When people think of SEO, Google and other search engines are immediately what comes to mind. It would stand to reason that you would want great rankings for search engines. But your website doesn’t have to be the only place for this. That’s why Amazon SEO exists.
If you have a product page on Amazon, you need those pages to be found by customers; just as much as you want your site to show up on the first page of the SERPs.
Failing at Amazon SEO is synonymous to the consequences of losing at regular SEO. That means less traffic and even lesser sales.
And you’ve come to the right place to get a good grasp on how Amazon SEO works.
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Much like Google, the search functions run on keywords. Buyers on Amazon enter a keyword, find what they’re looking, and mainly click on the first few results. Rarely do they navigate further into the second, third, or fourth page.
So the principle is quite simple. The higher you rank, the more you can sell!
Product rankings on Amazon are determined by an algorithm they call “A9.” So, let’s start off Amazon SEO by understanding how exactly A9 functions.
There are millions of products, and buyers have to make choices. Hundreds of millions of search queries are on Amazon every month.
And for every search query, Amazon only has a few milliseconds to decide which one of the one hundred million products will be presented on the first page. Subsequently, they’re ranked from position number one, to number two, etc.
What kind of factors are considered to solve this particular challenge?
Image Credit: Sellics
Determining purchase likelihood for a site as huge as Amazon is a complex challenge.
Think about it like this.
There are millions of products, and millions of search queries. Purchase likelihood of a single product is different for every search query. To deliver results that users want, Amazon has to determine the purchase likelihood for every product, and for every combination of search query and product.
To tackle that challenge and rank products accordingly, Amazon takes two things into account: product relevance and product performance.
Amazon leaves out the products that are irrelevant to the customer’s search query by looking at the keywords. If your product doesn’t have any relevant keywords found in a user’s search query, it can’t appear on the search results.
Next, Amazon looks at product performance. This is what determines how high your products can rank on Amazon’s search results. Product’s performance is measured through click-through rates in search results, conversion rates on the product page, and sales.
These KPIs are what we will be discussing. They’re what you need to optimize, so your product listings acquire higher rankings.
Now that you have an idea of how Amazon’s ranking algorithm works, let’s dive into what needs optimizing and what else you can do to make sure your product listings stay on the first page of every search result.
Amazon functions like any other regular search engine. So, optimizing content and the factors that influence ranking can help improve your CTR, conversion rates, and even grow your sales.
You can influence your product’s ranking factors through the strategic use of relevant keywords in various areas of your Amazon product pages.
Perhaps one of the most crucial elements of Amazon SEO where relevance is concerned, is your product’s title. This needs the most relevant keywords. But avoid keyword stuffing, because it also hurts your ranking on Amazon. Plus, stuffing a title with keywords will give you a title that reads very queerly. It will look spammy and will impact your desired results negatively.
Technically, backend keywords are actually “hidden” keywords. And they’re only used in your Amazon Seller Account’s backend section. They tell Amazon’s algorithm that one specific product listing is targeting a particular keyword on the site.
Think of these backend keywords like they’re meta tags that tell Google what your webpage is all about. In turn, it helps search engines understand when to show the page to people looking for specific pieces of information.
There are five fields that you can fill out with backend keywords. Each field provided is limited to 50 characters only. Going over the limit can result in your backend keyword being ignored. It won’t get indexed.
Couple of things to remember:
Content is important. Product descriptions should tell your customers more information about your product. And this is the place to delve deep into details, as well as be persuasive.
Don’t forget to include your relevant keywords too.
Make sure your copy is natural and conversational in addition to being perfectly readable.
Things to remember:
And as for bullet points, make it quick and easy to read. They’re scannable, so make sure you coordinate with that. And here, you can tell customers about your product’s unique selling points, as well as the benefits of your product. But as always, don’t forget to include relevant keywords.
Product performance-related factors are a bit more complicated to exert control over. There are other considerations beyond keywords. Your customers play a part. But it’s worth understanding for a fully optimized Amazon SEO.
Studies have shown that products that have high-quality images consistently have better conversion rates. That very same thought applies to your Amazon product page.
Even Amazon strongly recommends bigger images. Ideal size should 1,000 pixels or larger in either width or height. The minimum size enables users to zoom in on a product for details. Smallest image file should be 500 pixels and no lesser.
In all fairness, this goes without saying. How much you charge for your products can affect your conversion rates
Compare how your products prices measure up against similar products under the same category on Amazon. If products under the same category sell for lesser prices than yours, then you won’t sell as many. And in addition, Amazon’s algorithm might end up judging your product prematurely.
Either scenario will result in a lower Amazon search ranking. So set your prices accordingly and competitively. If your products have to be priced higher than the others, make sure you make it clear as to why.
85% of today’s consumers trust social proof as much as they would personal recommendations. This is a performance-related factor that contributes to how Amazon SEO works and how it ranks your products.
Products that rank at the top for broader keywords have more reviews than the others that are lower down on the list.
From that, it’s easy to conclude that having more social proof impacts positive CTR and eventually leads to more sales. Also, be mindful about placing fake reviews. Authentic reviews will do your brand so much more good. Also, Amazon has cracked down on fake reviews lately to keep up the integrity. So that means no cheating.
Encouraging customers to leave reviews is the better route to take. You can send them follow-up emails after a purchase.
Aim for earning a place in “Amazon’s Choice.”
Excellent Amazon’s SEO all boils down to knowing exactly what Amazon’s algorithm wants. And remember that the end-all goal is to make your customers happy. Product pages can be optimized through two main factors: keyword relevance and product performance.
Optimize your Amazon product listings with these two factors in mind. It’ll take time. But eventually, you’ll see yourself moving in the correct direction.