I’m a member of the Amazon Associates program and when I put links to products in my blog postings or in emails, I like to make sure they’re referral links.  On a web site, that also means you can take advantage of the automatic popup link script they provide.

The problem is that you have to create links to particular products by going to their site and doing a search or plugging in the ASIN number so the URL can be generated.  But the URL has a pattern, so if you know the pattern and have it handy you can pretty easily create the URL yourself.

To make this way easier, I created a little bookmarklet that lets you navigate to a product page on Amazon and automatically copy the affiliate URL for the item to your clipboard for use in email, blog links, etc.

NOTE:  The bookmarklet is for IE ONLY. You can’t easily copy data to the Firefox clipboard so I have a different mechanism (slightly more manual) for the FF users, below.

Internet Explorer

Installation for IE

1. Download the zip file and drop the .url file in it into your Favorites folder.
2. Open up the file in Notepad.  You’ll find a really long line (line 4) that starts out like this: URL=javascript:aid='mhsvortex';if(!window... Change the value of ‘aid’ to be your Amazon Associate ID.  (By default it’s mine - mhsvortex.)
3. That’s it - you’re ready to go.

Usage for IE

1. Navigate to a product page on Amazon that you want an Associate link to.
2. Select the bookmarklet from your Favorites list.  It will automatically parse the URL and create a product link using the product’s ASIN and your Associate ID.  You will get an alert message telling you what link got copied to your clipboard.
3. Paste the URL wherever you want to use it.
4. If you try the bookmarklet on a non-product page or on a non-Amazon site, it’ll prompt you for the ASIN of the product you want to link to.

[Download ‘Copy Amazon Product URL’ Bookmarklet]

Firefox

Sorry, FF users, but the security and pain around copying to the clipboard means you have a slightly more manual process to endure.

Installation for Firefox

1. Right-click this link and create a bookmark to it: Build Amazon Product URL
2. On the main toolbar, go to “Bookmarks” and find the bookmark you just created. Right-click it and select “Properties.”
3. In the “Location” field, you’ll see a big string that starts like this: URL=javascript:aid='mhsvortex';ur=new... Change the value of ‘aid’ to be your Amazon Associate ID.  (By default it’s mine - mhsvortex.)
4. That’s it - you’re ready to go.

Usage for Firefox

1. Navigate to a product page on Amazon that you want an Associate link to.
2. Select the bookmark from your Bookmarks list.  It will automatically parse the URL and create an alert that tells you what the URL is. Select this URL and copy it to your clipboard. (This is the manual part.)
3. Paste the URL wherever you want to use it.
4. If you try the bookmarklet on a non-product page or on a non-Amazon site, it’ll prompt you for the ASIN of the product you want to link to.