The A-Z of Amazon SEO And How To Rank Your Product On Amazon

December 16, 2022
By The Badger

On the surface, Amazon looks like any other e-commerce marketplace. A closer look will reveal that Amazon is both a marketplace and search engine with an inbuilt SEO algorithm.

This marketplace-search engine merger allows Amazon to show shoppers products relevant to their searches. But how exactly does Amazon SEO work? And how can you gain the SEO algorithm’s favor to make your products more discoverable on Amazon?

Everything This Article Covers

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What Is Amazon SEO?

Amazon SEO is the process of improving the quality of your product listing to rank it higher on Amazon’s search results. It encompasses the techniques and strategies necessary to get a product listing in the top organic results of Amazon search.

Why Is Amazon SEO So Important?

Amazon SEO is so important because it serves both shoppers’ and sellers’ needs.

It helps shoppers discover the best purchase options whenever they search for products on Amazon. And for sellers, Amazon SEO improves their products’ visibility by making them discoverable to interested shoppers based on their relevance to the shopper’s search.

Getting more eyeballs on your product with Amazon SEO will have a snowball effect that will see you increase traffic and conversions — meaning more sales for you.

As you generate more sales, the increased sales velocity will signal to the Amazon SEO algorithm that shoppers like your product, improving your SEO ranking, which will bring in more sales!

The effects of Amazon SEO on conversions can be permanent if you’re continuously optimizing and don’t do anything to undo your progress. It’s a viable long-term strategy to grow your business on Amazon.

What Is The Amazon A9 Algorithm And How Does It Work?

The A9 algorithm is Amazon SEO’s “brain.” It’s responsible for “deciding” which products appear on search results and in what order. It’s the system that decides which products a shopper sees when they initiate a search.

A9 determines ranking based on two principal metrics: performance and relevance.

Amazon searches are transactional, not informational. A shopper isn’t searching for information on Amazon. They’re searching for a product with the intent to buy.

To achieve its objective, the A9 algorithm looks at historical data combined with other key performance indicators to determine the performance of a particular product listing. It then checks the keyword optimization to determine a listing’s relevance to an Amazon search.

If a listing ticks all the necessary boxes in the performance and relevance metrics, the algorithm rewards it with a higher Amazon SEO ranking.

To understand Amazon SEO is to understand the Amazon A9 algorithm. Ranking your product on Amazon means giving the algorithm what it wants. And it wants performance and relevance.

Amazon SEO optimization starts with these two questions: Is my product selling? Is my product relevant to my target audience?

What Factors Affect Amazon SEO?

As we’ve mentioned, Amazon’s search algorithm aims to give customers the best buying options depending on their search. This means the A9 algorithm has to look at specific factors to determine a product’s relevance to each inquiry and to decide where that product should fall on search results.

These are the factors crucial to ranking your product on Amazon SEO:

Product Relevancy
Sales Rank
Item Price
Click-Through Rate
Conversion Rate
Product Images
Customer Reviews
Customer Satisfaction
Answered Questions
Product Listing Detail Level

Product Relevancy

Amazon wants shoppers to have a seamless shopping experience on the platform. This means giving customers product options that are most relevant to their searches. For example, if a customer searches for a “long-sleeved men’s t-shirt,” and Amazon shows that customer a couple of blouses, it wouldn’t be a very smooth shopping experience.

The A9 algorithm determines a product’s relevance to a shopper’s search by analyzing the keyword optimization on that product listing. This is why keyword research and optimization are core requirements for ranking your product on Amazon.

Let’s break down the different areas that determine your product’s relevancy and, consequently, its Amazon SEO rank:

Product Title

Your Amazon product title carries much weight in determining your product’s relevance. The catch, however, is that Amazon has a cap on how many characters you can fit in your title.

It’s imperative that you make every character count. Your product title should be concise, containing your product name, brand name, primary keywords, and product benefits. We’ll discuss the best format for your product listing title later.

