviewing and testing the products. Again, this adds credibility just like having real, actual experts review the products.
ThisIsWhyImBroke
- thisiswhyimbroke.com
- Founded: May 2011
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 816,000 (up from 171,359 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 951,000 (up from 544,418 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 70
- Domain Authority: 74
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 55,700 results
Overview and Traffic
This is a creative take on the affiliate model. It’s a bunch of cool stuff with images and a short description. Then, it sends you to the product page via an affiliate link (know when to include an Amazon Affiliate Disclamer). Simple and light on the content.
It’s the polar opposite of Baby Gear Lab, Outdoor Gear Lab, The Wirecutter, and most other sites, which all feature long-form content.
The site has been featured all over the place, including the New York Times and Time’s Top 50 Sites 2014. Note that the site was founded in 2011 and it took a few years to get all the recognition.
Traffic is estimated to be just under a million per month. I expect the site gets much more traffic from social channels. This site is ultra sharable and a lot of the products are funny which is all the more shareable.
The site ranks for even more keywords than in the past: now 816,000 keywords. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a great interface or theme that features an endless scroll. If you start looking, you’ll keep looking until you realize you’re wasting your time.
Do they use a Persona?
No, but they present a team on the homepage. The site was founded by Adam Freedman and he has 3 other people. So it’s a lean team overall.
Gear Patrol
- gearpatrol.com
- Founded: March 2007
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 3M (up from 1,528,734 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 3.2M (up from 1,039,949 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 80
- Domain Authority: 82
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 32,500 results
Overview and Traffic
Despite some ups and downs, traffic overall has continued to grow and is estimated now at 3M per month. Gear Patrol actually provides this information so that advertisers have an idea about the reach that Gear Patrol has.
- Founded 2007
AUDIENCE:
- Uniques 4,500,000
- Page Views 9,500,000
- Instagram 134,000 followers
- Facebook 136,000 followers
- Twitter 50,000 followers
Check out the Buying Guides. As you imagine, you’ll have many products listed and all sorts of information about buying those products.
GP ranks for 3M keywords, nearly 2x the number of keywords in June 2019. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a very clean and slick looking theme.
Do they use a Persona?
No. This is a straight up media company. The about page has a short video and the charter idea is this:
“Gear Patrol reaches millions of readers seeking knowledge to make the right purchasing decisions. Driving our content — and our mission — is the belief that these products and insights can inspire and help people’s lives.”
Best Reviews
- bestreviews.com
- Founded: Jan 2003
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 1,000,000 (up from 368,983 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 302,000 (up from 95,176 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 73
- Domain Authority: 68
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 11,000 results
Overview and Traffic
Traffic is estimated to be 302,000, and it’s interesting to see the ups and downs over the years. Traffic shot up in 2021 which follows along with a large number of backlinks that showed up at the same time.
BGL ranks for 1M keywords which is an increase of about 15x since I first covered it a few years back. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
They use a very clean theme that focuses on content. Every review is thorough and the team that worked it is listed at the end of the content.
Do they use a Persona?
No. They state their mission as:
“To arm consumers with clarity and confidence to simplify their purchasing decisions.”
They explain the expert reviews and even showcase testers in white lab coats. If that doesn’t add credibility, then I don’t know what does! Just to make sure, they have a listing of 20 BIG news outlets that they’ve been featured on at the end of the About Us page.
Top Ten Reviews
- toptenreviews.com
- Founded: June 2003
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 759,000 (down from 897,422 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 545,000 (down from 752,274 in June 2019)
- Domain Rating: 82
- Domain Authority: 84
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 6,420 results
Overview and Traffic
Traffic levels have dropped as of 2021— one of the few sites on the list that has dropped.
Top Ten Reviews ranks for 759,000 keywords – a huge drop from their previous amount of over 1.2M when I first covered this site. Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
Even though it’s a big site owned by a big company (see below), the site looks amateur in some ways. It looks like a regular, off the shelf theme.
Do they use a Persona?
No! This site is owned by a big media company called Future US, Inc that has a lot of employees. When I first covered this site, I found information that suggested they had 350 employees.
But they do have a rigorous testing and review process. It’s impressive overall and like many of the other top sites, Top Ten Reviews does hands-on testing.
