How Much Do Niche Sites Earn with Amazon Associates

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When I first got started with Niche Sites, it really impressed me when I met someone that had a niche site making $2 – $3 per day.

I was thinking, if I could just make a few bucks a day, that would be awesome — enough for an extra dinner out each month or maybe supplement the vacation budget.

Little did I know, that I could create a site to be hundreds of times more profitable than that.

And you can too.

In this video, I tell you how much niche sites can earn with Amazon Associates, and how you can achieve that. Watch below or keep reading:

I’ll get to the point:

Niche sites that are monetized using the Amazon Affiliate program can have a huge range of earnings.

The reality is that most sites don’t make much at all — many of sites make nothing. It’s due to a lot of reasons:

  1. A person doesn’t have enough time and the site gets neglected from the start.
  2. Poor keyword research and/or picking a bad niche.
  3. Poor content or content that is flawed so it’ll never rank in Google. (i.e. if the content is stuffed with keywords so Google won’t rank it.)

But if you can get past those three hurdles, you’ll probably be able to make a lot more than you think.

  • You can make $100 per month within 4 – 6 months if you get the process right.
  • You can make $1,000 per month within 6 – 9 months.
  • You can make $1,500 to $5,000 per month once you’re past the 9 month range.
  • After a year, the sky is the limit because growth accelerates when your site is older than 6 months.

** There are a TON of caveats for the ranges above. So please keep that in mind. There are dozens of steps in the process and if you get one wrong, then your site may never realize it’s potential. You can use the points above as a guide though.

Making a Few Dollars a Day

I wasn’t lying when I said that $2 – $3/day truly impressed me.

This guy was in my very first mastermind group in 2013 — he was the most experienced person in the group.

He had a few niche sites focused on Adsense, the best of which was making $2.50 per day. Everyone was impressed!

I got off the Skype call with the group and told my wife all about this “very successful” guy who had been working on niche sites for over 2 years at the time. My wife was impressed, too.

You probably can’t quit your job if you’re only making $60 – $80 per month but you can go out for a dinner or buy a round of drinks for your friends. But it’s still pretty cool!

Making over $1,000 or $10,000 per Month?!

In those early days, I had no idea that normal people could make over 4 figures a month, not to mention someone making upwards of $15,000/month just from Amazon Associates alone

It blew me away just thinking about it. That’s enough to replace a full-time income for a lot of people.

This was motivation enough to get started and rank my site as quickly as possible. So, I set a goal of the amount I wanted to make when I started my first Amazon Affiliate Site. I was hoping to make $300 per month within 6 to 8 months.

Whether you want to make $20/month or $400/month or more, setting a goal can help you focus when building your niche site.

I was able to reach the $300 per month goal faster than expected and actually reached over $6,000 within 6 months.

Things can happen fast! Read more about my Amazon Affiliate earnings for a couple of years.

An example of this is Dave Fox, who is making $5,000/month from his site for over one year and still going strong.

You don’t necessarily need a lot of content to make good money on a niche site. For example, the site from Project Go White Hat only had about 45 posts yet it was making $10,000 per month. We added more content using the Keyword Golden Ratio, plus improved the existing content with using RPM and FAQ techniques to boost the revenue to over $32,000 in December of 2016.

I started working on the Project Go White Hat site in Sept 2016. You can see the growth after that, reaching $32k by December thanks to the retail season, RPM, and FAQ.

I started working on the Project Go White Hat site in Sept 2016. You can see the growth after that, reaching $32k by December thanks to the retail season, RPM, and FAQ.

You just need the RIGHT combination of a number of things and in the right order, like:

  1. Proper Keyword Research
  2. High Quality Content
  3. Promoting Your Content

Read more about how to build an Amazon Affiliate Website.

What is YOUR niche site earning?

Leave a comment below and let us know how much your niche site is making. For extra credit, you can mention the timeline of earnings also.

Further Reading and FAQs on Amazon Associates

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About the author: Doug Cunnington is the founder of Niche Site Project. He shows people how to create Affiliate Sites using project management and a proven, repeatable framework. Doug loves creating systems, using templates, and brewing beer (but usually not at the same time).