Product Features & Benefits

The product feature section on your Amazon listing helps shoppers understand your product’s features and how it solves their problems. This section should include the features and benefits of your product, with relevant keywords spread throughout the text.

Product Description

Amazon listing product descriptions allow sellers to explain their products in greater detail. You should write this section with SEO in mind — meaning you should include as many relevant keywords as possible without crossing into keyword stuffing territory or negatively affecting readability.

Pro tip: Long-tail keywords do well in this section because Amazon’s search algorithm scans every letter of the listing text. For example, if you sell long-sleeve henley design cotton men’s t-shirts, use “long-sleeve henley design cotton men’s t-shirt” as a long-tail keyword in your product description.

A+ Content

A + content, formally known as Enhanced Brand Content, allows you to use images, banners, and unique designs to tell your brand story.

Amazon doesn’t index the text on A+ content, but the alt text in the images gets indexed by Google and helps your product rank on Google.

Adding alt text to images increases accessibility for visually-impaired people as well as displays in place of an image if an image file can’t load. When writing the alt text in the pictures, ensure you incorporate the main keywords in the text.

Brand Name & Product Number

Shoppers will sometimes forget the exact product name but remember the product’s brand, especially if it’s a well-known brand. For example, a shopper may not remember the exact model name of a home theater system, but they could know LG manufactures it. So they’ll search for “LG home theater.” The brand name “LG” is an essential keyword in this case.

When optimizing your listing text, you want to mention your brand name so that Amazon indexes it as a keyword.

Similarly, a customer may search for a product using the product number to get precise results. For example, instead of searching for “LG home theater,” which will show different home theater models, a shopper may search for “LHD657 home theater,” a specific home theater model by LG.

Using the product number, a shopper can locate the product without searching for other product options in search results. You must include your product number in your listing text to make it easy to find for shoppers that search for it using the product number.

Backend Keywords

The backend keyword section allows you to add more keywords to your Amazon listing without keyword-stuffing your product listing. Backend keywords aren’t visible to the customer, but Amazon indexes them to rank your product on Amazon SEO.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank is a performance metric that measures how well your product sells compared to competing products in its category. Amazon uses a numeric system to show where your product ranks among the competing products, and this number is updated every hour.

Amazon sales rank gives you valuable insight into your competitors’ performance and what you’re up against.

Item Price

Product price is a significant determinant of shoppers’ buying decisions, so in an attempt to give shoppers the best product options, Amazon considers the item price when ranking products.

When other factors are held constant, Amazon will rank a lower-priced product higher than a competing product with a higher price. You need to ensure your product price falls within the same range as the competing products in the same category.

Click-Through Rate

A product listing’s click-through rate shows shoppers’ interest in that product. A high click-through rate on a listing indicates that shoppers are interested in that product when it appears in search results and vice versa.

If Amazon notices that your product listing gets a high click-through rate for a specific search term, they’ll likely show your product higher in search results for that search term. On the other hand, if you’re getting a low click-through rate, Amazon will rank your product lower for that search term.

Conversion Rate

While the click-through rate measures how many clicks a listing gets, the conversion rate measures the number of sales in relation to the clicks a listing receives.

Getting a click is one thing, but converting that click into a sale is a different ball game. So many things can change a shopper’s mind between clicking on your listing in search results and hitting the Add To Cart button on your product page. Your product listing, image quality, and product reviews are some primary factors that directly impact your conversion rates.

When your conversion rate is high, it signals to Amazon that you’re selling a high-quality product that’s irresistible to shoppers. This prompts the A9 algorithm to rank your product higher in search results for particular search terms.

On the other hand, Amazon interprets low conversion rates as a product being irrelevant or unsatisfactory to the shoppers. This results in the product getting ranked lower on search results.

Product Images

Amazon shoppers can’t hold an item in their hands when shopping, so your product images are as close as they’ll get to understanding your product’s appearance before buying.

