Use Amazon Slideshow Widget to Increase Click-Throughs

If you use Amazon to sell digital products, such as ebooks or MP3s, you should take advantage of this new slideshow widget. We performed split testing with this widget versus the standard text links and found the pages with the slideshow widget generated more click-throughs than the plain text links.

You can make slideshow widgets out of images chosen from products across the entire Amazon catalog, including your own products if they are listed in Amazon.

The Slideshow widget lets you make very slick slideshow from the images of products in the Amazon catalog. On the Klariti FrameMaker page,we have used this widget very successfully, generating several 100 dollars per month in referral fees.

To create a slideshow:

1. Enter your search terms in the search box. You can search the entire Amazon catalog, or choose to search only within a selected Amazon store.

2. When you find the products you are interested in, click ‘add product’ to have then shown in your widget.

3. Add comments to your selected products (remember to click the ‘Save Comments’ button), and you can drag and drop the products to rearrange their order in the list.
4. Click “Next step” button to customize the look and feel of your widget.
5. Choose the format of your Slideshow – simple, gallery or scrolling – as well as the size of the widget. You can also choose which style of slide transition you think looks best.
6. When you like how it looks, click “Add to my Webpage”
7. Copy and paste the code into your page.

Slideshow Example: See how it works on Klariti.com’s Information Architecture page.

How many products can I add to the slideshow?
As many as you want. Viewers of your widget will be able to scroll through your list to view all your chosen items. Don’t add too many of add products that dilute the message. ‘ target=_blank>’ target=_blank>Stay focused and select only products that match your site.

Tip: Amazon recommends that you don’t choose more than 20 products as viewers are unlikely to scroll much further than this.

Add comments to personalize your slideshow

You can add comments to help customers choose products. When adding a product to the slideshow, you can add comments into the widget.

BUT I have mixed feelings about the usefulness of this feature. On paper it might sound good but I found that it gets in the way of the slideshow and distracts me from enjoying the slideshow. We’ve removed comments from the slideshow and seem to have had a better response from customers.

Also, I’m not sure if customers place much trust in these ‘endorsements’ anyway.

Limitations with widget
The only limitation we found with the widget is that you cannot change the widget size or orientation once you have saved it or added it to your webpage.

This is because the widget size options are a part of the widget code on your web page. As Amazon doesn’t have access to your web page, it can’t update the widget code dynamically.

Key features

Add comments to the Slideshow widget to make recommendations.
Customize the transitions speed to suit your page
Offer alternatives to plain text links
Customize the color scheme to match your site/blog
Interface is very easy to use
Generated code works with most blogging sites such as Blogger, WordPress and Typepad. Free to use. No restrictions.

Tips

Keep the number of products under 20
Stay focused on one product area, e.g. educations books or country and western.
Avoid using a catch-all approach.
Put yourself in your customer’s user’s shoes. Only choose products that you believe in and that YOU would also want to buy.
Remove high-end and expensive products
Choose products between 20-33 USD. This is most people’s average price range when buying on Amazon.
Choose a small slideshow that doesn’t take too long to download.
Test different slideshows until you’re happy with the results.
Test different slideshows and examine the click-thru’s to the Amazon site. That’s the only way to really see what customers like and don’t like.
Don’t fall in love with your slideshow. If it doesn’t work, change it until you get the best results,
Test, test, test.