How to Add Amazon Affiliate Links in WordPress (Without a Plugin, and With One)
WordPress runs most Amazon affiliate sites, and the question of how to put the links in comes up in two versions: the beginner who has one tagged URL and isn't sure where it goes, and the site owner with eighty posts who's being sold a plugin.
This post answers both. The first half is links by hand, which is all most sites need; the second half is what a plugin adds, which features are worth it, and which ones put the account at risk.
It assumes you have a tagged link already. If not, the creating links post covers SiteStripe, the Link Builder and building one by hand.
The short answer
Paste the tagged Amazon URL into a paragraph link or a Button block, open it in a new tab, mark it sponsored, and put the disclosure near the top of the post. That's a compliant, earning link with nothing installed.
Add a plugin when you want product boxes with API-fed prices and images, or a link checker across many posts. Never let a plugin store product images, type prices, or redirect links through your own domain.
Adding links by hand
A text link
In the block editor, select the words, press the link button (or Ctrl/Cmd+K), paste the full Amazon URL with your tag, and turn on "Open in new tab". That's a working affiliate link. The URL should be the clean form (amazon.com/dp/ASIN?tag=yourtag-20) rather than a long search-results URL with session parameters, which can lose the tag.
A button
Add a Buttons block, type the label ("Check price on Amazon" or "See it on Amazon"), paste the URL, set it to open in a new tab. The Button block's link settings include a "Mark as nofollow" toggle; switch it on.
Buttons convert better than text links on a product section because they look like the action they are, and they're the thing most people reach a plugin for without needing one.
The rel attribute
Google asks that affiliate links carry rel="sponsored" (nofollow is still accepted). WordPress adds nofollow on buttons via the toggle; for an inline link you edit the block as HTML and add rel="sponsored noopener" to the anchor. Amazon has no requirement here, so if you only remember one thing, remember that the link must be a full Amazon URL with your tag.
The disclosure
Amazon requires a disclosure that you earn from qualifying purchases, and the FTC expects it before the links, not in a footer. A reusable block ("As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases") inserted under the title of every post that has links is the simplest way to do it consistently.
Images
Don't download product photos into the media library. Amazon's image licence doesn't cover saved copies, and that's the image rule in the Operating Agreement, not a technicality. Your own photos of the product are fine; otherwise images come through SiteStripe's text link plus your own picture, or through a plugin that calls the API at render time rather than storing them.
What a plugin adds
With a handful of posts, none of this is a problem by hand. At forty posts with ten products each, it starts to be: a product changes its name, a listing dies, you want a box with image, title, rating and button that looks the same everywhere.
Plugins exist for that layer. The common ones (AAWP, Lasso, AmaLinks Pro and the like) differ in style and price; what matters is which features they use and how.
| Feature | Worth it? | Rule it touches |
|---|---|---|
| Product boxes (image, title, button) | Yes, from ~30 posts | Images must come from the API at display time, not be stored |
| Live prices from the Creators API | Yes, if you want prices at all | Prices only via API or Amazon-served links; timestamp if refreshed less than hourly |
| Automatic link tagging | Useful | Check it doesn't strip or replace your tag |
| Geo-targeting to other Amazon stores | Useful for international traffic | Needs an Associates account in each store you redirect to |
| Link checker / dead listing alerts | Yes | None; this is pure maintenance help |
| Click tracking | Nice to have | Fine if the link still goes directly to Amazon |
| Link cloaking / redirects | No, for Amazon | Links must clearly lead to Amazon |
| Stored product data beyond 24 hours | No | API terms limit caching |
Plugin features that break the rules
- Cloaked links. yoursite.com/recommends/product redirecting to Amazon is the setup the link cloaking post ranks as banned. Some plugins do it by default; turn it off for Amazon.
- Scraped or hand-typed prices. Amazon's Program Policies say a site "may only show prices and availability if" Amazon serves the link or the data comes through the Creators API or PA API. A plugin that scrapes the product page breaks that.
- Downloaded images. A plugin that saves product images to your media library has made a copy the licence doesn't allow. The API-fed version loads the image from Amazon each time.
- Stale cached data. API terms limit how long product data can be held, and prices refreshed less than hourly need a visible timestamp. A plugin with a 24-hour price cache and no timestamp is out of policy.
- Image links to Amazon without the tag. Check a product box's image link carries your tag; some themes strip query strings on images.
The API key question
Any plugin that shows live prices or images needs API access. Amazon's Creators API replaced the Product Advertising API in 2026, and access depends on your account having made qualifying sales recently (the commonly cited figure is ten in thirty days).
A brand-new account can't get API data yet, which means a brand-new site should start with hand-built links and buttons and add the plugin layer once it's earning. That order is also the cheaper one.
A setup that scales
- Posts 1 to 30: text links and Button blocks, a reusable disclosure block, your own photos or none.
- From around post 30: a plugin for product boxes with API images and (optionally) timestamped prices; turn off cloaking; keep buttons as direct Amazon URLs.
- Always: a monthly dead-link check, either the plugin's or a broken-link checker, because Amazon listings vanish and a dead link earns nothing.
Doing it with AffSERP
AffSERP's X Best Review tool writes the buyer guide with the product boxes already built: images handled compliantly, a "Check price" button on each product carrying your Associates ID, the disclosure in place, and no printed prices.
The guide publishes to WordPress as a normal post, so it needs no plugin to render, and the Refresh option re-checks the products against Amazon so dead listings get replaced rather than linked. The by-hand rules above still apply to any links you add to the post afterwards.
FAQ
Do I need a plugin to add Amazon affiliate links in WordPress?
No. A tagged Amazon URL pasted into a paragraph or a Button block is a working affiliate link. A plugin earns its place when you have dozens of posts and want product boxes, live prices from Amazon's API, or a link checker. Under twenty posts, do it by hand.
Should Amazon affiliate links be nofollow or sponsored?
Google asks for rel="sponsored" on paid or affiliate links; rel="nofollow" is still accepted. Amazon doesn't require either. Use sponsored (or both) so Google understands the link is commercial. In WordPress the Button block has a nofollow toggle; for inline links edit the HTML or let a plugin add it.
Can I show Amazon prices in my WordPress posts?
Only if the price comes from Amazon's Creators API or from a link Amazon serves. Typing a price into a post breaks the Operating Agreement, and so does a plugin that scrapes it. If API data is refreshed less than hourly, a timestamp has to sit next to the price.
Is it safe to cloak Amazon links with Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates?
Amazon's rule is that a link must clearly lead to Amazon. A redirect that hides the destination (yoursite.com/go/thing) is the kind of link that gets accounts closed. Use those plugins for other networks if you like, and leave Amazon links as full Amazon URLs.
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