A Complete Guide to Amazon SEO

It’s been more than 20 years since Jeff Bezos started his book-selling business out of his Seattle garage. With more than 100 private label brands, Amazon is mainly known as the world’s largest online retailer. Because millions of shoppers use their ecommerce services, Amazon is also a search engine. And as you already know, search engines are a goldmine of potential customers.

With more than 350 million items only in the U.S. market, it’s needless to say that the competition is fierce. So how do you stand out? Through proper product listing optimization. This process of optimizing Amazon listings is called Amazon SEO. Basically, this tactic can increase your product rankings.

In this article, you will learn all you need to know about Amazon SEO and how to apply it in practice. So let’s get to it.

What Is Amazon SEO and Why Is It Important?

As you may already know, SEO stands for search engine optimization. This process enables search engine bots (also known as spiders or crawlers) to find and index web pages. If web pages are optimized in a specific way, it will be easier for the users to find them. It’s not an easy job to influence the search algorithm and improve search rankings for your products.

To achieve this, it is necessary to use specific SEO tools.

In simple terms, SEO specialists are experts who follow the latest guidelines and implement the best practices that help web pages rank higher. Even though there are some common SEO principles, each search engine is specific in its own way.

Amazon SEO is the process of listing optimization on Amazon. This tactic will increase the chances of your products ranking higher on Amazon search results. The more clicks your items have, the more likely you will sell them.

Implementing some basic steps can boost your sales dramatically and increase the brand’s exposure to new shoppers. That’s why we strongly encourage every Amazon seller to use Amazon SEO as an important tactic in their marketing strategy.

After all, nobody will buy your products if customers can’t find them.

How Does Amazon SEO Work?

Before you can implement this SEO tactic, you need to get familiar with the basic elements and tools on Amazon. We will explain the most important ranking factors you should know about. However, if you want to be informed about all the official guidelines, requirements, and recommendations in detail, visit Amazon Seller Central.

Amazon Search Box

The first thing customers encounter at the beginning of their journey is the Amazon search box located at the top of the homepage. Shoppers can find any product by simply typing in the keywords. In return, Amazon will fetch relevant results for that word or phrase. This is where all of the organic searches take place.

Search Results Page

Showing up at the top of Amazon’s search results page is no easy feat. However, you can make your product listing easy to find, both for bots and buyers. Optimize these five key factors if you want to dominate the search results.

• Titles
• Descriptions
• Images
• Features
• Pricing

Optimizing Amazon listings will help you boost your ranking in Amazon search results and bring you more customers. However, shoppers can also filter the search results in different ways.

Search Filters

While choosing between various products and brands, buyers can use various filters to easily navigate through the website. Some of the most used are department filters, new arrivals, customer reviews, prices, or devices. Other popular filters that are unique to Amazon are Best Sellers (the most popular product) and Movers and Shakers (the most sales in the last 24 hours).

Amazon Departments

Potential buyers can use the Amazon search bar to quickly find products with a drop-down menu of departments. This feature is optional, but it will help you categorize your search. You can also filter your search results by price, review scores, etc.

List of Amazon departments:

• Home Décor Accents
• Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
• Women’s ClothingMen’s Clothing
• Seasonal Décor
• Kitchen & Dining
• Snack Foods
• Bathroom Fixtures
• Home & Kitchen
• Industrial & Scientific
• Tools & Home Improvement
• Health, Household & Baby Care
• Beauty & Personal Care
• Appliances
• Toys & Games
• Office Products
• Sports & Outdoors
• BabyGarden & Outdoor
• Electronics
• Grocery & Gourmet Food
• Handmade
• Musical Instruments
• Arts, Crafts & Sewing
• Automotive Parts & Accessories

Amazon Sales Rank

Like any other e-commerce platform, Amazon has its own rating system. Having positive reviews from previous customers is a massive signal to future customers. Negative reviews will also occur, and you need to handle them professionally. Every business should maintain its reputation and build trust with buyers.

All sellers receive a rating based on their performance. The higher your product reviews are, the more selling potential your business will have.

Sponsored Products

If the industry is highly competitive, you can give your SEO efforts a slight boost. In addition to Amazon SEO, a business can use Amazon PPC to promote its products for a certain amount of time. PPC stands for pay-per-click, which is an auction-style system where advertisers bid on their target keywords.

When Amazon shoppers search for a product, the seller with the higher bid will get listed. Combining Amazon SEO with Amazon PPC will give the best result and lead to higher conversion rates.

