It’s Not Always About You, Google. 5 Tips to Perfect Your Amazon SEO

For nearly ten years, the bread and butter of our digital marketing agency have been developing modern websites that are SEO optimized. We’ve run countless site audits through Moz and Screaming Frog, and we’ve stayed up late entering meta descriptions and alt text. We wanted to be sure Google found our clients’ websites (okay, okay, and Yahoo and Bing), as well as the humans who were looking for solutions to their problems. Unfortunately, digital agencies across the globe have been so focused on Google that they overlooked the elephant in the room—Amazon SEO.

Sir Martin Sorrell, head of the world’s largest advertising agency WPP, is the man behind this appropriate concept. Amazon is the largest eCommerce company in the world. This year, their third-quarter earnings were $43.8 billion, up from $37.96 billion in the previous quarter. Yet, few companies and agencies put as much effort into Amazon SEO as they do into their Google SEO efforts. So let’s look at why Amazon SEO isn’t just the elephant in the room; it is a mammoth movement.

Why we can’t ignore Amazon SEO

In 2016, Amazon made $135.99 billion, which does not account for the amount of money it made for the 688,690 brands that sell just over 12.2 million products on Amazon Marketplace (excluding books, media, wine, and services). Amazon has also more than doubled its workforce in the last two years, and a company has to have the confidence to add 160,000 employees in less than a year.

Aside from all their sales and growth accolades, the size of Amazon’s marketplace also makes it the largest site for product information and reviews. However, despite these reviews—a result of Amazon’s review-solicitation efforts that provide customers with detailed input, including photos—shoppers come to this massive search engine when they’re in the mood to buy, not to do extensive research. This means a different search algorithm exists for Amazon (affectionately named A9), and additional considerations must be made when Amazon sellers optimize their product pages for both search engines and visitors.

Want to learn more about making sure your pages appeal to the human eye? Read our blog, 3 Overlooked Ways to Optimize Your Products on Amazon.

What you need to know about Amazon SEO

A9 is very simply based on a keyword search method that seems to prefer exact terms. But much like Google’s search algorithm, A9 continues to mature and evolve. Amazon wants to help buyers find your products, so they’re constantly perfecting how to offer the most relevant developments in search results.

Also, much like Google, customers must find your products before they can buy your products. On Amazon, search is the primary way that customers locate products. Factors like the degree of text match, price, availability, selection, and sales history help determine where your product appears in the search results. By providing relevant and complete information about your product, you can increase your product’s visibility and sales.

With 55% of product searches starting on Amazon (Bloomreach Inc.), we must consider Amazon as a search engine, not just a marketplace.

Just like with Google, you’ll want to do your keyword research. A few online tools like keywordtool.io/amazon or Magnet from Helium 10 help you specifically research what consumers are looking for on Amazon. You’ll want to look at competitors’ listings too. Then be sure to incorporate the keywords with the best search volume into your:

• Title
• Product Features (bullet points)
• Product Description
• Product Images (file names)
• Backend Search (Seller Central)

TITLE

The product name or title is the essential element for visitors and Amazon’s SEO algorithm, so you’ll need to address both. The following is a list of what should be included in your product title, with the most relevant keywords for your efforts being first, toward the front of the title:

• Brand
• Product
• Key features
• Size
• Quantity

Amazon allows up to 250 characters for the title, leaving you more room than Twitter does for creativity. Even though you have this much room to play with, be wary of repeating words or even using every character because it makes your title very dense for the human eye.

Here is an example of a clear, descriptive title.

PRODUCT FEATURES

The bullet points in your post are the second most crucial element for SEO and should address the features and benefits of your product. Not only is the Product Features a place for you to manage your customers’ pain points, but they are also searchable (along with the Product Description). This means both fields are precious for Amazon SEO. For best practices, check out these tips from Amazon on product images, price research, and writing clear, concise bullet points.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

A9 also indexes the Product Description, so it should also contain relevant key terms. However, this section should not just be a repeat of the Product Features. Instead, it should be well-written and engaging for a customer to read.

PRODUCT IMAGES

Custom, high-quality images can influence customers on any website or website. For Amazon, ensuring your keyword(s) are in the image file when uploading images to Seller Central helps extend the reach of your SEO efforts. Also, follow general best practices like:

• The picture (s) match the product description
• The product is in focus and well-lit
• The development occupies 80% of the image area
• Use images that are at least 1000 pixels, so the hover-to-zoom effect works properly

BACKEND SEARCH

You can also specify keywords in Seller Central’s keywords tab past the keywords you add to the elements listed above. This is an opportunity for you to go a little wild with the keywords, expanding past the refined list that you selected based on keyword research. Also, remember that we mentioned that Amazon seems to prefer more exact matches; use the backend of Amazon to add all the words from your complete list of keywords. These terms aren’t visible to customers, but they will help them find your product when searching.

How to start selling on Amazon

Selling on Amazon isn’t for every business. But it is an undeniably important search engine and the most prominent eCommerce platform that can’t be ignored. Unfortunately, some brands ignore it, not because they want to, but because they don’t know enough about Amazon or don’t have the resources to capitalize on all it has to offer. We don’t blame you. Beyond the elements we listed here, numerous other factors contribute to how well your product can be found, including recent sales, verified reviews, high click-through rate, and clicks-to-sales rate. In addition, there’s going on behind the scenes. Often, hiring a third party to manage these services can be a huge relief, and that’s where we come in.

So if you’re simply looking to learn more about Amazon or if you need help optimizing your existing product pages, don’t hesitate to reach out. We want to make your experience with Amazon unforgettable.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022