39 comments… add one
  • Toki Castro-Tover

    Hey Doug,

    Always a huge struggle when I see others have success faster. So, it’s so much more important to really figure out what exactly to be working on everyday to move that needle. Easier said than done.

    But for my personal situation, my site is almost 10 months old and only earning roughly eighty a month.

    I’m super interested in a consult but not sure if you would accept it or if it’s needed. How would you assess this?

    Thanks!

    Toki

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Toki – I totally understand, and that doesn’t go away. A lot of the time people are successful faster because previous experience. For example, Evan (who will be on the YouTube Channel soon) was a writer for big websites for years. Other people, may have started a few websites over the course of a few years, and then things clicked.

      I think you’re in good shape…Usually if you can persevere for a year and beyond, you’ll figure it out. 🙂

      As far as a consult, usually I can find some key things that you may have overlooked & give you some high leverage action items. So shoot me an email and we can figure out if that’ll help.

      Reply
  • Santhosh

    Hiii bro,
    If you dont mind, could you please tell me a niche which i can start my site with?
    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Hi Santhosh, it’s best if you find your own. I suggest you read this big guide.

      Or you can go to The Wirecutter and just look at the products and niches that it targets.
      Good luck

      Reply
  • Shaun Baird

    Hey Doug, about 1k a month, still , on about 25 posts ..
    my flaws: not publishing often enough,
    So things have ramped downwards the last 3 months… used to have many top of page 1 results, now traffic is down a good 50%
    Now my excuses:.. due to my offline business taking time (genuinely, it’s a ltd company in it’s busy time and I’m torn between the two), plus too much beer on an evening trying to forget the days stress. Plus not reinvesting profits,..

    Lots to do, and yet at minute everyone, man and his dog are chasing us for money, even the wife has booked a very expensive holiday,..

    I need a cheaper copywriter..

    I need to sort myself out lol., on it now..

    From yesterday.. no more beer

    Going to be updating content each night,( and no more beer lol),

    Then when holiday is paid push all profits back in.. hoping to return the traffic with the regular content and regain Google trust

    Then I might just celebrate with a beer! ?

    Shaun

    Reply
  • Dann

    Hey Doug, great stuff. I am too embarrassed to let you see my blogger at the moment, I really don’t have it together yet, while I am quite talented with a pencil, and other mediums, I am not techy at all, but picking things up. I really don’t want to monetize blogger anyway. I am shooting for July for an actual “site”, I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I have few Dollars extra each month, and the $2-3 each day you speak of would be great. I’ll continue to watch, as I find you to be credible, as I had mentioned, I had got burnt out from the “gurus”. Enjoy the weather, it’ actually hot here in Port Angeles this week, too hot in my trailer. Thanks for your material, Dann

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Cheers, Dann. Just keep at it!
      July is just around the corner.
      Thanks about being credible…I try to be helpful!

      Reply
      • Dann

        Hi Doug, could you suggest a hosting plan that would be low cost upfront, I know most of you guys suggest Bluehost, but they don’t offer a monthly. Is hostgator sufficient with wordpress? I see shared, as opposed to dedicated, would shared be enough to get launched? Like I said, I am so not techy. Thanks for your time, I really feel once I got going with KGR I would be succesful, and this scraping by would be but a memory. Thanks again Doug, Dann

        Reply
        • Doug Cunnington

          I’d go with the cheapest option at Site Ground, not sure if they have the monthly option. I’m pretty sure that MDD Hosting has a monthly option.
          (Both affiliate links so I’d get a commission if you buy through my link. thanks!)

        • Dann Marceau

          Thank you Doug.

  • AJ

    Hi Doug,
    I have few sites that are 4 years old and have about 10-12 pages of content. I was never able to add more content and keep the momentum going. Should I add more content and try to rank those sites or should I just abandon them. I haven’t built any backlinks to these sites. Looking towards your suggestion.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      AJ – probably add content, assuming the niche & KW research is solid.
      I’d pick the best one and go from there.

      Reply
  • Brandon

    Great insight, Doug.

    I have a site doing about $200-300 a month..and it has been averaging that for a little over a year.

    This was a total test at the beginning of 2017 with only about 5 pieces of content. This has been heavily neglected since the beginning…unfortunarely.

