Amazon.com's Associate Central Redesign

Amazon.com recently redesigned their Associate Central web site and rolled out some cool features. You can read about it here at the Amazon Associate Blog.

All though I often think that redesigns are done just for the sake of redesign. And many of the redesigns done on affiliate marketing sites do not offer much benefit beyond the cost of time that has to be invested in learning how to use the new features.

I am happy to report that I really like the new design and think that features like the "site stripe" are very useful.



The "Site Stripe feature" allows you to create links to products and pages on the Amazon.com site so you can update your website more frequently and with fewer clicks. And this is a feature that I wish many other affiliate marketing programs would use this approach.

If you are logged into your Amazon Associates account, the Site Stripe will automatically show up on the Amazon.com website just below the navigation bar (see example above), According to an email that I received from Amazon.com:

There are four buttons available to you on the Site Stripe:

• 'Link to this Page': By clicking on this link, you will be taken directly to Associates Central and receive the HTML code needed to add that particular Amazon.com page to your website or blog. After visiting Associates Central, you’ll see a link to take you back to the same page on Amazon.com that you were on prior to clicking on the Site Stripe. This allows you to create links to any page on Amazon directly from Associates Central while browsing the Amazon.com site.


• 'Add to aStore': Adding links to your aStore is just as easy as creating text links. By clicking on this link, you will be taken to the Associates Central aStore configuration page where you can quickly add this product/link to your aStore. After visiting Associates Central, you’ll see a link to take you back to Amazon to continue shopping.


• 'Your Earnings Report': Keep track of your earnings with this shortcut to your earnings report directly from any page of the Amazon.com retail site. Find out where you are earning referral fees while navigating the Amazon.com site to add more links on your website or blog to products and pages that appeal to your readers, based on your earnings performance.


• 'Settings': The Settings tab allows you to configure your Site Stripe tabs as you like and also gives you the ability to turn off the Site Stripe if you would prefer not to see it while you are on the Amazon.com website. Please note that if you do turn off the Site Stripe, you will need to visit your Account Settings within Associates Central to turn it back on. All of your Site Stripe settings can be accessed there. You can always hide the Site Stripe at any time without turning it off. Just click on the “hide” button on the toolbar. To see it again, click on the “tab” at the top left.

If you are an Amazon.com affiliate you will want to check this new feature out, and if not then this new feature will make it easy to start.