I'm currently building a website (not a YT channel) that will be monetized via Amazon affiliate program. The site isn't live so I don't have results to share but I've researched it a lot and followed some training courses on the subject. Amazon reduced and changed the commission structure in 2018 and it has become a lot harder to make decent money. You essentially need a lot of very
targeted traffic.
One tip I can give is to target keywords that show "intent" - By "intent", I mean "buying intent" - So a video (or web page) that is targeting keywords like "
best backpack for kids" - Anyone searching for that is clearly actively looking to BUY a backpack RIGHT NOW. The keyphrase probably won't get a lot of traffic because it is so specific and longtail BUT all the traffic will be highly targeted to potential buyers. So it will convert really well.
Compare that to "How to pack a backpack" - Sure, it's all about backpacks but there is no "buying intent" - People searching for that already own a backpack. And even if they don't own one yet, they aren't looking to buy RIGHT NOW (Remember Amazon's cookie expires after 24 hours.)
Finally, the last thing to consider - YouTube is ok with affiliate links per se. There is no rule banning them BUT there is a rule that says you can't create videos whose sole purpose is to take traffic to another website. So it's a catch 22 and a bit of a grey area. To make money with it on YT, you'd have to get a lot of traffic over to Amazon and YT doesn't like that. That is why I've chosen to do my affiliate stuff on a website whose domain I own on my servers. I prefer to build my assets that I have full control of and total ownership. A website that is earning money can be sold on. A YT channel can't. Well it can in a few cases but it's very complicated to do.
I have a website too, but to be honest, even though I have worked my butt off on it to get it highly ranked on google, it generates less than 10% of my amazon commissions. Youtube is my main generator. But I like the idea that if ever one day YT decides that they want to stop Amazon links, I have a place to go to that NOBODY can take away from me. But as far as Youtube goes (for right now, at least), the main thing is that all your links be RELATIVE to your video. YT is all about things APPEARING to be ORGANIC. Essentially, they don't want you to create videos to sell amazon products. If you are reviewing a product and place links to that product in the description, that is okay, as long as you don't make the video predominately about buying the product. I make a lot of "How To" videos and I include a list of tools used in the video and links to buy those tools. That is okay because the items are related to what my video is about, even though my video is not about those products specifically.
The main thing is not to OVER do it. Make it look organic and natural and you will be fine. I just have a little script I say at the end of my videos that goes like this.
"I hope you enjoyed my video and found it helpful. If you did, please Like, Subscribe, and Comment. All of the tools and equipment seen and used to produce this video are listed in the description area below this video if you are interested in them. Thanks for watching."
That is all I say about it and it is at the end of the video. My viewers don't feel like I am trying to sell them stuff, and I am not doing that. I make videos to help them. That is the goal of my video. My links are there to make it easier and more convenient for them to find the products seen in my video, so that too is helpful to them. So my viewers feel that I am putting them first, and profit seconds, because that is what I am actually doing.
I used to be a highly successful in-home salesman in my younger days. But it was not because I was high pressure or fast-talking. My success was due to the fact that my customers felt that I truly cared about them. They felt that way because I really did. I broke every rule in the sales book and was constantly mocked among my peers, but I outsold them all because when I walked into a person's home, I was there to help them, not to sell to them. If after looking at their situation, I felt that my product was not good for them, I told them that they should not buy it. I put them first and they trusted me for it.
I have a very different way of thinking about things. When I moved out to my farm, I tried to start a business selling Live Fertile Chicken Eggs. I shipped thousands of eggs all over the country. Think about that. Shipping delicate live egg through the mail. Not only are the eggs delicate, but there are also many things that can happen in transit that can kill the eggs rendering them useless. All these things were out of my control but still offered a 100% No Zero Hatch Guarantee. No other egg shipper in the US offered this kind of guarantee. Not a single one. Every one of them had disclaimers on their site that said essentially,
"It's not my fault if your eggs get broken in transit or they don't hatch. These are things out of my control and I am not responsible for them". Some people could not believe that I was offering a No Zero Hatch Guarantee. Several people contact me directly about it and asked me how I could offer such a guarantee on something like lfertile hatching eggs. My answer was this, and some people that read it said that it changed their life.
"
I have two policies when it comes to how I do business.
1. People are more important than Profits.
2. I would rather take the risk of being burned by ONE, rather than unjustly treating everyone as though they are dishonest so that I might not be burned by NONE."
I had a 100% positive feedback ration on eBay, selling hatching eggs. I hurt my back and could not run the business anymore and had to shut down and sell off all my high dollar chickens. I donated some of my stock to the zoo because that were endangered breeds, and I can go see them in their zoo habitat.