Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, with over 2.5 million sellers offering millions of products. In such a competitive environment, it can be difficult to make your products stand out from the crowd.
However, by using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques, you can improve your chances of ranking highly in Amazon’s search results, making it more likely that potential customers will see and purchase your products. By taking the time to optimize your listings, you can give your products the best chance of success on Amazon.
The ecommerce landscape is constantly changing, and Amazon sellers must adapt to stay ahead of the competition – especially when it comes to ranking products highly in the search engine. After all, if potential customers can’t find your products, they can’t buy them. That’s where SEO comes in.
By optimizing your listings for relevant keywords, you can make sure that your products are front and center when customers are searching for them. And with Amazon’s recent changes to its search algorithm, now is the perfect time to start investing in SEO. By taking advantage of this opportunity, you can ensure that your business stays one step ahead of the competition.
Use this outline to skip to any section of this guide:
- Amazon SEO strategies (do’s)
- Amazon SEO mistakes (don’ts)
Amazon SEO strategies (do’s)
Select low-to-medium competition keywords
The best keywords are ones that have low-to-medium search volume… but low competition. This means that people are searching for the keyword, but there are relatively few websites that are optimized for that keyword. There are a number of ways to find low competition keywords:
- One is to use a keyword research tool like Helium 10, Sellics or even Ahrefs. Once you get familiar with the features and search filters, these tools will spoon-feed you keywords you can target right away.
- Another is to look at the organic search results for a given keyword and see how many results there are. If there are fewer than 10,000 results, that keyword may be a good option.
- Lastly, you can hop on seasonal trends right before they occur – since many sellers avoid products during off-seasons. If you’re primed and ready to go as the season kicks in, you can take advantage of large search volume.
Once you’ve found some potential keywords, the next step is to assess their competition level. You can do this by looking at the number of product listings that are optimized for the keyword and estimating how difficult it would be to outrank them. If you think you can reasonably achieve a top ranking, then the keyword may be worth targeting.
However, if competitors appear to have very strong SEO efforts, it may be best to focus on other options. By carefully researching and selecting low competition keywords, you can give yourself the best chance to generate free traffic to your listings.
Focus on sale performance for Amazon SEO
One of the most underrated factors for Amazon SEO is sales history and velocity. In short, this measures how fast your products are selling. The more products you sell, the higher your ranking will tend to improve.
Of course, increasing sales is easier said than done. But there are a few things you can do to give yourself a boost. For starters, make sure you’re pricing your products competitively. You should also focus on creating high-quality product listings with compelling images and helpful descriptions. Finally, consider running promotions or offer discounts to encourage customers to buy now – since Amazon will often feature these discounts and promotions on category pages and other promotional locations.
Infuse keywords with high-converting copy
Writing high-converting copy for your Amazon listings is essential if you want to succeed on the platform. And while it may seem like a daunting task, there are a few simple tips that you can follow to write persuasive copy that will drive sales.
- Keep your title short and to the point. Include key keywords that relate to your product, but also make sure that your title is clear and easy to understand.
- Use bullet points in your description to highlight the key features and benefits of your product. Keep your language concise and focused on the benefits that your customer will experience.
- Focus on emotions instead of logic only. Customers tend to buy with emotions and justify with logic – meaning you need to first strike an emotional response to generate interest.
- Include a strong call to action in your listing copy. Use persuasive language to encourage customers to buy your product, and include a sense of urgency to drive conversions.
By following these simple tips, you can write a product listing that is both persuasive and high-converting.
Maintain high reviews to rank products
As an Amazon seller, your goal should always be to maintain high Amazon reviews. Not only do buyers trust products with high ratings, but Amazon’s algorithm also favors products with good reviews when it comes to ranking and searchability. In other words, good reviews can directly impact your bottom line.
There are a few key things you can do to encourage buyers to leave positive feedback. First, make sure you are offering a quality product at a competitive price. Second, accurately describe your items to ensure customers don’t receive your products and feel misled or disappointed. Finally, follow up with buyers after they receive their purchase to thank them and ensure they are satisfied.
Keep in mind – dissatisfied customers are the most motivated to leave reviews, similar to how Yelp reviews are skewed towards negativity and often portray more negative experiences. This makes it even more important to focus on your Amazon reviews. By taking these steps, you can encourage more buyers to leave positive reviews, which will in turn help improve your SEO on Amazon.
Establish a premium brand
A strong brand can improve your Amazon SEO in a number of ways. Potential customers are more likely to search for and click on results from a well-known brand – which can help you to stand out from the competition and get noticed by Amazon shoppers.
Plus, a strong brand can increase your conversion rate, as customers are more likely to purchase from a brand they trust. This can help you to build long-term customer loyalty, which is essential for any successful business.
On top of that, having a premium brand can increase your conversion rate – which again, has an impact on your product rankings. While Amazon will still rank generic products, you’ll notice Amazon typically featuring high-end brands with great copywriting, reviews and product images that portray high quality products.
By investing in branding and making it a priority for your Amazon SEO strategy, you can see significant improvements in your traffic, sales, and overall success on the platform.