Tom’s Hardware
- tomshardware.com
- Founded: Sept 1997
- Keywords Ranking in the 1-100: 5.4M (up from 3,882,092 in June 2019)
- Number of Estimated Visitors Monthly: 4.9M (up from 3,821,152 in June 2019
- Domain Rating: 83
- Domain Authority: 90 (AHRefs)
- Number of Indexed Pages: About 3,200,000 results
Overview and Traffic
The site was started in 1997, which is crazy to think about. I used to visit Tom’s back in the day when I used to build my own PCs. That’s pre-2007 when I moved over to Macs.
Tom has seen some ups and downs over the years. Check out the high traffic market around Jan 2016, followed by a huge drop. Then, 2017 picked back up in a big way. And the site has slowly declined in terms of traffic, but the second half of 2021 shows a pick up.
Tom’s Hardware ranks for 5.4M keywords. That’s absolutely amazing! Check out 1,000+ keywords the site ranks for here. (Just enter your email address & you’ll get the reports/CSV.)
There is a forum with millions of members so that accounts for the huge amount of content. You can imagine the great longtail keywords that come out of a forum – and the content is written in the exact words of people searching for information.
Do they use a Persona?
Not really, even though “Tom” is a real person. The site is also owned by Future US, Inc like Top Ten Reviews, but this Tom’s was someone’s blog. Here is an excerpt from the About Us page:
Tom’s Hardware has its name and roots in Dr. Thomas Pabst, who was one of the first people to bring technology journalism to the internet, as early as 1996.
Back in these early days, the site was still called “Tom’s Hardware and Performance Guide” and its domain was sysdoc.pair.com — pair.com being a Pittsburgh-based hosting company. Today’s domain, tomshardware.com, was added on September 11, 1997, followed by additional language versions over time, including German, Japanese, Polish, French, Chinese, Italian, Turkish and others — some operated by Tom’s Guides Publishing, Inc., and others based on franchise agreements.
Some resources to go deeper
- 🛠 Get all my templates and systems to create Amazon Affiliate Niche Sites (sometimes called Authority Sites). Download now. (opens in a new tab)
- 👉🏻 See how to build an Amazon Affiliate website using the Niche Site Process. (opens in a new tab)
- Find a Profitable Niche.
- 💰 Want to know how much you can earn from Amazon Associates sites?
- 🎤 I have a podcast all about affiliate marketing, side hustles, and SEO, called the Doug.Show (opens in a new tab), or search on your podcast player.
- 🎥 Like video instead? Check my YouTube channel (opens in a new tab). I have dozens of success stories from people just like you.
Want to download a bunch of keywords for these sites?
Just enter your name and email, then I’ll send you all the keywords and templates.
A “Persona” refers to a fake identity. Most of the websites you mentioned using a Persona are actually real people with real identities so not “Persona”.
Slightly confusing.
Other than that, great article.
Ferzy, good point! I will make changes around that in the future.
What do you think would be clearer and more accurate?
A persona is a persona no matter weather they’re fake or fake. At least it gives your visitors assurance that you’re real
Nice list Doug, some I have heard of, mostly the large sites but some of those smaller ones are interesting. The growth of luxuryshaves.com is impressive.
– Lewis
Thanks, Lewis! The large sites were interesting to look at. It’s like you see the sites in the SERPs but don’t look further.
Turns out it’s silly to compete with a big ass site that has a big ass team – at least it’s silly to try to beat them at “their own game,” like by trying to write better than professional writers that have the products in their hands.
Maybe it’s better to do better SEO and keyword research (which is exactly what we do…).
Nice Niche Site Examples.. I think those small ones could be a decent size as 50-100 post as a Niche Authority Site.. I’m growing some into bigger authority ones as it helps me to focus and knock down my ideas and energy.
Thanks for all great examples..
WOW! Great Collections.Specially, The Wire Cutter And The Sweet Home is my most favorite.
Thanks for sharing an awesome resource.
Great article Doug! Being able to see real life affiliate sites definitely helps when building sites. Gives you an idea of how to arrange things and what not.
I noticed that the bigger affiliate sites have been around for quite some time. Just goes to show that building a profitable niche site can’t be an overnight thing. Gotta work hard at it!