    Reply
  • Hussain

    Hi Doug, I’m working on a site from the month of March of this year but there is nothing much to see in terms of earnings. I have published around 10 to 12 blog posts in which two are more than 6k word counts also implemented your KGR method on few blog posts one thing which I noticed this month is organic traffic slightly improved as compared to previous months. The only reason I believe is not to acquiring high quality links so far let me know what do you think or what do you suggest in my case. I’m hoping to cross $1k by this December but so far according to the performance of the website I don’t think this will happen.

    Reply
  • Anindita Mou

    Hi
    I just start my amazon affiliate site 6 month left and its rapidly growing. I need some reference about strong link building strategies.

    Reply
  • Naseem

    Hi Doug, I have been trying to learn and earn for the last two years I made a few bucks from my first flopped site but still have to see solid earnings through a site I just started 3 months ago. I find myself handicapped when I see people ranking sites with lots of investment not sure , but still hopeful to reach4-5 figure income for my family.

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Naseem, you can do it! Just keep pushing and adjusting.
      I’ve seen people spend a lot and still fail, yet I see others start a site with almost nothing and do great. It’s about working on the right things, not necessarily about the budget.

      Reply
  • Naseem

    Doug, 1 more thing to share, I started a blogspot blog 6 months ago, wrote around 5-6 post using the KGR method, without a single backlink, without any social media sharing, no seo pro knowledge, that blogspot still gives me 1-2 sale every 2 weeks. That an amazing feeling though little but with no extra investment it still ranks.

    Reply
  • Peter Nyiri

    I have a niche site, 10 months old, but not Amazon affiliate. There is one post that has made me $980 so far, 600 out of that in the past month. I was targeting keywords that were too competitive. The one post that made all the money is based on a keyword that is 30 searches per month, but with all the related keywords it is getting 320 views per month. Now I am planning to create similar ones.

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Peter, BOOM!
      Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. It’s amazing when you crack that nut after 9 months.
      Keep it up and be sure to keep us updated!

      Reply
  • saiqa

    Hi ,
    I am really Impressed that people earning even $60 per month, in my case I have a site almost two-year-old, having world-class info contents, paid a huge sum for link building, (including 3 press releases in two years), some money pages on the first page , but earning the biggest month was $15 in June.
    More i am getting 10 to fifteen users daily and my bounce rate is 22% (imagine how useful contents are).
    So I’m following you for some time, still unable to figure it out what is the reason of this sandboxing.
    Would you like to suggest something?
    Or can you guide me\consult me
    Thanks and I would really appreciate your response

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Hi, thanks for the info and background.
      The bounce rate is amazing! So I think sandboxing is the wrong term, but I’d look at the searcher intent, like are they looking to buy anything? Next, how are you so sure it’s world class content? Aside from the bounce rate…
      I do consults, check out nichesiteproject.com/hire-me

      Reply
  • Durban

    I feel like quiting…. i have 5 websites and combined they make 190 usd a month…. im tired now, all my site have a lot of content

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Durban, $190 a month is pretty good! Most people never make anything, never even start.
      So I’d say that you spread yourself thin and if you focus on ONE site for 90-180 days, you’ll do much better overall.

      Why 5 sites?

      Reply
  • Roshan

    Hi Doug,
    Great stuff here. But I think showing that huge money being thing is not so good for mentality of beginners.
    Some get crazy, some get frustrated and go even worse because they feel that they are making zero even when they are doing heavy hardwork, while those others making thousands for little work.
    I even heard that one of the disadvantage of internet is showing lucky incomes.
    Thats my experience!

    Reply
    • saiqa

      Yes , me too, nobody is telling us that how much we are going to spend to reach that point.
      like to reach a $500 site per month, first, you need to invest ???

      Reply
      • Doug Cunnington

        It depends, but I started my sites for about $250… I wrote a bunch myself and re-invested from there.
        But if you have $2,500 then you could get started faster with more content.

        I can tell you that in most cases, money is not the issue. It’s a host of other problems — distractions, changing strategies, working on the wrong things, etc… I’ve seen people drop $3,000 or more, up to about $14,000 in one case, and still failed to make any money. The problem? Distractions and shiny object syndrome.

        I’m not saying that’s the thing happening here, Saiqa & Roshan, but it’s rarely money.

        Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Roshan, good point. And I tend to highlight early success because of that reason. Check these Five Figure Niche Site students out…

      At the end of the day, everyone was a beginner and some of the success stories are highlight reels that don’t mention the years of trying. I try to show that part of it in my interviews.

      Reply
  • David Kohson

    Hey Doug,
    I am making quite a good amount of money in an epigrammatic span of time. Unfortunately, my blog posts lost top ranking in Google because of the bot attack on my website from China.
    What can be the possible solution?

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington

      Hey David, I don’t know much about bot attacks, but I’d say to research that specifically and how to recover.
      I don’t understand what’s going on with your site either. In your other comment, you said:

      “The blog isn’t taking off. My per day traffic is less than 100. I have applied the world renowned KGR but still the success seems to fade with passage of time.”

      So if you’re making good money with a small amount of traffic, then you should be able to do more of what’s working.

      Reply
  • Dana

    Hi Doug,
    thank you so much for this summary. Even after 3 years of having my blog, I see $2/day as incredible, not to mention the higher values! I think my problem was that I was too diverse in my affiliate programs (one earned about $70/year, Amazon was $12/year). I’ve just recently found out about you and the KGR, so I’m slowly implementing that while focusing more on Amazon, because most of the other affiliates have changing products and after some period of time, my links just become “not found”.

    I have a question, do you plan on launching a one-off site audit package for a fixed price? I.e. general feedback on the site, a second look if you will. I have a problem with being too biased and not seeing other available opportunities in my niche.

    Thank you for all your hard work!

    Reply
  • Anjana kalra

    Hey Doug,
    Thanks for Sharing such an amazing article . Now am Confident Enough that I may rank may Amazon Affiliate Website and Earn Some From it. Thanks for sharing your view it, Keep Sharing Such an amazing information in your blog ,Will bookmark your blog.

    Reply
  • Dimo Karamazov

    Thanks a lot for the info bud! I am currently trying different things and making $10 a month 😀 but my hopes are high!

    Reply
  • Rory

    Hi Doug,

    So I’m all over the place and kinda finding my way with affiliate marketing/niche sites.

    I’m primarily a music producer. I sell beats online but now I want to expand and increase my income altogether. Which is why I started looking into building niche sites because I figure whatever skills I learn from making a niche site, I can apply it to my music production site. That was the theory anyway, but I haven’t found any affiliate products that align with my music business and are potentially lucrative. So now I’m looking into other niches just to make some additional income.

    I’m skeptical by nature, so I’m curious what you think about courses that claim to help you make $10k/month (USD) with Niche sites (with no specified time frame.) After reading your post and the comments below, I’m shocked at how low expectations for profits are. Now I’m skeptical if a monthly profit of $10k (USD) is even possible? Is this likely a combination of many different niche sites built over the course of, say 5+ years, for example?

    I’m sure the common fear among beginners is the fear of putting so much time into building a site and, after 1-2 years, still have nothing to show for it. That’s where I am, kinda paralyzed because I want to use my time wisely. I’m getting older and time is becoming more and more expensive.

    Also, I’ve come across the local seo/’rank and rent’ method, which seems much more lucrative for same amount of work. Have you heard of this, and what are your thoughts?

    Reply
    • Doug Cunnington, PMP

      Rory, you should be suspicious. It’s a crazy world in the “make money online” niche.

      $10k per month is possible and achievable. If you’re new to internet marketing, it’ll probably take 2-3 years to learn the ropes and hit that level. If you’re experienced, then you could do it in a year if you have some money to invest.

      Local seo/’rank and rent’ method
      Yes, that can work. It has it’s own pitfalls – as does everything. 🙂

      If it’s more lucrative for the same amount of work, then you can be displaced by the thousands of people ready to step on your back that also think it’s easier to do. So if something is easier or faster, then you’re more suseptable to being overtaken.

      My advice is to pick something and stick to it for a while. Don’t jump around too much.

      Reply
  • Jai

    Great article, Doug. I remember when I first started developing websites back in 2012, earning even $1 USD a day was a big deal for me, but yeah things move really fast. I crossed that number and a bit more in a few days after I started. Focusing on one thing at a time did well for me.

    Reply

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