Your product images must be high-quality enough to portray your product’s appearance from different angles accurately. Well-optimized and high-quality photos will help you rank your product better on Amazon.

Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are the most accurate measure of product quality on Amazon. It makes sense that Amazon considers customer reviews as a ranking factor. Shoppers can’t hold your product in their hand until they buy it. So they must rely on your customer’s reviews to know if you’re selling a high-quality product.

Many negative reviews will discourage shoppers from buying, meaning your product won’t be a good choice for shoppers if it appears in search results. This will automatically result in Amazon giving your product a lower SEO ranking.

On the other hand, a product with many positive customer reviews will attract buyers. This will automatically result in Amazon ranking it higher.

Customer Satisfaction

Not to be confused with customer reviews, customer satisfaction is a measure of overall customer service. Amazon quantifies customer satisfaction on the platform with metrics like Customer Feedback, Order Defect Rate, and Refund Rate.

Every seller needs to stay within certain thresholds of these metrics. Amazon being a customer-centric platform, places much importance on customer satisfaction.

If the customer satisfaction metric shows that you’re offering unsatisfactory customer service, Amazon will automatically move your product to a lower SEO ranking. Sellers with excellent customer satisfaction metrics impress the algorithm and get moved higher on Amazon SEO.

Answered Questions

Amazon product listings have an “Answered Questions” section where shoppers can get answers to common questions about the product.

This section offers more insight into the product and answers the common questions shoppers have about the product so they can be sure they’re buying the best item for their needs.

Product listings with answered questions are more informative, meaning the SEO algorithm will deem them helpful to shoppers.

Listings with answered questions also convert better, which contributes to them winning the favor of the A9 algorithm. It’s unclear how much weight Amazon places on answered questions when ranking products. But, even if it has a minor effect on Amazon SEO, it could help you make extra sales, which would have a ripple effect that eventually helps your rank higher on Amazon.

Product Listing Detail Level

A product listing is the only tool that relays all your product information to shoppers.

A listing with missing details will be ineffective in delivering your product information to shoppers. This will result in lower conversion rates since shoppers won’t buy a product they don’t understand. Of course, a lower conversion rate means the algorithm won’t look upon your product in favor.

You don’t want your product listing to be incomplete. Instead, ensure you fill every listing section with relevant information about the product while staying within Amazon’s product listing guidelines.

Provide shoppers with all the product information they need to make informed buying decisions, improving your conversion rates and, by extension, your ranking on Amazon SEO.

How Do I Improve My Ranking On Amazon?

Now that you know what Amazon considers when ranking products on the marketplace. Let’s look at how you can ensure your product ranks better on Amazon SEO.

Do Thorough Keyword Research

Proper keyword research is the foundation of good Amazon SEO. Keywords build the link between your product and a shopper searching on Amazon using the keywords you rank for. When doing keyword research for Amazon SEO, you want to consider buyer intent so you can use keywords that shoppers use to search for products.

For example, keywords such as “best selling” won’t help you rank on Amazon because shoppers with high buyer intent won’t search for a “best selling” product. They’ll use a specific search term that relates directly to the product they want to buy. Another reason why this keyword won’t rank is that Amazon hates subjective keywords, and the algorithm tends to ignore them.

If you used a keyword like “men’s t-shirt,” that would get you some visibility. “Men’s t-shirt” is what you’d call a broad keyword since it doesn’t specify anything other than it’s a t-shirt for men.

If you use a keyword like “long-sleeved henley design men’s cotton t-shirt,” you’ll get a lower search volume, but the conversion will be better. This is what we call a long-tail keyword. Shoppers who search using long-tail keywords have high buyer intent since they know exactly what they want.

Let’s discuss exactly how you can conduct keyword research for Amazon SEO:

Create a Master Keyword List

A master keyword list (MKL) helps you keep track of the keywords you should use to optimize your product listing.

The first step to creating a master keyword list is taking ten high-BSR products per ASIN and compiling the top keywords.

