A reader in Germany clicking a UK link earns you nothing. Here's what to do about it.
Rui Correia Posted
Most UK publishers have more international readers than they think, and earn nothing from almost all of them.
The reason is mechanical rather than strategic. A reader in Germany clicks a link pointing at a UK retailer, finds shipping is impossible or absurd, and leaves. The click cost you nothing and earned you nothing.
What that’s worth
Depends entirely on your mix. If ten per cent of your traffic is outside the UK and it converts at anything like your domestic rate, that’s ten per cent more revenue from an audience you already have.
Check your analytics before assuming it’s negligible. English-language product content picks up readers from the US, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics without anyone trying.
Amazon, one account per marketplace
Amazon Associates is country by country. A UK account doesn’t earn from amazon.de, amazon.com or amazon.com.au, and there’s no global option.
So if a meaningful share of your readers sit in a market Amazon serves, that’s a separate application. It’s free, and the process is much the same each time.
Two things worth knowing before you invest much effort. Each marketplace assigns its own ASIN to the same product, so identifiers don't transfer. And Amazon’s product API now requires ten qualifying sales in the trailing thirty days before it will give you data, which applies per account.
Amazon isn’t usually the answer anyway
In most European markets Amazon isn’t where people shop for everything, and the local retailer often converts better and pays more.
Which means the more useful version of this isn’t twelve Amazon accounts. It’s showing each reader retailers who will actually ship to them, in their own currency.
What that looks like in practice
The same product block, rendered differently depending on where the reader is — UK retailers and pounds for a reader in Manchester, German retailers and euros for a reader in Hamburg. The widget does this automatically using the networks you're connected to.
No separate pages, no duplicate content, no editorial overhead. The article is the same article.
What to do first
- Look at where your traffic actually comes from. Most people are surprised by at least one market.
- Check whether the retailers you already link to ship there. Often they do and nobody has ever said so.
- Add local network accounts for your biggest overseas market before doing anything clever. Coverage beats sophistication.
- Then make the links geo-aware, so it happens without editorial effort.
If you want to see how your current links behave, a free audit shows which of them are earning and which aren't. It doesn't segment by country, but it'll tell you what state the links are in before you start.
Common questions
Do I need a separate Amazon Associates account for each country?
Yes. Amazon Associates is marketplace-specific, and a UK account earns nothing from amazon.de or amazon.com.
Is it worth monetising international traffic?
If a meaningful share of your readers are overseas, yes - it’s revenue from an audience you already have. Check your analytics before assuming it’s negligible.
Do Amazon ASINs work across countries?
No. Each Amazon marketplace assigns its own ASIN to the same product.
What’s better than opening lots of Amazon accounts?
Showing readers local retailers who will actually ship to them, in their own currency. In most European markets a local retailer converts better than Amazon.