Cheers,
David
Did I hear that Wirecutter was bought out by NYT or something? Imagine building an Amazon affiliate site and having a big time media pub company call you and say “We’d like to make you an offer”? Wow
Those are one of my list of websites that I go to visit before crafting my post for my niche websites 🙂
Thanks
Hey David, Thanks man! I appreciate the compliment.
TheWireCutter grew up very fast. A Similar website BestProducts.com is also good example for big affiliate website. Thanks for giving such detailed overview of Amazon niche websites.
Hi Doug,
You know what i started my affiliate site after reading this article and in very short time my keywords are also performing well, hope to see them on first page soon.
Thanks
Hey Vik, thanks for checking out the blog. Good luck with your site!
Getting an idea with your article to start my own amazon affiliate website.
Thanks for these examples
Thanks, Aman! Good luck on your site
Hey Doug,
First of all, this site is so awesome 🙂 Good job with it (open that waiting list – I want to take your course ;)).
Secondly, thanks for the mention! I badly need to rework Pixelmarketers to a higher standard. But I have put all my work into my niche sites and not much to PM lately.
Thanks,
Robin
PS
Damn you for making a better list than I did 😛 Now I have to go back and improve it^^
Hey Robin, thanks for stopping by. I tried to make one of the best resources out for the topic.
cheers!
Hi Doug,
Did you know that I got a lot of idea from your article? Thanks for sharing this. I’m gonna apply techniques on my site.
Thanks!
It is great to meet you Doug. I like your style. Doug I am a very simple person. I am not looking to make a great deal of money, just some to supplement my retirement income. I have become involved with Wealthy Affiliate which I feel is a very good training site. But I find any training they provide I can also find on google. My major problem is that I get wrapped up in the social network where I have done very well with ranking, but there is no monetary advantage to this. I have begun to dig into your training and I am wondering this. We use WP at WA. I am only interested in building a decent amazon business. I spend $49 dollars a month for WA with the training. This includes being able to produce 25 website. Would I be better off hosting elsewhere and build my sites? I know I can make this work. I just need to find the right formula. I know you are a busy person so I am hoping that you will take the time to point me in the right direction.
Great to meet you, Stephen.
Yes, go to your own hosting account. 25 sites is a nice selling point, but really you only need one or two that are profitable.
You can get hosting yourself for $5/month or less…so the Wealthy Affiliate model is great for the owners but not much for the students and clients. I don’t know much about WA, but many people have asked me that exact question!
How can people like me, in Colorado, make money with Amazon sites?
Colorado and a handful of other states are not accepted as Amazon Affiliates.
Chris
One way to do that is to open company in a state that is accepted in Amazon affiliate program. I would suggest Delaware LLC company because is simple to open (little to no restrictions to non-residents) and not expensive to run. Maybe you start building site and once you get some traffic, you open company and setup amazon account. In the worst case scenario, you can still sell the site and earn some money that way.
Tom, great idea! Smart.
Oh, this is a great review, just opened my eyes to some things. It turns out that you can monetize a site where the trust flow is zero. And this is not a failure or a mistake. All the rest is also very interesting.
I’m in the process of putting together my first affiliate site and now I know what to go for. Thanks
Thanks, Duncan!
Hi Doug, I found your analysis so helpful. Thank you.
If you ever do this type of review again can you please include my site mrwatergeek.com? I would be more than happy to provide figures, stats etc.
Thanks again,
Luke
Hi Doug,
You did the great job. it’s not easy task to find all of those site and write down stat of all Amazon Sites. Few days back I also started on amazon site but it’s not easy to start a micro niche affiliate site because you need to work from zero level. All Example are inspiring me to do work on my affiliate site.. 🙂
This is a good list and very helpful. Certainly have gleaned a few ideas. Thanks! Also just want to say that stick with ‘persona’. It doesn’t necessarily mean a fake. It just means the public presentation of your character. Sometimes personas can be fake and sometimes they can be the real thing. 🙂
Thanks for the great info and many examples. If a picture is worth 1000 words, 17 excellent examples are worth gazillions!! BTW, your use of “persona” was 100% correct. While a persona can be fake or deceptive (eg, “she adopted a meek persona every time he was around, but in reality, she was anything but…”), but it in no way implies that person behind it is not real. The more general meaning of the term is any character or personality presented outwardly, as to an audience or the public, and that is precisely how you used the word here.
thanks for share this valuable info. for free. you are a hero now” most people can’t take this action, but you did thumbs up” 🙂
Hi Doug,
A very well written and it is really helpful for us. Thanks.
