Nope, I wasn't going to send an email about Chris Guthrie's release of EasyAzon 3.0 but after a number of questions from my list about my thoughts on the product I realized that some of you are looking for some feedback from me on whether or not you should consider buying this plug-in - especially considering the limited time price drop.
I have a great deal of respect for Chris Guthrie. Some of you may not know that he had a very large Amazon review site at one time that he sold for six figures. I've seen the site and he truly built something that went well beyond the typical review site. I learned a lot from studying his approach. When he announces a product I absolutely pay attention.I've gone over his sales page and studied the video and product here: EasyAzon 3.0
For me, the question isn't whether or not the product is good or not (it IS) and it's not whether or not the plug-in will save you time (it WILL)....The real question is DO YOU NEED IT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE ADCRAFTER (formerly known as SquidCrafter)? AdCrafter is another tool that makes your Amazon and text links more quickly and many of you already have that tool.
Building Amazon links is a pain - no doubt. Having something that builds them more quickly and more easily is a plus for any Amazon affiliate which is why I have used AdCrafter since 2012.
That means I do think you'd benefit from having one of the two - either EasyAzon 3.0 or AdCrafter.
So, if you've been considering buying EasyAzon 3.0 then let's do a comparison between that plug-in and AdCrafter so you make the best decision for YOU. Some of you will benefit from one over the other and the following should help you decide.
SUMMARY COMPARISON
EasyAzon 3.0:- Price is $27 for the next 7 days here: EasyAzon 3.0
- Works inside WordPress only
- Includes Localization which changes your affiliate links to the Amazon.com site matching the country of origin of your visitor (if you have an Amazon affiliate account with that Amazon country site)
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Includes the option to allow the customer to add the product right to their Amazon shopping cart to activate the 90 day cookie for that product
- Option for link cloaking
AdCrafter: - Price is currently $32 and on a dime sale so it goes up a bit for every 10 purchases here: AdCrafter
- Is a desktop app and the generated code works with WordPress, Blogspot, HTML sites, and a variety of web 2.0 sites
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Does not include Localization but does work with Amazon.co.uk
- Does not include the add to cart option for the 90 day cookie
- No option for link cloaking
- Can customize the templates to include your own buy buttons, your own formatting, colored borders, image sizes and the code is mobile-friendly
- Includes built-in Google image search so you can find products on Amazon through Google Images
FEATURE COMPARISON
WordPress Only vs. Multiple UsesIf you promote Amazon only on WordPress sites then EasyAzon will suffice. If you build Amazon links on other sites such as Blogspot or any web 2.0 site that accepts HTML then you'll be able to use AdCrafter every time.LocalizationLocalization is great if you get traffic from countries where Amazon has established a separate domain AND
if those other Amazon sites carry the same products as you are promoting on your site. If the Amazon ASINs or product names don't match then the Localization function will not find a product on the other site to which it will link. I've found that for the niches I'm in the products are not the same country by country and I get little benefit from Localization. However, if you're selling movies, books, or music you'll find a greater match rate and may benefit from EasyAzon 3.0.Add to CartI don't use the add to cart function on any of my sites. In some testing - only very limited, though - I've found that I did not see better conversions.
When someone adds a product to their cart they miss out on seeing the cross-selling material that Amazon has built into product pages. I think I get more from the customer seeing what other items they should or could buy when buying the first item.
I have, however, confirmed with Amazon that if a visitor on your site uses the add to cart feature there is still a 24 hour cookie also placed on their computer so that if they go through the rest of the Amazon site and buy other items within 24 hours you still get credit for those purchases, too.If you're interested in the add to cart feature than EasyAzon 3.0 would be your best choice.Link Cloaking
EasyAzon 3.0 will let you cloak your links whereas AdCrafter does not have that feature built in. However, I never cloak my links anyway.
First, there's no benefit to cloaking. Google can tell you have an Amazon affiliate link on your site even if it's cloaked.
Second, to comply with the Amazon Associate terms of service you can cloak a link but you still have to make it clear to your visitor that the link will take them to Amazon. It's just easier to leave them uncloaked.
I don't really see this as a valuable benefit of EasyAzon 3.0.
Customization
AdCrafter has multiple templates that you can populate with your affiliate links and the ability for you to customize those templates or create your own so you can make your text or image links look however you want.
You can add your own buy buttons, you can use the standard Amazon Associates buy buttons, you can change the size of your images, you can put products in a vertical or horizontal row and add multiple products at one time. You can also change the font size, the color of the borders, and even customize the text on buy buttons.
If you want to make product layouts that match the look of your site and have more control over the display options then AdCrafter wins.
Google Image Search
Sometimes you don't know the name of the product you want to link to - you only have a generic description. Amazon doesn't always show you the best options when you search inside their site. Take "dark purple couch pillows" as an example. Amazon sucks at color searches.
I often use Google Images searches focused on the Amazon.com domain to find the products I want for generic descriptions. AdCrafter has a built-in browser with the code I need to do such searches quickly. I can then bring the product up in the built-in Amazon browser and add the product to the list of links I want to build.
If you're serious about being an Amazon affiliate, you'll want something that helps you build links more quickly it's a matter of which tool is best for you.
Before you buy either one of these consider which features are most important to you, which product delivers those features and then choose between the two.
You can watch the video demo of EasyAzon 3.0 here: EasyAzon 3.0
You can watch the video demo of AdCrafter here: AdCrafter
Sincerely,
Erica Stone
erica@extremereviewer.com
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