Once you have these keywords, sort them from the most valuable to the least useful. These are the keywords you’ll be rotating through and adding to your Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO optimization strategies.

Use Amazon Search Bar Suggestions To Find Keywords

When you type a word in Amazon’s search bar, Amazon gives a list of suggestions you can use to search for a product. These suggestions reflect the terms shoppers use to search for products.

This functionality makes Amazon an effective free keyword research tool.

If you type “watch” in the search box, you’d get several recommendations for related search terms.

If you sell watches, you can type in the word “watch,” followed by a different alphabet letter to find the most keyword suggestions. This strategy will offer you a list of keywords to start with.

Target Keywords On Complimentary Products

Amazon has a “Frequently bought together” section that shows products that complement each other. Shoppers who search for one of those products are most likely to search for the other product, causing an overlap in keywords for both products.

A product frequently bought together with yours gives you access to a segment of shoppers who might be interested in your product but aren’t searching for it.

Research complementary products and use their keywords in your listing and backend keywords. That way, a shopper searching for the complementary product will also see your product in their search results.

For example, if you sell watch boxes, you can target shoppers looking for watches. Although the shoppers aren’t exactly searching for a watch box, there’s a high chance they’ll want to buy one when it pops up in their search results.

Use Keyword Research Tools

Although Amazon can be an excellent tool for discovering profitable keywords, you must dive deeper into keyword research to find the hidden golden nugget keywords. This is where keyword research tools come in handy.

Amazon keyword tools offer a deeper insight into the keywords you need to rank your products. These tools use historical data, Amazon search suggestions, and competitor keywords to compile a list of high-converting keywords for every product you search for. You can also use such a tool to optimize your listing, which we’ll discuss next.

Optimize Your Amazon Product Listing

A well-optimized listing is a powerful ranking and selling tool on Amazon. It helps you get indexed and ranked by the Amazon SEO algorithm and communicates to shoppers why your product is the best choice for them. So, how do you optimize your listing?

Let’s break down how to optimize each part of a listing.

Optimize The Listing Title

Your product title is the hook that catches the shopper’s attention and gets them to click on your product page. A proper listing title must communicate your brand name, product name, primary product features, and product details.

This is what an optimized Amazon listing title structure should look like:

Your Brand Name - Main Keyword/ Product Name - Primary Features - Material/ Dimensions/ Color/ Size

In addition to ensuring you include your primary keyword in the title, you should also:

Optimize Your Listing Features And Benefits Section

The features and benefits section, also known as bullet points, offers the opportunity to add keywords to your listing to help rank it better.

Due to the structure of the feature and benefits section, you might not be able to add too many long-tail keywords. But there’ll be plenty of opportunities to add broad keywords that will increase your product’s visibility on search results.

For example, if you sell long-sleeved henley cotton men’s t-shirts, you might be unable to use the long-tail keyword “long-sleeved henley cotton men’s t-shirt” in the product features section. You’ll, however, have plenty of room to use broad keywords like “cotton men’s t-shirt,” “long-sleeve t-shirt,” “long-sleeve cotton t-shirt,” etc.

In addition to keyword optimization, here are some best practices and guidelines for optimizing your product features section for Amazon SEO:

Use all caps for the feature and normal case to explain the benefit
Use a maximum of five bullet points with a cumulative character count not exceeding 1,000 characters
Start with the most prominent product feature and finish with the least prominent
Don’t include pricing information or promotional information
Address the shoppers’ pain points while keeping SEO practices in mind

Optimize Your Amazon Product Description

The product description section of your listing lets you explain your brand message and product features further to shoppers and incorporate several keywords in the text.

There’s enough room in the product description to use both broad and specific long-tail keywords. This helps you capture high buyer intent shoppers and shoppers in the product research stage. Just make sure you place the long-tail keywords naturally so they don’t interfere with readability since this might ruin the shopper experience on your listing.

