Are You Skipping Amazon SEO Fundamentals? Boost Sales Now

When a shopper searches on Amazon, they are shown thousands of products to choose from. How do you ensure yours is shown too?

The difference between your product being buried in the graveyard and soaring to the top of search results is a strategic Amazon SEO strategy. In this comprehensive Amazon SEO guide, we’ll uncover the top strategies to help you increase your Amazon product ranking and drive more sales.

What is SEO and why is an Amazon SEO Strategy Essential?

Amazon SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing product listings to improve their visibility and ranking in the search results. Better visibility and ranking = more sales. Simple, right? Yes, but there is one thing you need to understand first before mastering SEO on Amazon: Amazon’s A9 algorithm.

What is the Amazon A9 Algorithm?

Like Google, Amazon uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the ranking and relevance of products, taking into account a multitude of factors. 

However, there is one major difference between Google and Amazon’s A9 algorithm: Google provides information on searches, Amazon focuses heavily on sales conversions. Simply put, Amazon shoppers are searching specifically to buy. 

Therefore, the Amazon A9 algorithm has one goal – match a customer’s search query with products that are most likely to get a sale. Why? Amazon wants to sell more products, so the algorithm prioritizes top-performing listings and decreases the rank for low-converting ASINs. The more you convert, the higher your product ranks.

What Factors Influence the Amazon Search Engine?

• Keyword Relevance: By including keywords throughout your listing, you’re signaling to Amazon that your product is relevant to the customer’s search. If Amazon believes your product is relevant, they will increase your rank.

• Sales History: Is your Amazon listing consistently generating sales? Congratulations, the Amazon algorithm loves a long sales history and your product will be rewarded with a higher ranking.

• Conversion Rate: Sure, clicks to your listing are great. But if it’s not converting into sales? Amazon won’t give your product a boost. Ultimately, Amazon wants to showcase listings to shoppers that convert well. 

How To Improve Amazon SEO Ranking?

As discussed, the key ingredient to product ranking on Amazon is relevancy and sales. However, to drive sales, the algorithm must deem your product relevant to the customers’ search query first. And where do we start? Keywords!

Amazon Keyword Research

First, think about what words and phrases a customer would type in to find your product, starting with the seed keyword. E.g., if you sell a water bottle, the seed keyword would be “water bottle”.

Reality check: this keyword will be insanely competitive, so you’ll need to brainstorm plenty more keywords to help you rank for “water bottle” long term. Here’s how: 

Amazon Auto-Complete Search Bar

Type in your seed keyword, in this case, “Water bottle”, and Amazon will display related keywords on the drop-down. 

For more keyword ideas, just add a space after your search term and type in letters from A to Z. Also, try adding “for” after your search term to discover specific keywords. 

Steal Competitors Keywords

If competitors rank high for your seed keyword, chances are they’re ranking for plenty of other sales-driving keywords too. The good news? We can uncover those keywords using tools. 

There are many Amazon keyword search tools to choose from – Helium 10, Jungle Scout, Merchant Words…the list goes on. For now, we will take a look at Helium 10. 

Let’s say you are selling a stainless steel water bottle. Start by typing in this search term into the Amazon search box and copy the ASINs of the top-ranking products into Helium 10’s Cerebro – A reverse ASIN lookup tool. Click “Get keywords”.

You will be shown a huge list of keywords that these ASINs are ranking for organically. What if we need to narrow down these keywords? That’s where the filters come in. 

You can adjust the search volume numbers to find keywords with a minimum and maximum monthly search volume. What’s more, you can adjust the Competitor Rank filter. In the example below, it shows a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 30. This means that you will be shown keywords that competitors are ranking for in the top 1-30 positions organically, as they are likely to be getting higher sales volume here. 

The tool will then display a list of keywords based on the filters selected. This includes search volume, search volume trend, the number of sponsored ASINs, and much more. 

You can then export the Amazon search terms into a CSV file by clicking “Export Data”. 

Note: In this example, we have only used 2 filters. When optimizing our clients’ Amazon listings, we narrow down each filter on every tool to finalize the list of master keywords. 

So, you’ve collected your Amazon SEO keywords. Now where do we place them? 

Maximize Visibility with the Product Title

When maximizing SEO for Amazon, the title is the most important place to sprinkle in your highly relevant keywords. Why? It’s one of the key factors Amazon’s algorithm uses to determine product relevancy for a search. 

Product Title Guidelines

• Title Length: Amazon recommends between 60-80 characters in length, however, most categories allow up to 200 characters total. We recommend starting with a minimum of 150 characters in the title to help rank whilst highlighting your USPs. 

• Avoid All Caps: Only capitalize the first letter of each word, excluding prepositions and conjunctions. 

• Use Numerals: “1” instead of “one.”

• No Promotional Copy: Avoid phrases such as “best-seller” or “fast shipping”.

• Necessary Punctuation: E.g, hyphens, commas, forward slashes, ampersands. 