Thanks Doug Cunnington for the nice list. I am going to create my first niche site. As I am a WordPress developer, I will create a custom theme for my niche site. I checked all the above links. I think all are the same type of niche sites. The difference is less upon them. Actually, I am searching for an extraordinary, uncommon site. From where I can get an idea. Can you please suggest me any website that you think is different from common niche site? Who are following a different strategy than general niche site. Thanks again for everything.
Greate article. It is really helpful tips for seo. Thank you for sharing this informatic and knowledgeable article.
Hi Doug,
I got a lot of idea from your article, Thanks for sharing this. I’m gonna apply techniques on my site.
Regards
Hello Doug, can you please update this list? Please write a details case study on current situation of niche sites. Thank you.
Hey Billal – I’ll work on it! Yes. Thanks for checking it out.
Nice list based article, I guess allmost all are authority sites except wirecutter and toptenreviewes websites, but still they are doing great.
Hi Doug,
This is really an awesome post. I just love it. Can you please update this list?
Thanks Nekraj
This is a great list for inspiration. Most of these sites do not look like the typical Amazon site with a “Best of X” Table on the homepage. This goes on to show how Amazon affiliate websites have evolved over time.
Thank you
Hi Doug,
Amazing post for inspiration.. thanks for sharing I didn’t know about few of them.
I have done affiliate marketing but never tried my hands on Amazon Affiliate Marketing.
I will surely give it a try.
Cheers
Robert Wang
Hey Doug, great article. It’s awesome to see so many sites compared in one spot to get a feel for the full spectrum on amazon affiliate sites. Thanks for putting it together.
Tom’s Hardware has been around forever. I remember back in the day, around 2001 when it was starting to gain popularity and it had become the hot spot for having the best CPU and graphics card bench charts. That was 17 years ago. Man, now I feel old, haha.
Yes, Mike, I totally remember looking things up on Tom’s HW when I was building PCs….like back when I used PCs. 🙂
Are all sites targeted for the US region only?
Good one Doug, Wonderful post about Amazon Affiliate as Amazon Affiliate is on higher up so this post becomes more important and amazing to know Amazon Affiliate Sites was greatest examples.
Hi Doug,
Thanks for the wonderful list. I got an idea from it and going to execute it. Thanks for being an awesome mentor.
Doug…
My name is Steve Robertson. I have a website called accentourhome.com (being rebuilt). I have tried drop shipping with this site with no luck in the past, just spend too much money that i didn’t have.
So I am now starting looking into affiliate marketing! Sounds exciting to me!
I have been watching videos with Alex on affiliate sites and that is how i was introduced to you. I love the videos. It just seems so simple! I know its not, but I am ready to march on!
I have a few questions that I hope you have the time to answer.
KGR… Is the keyword research only for the title of the post?
Do i insert other KGR phrases inside the post with just normal SEO keywords spread in places inside the post like everybody is taught?.
Or… will the post rank with only the KGR title?
I am using WordPress and i have one more question! Please bear with me here.
In all the affiliate site tutorials i have seen, everything is written inside posts.
Do I.. or, when do I put content inside a page? I cant find anyone that talks about that!
I am pretty sure i don’t add anything in products in an affiliate marketing site Tell me if I am wrong here.
Thanks you in advance for your expertise!
Hey Doug, great post! One thing I notice is that they have a lot contents on the homepage. I am a beginner and still trying building my first website. What would you suggest for the homepage? A lot of articles? or just a simple homepage with links to internal pages? Thanks
This is a nice list. I’ve recently started compiling a list similar to this focused on bloggers who make money online. It’s quite fascinating all the different ways they are driving traffic and generating revenue.
Awesome examples Doug. I’ve been binging on your podcast (it’s great to listen to while cutting the grass lol). So much awesome information. Keep it coming – just wanted to say thanks!
Great article Doug, but I do have a question: I thought that Amazon TOS says that you must state somewhere on your website that you are earning commissions from Amazon. Of the first 5 or so websites at the top of this list that I looked at, I didn’t see any sort of disclosure about that. Am I wrong about that TOS?
