You want to improve the ranking of your Amazon products? In this article you will learn which measures will bring you to the top of the search results – and what you should better refrain from.
How does Amazon SEO differ from Google SEO?
Google SEO consists of two criteria:
- Onpage SEO
- Offpage SEO
Looking at this from a macro perspective, your website should have the following characteristics:
- Very high user friendliness
- Fast loading times
- Fulfillment of the search intention
- Outstanding content
- Backlinks
Amazon SEO – unlike Google SEO – is all about the product itself. The Amazon algorithm crawls the keywords in the following areas:
- Title
- bullet points
- Product description
- Backend
In addition, there are indirect factors such as sales history, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate or return rate. In addition, the A9 algorithm reacts faster to changes, which means that the effects of changes can be analyzed within hours.
Reading tip: Not everyone who can pack a package is a good seller. What to consider when selling on Amazon, summarizes Zielbar editor Dani Schenker in his article Selling onAmazonGuide. Incl. checklist with 18 important steps!
What is Amazon’s A9 algorithm?
Amazon uses the A9 algorithm to determine the placement of each product in search results. The A9 algorithm also influences pay-per-click (PPC), cross-selling, image selection for the Amazon app, and product questions and answers.
On the A9 website, Amazon explains how the search engine works:
“One of the principles of A9 is the relevance of the content displayed to the customer. We strive to provide the best results for our users. Once we have determined which elements are a good fit for the customer’s query, our ranking algorithms evaluate them and present the most relevant results to the user.
Our ranking algorithms automatically learn to combine multiple relevance features. The structured data in our catalog provides us with many such relevance features. We learn from previous search patterns and adapt to what our customers value.”
How should sellers optimize the product title?
The title is the essential touchpoint between a search performed by the user and the product. An Amazon user usually searches according to the following scheme:
- Choice of category
- Filtering by Prime, if Prime customer
- Reading the title & viewing the main image
For this reason, it is very important to include as much information as possible in the title. On the one hand, this is the essential product data, the most important advantages – and especially the features that set it apart from competing products.
For example, if you want to sell on amazon.de for domestic, German companies, you can add “Designed in Germany” to the title. This will distinguish your products from all Chinese sellers on the market at first glance.
lassen sich in den The mit aufnehmenfollowing features can bein theproduct title mit included:
- Brand
- Quantity
- Main feature
- Material
- Color
- Size
- Main Keyword
A look at the product titles of the competition is worthwhile: Concentrate on the 3-5 bestsellers. Take the titles used there as a basis, improve them and thus optimize your product titles.
Depending on the category your product is in, you have up to 150 characters including spaces.
However, only 60 characters including spaces are displayed on mobile devices. Therefore, place the most relevant information at the beginning of the title. It’s also important to use separators to divide the information. The best ones are | (hyphen) and – (dash).
Amazon SEO and direct ranking factors
In addition to the product title, there are other direct factors that influence the organic placement of a product. These include:
- Sales history
The sales history of a product has a direct influence on the ranking on Amazon. It is sometimes even one of the most important ranking factors. Since the user experience on Amazon is measured by the sales of a product, sales have a decisive influence on the ranking position. Through direct comparisons with other products, Amazon knows which goods are most likely to be purchased after entering a search term.
- Return rate
In addition to sales figures, customer satisfaction also plays a decisive role. Amazon wants customers to be satisfied with the products they purchase. Therefore, Amazon closely monitors customer feedback and especially the return rate. A high return rate is generally a sign of dissatisfaction. Amazon wants to prevent this, as customer dissatisfaction is ultimately attributed to Amazon.
- Keywords in the product list (e.g. title, attributes and general search terms)
It’s important to understand that all optimization efforts are secondary to keyword research. With tools – like Helium 10 or Jungle Scout – keyword research can be done very easily.
Keywords should not only appear in the title, but also in the bullet points and the product description. In addition, further keywords can be stored in the backend under “General keywords”. This way, the A9 algorithm receives input and can better assess the relevance of the product.
- conversion rate
A higher conversion rate than the competition leads to better rankings. The conversion rate depends on other indirect factors such as the CTR, ratings and images.
- CTR rate
Depending on the origin of the external traffic, the ranking can be degraded, which is why caution is advised with campaigns from influencers. To increase the click-through rate, discount promotions such as “Buy 2 products and get 10 percent off” can be used. The Prime logo also leads to a higher CTR.
- Availability
In order for products to appear in the results list, they must be available. It is difficult to impossible to maintain a good ranking if the products are not in stock.
Amazon SEO and indirect ranking factors
Now let’s move on to the indirect ranking factors that have an impact on product rankings:
- Product images (main image and other images)
Product images have a direct influence on the CTR as well as the conversion rate. A product with meaningful and high-resolution images ultimately leads to increasing sales figures.
- Shipping method
Products that are shipped via Amazon Prime have a higher conversion rate and higher click-through rates. This leads to more visitors and ultimately higher sales.
Note: In some categories it is no longer possible to be listed in the first search results without a Prime logo. Therefore, look for the Prime certification in mail-order companies.
- Product reviews
Reviews have a direct impact on click-through rate as well as conversion rate and can quickly turn products into winners or losers. The total number of reviews does not play a decisive role. If articles have only a few reviews, however, even a single negative review can greatly worsen the average rating. Therefore, make sure that the quality of your products convinces the customers.
- Seller ratings
Seller ratings are not product-related, but are used to evaluate the sales process (e.g. delivery time, packaging and communication, etc.). For rather expensive products, the purchase decision takes a little longer on average than for low-priced goods. For this reason, seller ratings play an even more important role for high-priced products. Customers are more likely to research the reliability of a seller and read their reviews in detail.
- EBC / A + Contents
A+ content can be set up by registered brands and replaces the product description. This improved way of product presentation can help to significantly improve the conversion rate.
- Actions / Discounts
Creating promotions, such as “Buy 2 products and get 10 percent off,” creates an additional incentive for customers to buy more than one item. This generally leads to an increase in average order value (AOV) and improved sales history.
- Best Seller/ Amazon Choice
Products that sell more units than any other product within the same category over a certain period of time receive bestseller branding. In addition, the bestseller branding is displayed on the search results of the main product image.
Conclusion: Amazon SEO is the key to sales success
Optimizing Amazon SEO factors provides you with additional impressions and ultimately sales, in addition to higher visibility. In addition to the factors mentioned above, PPC campaigns are a great way to increase sales. Since the sales history is the most important factor in the optimization process, competitive prices and high customer satisfaction should be your ultimate goal.