Amazon ads are used to promote individual product listings. They are available to sellers with a Professional seller account that are enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. These ads appear on shopping result pages and on product detail pages. If you don’t have the skills to manage Amazon PPC, you should definitely consider hiring an Amazon PPC manager, it will most likely be a cost-effective investment.

How To Optimize Amazon Listings?

Amazon listing optimization will help your business grow. Engaging with millions of customers doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why Amazon SEO is so important.
In order to achieve this, you need to take specific steps.

Here are the crucial steps you need to take in order to stand out from the competition and increase the click-through rates for your products.

1. Keyword Research

Like with any other SEO strategy, keyword research is the first step in optimizing web pages. This research will leave you with a list of keywords that you will need to track over time. There are many keyword research tools out there that can help you.

However, if you use them too much, you will harm your strategy. This is also known as keyword stuffing. Nevertheless, keywords are an important ranking factor in SEO, so choose them wisely.

You should always think about what makes your target audience unique. Think about their age, gender, background, education, devices, etc. What words or phrases might they use when searching for your product? Help them find you by putting yourself in their shoes.

Research all of the different keywords someone might use to find your products. Start by typing various words and phrases in the Amazon search bar. Take a look at the drop-down suggestions, and compile a list of relevant keywords. This process can be time-consuming. However, it will help you cover all possible keywords your customers use to find your listings.

If you are unsure where to start, search for your competitors and see what keywords they use. Then, include all the variations for both short and long phrases. Think about the long tail keywords in particular. These search queries are specific which means the customer is closer to buying.

2. Product Title

When a buyer searches for an item, Amazon will first compare your product title. In order to be relevant and trustworthy with customers, your title should clearly describe what the product is about.

The rule of thumb is to use about 60 characters, but be especially careful not to use 80 or more. Longer titles are harder to read. Additionally, don’t use all capital letters or subjective commentary like “the best” or “amazing product”. Customers want to be informed.

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3. Product Description

Always help your customers find and evaluate your products. Product descriptions can be used to highlight specific features and information. Don’t forget to include the brand’s name, size, color, material, packaging, etc.

This might result in higher conversion rates and increased sales. Since it’s not easy to ride the tide of ranking algorithms, use every option at your disposal. Sometimes you’ll just have to do some split testing with different versions of content in order to understand which description performs better.

4. Product Features

Key features on Amazon are a list of bullet points that help customers with their buying decision. Always include up to five bullet points per product. Since they always appear on product detail pages, remember to be clear and concise. Basically, your goal here is to reinforce key information from the title and description.

5. Product Images

If you’re thinking about buying any product online, you would want to see a few images first. What if the images are of bad quality and you can’t see them clearly? You would probably look for another option. That’s why having quality product images is crucial on all ecommerce websites.

Images should show the product in use and from different angles. By highlighting product features, you can spike your customers’ imagination and convince them to buy.

6. Product Search Terms

We don’t all use the same keywords when we search for stuff online. Different buyers can use different words for the same product. Luckily, Amazon had this in mind. Add so-called backend keywords – these additional terms further increase the discoverability of product listings. So, feel free to include synonyms and alternative names for a product. Think outside of the box.

7. Product Price

Product price can dramatically influence sales growth. Shoppers will research your products and your competitors before making a decision. A really helpful tool on Amazon is Automate Pricing, which allows you to automatically adjust the prices of your product listings. You should clearly include your shipping policy, delivery time, or any additional charges (if needed).

Amazon Tips for Sellers

By the time it took you to read this blog post, Amazon has made millions of dollars. According to some estimates, they make 443,000 $ per minute. So why wouldn’t you have a spot on this huge ecommerce platform?

You will notice a difference even if you just implement basic Amazon SEO practices. Whether your business is small or large, you should always focus on providing a positive customer experience. Happy customers are more likely to return and are eager to recommend your products to others. If shoppers are satisfied, the search algorithm will pick it up.

Try answering all the questions buyers might have when they start to get informed. You can be persuasive but not pushy. Nobody likes a sleazy salesman. When writing your descriptions, be honest about the condition and quality. Once you’ve finished with all the best practices, you have a solid Amazon marketing strategy.

This guide has all the necessary steps you could take to connect with more customers and grow your business to new heights. Never underestimate the power of Amazon product listing optimization.

By implementing all of the tips and practices, you will notice an increase in click-throught rates and in sales. In case you need further professional advice about Amazon SEO services, contact Play Media for a free consultation.