SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the heart of any digital marketing strategy. However, contrary to what the name suggests, SEO is not just limited to search engines! The SEO Universe is vastly bigger than search engines.
Yes, SEO also applies to rank on E-Commerce websites! If you optimise your product listings on Amazon, your product is more likely to rank higher in the product search. Amazon’s algorithm pushes content to the top which is more SEO relevant. This is simply because if your product has the relevant keywords, it is going to be more relevant to the user’s search.
In this article, we’ll explore how this optimization works, why it’s essential, and you can use it to our advantage to rank your products higher in searches on Amazon!
What Is Amazon SEO?
Like normal SEO, Amazon SEO is also used to rank your products higher on the Amazon Search Engine. It is crucial to your business sales because the higher your product ranks, the more likely it is to be seen by your target audience.
Amazon SEO follows a similar pattern to traditional SEO and you can optimize your Amazon Product listing by following steps:
- Keyword Usage
- Product Title
- Product Features
- Product Description
- Backend Keywords
- Product Images
- Product Review
- Pricing Strategy
Why Is Amazon SEO Important?
Amazon SEO helps your products rank higher on search results, thereby increasing reach and visibility.
This way more potential customers can find your products and eventually, make a purchase.
If you ignore Amazon SEO, you could be losing a huge chunk of sales. Without SEO, your products will get fewer views. In fact, according to a survey by Feedvisor, only 55% of Amazon consumers even go to the second page of search results. This means, that around 45% of the users don’t ever see your product if it’s not on the first page! Optimizing your product listings is the way to go if you want to get a spot on the highly desired first page.
How Is Amazon SEO Different From SEO?
Amazon SEO has the same basic fundamentals as Traditional SEO. They both use optimization techniques to improve their ranking on search engines. But what distinguishes them is that Amazon is an eCommerce site where the main objective is driving sales. Whereas, Google, on the other hand just wants to give the user’s a good experience. Amazon ranks products in such a way that it can ultimately increase the number of sales, and drive conversions in a steady and efficient way.
What Is the Amazon A9 Algorithm?
Amazon algorithm that is used to run the products listed on the eCommerce platform is called as A9 Algorithm. It consists of a lesser number of ranking signals, unlike the Google RankBrain algorithm.
The A9 algorithm assesses is used to find product listings that are most relevant to the customer’s best results for a search. Amazon ranks the products by calculating how likely they are to get purchased. Amazon algorithm does this by evaluating the relevancy and performance of your listings
Amazon’s Relevancy Ranking Factors
The Amazon A9 algorithm assesses how a product listing is related to the search. It does this based on your keyword use and frequency along with the relevancy of the mentioned keywords to the user’s query.
Some Ranking Factors that Amazon considers are:
- Product Title: The product title gives the user the main crux of your product. Make sure to include the most appropriate keywords for your product.
- Seller Name: Amazon assesses your seller name as a crucial ranking factor. Your ranking will improve if you have keywords that appear in your name.
- Keywords: While users will never see the keywords, they are essential to the Amazon ranking algorithm. Keywords give Amazon an idea about your product so that it can direct consumers interested in similar products to it.
- Brand Name: This field is just below the listing title and it is customers can see it. Amazon uses brand names to associate products of the same brand with each other!
- Product Description: This is perhaps one of the most crucial things to rank better on amazon. Amazon reads the product description to comprehend how useful the product is to the search. Be sure to write a detailed and comprehensive product description using as many important keywords as possible.
- Product Features: Like the product description, product features assist Amazon in assessing how valuable your product would be in a search.
By now you must be acutely aware of just how important keywords and SEO optimization are to Amazon Algorithm.
Performance-Related Amazon Ranking Factors
Amazon is one of the largest and most trusted eCommerce platforms. Their ultimate goal is to make as many sales as possible! The algorithm is designed so that it can understand how probable your products are to create sales.
Amazon makes these decisions based on the performance of your product’s ranking factors. These are as follows:
- Click-Through Rate: For every search that your product shows up, it is going to get a variable level of attention. It might get more clicks from a certain demographic and no clicks at all from another. Amazon keeps a record of the Click-Through Rate of your product listing. CTR depends on buyer intent, colour, size, and other product features. For future search listings, Amazon considers your product’s previous CTR.
- Conversion Rate: Once your potential customers click on your product, it is only being a successful conversion if they make a purchase. Amazon considers how many listing clicks lead to a sale. The better your conversion rate is, the chances of it being given priority on a search listing is that much more.
- Product Price: When making a purchase decision, pricing plays a critical role. A customer is not likely to pay more for a product when another seller is providing it for a cheaper price. Thereby, your product price will play a role in determining your conversion rate. As it affects the conversion rate, it is an important factor for Amazon Algorithm.
- Product Images: As we know, visual media is the fastest growing trend in the digital marketing platform. Your product image’s quality and authenticity are vital to customers. Good quality images lead to more clicks on your product as well as the probability of a sale. Therefore, Amazon inspects the image quality and optimization.
