How to Create Amazon Affiliate Links (SiteStripe, Link Builder, and by Hand)

An Amazon affiliate link is an ordinary Amazon URL with your tracking ID attached. That's all it is, and it's why there are several ways to make one: Amazon's SiteStripe toolbar, the link builder in Associates Central, typing it yourself, or an API when you need hundreds. They all produce the same thing. The differences are speed, what you can link to, and how easy it is to get wrong.

This guide covers all four, then the parts that matter more than the method: what each piece of the URL does, where each kind of link belongs, the rules that turn a working link into an unpaid one, and how to check a link before you trust it.

The short answer

For a single product, use SiteStripe: open the product on Amazon while logged in to Associates, click Get Link: Text in the bar at the top, copy the short link. For a specific product you already know the ASIN of, build it by hand: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN?tag=yourid-20. For a site with dozens of pages and hundreds of links, use a tool that pulls products through Amazon's API and inserts the links for you.

Before you start: your tracking ID

Every method needs your tracking ID, the short code ending in -20 (on Amazon.com) that tells Amazon who to pay. It's created when you join and shown at the top of Associates Central. If you run more than one site or want to see which content earns, create extra tracking IDs first, so you can pick the right one as you build each link. What the ID is, why it ends in -20, and how Store IDs and tracking IDs differ are covered in what is an Amazon Associates ID.

Method 1: SiteStripe

SiteStripe is the grey bar that appears across the top of every Amazon.com page when you're logged in to your Associates account. It's the fastest way to link one product.

1. Log in at Associates Central, then open Amazon.com in the same browser. The bar appears automatically.
2. Go to the product page you want to link. Amazon's help notes that links to a specific product can only be made while you're viewing that product.
3. Click Get Link: Text. Choose Short Link (an amzn.to address) or Full Link.
4. Check the tracking ID shown; it defaults to the one you used last, and you can switch it here.
5. Copy the link, or use the share buttons to post it to Facebook or X directly.

Two things to know. SiteStripe now makes text links only; the image and text-plus-image options were removed, so product images on your site have to come through the API instead. And the short link is Amazon's own shortener, so unlike a third-party one it's allowed under the program rules and carries your ID. Details are on Amazon's SiteStripe help page.

Method 2: the Product Links tool in Associates Central

Inside Associates Central, Product Linking → Product Links lets you search Amazon by keyword or ASIN without leaving the dashboard, pick the tracking ID, and copy a text link for any result. It's the same output as SiteStripe, but useful when you're building several links at once or want to link a product you haven't opened on Amazon. The same menu has Link to Any Page, which builds a tracked link to a search results page, a category, or a custom list of ASINs; handy when you want to send readers to "all camping tents" rather than one product.

Method 3: by hand

Because a link is just a URL plus a parameter, you can write one yourself. The clean form is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0EXAMPLE?tag=yourid-20

• ASIN is the product's ten-character Amazon ID, shown in the product details on every listing (and in the URL after /dp/).
• tag= is the only parameter that pays. Everything else in a copied Amazon URL (ref=, th=, psc=, tracking junk) can be deleted.
• For a search page: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=camping+tents&tag=yourid-20.

Hand-built links are fine and fully paid, but they're where mistakes creep in: a typo in the tag, the wrong marketplace's ID (a -20 tag on an Amazon.co.uk URL earns nothing), or forgetting the tag entirely on a link copied from the address bar. If you build by hand, test each one.

Method 4: the API, when you need hundreds

A buyer guide has five to ten product links. A niche site has fifty guides. At that point nobody copies links one at a time; publishing tools call Amazon's Product Advertising API (also offered as the Creators API), which returns the product's title, current price, image and a ready-made affiliate URL for your tag. It's also the only compliant way to show live prices and product images on your site, since Amazon's rules ban copying those from the product page by hand. API access is tied to an active Associates account with sales, which is another reason to get your first pages ranking before you rely on it.

Which link goes where

What each part of the link does

A link from SiteStripe or the API looks longer than the hand-built one, for example:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0EXAMPLE?tag=yourid-20&linkCode=ll1&linkId=abc123&language=en_US

• tag: your tracking ID. The only part Amazon uses to pay you.
• linkCode: which tool built the link (SiteStripe, API, etc.). Reporting only.
• linkId: a unique ID for that specific link, so Amazon's reports can show clicks per link. Reporting only.
• language / ref: display and navigation hints. Harmless, not required.

Only tag is required. The rest can stay; they never hurt, and linkId gives you finer reporting.

The rules that turn a working link into an unpaid one

• Don't cloak it. Amazon's rules ban hiding, spoofing or obscuring where a link goes. That includes running it through a third-party shortener or a redirect that masks amazon.com. Amazon's own amzn.to short link is the allowed exception.
• Keep it on approved properties, online. Not in emails, newsletters, PDFs, eBooks or printed material, and not on a site or channel you didn't register.
• Match the marketplace. Each Amazon store needs its own account and ID; use OneLink to send international visitors to their local store with the right tag.
• Disclose. Every page that carries a link needs the Amazon disclosure statement, visible before the first link; wording and placement are in our disclosure guide.
• Don't quote prices by hand. A link is fine; typing "$49.99" next to it is a violation unless the price came from the API with a timestamp.
• Add rel="sponsored". Amazon doesn't require it, but Google asks for it on affiliate links, and it has no effect on your commission.

Test a link before you trust it

Associates Central has a Link Checker under Product Linking: paste any link and it confirms whether it carries a valid tag for your account. For a quick manual check, open the link in a private window and look for tag=yourid-20 in the address bar after the page loads. And don't test by buying; a purchase through your own link is a violation and doesn't count as a sale.

Doing it for a whole site

Every method above is fine for a handful of links. The failure mode is scale: fifty guides, five hundred links, three tracking IDs, and one wrong tag or one hand-typed price somewhere in the middle. That's the part worth automating. AffSERP builds the links as it writes the article: it pulls each product through Amazon's API, so prices and images are compliant by construction, puts your tracking ID in every link, adds rel="sponsored" and the disclosure, and publishes to your site. You choose the keywords and the tracking ID; the links come out right every time.

FAQ

How do I create an Amazon affiliate link?

Fastest: SiteStripe. Open the product on Amazon while logged in to Associates and click Get Link: Text. Or search in the Product Links tool in Associates Central, or add ?tag=yourid-20 to amazon.com/dp/ASIN by hand.

Can SiteStripe still make image links?

No, text links only. Product images for your site come through the Product Advertising API, which publishing tools use.

Can I shorten a link with Bitly?

Risky: Amazon bans obscuring where links go. Use Amazon's own amzn.to short link from SiteStripe instead.

Do I need rel="sponsored"?

Amazon doesn't require it; Google asks for it on affiliate links. Add it; it doesn't affect your commission.

Keep reading

Amazon Affiliate How to Earn Commission on Amazon: A Step-by-Step Guide From joining Associates to your first payout: links, content, traffic, reports and the mistakes to avoid.

Amazon Affiliate Amazon Associates Requirements: How to Get Approved and Stay Approved What qualifies, the content and follower minimums, the 180-day rule, and the rules that keep an account open.