Amazon SEO Tips: How to Rank as Highly in Amazon Search

Amazon SEO Tips: How to Rank as Highly in Amazon Search

Can you optimize your Amazon listings to show up higher among the e-commerce giant’s results?Absolutely. Algorithm optimization for Amazon is real.

You can create an Amazon listing as optimized as Jeff Bezos’ ultra-efficient meeting strategy.

Amazon SEO Tips

Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon’s A9 algorithm and how to optimize for Amazon SEO best practices.

What’s the Amazon A9 Algorithm?

Amazon’s A9 algorithm is the formula that dictates what products from the site’s massive catalog show up at the top of the Amazon search results page when a shopper enters a keyword.

Amazon search results are ranked according to query relevance and popularity.

If you’re familiar with search engine optimization, it’s important to note that relevance does not mean the same thing on Amazon as it does in Google.

While Google cares more about which search results most accurately answer the searcher’s query, what matters more in Amazon is which products the searcher is most likely to buy.

The main purpose of the Amazon A9 algorithm is to maximize revenue per customer (RPC) in Amazon.

Improving your Amazon SEO and getting higher rankings in Amazon search results nets you higher click-through rate (CTR) which then potentially gives you higher conversion rate (CR).

Conversion rate is calculated for each individual keyword, dividing the number of converted customers against the number of people who visited your product listing page.

Amazon tracks all customer actions, even down to their mouse movements, and they’re factored into how the algorithm ranks Amazon product results.

How to Do Keyword Research for Amazon

As with traditional SEO, keywords are your bread and butter in Amazon SEO.

Research as many relevant keywords as you can in order to match potential search queries.

People expect to be able to find what they’re looking for on Amazon with just a search query or two, so they’re most likely to use long-tail keywords to specifically find exactly what they want right away.

In fact, 70% of Amazon searches tend to use long-tail keywords.

Use Amazon keyword research tools to find long-tail keywords associated with your product.

The KW Index Checker plugin for Chrome is an Amazon keyword research tool you might try.

Prioritize Keywords in Amazon Product Listing

Just as choosing the right keywords is important, where you use keywords is also important.

Place your keyword at beginning of the product title.

Within the Amazon Seller Central backend, you can include additional and secondary keywords search terms.

Make sure, however, that they don’t exceed 250 bytes (in compliance with Amazon’s new policy).

There are also the bullet points and product description, which you should optimize with more supplementary keywords.

Keyword placement is key for Amazon SEO.

Fill Out Amazon Seller Central Backend Search Terms

Make sure to fill out the search terms field in the Amazon Seller Central backend.

You can add up to 250 bytes of text.

Amazon has stated that no punctuation is necessary within this field, so don’t waste the limited space on commas, periods and so on.

How to Optimize an Amazon Product Image

The product images shown in the listing is one of the first things that customers look at while browsing, way before they read product descriptions or even look at the price.

Make sure to:

  • Have good resolution (you’ll need a minimum of 1,000 by 1,000 pixels to enable image zoom)
  • Light the photo well
  • Show all angles of the product
  • Show how the product is used or worn

How to Optimize for Amazon Customer Reviews

Customer reviews also factor into Amazon SEO.

Naturally, customers gravitate to products with high ratings.

Products with ratings or 4 stars or higher are most likely to be on top of search results.

Having a bunch of customers leave negative feedback may lead to other potential customers clicking away from your product listing, which then leads to lowering your conversion rate, which then can lower your rankings.

This is one snowball effect you want to avoid.

Make sure to quickly (and kindly) respond to any negative reviews. You can offer refunds or replacements to unsatisfied customers if called for.

You can also correct the customer and suggest better ways to use the product if it turns out there’s a user error.

Being helpful to negative reviews can actually make you look better if you do it right.

Performance and Sales Figures Factor into Amazon SEO

Another factor in ranking well on Amazon is your actual sales.

If your product is selling and leaving customers satisfied, shoppers will see that it’s worth their money after all.

Of course, Amazon loves it when you can sell your product well, and, accordingly, top sellers are ranked higher.

In order to make your products sell well from the start, you’ll have to resort to good old marketing tactics like promotional giveaways, discounts and advertising.

You can consider Amazon’s PPC advertising to assist your sales number, which in turn will boost your organic rankings.

Photo via Shutterstock

This article, “Amazon SEO Tips: How to Rank as Highly in Amazon Search” was first published on Small Business Trends