- Product Reviews: Reviews can make or break a product listing. How many times have you loved a product only to change your mind about purchasing it after seeing multiple bad reviews? Customers trust brands that have positive reviews. Positive reviews make your brand more trustworthy consequently, customers are more like to buy your product. This is why Amazon’s algorithm includes the review count and rating to examine your performance.
These Performance ranking factors ultimately fulfill Amazon’s goal of selling more effectively. Show Amazon that customers are actively buying your product when shown and Amazon will rank it higher!
How To Improve SEO on Amazon
Now that we have uncovered what the mysterious ranking factors are used by Amazon to rank your products, let us jump into the real question: How do I optimize the ranking factors to rank higher? The main ways you can start optimizing is through:
- Improving your relevancy
- Choosing the right keywords
- Improving your performance metrics
Improving your relevancy
Relevancy is mostly measured through keyword performance. You can improve your product’s relevancy by using it tactfully in the following places:
I. Product TitleThe product title gives the first impression of your product to the user. The product title should include the brand name and specifics such as colour, quantity, size, or model number, along with the most suitable Amazon keyword. The product title should follow the below criteria.
- It should be between 80-250 characters
- It should be written in Title Case
- It should only use words and no symbols.
- It should use numbers
- It should not have punctuation
II. Product DescriptionMake your product description as detailed and comprehensive as possible. Include applicable keywords and important details like features, dimensions, specifics, and brand names.
Write the product description using proper sentences with correct grammar and punctuation so it is easily readable by the customers and use keywords where necessary, so it ranks well on the algorithm. Follow the Amazon guidelines for product descriptions:
- It should be under 2,000 characters in length
- It should underline all the key product features and specifications
- It should mention care instructions and warranty information as necessary
- It should be easily scannable
- It should not include any company contact information or links to your websites
- It should not use popular sale buzzwords like “free shipping” or “on sale now”
III. Product FeaturesYour product features should be an echo of your product description in a more readable and easier-to-understand language. It should mention the unique SIP of your products in bullet points.
A good practice is to mention 5 bullet points with simple and concise sentences. You can use keywords but your main focus should be on making the users understand your product.
IV. Backend KeywordsBackend keywords are used by the A9 Amazon algorithm to find out how to display your products. Even though customers can’t see backend words, they are crucial for the A9 Amazon algorithm. You can shortlist up to five main keywords that you want to utilise for your listings. Choose words that are both relevant to your product and diverse enough to be applicable to a number of users’ search queries.
Choosing the right keywords
You need to find high-performing keywords relevant to your product and include them in your product listings to rank well on Amazon. The first step to Discovering useful, suitable keywords is keyword research.
Like traditional SEO, Amazon SEO keyword research considers the following metrics:
- Relevancy: Focus only on relevant keywords. Find out what your customers are looking for and use keywords that match their intention.
- Performance: The more high-performing keywords you use, the better you will rank. Always evaluate keywords based on their potential to give results. Don’t ignore other metrics like keyword search volume or you might accidentally limit the number of customers that you reach.
You can use tools like the ones mentioned below to find what people are searching for!
- Amazon Auto-Fill
- Sellzone
- Amazon Automatic Campaigns
Improving your performance metrics
The performance metrics are a measure of how well your product sells. Optimising performance metrics is important to improve the conversion rate.
Amazon allows you to easily view your product’s conversion data. You can do this by clicking on Business Reports or Reports → Seller Central’s Detail Sales Page and Traffic. Here you fill the metric Unit Session Percentage.
There are other tools Sellery Smart Lists, which you can use to collect data about your products. You might be interested in finding your product’s Buy Box performance, competitions, sales, CTR, etc.
If you want to boost your conversion rate percentage, then optimise the following elements of your product listing :
- Product Images:
Upload only good-quality images. Make sure the images are mobile-friendly and don’t glitch on different devices. Images should be easily clickable and zoomable. Multiple images are preferred for most, if not all products. - Product Reviews:
Product reviews are not in your control but you can still void getting bad reviews by setting realistic expectations and providing good quality service. Be as unpretentious and authentic in your product description and images so that your delivered goods match the ones that you promised.
If you get negative reviews, be courteous and follow up with solutions. - Product Price:
Your product price has to be calculated smartly by comparing it against competitors and the industry standards. If your products are very expensive, they won’t generate a lot of clicks. If your product is extremely low priced, customers might doubt its quality and authenticity.
Try to achieve a sustainable balance between the two. You can use tools like Sellery Automatic Pricing Rule to help generate accurate pricing.
Conclusion
If you follow the suggestions mentioned in this article, we are confident you will drastically improve your product ranking on Amazon.
Amazon SEO is not a one-time, done-and-dusted deal. Just like traditional SEO, Amazon SEO is always evolving with new updates and new competition. So keep your eyes ahead of the game and don’t stop optimizing and overseeing the components of your listing that affect its ranking.
