WordPress
How to add Amazon affiliate links to WordPress, the right way, with nothing but the block editor.
Text links, buttons and raw HTML, the rel=”sponsored” setting most tutorials skip, and three things WordPress will happily let you do that Amazon’s policies forbid.
Block editor
rel=”sponsored”
No plugin needed
The short version
- Text link: select the words, press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), paste your Amazon link.
- Button: Button block, paste the link, then set Link relation to
sponsored nofollowunder Advanced. - Mark them as paid. Google prefers
rel="sponsored"on paid links. The text-link panel only offers nofollow, so use the HTML view for sponsored. - Never type prices, paste star ratings, or upload Amazon’s photos. All three are against Amazon’s policies.
You do not need a plugin to put an Amazon link in a WordPress post. You need a tagged link and the block editor. What you do need to know is the handful of settings that make the link clean for Google, and the things WordPress makes easy that Amazon does not allow. This page covers both, using WordPress’s own documentation for the editor and Amazon’s and Google’s for the rules.
If you have not made the link yet, start with how to create an Amazon affiliate link. It takes about 20 seconds with SiteStripe.
A text link inside a paragraph
The one you will use most
- In the block editor, select the words you want to link. Use the product name, not “click here”.
- Press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), or click the link icon in the block toolbar. You can also simply paste the URL while the text is selected.
- Paste your Amazon link and press Enter.
- Click the link again, open Advanced, and turn on Mark as nofollow. Turn on Open in new tab if you want readers to keep their place.
WordPress’s link settings offer exactly those two toggles plus a CSS class field. There is no “sponsored” switch for text links. Step 3 below shows how to add it.
A “Check price on Amazon” button
Best after a verdict
- Add a Buttons block (type
/buttonson a new line). - Type the button text, then click the link icon on the button’s toolbar and paste your Amazon link.
- In the block settings sidebar, open Advanced and find Link relation.
- Type
sponsored nofollow. WordPress adds it to the button’s link as arelattribute.
The Link relation field is documented on WordPress’s Buttons block page, which was last updated on 1 September 2026. It is the only core block that lets you set rel=”sponsored” without touching code.
Full control: edit as HTML
For sponsored on text links
Open the block’s options menu (the three dots), choose Edit as HTML, and make the link look like this:
This is also what a good affiliate plugin writes for you on every link. If you add more than a few links a week, that alone is a reason to use one.
Why rel=”sponsored”, and what Google actually says
Google’s documentation on qualifying outbound links asks you to mark advertisements and paid placements with rel="sponsored". It says nofollow was the earlier advice and is still acceptable, but sponsored is preferred, and that values can be combined. Its spam policies list “using affiliate links throughout a page, with links treated appropriately” as something it does not act against. The phrase “treated appropriately” is the key. We read it as sponsored, and so does most of the industry.
What gets affiliate sites into trouble with Google is not the link attribute. It is “thin affiliation”: pages that copy the merchant’s descriptions without adding anything. Google’s own examples of good affiliate pages include original reviews, testing, ratings and product comparisons.
Three things WordPress lets you do that Amazon does not
| Tempting shortcut | What Amazon’s policies say | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Typing the price next to the link | Prices and availability may be shown only if Amazon serves the link that displays them, or you get them through Creators API or PA API. | “Check the current price on Amazon” |
| Pasting star ratings or customer reviews | Not allowed unless obtained through Creators API or PA API, under its rules. | Your own rating, clearly labelled as yours |
| Uploading Amazon’s product photos to the media library | The API licence forbids storing or caching product images; a link to one may be kept for up to 24 hours. | Your own photos, or images served by Amazon or the API |
All three are easy to do by accident in WordPress, and all three are a common reason Amazon sends a compliance warning. If you do not have API access yet, adding products without the API shows what a compliant product box can contain.
Before you publish: a link checklist
- The tag is yours, and it is the tracking ID for this site. Open one link in a private window to check.
- The link says where it goes. Product names, not “click here”. Amazon forbids links and buttons that make it unclear the destination is Amazon.
- Each link has a label nearby, and the page has Amazon’s sentence: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” The disclosure guide covers placement.
- No pop-ups pushing Amazon beyond products closely tied to the page. The policies restrict Amazon links in pop-ups.
- A plan for dead links. Products disappear. Finding dead Amazon links covers how to catch them.
Once a page has more than a handful of products, hand-made links stop scaling. Which Amazon affiliate plugins still work compares the options now that Amazon’s old API is gone. And if your theme is still undecided, the best free themes for an affiliate site has the data.
Part of The Amazon Affiliate Site Playbook — the whole job in six stages, from choosing a niche to keeping a mature site earning.
Every link sponsored, tagged and checked
Ama Affiliate Pro adds Amazon links and product boxes with the right rel attributes, your tracking ID and a disclosure, then watches them for dead products.
Common questions
How do I add an Amazon affiliate link in WordPress?
Create the link with SiteStripe or the Amazon app, then in the block editor select the words you want to link, press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac) and paste it. For a button, add a Button block, paste the link, and set Link relation under Advanced.
Should Amazon affiliate links be nofollow or sponsored?
Google asks for rel=”sponsored” on paid links and says nofollow is still acceptable, though sponsored is preferred. Its spam policies expect affiliate links to be treated appropriately, so rel=”sponsored” is the safe choice. You can combine values, for example rel=”sponsored nofollow”.
Can I add rel=”sponsored” without a plugin?
Yes. The Button block has a Link relation field in its Advanced settings. Inline text links only offer “Mark as nofollow” in the editor, so for sponsored on a text link, edit the block as HTML and add it to the link tag.
Can I type the Amazon price next to my link?
No. Amazon’s policies allow prices and availability only when Amazon serves the link that displays them, or when you get the data through Creators API or PA API. A hand-typed price goes stale and breaks that rule.
Can I upload Amazon product photos to my media library?
No. Amazon’s API licence says you must not store or cache product images. You may store a link to an image for up to 24 hours. Use Amazon’s own image links, the API, or your own photographs.
Should Amazon links open in a new tab?
Amazon does not require it. Many affiliate sites do it so the reader keeps their place in the article. It is a single toggle under Advanced in the link settings.