Ultimate Guide To Amazon Listing Optimization in 2021
Reading Time: 8 minutesFrom the A9 ranking algorithm to components of a product page, here’s everything you need to know about Amazon listing optimization in 2021 to boost your sales on the Amazon marketplace.
If you have landed here, chances are you are planning to launch your product on Amazon or you are aiming for more sales by optimizing your Amazon product listing. Congrats, you are now competing with 6.2 million-sellers who are trying to do the same!
But thankfully, the customer base also keeps expanding, at a much greater rate. So getting sales out of Amazon is difficult, but it’s totally possible. You just need to know how to get your products noticed by customers and how to get them sold.
In this guide on Amazon listing optimization, I talk about the product page sections that you need to optimize and useful tips on how to do it the right way.
But first, let’s talk a bit about how Amazon optimization is different from search engine optimization.
Key objectives of Amazon listing optimization in 2021
Amazon listing optimization is often termed as Amazon SEO too. And so, the objectives behind it are quite the same as any business would want from search engines.
When people search for something that you offer, you want that they find your business. You want that they click your website URL, check out the products and buy them eventually.
Just like a regular search engine, Amazon is a huge search repository in itself. So huge that it can generate thousands of search results for common search queries.
And just like in the case of the regular search engine, the user hardly goes beyond the first page to look for the right options. If your product doesn’t appear on the first two search results pages, most buyers won’t even know that it exists.
Thus, the first objective of Amazon SEO is to gain visibility for your product. The second is to ensure your product appears relevant to those who land on your product page. And third, obviously, is to get more conversions from your Amazon product page.
Before you begin to optimize your Amazon listing, get to know the A9 algorithm
In 2003, Amazon founded a subsidiary called A9.com whose basic function was to develop algorithms for search advertising. A9 represents A plus the nine other letters of the word ‘algorithm.’
A9.com served many other eCommerce portals along with Amazon. However, due to some controversies emerging in 2019, Amazon decided to take down the separate A9.com website and just use the A9 algorithm to power its own searches.
A9 is a system Amazon uses to identify which products should be displayed in search results based on user queries. In many aspects, A9 works similarly to how Google’s search algorithm works. For example, keywords play a significant role in how the search engines find relevant results to display.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg in the case of Amazon SEO. Amazon is a marketplace and its ultimate goal is to get people to place more and more orders. While in the case of search engines like Google, users browse through things with research intent.
As a result, the metrics that both these platforms use to rank search results are different too. A9 gives higher rankings to product listings that have high conversion rates. So you can get A9 to work in your favor if you optimize the product page with the right kind of content plus convert visitors into buyers.
Components of an Amazon product listing page and how to optimize each section
From product title to product images, every section on your product page has a bearing on how it ranks on Amazon search results. Here’s how you should go about optimizing Amazon product listing:
1. Optimize Product Title
When you search for a product on Amazon, you can see a heading at the top of each search result. This heading is called the product title. A product title is a brief description of the product that helps the user know whether it meets their requirements.
Amazon allows sellers to write product titles extending to 250 characters. However, most sellers prefer to keep it to only 200 characters because longer titles tend to have a suppressed visibility.
Tips for optimizing Amazon product title
- Start the product title with your brand name. It establishes credibility and builds trust.
- Incorporate 3-4 target keywords into your product title, preferably long-tail keywords that fit in a logical sentence.
- Ensure these keywords go within the first 80 characters of the product title. This is important for your product page’s performance and visibility on mobile devices.
- Depending on your product type, provide the relevant information about size, model, color, features, etc in your product title.
- Think like your customer, figure out the terms they use to search for a product and adapt your product description to be customer-friendly.
2. Optimize Product Images
Amazon enables sellers to upload multiple images on the product page. A good Amazon optimization strategy would be the one where you use image slots this way:
Image 1 – Main image
This is the image that buyers see when they are scrolling through the search results. Some tips to optimize your main product image:
- Use a plain white background.
- If the product doesn’t need to be presented with a model, like in the case of garments, show only the product in this image and nothing else.
- Ideally, the image should be at least 1000 px high or wide. Make sure the product image covers at least 85% of the screen.
Image 2, 3, and 4 – For product details
You should ideally use at least three images to display the features of your product.
For example, if your product is a garment, you can use these images to show the close-up of your product’s design, material, etc. If it’s a gadget, you can show close shots of the product to highlight the intricacies in design.
Image 5, 6, and 7 – To showcase lifestyle pictures
Lifestyle images show the product in use such that there is no confusion as to how the product will look and feel while using it.
