Create high-ranking listings

IO Scout Amazon Listing Optimization Tool

When you consider optimizing your listing for the Amazon buy box, you should think about it in the same way you think about optimizing content for the organic search results. The reason for that is simple: both situations involve algorithms designed to deliver potential buyers the best experience possible.

The crossover between Amazon and organic search doesn’t stop there. When it comes to Amazon keyword strategy, you can once again think along the lines of search engine optimization.

Let’s take a step back and look at it once again: Amazon is a search engine. It does have a lower number of ranking signals and a simpler algorithm compared to search engines. However, Amazon also indexes information and uses multiple factors to determine where to place the product in the search results.

Amazon search algorithm is called A9. Let’s not also forget that Amazon’s main objective is to sell as many products as possible, so the A9 algorithm organizes the search result in order to make sure that the product sales are high.

It means that the most relevant, high-converting products are the ones that win the top spots in the search results. What does this mean?

• A high-converting product is one that actually makes potential buyers purchase the product after they click on the product and review product details.
• Relevant product is the product relevant to the search query, that is. The reason why Amazon doesn’t return balloons when you are looking for kitchen cutlery is simple: everyone wants to receive relevant products based on the search result. And no one wants to use irrelevant search engine. Amazon knows this, so the A9 algorithm operates accordingly.

How do Amazon keywords influence product relevance?

Without strong keywords, the products you sell on Amazon are irrelevant.

Amazon product title and keywords

It’s obvious that the title of the product is one of the most important things to make sure that the product succeeds on Amazon. From the keyword prospective, the title is the most important part of the listing.

When the prospect is looking for the product to buy, he is looking for something that is relevant and that will catch his attention. So when going to Amazon, the person will type in what he is looking for and will look at the list of the products returned, considering product relevance based on the product titles. The products with the most appealing titles will be opened.

Having mentioned that, make sure that you use the most important keywords in the product title. And the SUPER most important keywords should be used at the beginning of the title.

People are looking for the brand, product type, key features, size, color and quantity. Make sure that your buyers see it instantly and don’t need to become Dora the Explorer.

This will not only help your prospects convert into buyers, but also this will help with the A9 algorithm. Don’t forget that the Amazon keywords are fundamentals of your product title.

Also, it’s also helpful to mention that the most important keywords should be mentioned at the beginning of the title, as different buyers will use different devices to access Amazon. And the title will look different on various devices, so make sure that the keywords you want the prospect to see is at the beginning.

Product details and the keywords

The product details allow the seller to describe all the best product features and benefits in nice and neat bullet points. This will increase the chances of converting the pageview into an order if done properly. The product details are also used for placing the keywords, which have not been used in the title.

Making sure that you have top-notch product details will help with increasing the chances of converting your product into an order. If your product title converts prospects into viewing the product details, it is as important to have a proper product description as having a top-notch title. Don’t forget about this! The product is not yet purchased.

Don’t forget that the conversion into an order influences the order of the Amazon search results. If you don’t work hard enough on the product details, the bounce rate (the number of people who close the product page after opening it) will increase, and your product will not be shown in top results.

In order to make your product stand out, simply answer these questions:

• Why does your buyer need to buy from you?
• What is it in your product that makes it unique?

Use the answers to the questions above and build your product listing based on the them.

Make sure that your product listing is optimized so that the A9 algorithm will index your keywords and use them to inform the ordering of the search results. The logic for the product details and the product title is the same - use the keywords that will make your product relevant to what prospects are looking for.

Hidden keywords (search terms)

Hidden keywords or search terms are the keywords that were permitted to enter at the backed of your Amazon seller account.

This means that the hidden keywords give you the possibility to add more information about the product to Amazon. However, the prospects won’t see those details. The same logic works with images when searching on Google: alt text allows you to give Google more information about the image so that it gets indexed properly.

A search term (hidden keyword) is pretty much the same. The main difference is that is works with Amazon products.

The seller has only 250 characters for hidden keywords per product. It’s recommended to avoid using the information from the product title and product description.

The number of characters for search terms is rather limited, which does not allow the sellers to put some garbage into the backend keywords. It’s been mentioned that sellers that handle hidden keywords properly, see boost in the search rankings.