Title Tip:

Analyze your top competitors’ titles. Which keywords and USPs are they using? How can you differentiate your title from theirs? Include a minimum of 3 keyword phrases in the title that you aim to rank for. 

Optimize The Bullet Points (Key Features)

Another area that holds weight for Amazon ranking is the bullet points section. You want to strike the perfect balance of captivating copy and relevant keywords. 

Bullet Points Guidelines

• 1,000 characters: Keep the total character count under 1,000 for better readability. Many brands exceed this, however, you want to keep them concise.

• Start with a Capital Letter: And finish each bullet point without the use of punctuation.

• Avoid Promotions: Don’t include promotional or pricing details. 

• Consistency: If your first bullet point highlights the ingredients, keep that order across all your products.

Bullet Points Tip:

Use catchy headlines at the start of each bullet point to entice further reading. Add in a minimum of one keyword per bullet point to boost Amazon SEO. Include more keywords if you are in a competitive category. 

Product Description Optimization

Highlight relevant product information that isn’t included anywhere else in the listing and add extra keywords to increase Amazon SEO.

Product Description Guidelines

• Include brand names.

• Include sizes (e.g., water bottle size)

• Include the material types (e.g., stainless steel)

• Highlight relevant details (e.g., color, packaging, quantity)

Product Description Tip:

Utilize basic HTML formatting and make sure to check the guidelines for your product category. Amazon allows up to 2,000 characters, so try to maximize this and show why your product is superior with compelling copy.

Backend Search Terms: Hidden Keywords To Enhance Visibility

Amazon backend keywords are not visible to shoppers. However, Amazon places huge importance on these hidden keywords for ranking. Once you have placed your most important keywords in your listing’s frontend (title, bullets, description), make sure to fill out the backend search terms field to further increase product ranking.

Backend Keywords Guideline:

• 250 Bytes Allowed: Stay within the length limit. Spaces and punctuation don’t count.

• Generic Keywords Only: Avoid using branded keywords.

• Include: Synonyms, abbreviations, and other names for the product. 

• Avoid Punctuation: Separate words with a space, avoiding punctuation.

• Avoid Repetition: Don’t repeat words in the search terms field. 

Backend Keywords Tip:

Misspelled keywords are frequently typed in by Amazon customers. Take advantage of this by including common misspellings into the search terms field. This is also a great opportunity to include Spanish keywords, particularly if you are selling in the US market.

Create Stunning Listing Images

Images can make or break your listing. High-quality images enhance click-through rates and drive conversions. After all, it is the first place most customers look on a listing. You’re allowed up to nine images, and we recommend using all of the slots.

Images Guidelines:

• Sizes: A minimum of 500 x 500 pixels. We recommend going larger (up to 2,500 x 2,500) for maximum quality.

• White Background: The main image must have a white background and be shown outside of the packaging

• Fill Up The Space: Images should fill up to 85% of the space.

• Matches The Content: Match the product in color and size

• Photos Only: Images should not be drawings or illustrations.

Images Tip: 

Your main image plays a crucial role in whether a customer clicks on your listing or your competitors. Use a high-resolution image and consider a 3D rendering. Analyze your competitors’ main image. Can you position the product in a different angle? Can you add packaging next to the product? 

Amazon A+ Content

Looking to enrich the customer shopping experience? Look no further than A+ content (formerly EBC content). Here, you can harness graphically optimized image modules and text to showcase your brand story and drive conversions (check out our Amazon A+ content guide here!). In fact, Amazon stated that utilizing A+ content can increase conversions by up to 5%. To be eligible, your brand needs to be registered with Amazon’s Brand Registry Program.

Optimized Product Price

Let’s face it: Many Amazon shoppers are price-conscious. This doesn’t mean they won’t purchase a product at a premium price point. Here are a few strategies you can use.

• Competitive Pricing: No reviews? Study competitors’ prices and start at a lower price until your product gains traction and reviews. Yes, profit margins will take a hit, but only for the short term. Once reviews come in, slowly increase the price. 

• A/B Test Prices: How do you know which price performs best? Run A/B tests (split tests) where your product is offered at two different prices.

• Run Discounts: A surefire way to increase click-through rates and conversions? Discounts via coupons. A bright coupon is displayed under the product price in search results. If profit is a concern, you can raise your price slightly and then offer a discount – customers will think they’re getting a great deal.

Generate Product Reviews

Ratings and reviews influence your product ranking. How? They improve click-throughs and conversion rates. So how do we bolster our ratings? Make sure your product arrives exactly as advertised and use the “Request a Review” button to gather reviews.

Amazon SEO Optimization is Not Set and Forget

Follow these Amazon SEO strategy tips to boost product ranking. Due to the ever-evolving marketplace and algorithm, an effective Amazon SEO strategy involves constant testing and refining. Regularly updating keywords and tracking product ranking is essential. As an Amazon SEO agency, we help not only to maximize your visibility but ensure your product maintains its ranking over time.