Image 8 and 9 – Product benefits or usage instructions
Think of this space as your ad space. So use a mix of both – good graphics and good copy – to entice your buyers. Alternatively, you can use this space to display the usage instructions with the help of good graphics.
3. Optimize Product Features
The product features section is the first textual section that heavily influences a user’s buying decision. You have 1000 characters to convince the user of your product’s unique benefits and why they should buy it.
To make the most of this space, think of optimizing it both in terms of ranking and conversions. So include the right keywords but also explain what makes it stand out.
Because we have a character limit here, I’d advise you to present the content using five bullet points, each with 200 characters:
- A solid opening statement grabbing the user’s attention
- A benefit, followed by the feature that facilitates the said benefit
- A feature, followed by its benefit
- The most common question the buyer might have, followed by the answer
- How the product will change the buyer’s life for the better
4. Optimize Product Description
The space for product description on Amazon is just like the post description section you have on Instagram or Facebook. This section is for you to get conversational, to tell buyers everything you can about the product.
So use these 2000 characters very wisely and write a persuasive product description. Now that you have talked about the core product features in the previous sections, here are some of the things you can include in this space:
- Expand on the features/benefits you mentioned in Product Features.
- Use storytelling to convey how your product can change the buyer’s life.
- Showcase the best reviews you have gotten, if relevant, from your media mentions too.
- Present additional features that may be very attractive to the buyer.
This is your opportunity to leverage the keywords you couldn’t use in the product title or features. So don’t shy away from incorporating secondary keywords as well. However, keyword stuffing is a big turn off and so is promotional language.
How to find the right keywords for Amazon listing optimization
Now comes the most important aspect of any Amazon optimization strategy. How to find the right keywords to optimize product listing on Amazon?
Well, the easiest way is to let Amazon help you. Just type in the basic product type in the search bar and check all the auto-complete suggestions that Amazon pulls up. These suggestions are nothing but the terms that buyers commonly use to search for that particular product type.
For example, if you want to list “dinner set” as your product on Amazon, just look it up on Amazon as a user. You will see suggestions like Dinner set bone China, Dinner set Cello, Dinner set stainless steel, Dinner set 36 pieces, etc.
Based on these suggestions, you get to know:
- The most in-demand dinner set type on Amazon. Adapt your offering accordingly.
- The commonly used search terms. Use these search terms in your product title, features, and/or descriptions.
Secondly, you can use any of the popular Amazon keyword research tools to find the right keywords for your Amazon product listing optimization strategy.
Whether it’s Amazon SEO or eCommerce SEO on any platform, your keywords should include the following information about your product:
Brand name. Product type. Key Features. Size. Color. Quantity.
Now, of course, brand name and product type don’t have much of a scope for variations. However, you can play around with variations in keywords for key features, size, color, etc to help your product rank higher in searches.
Hidden opportunities to get better results from Amazon listing optimization in 2021
Including videos in your product gallery
One of the easiest opportunities for Amazon listing optimization is to include videos in the product gallery sections. Yet, videos still remain underutilized on the platform and thus, are likely to make your listing stand out.
The video can show how your product actually works and what the buyer can expect from it. Thus, it minimizes the gap between showroom buying experience vs online shopping. Naturally then, chances of conversions are higher courtesy of additional credibility facilitated by a video.
Creating a brand store on Amazon
Did you know you could build your own brand store on Amazon extremely easily and that too, absolutely free? Amazon brand store is a brilliant optimization strategy albeit being an indirect one.
As a seller on Amazon, you can build your store page using tons of available design templates. On a store page, you can influence the buyer with your brand identity and show them an extensive range of products to choose from.
An Amazon brand store strengthens the recall value of your brand. Additionally, it’s likely to result in more sales when the buyer gets to see all your products in one place.
Leveraging A+ content on product pages
A+ content on Amazon is a premium tool that you can use as a brand storytelling platform. It’s a space for you to expand on the points you have shared in product descriptions and features sections.
You can use it as a mini version of your website’s home page. Go all-in with your brand storytelling, flaunt all the ravaging reviews. Add more images, videos, and hard-hitting copies to your A+ content.
If you do this right, A+ content alone can increase your conversions by 3 to 10%.
Wrapping Up
While forming your Amazon optimization strategy, always remember that Amazon ranks products solely on the basis of conversions. So even if you use all the right keywords to rank better, the ranking will eventually fall if your product pages have high bounce rates and low conversions.
Pay attention to the copy you include in all the sections and follow the above Amazon listing optimization tips to boost conversions. If you aren’t a marketing expert yourself, I’d recommend partnering with an eCommerce consultant or an eCommerce marketing agency to drive high ROI from your business investments.