Optimize product images
Speaking of product images… if you want your products to be visible in Amazon’s search engines, it’s incredibly crucial to optimize them. Just like with any other website, your product photos need to be clear and well-lit, and they should accurately represent the product that you’re selling.
Each image should include relevant keywords that will help potential customers find your listings – and you should make sure to use high-resolution images, as these are more likely to be displayed prominently on Amazon.
If you need better photos, consider reaching out to a local product photography studio – or do a few searches online for specialized ecommerce product photography services. Almost all of these companies have done Amazon product photography, so you can be sure you’re left in good hands. By following these simple tips, you can ensure that your product images are helping, rather than hindering, your Amazon SEO.
Amazon SEO mistakes (don’ts)
Don’t keyword stuff
Keywords are the terms that potential customers use when they search for products or services like yours – but simply sprinkling keywords throughout your website content is not enough. In fact, it can actually do more harm than good.
This practice, known as keyword stuffing, can result in a penalty from Amazon, Google, and other search engines (yes, your product pages can also rank on Google too). That’s because keyword stuffing is considered spammy behavior, and it can make your content difficult to read.
So how can you choose the right keywords without keyword stuffing? The best approach is to focus on quality over quantity. Select a few relevant keywords and use them sparingly throughout your bullet points and descriptions – likely between 3 and 8 times in your listing. As long as your listing is well-written and compelling to your customers, you should be able to rank well in the search engines without resorting to spammy tactics.
Avoid poor readability
Readability involves using simple words and sentences that are easy to digest – an important factor in SEO and conversion rate. Shoppers are very impatient, so if your listing is difficult to read, they’re likely to click away before buying.
This will increase your bounce rate, which tells Amazon and Google that your product isn’t relevant to what the customer is looking for. Difficult-to-read content is also more likely to contain errors, which can further signal to Amazon that your listings shouldn’t be ranked highly.
To ensure that your product attracts shoppers in the search results and provides a relevant option to shoppers, make sure to keep your writing clear and concise. Use short paragraphs and simple sentence structures – and avoid using jargon and overly-technical language (sometimes you need complex words to describe product features, but try to keep it at a minimum). By paying attention to readability, you can improve both your Amazon SEO and your chances of ranking highly for increased traffic and sales.
Don’t blindly target keywords for ranking Amazon products
As mentioned above, always use keyword research tools to decide which keywords to target. If you blindly shoot from the hip and “guess” on your keywords (without knowing whether anyone is searching for them), you’ll risk putting all your time, money and effort into keywords that may not even exist.
For example – “red hanging library matte metal lamp” is likely not being searched by anyone, even if parts of those words have search volume on their own (such as “red lamp” or “library lamp”).
That being said… sometimes keyword search tools underestimate search volume data. If a keyword says 0 search volume, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true (there are many keywords that get 50-200 searches per month that read 0 in the keyword tools). Always use your intuition when it comes to potential cases like this, but never assume extremely-rare, long-tail phrases are being searched without additional evidence.
Avoid targeting high-competition keywords
If you are selling products on Amazon, it is important to invest time in optimizing your listings for search engine ranking. However, you may be tempted to focus on high-volume, high-competition keywords in your product titles and descriptions.
While these keywords can certainly attract potential customers, they can also be very difficult to rank for. In many cases, it is more effective to focus on long-tail keywords with lower competition – since these keywords may not get as much traffic, but they are more likely to result in sales.
Long-tail keywords are often more specific, which can help to improve your conversion rate for shoppers looking for specific products and features. Keep in mind – it is important to remember that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to Amazon SEO. By focusing on relevance and customer intent, you can create listings that will attract buyers and boost your bottom line.
Don’t rely on SEO as your only strategy
If you’re selling products on Amazon, it’s important to have a solid SEO strategy in place to ensure that your listings are visible to potential buyers. However, you shouldn’t rely on Amazon SEO as your only marketing tactic. PPC advertising is also one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your listings, and it’s also worth investing in other marketing channels such as email marketing and social media.
PPC advertising is a good Amazon strategy because it allows you to specifically target people who are already interested in buying products from Amazon. With PPC advertising, you can place ads that will show up when people search for specific keywords related to the products you are selling. This allows you to reach more potential customers who are already interested in what you have to offer, which can lead to more sales and higher profits.
And if you’re able to build up a social media following, you can drive traffic to your listings just from free social network followers. However, at that point, you might want to consider launching your own website to avoid additional Amazon fees.
Either way, by diversifying your marketing efforts, you’ll be able to reach more potential customers and boost your sales on Amazon – instead of focusing on Amazon SEO as your only traffic source.
Is Amazon SEO a good strategy to generate sales?
Yes – when done correctly, Amazon SEO creates a perfect long-term growth strategy for your business. If you can drive shoppers to your listings without paying… your customer acquisition costs will drastically decline and your profit margins will create stabilized growth.
However, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t rely on just one marketing strategy; you should diversify your efforts to achieve long-term success. That’s why it’s important to invest in both Amazon SEO and other marketing channels such as paid advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing. By doing so, you’ll reach more potential customers and increase your chances of reaching more customers, increasing revenue and scaling your store.