Matt, yes. A site needs to disclose the affiliate relationship.
Hello, Doug!
Nice to visit this blog again.
About 8 months ago, I was struggling to start my new affiliate blog. And this blog is one of my references.
I am not from America. I am an Asian. The thing that worries me is the about page seriously. I would like to be honest but I am afraid people will think negatively because I don’t reside in the real place.
I think several times should I put my real name in the about me page. Is that the reason why my blog takes it too long to get a higher ranking?
This article gives me a new confidant. Even though the real about me page is important (including the photo and background related to blog topic we are running), we are still able to improve the other sides to get trustworthy.
Thank you
Very nice list Doug! I just came across your site and discovered the KGR concept. I visited your YT channel and watched the video about Google killing sites with aff links. I know it’s experimental but just wondering if you are going to do any updates re: that. Either way thank you for all your hard work!
This is really amazinglist Doug! I have gain some knowledge about these kind of affiliate sites because I am also released a similar site. I think my site will also be listed after a couple of years. Hopefully you also will welcome me?
Hello
I wish to build an amazon affiliate site on health topics. I want to review about supplements for cholesterol, heart disease, cancer etc.
I am looking for suitable website theme. Can you suggest a proper theme for me?
Hi, Doug
I am very happy and I want to thank you for your wonderful information
You have implemented your innovative plan “KGR”
On the article: safe slipper for seniors
and more Posts..
Please take a look at my site
mostcomfortableshoesguide.net
My website specializes in comfortable shoes
I hope to become successful
Hi Doug,
I have a website and I’m getting enough traffic. My niche is Digital Marketing but I don’t know how to monetize my website. Can you please take a look and guide me on that.
Regards:
Harold Adams
Hey Harold – You should have affiliate offers for the tools. Seems like it’s straight forward…
Hey Doug how do you get the price estimate on Best Roof Box at 37k
If its doing 248 per month and you 30x that its only 7440.
That’s just the Amazon Affiliate income for the US at the time of that screenshot. So it makes other revenue from the international Associate programs, plus some from display ads. So I checked Alex’s most recent video in Mid March 2020 to see the valuation. 🙂
There is a heck of a slide in traffic for the majority of those sites.
I’m a regular watching what Alex does over at Best Roof Box and he is quite open in the fact that he doesn’t currently earn a great deal from any other international associate programs. He’s currently doing about $380 per month total from Amazon (US + UK) and less than $15 per month from ads. So Best Roof Box in currently pulling about $400 per month maximum.
Best Roof Box is therefore nowhere near being valued at ypur suggested $37,500. I think you made a typo. Possibly around $8,000 to $10,00 tops as of April 2020 and Alex is honest enough to agree. You need to adjust you stats Doug.
Steve – thanks for the heads up. I’ll check with Alex, but I literally used his latest info at the time of publishing. So it’s likely inaccurate but I hope not by that much!
Getting a lot from these websites. I have a website that I am currently building and have learned a thing or two.
Hey Doug,
Very cool updated list. I have a question about the first small site – bestroofbox.com. Based on the screen shot the site is making around $300 per month. How come its value is estimated to be $37k given the fact that the multiplied value x 25 equals $7500?
Thanks!
Hi Doug,
Just read it. Indeed great inspiration and off course help to dig out thousands of keywords. I went through all the sites, my question is https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ is this also amazon affiliate site? Little bit confused.
Sure It is an affiliate site for Amazon but lists various products from other merchants too
Hi Doug,
Last night I watched your interview with Anthony. Great piece of knowledge.
Hey, Doug!
I believe this was written a while back but surely, these affiliate sites are satisfying to see growing higher in the air!
For the great pointers, I picked many ideas to see how the affiliate site should be done. And, I so believe being personal is the key even though you are concealed beyond the keyboard.
Thanks for that! I am gonna try with affiliate site setup real soon! Hoping to grow to a bit noticeable level! 🙂
Thanks,
Adeel!
Really informative
I love your KGR Technique
Basically as a newbie i am inspiring by you. And applying all your methods one my first project
outdoorfunday
Hi Doug,
Your affiliate site collections is amazing and good job here. How some of baby sites (https://www.babygearlab.com) can survive with Amazon affiliate program ? because amazon not allowed the products related to baby below 13 years ?