I need help with managing my Amazon Affiliate Links. I've worked and have yet to contain all my affiliate links. I've tried a few other WordPress plugins, both free and premium.
So when I received an email from Gael Breton last year with a 25 percent discount on Lasso, why not? I'm sharing my Lasso plugin review here.
What Makes Lasso Affiliate Marketing So Great?
So I had a problem with my website, and Gael Breton's email offered a potential solution. Unfortunately, I was taken aback a bit by the price of Lasso. I only committed to purchasing at the end of his discount promotion period.
Even once I signed up, I only did something with it for at least one month.
But then I started creating posts with free resources for CNC Makers. So this is what I bought it for, then let's use it, and I did.
I created two new resource posts: One for CNC Wood Projects, Plans, Ideas, and Files, and the other was Free 3D Relief Files for CNC Designs.
After creating those two posts, what makes the Lasso plugin so different and worth purchasing?
Lasso not only manages your affiliate links very well, but it also displays them. It doesn't just show them but displays them beautifully with options for Single Display, List Display, Grid Display, and Gallery Display.
My Own Amazon Affiliate Links Case Study
I created a post some time back on Thomas Kinkade puzzles. It's not precisely my Maker theme project, but I like doing puzzles, and my wife likes Thomas Kinkade. So it was a good idea.
The puzzles I linked to were available for purchase on Amazon. So, I quickly put a post together, and it started getting some traffic.
But like many Amazon products, image links changed, and the puzzles were no longer available. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with these changes, so after a while, my page was full of display boxes looking like the ones below.
It needs to be more attractive. Also, after a while, traffic stopped coming to this page.
The displays I made using Thrive Architect. They were attractive and easy to create. I didn't think I needed an Amazon WP plugin.
I love Thrive Suite and have been a member ever since they started. You can read my full review at Thrive Themes Review: The Best Theme Plugins For WordPress. But as it turns out, Lasso makes it even better!
Thrive Architect vs. Lasso Affiliate Marketing Tools
This text has a nice heading, but is it comparing apples and oranges? Let me explain more.
What Does Thrive Architect Do Very Well?
There is no doubt that Thrive Architect allows you to make professional-looking websites using WordPress.
It does this without getting into too many details for my puzzle list by offering content blocks you can use in your post. Blocks are a pre-built collection of Building Block Elements that Thrive Architect provides.
I used a Resource List Content Block similar to the image below.
The resource list starts with only a few content blocks, but if you need more, it's straightforward to append new ones.
At the top right corner of each element are three icons. The middle icon is a copy button, which copies the block and appends it after the current one. The right icon is a delete button. It deletes the entire content block.
The copy button makes building a resource list like this very simple. I change the description and links each time I have a new Amazon affiliate link.
I need to change the link in two locations and the title and description, along with finding and adding a link to the product image.
What Does Lasso Affiliate Marketing Tools Do Very Well?
What Lasso does is separate the affiliate link details from the WordPress post. First, this separation works very well for resource lists like the one I'm working with on puzzles.
This benefit does not apply if you do keyword links in a traditional post.
Define Your Lasso Groups
Lasso Affiliate Groups make List and Grid displays so easy to create. For example, I had five lists of puzzles I wanted to show in my example. So I defined five different groups.
Create Your Lasso Links
Creating affiliate links in Lasso is easy. Even Amazon affiliate links.
It starts by entering or pasting your target URL.
After you click the Add Link button, the Lass plugin does its magic. Since Lasso knows it's an Amazon URL, it automatically pulls in the name or title, the product image, whether it's Prime, and the price.
If desired, you need to change the name and enter a description.
Embed Your Lasso ShortCode
Using Thrive Architect, I then embed the WordPress shortcode for the Lasso group. The embed code includes the following:
What Do Both Thrive Architect And Lasso Tools Do Very Well
Thrive Architect and Lasso Affiliate Marketing produce gorgeous product displays, lists, and grids that convert. The Lasso display types work seamlessly with the Thrive Architect WordPress page builder.
With my Thomas Kinkade puzzle list, I used a Thrive Architect Content Box with a very light gray background. I then insert inside the sub-heading for the category of puzzles and the shortcode from Lasso. After that, the rest happens automatically.
What makes it work even better is that I can add or remove affiliate puzzle links in each category using the Lasso plugin. In addition, the post content automatically adjusts without any changes on my part.
If you have a Thrive Architect Table of Contents element on your post page, it also automatically includes any new sub-headings added using the Lasso plugin.
More Lasso Features For Affiliate Sites on WordPress
This Lasso WordPress plugin review is about the features I find most attractive. But there are a lot more features provided by Lasso which make it an excellent value.
This Amazon Product May Be Out Of Stock
How many times have you been on an affiliate site, or YouTube video with Amazon affiliate links, only to find that the links no longer work? Or, they work but take you to a no longer available product.
The Lasso dashboard displays a count of affiliate links that no longer work. But with Amazon links, they also show a count of products that may be out of stock.
It's easy to go down the list and check each one. If the Amazon product page displays that it is no longer available, I delete the link. If there is a different product I could use instead, then perfect, I use it.
I may leave it and recheck it if it's a good product that's out of stock.
It's that simple! You know the broken affiliate links. And you know which of your Amazon products may be out of stock.
Please also see our article, Pretty Links vs. Lasso: Affiliate Link Management Comparison.