Here are additional best practices and guidelines for product description optimization:

Optimize A+ Content

We mentioned that Amazon doesn’t index the text on A+ content. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t add keywords to A+ content. Google indexes A+ content, so even if Amazon doesn’t index the keywords you use here, it’ll help you rank your product on Google and bring in some valuable external traffic.

Amazon loves external traffic.

Additionally, A+ content enhances the shopper experience on your listing and sells your product using high-quality visuals and unique, beautiful designs. This boosts conversion rates which helps with Amazon’s SEO ranking.

Use High-Quality Product Images

Product images are crucial sales drivers, especially on Amazon. Now, product images themselves don’t have a direct impact on Amazon SEO. But, they significantly impact sales, conversion rate, click-through rate, and sales rank, which are vital SEO factors on Amazon.

You must use high-quality images on your listing to hook shoppers and give them all the product information necessary for an informed buying decision.

Amazon recommends images measuring at least 1000 x 1000 pixels to activate Amazon’s automatic zoom feature that allows shoppers to zoom in on your product image and have a closer look at your product.

Lifestyle images showing the product in use are also vital in boosting conversion rates. Shoppers want to see the product in use before they can buy it. Think of it as the product demo you get when you buy a product from a physical store. Lifestyle product pictures help shoppers visualize themselves using the product, which subconsciously compels them to buy it.

For example, if you sell headphones, you can add images of people wearing the headphones and enjoying music. This will positively impact conversions and sales. And, of course, increasing the conversion rate automatically gives you a better chance of ranking higher on Amazon SEO.

Here are some guidelines and best practices for Amazon product images:

Use a clean background that doesn’t distract the shopper from the product
Make sure the entire product is visible in the picture
Use professional product images, not paintings or sketches of the product
Ensure there’s sufficient lighting in the images
Take product photos from different angles to show all the product features
Use a maximum of nine product images per listing

Incorporate Backend Keywords In Your Product Listing

Backend keywords allow you to add extra keywords to the listing in addition to the ones you already have in the listing text.

As we mentioned, this section isn’t visible to shoppers, so you can add all those keywords that read weird because of misspellings or odd word combinations. You can also utilize the backend keywords section to include keywords of a different language in the listing.

For example, your product listing can be in English, but you can add Spanish keywords in the backend keywords to appear when shoppers search for the product in Spanish. You also have room to add long-tail keywords that would negatively impact readability if added to the listing text.

We have two backend keywords sections on Amazon– Search terms and subject matter.

Here are the guidelines and best practices for backend keyword optimization:

Include your product’s abbreviations, alternate names, and synonyms, so Amazon indexes them
Avoid repeating the keywords that already appear on your listing text
Don’t use punctuation
Separate the words with a single space and use all lowercase

Get More Positive Reviews

Positive customer reviews are conversion drivers on Amazon and tell the Amazon SEO algorithm that you’re selling a high-quality product. You need more positive reviews on your listing to rank better on Amazon.

Selling a 5-star product is a surefire way of getting positive customer reviews, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. You’ll sometimes need to take a more proactive approach to ensure customers leave you a review after buying your product.

Let’s see how you can get more reviews for better Amazon SEO ranking:

Use The Request A Review Button

Amazon understands the importance of customer reviews, so they developed an inbuilt feature that lets you request your customers to leave you reviews. When a customer buys your product, you have up to 30 days to ask for their feedback.

By using the request a review feature, Amazon sends the customer a message on your behalf asking them to rate the transaction and leave you a review. The customer gets an email that prompts them to leave a review.

The request a review button is available in Seller Central. It’s the most straightforward method of collecting customer reviews on Amazon.

Use Product Inserts

Product inserts are small cards a seller inserts in the product packaging to deliver a personalized message to the customer.

You can utilize these inserts to ask customers to leave you a review. Amazon isn’t against using product inserts, but they have strict guidelines on how to use them.

Regarding product inserts, Amazon doesn’t allow sellers to:

Avoid these techniques and you’ll be in the clear to receive more reviews on Amazon, which will boost your Amazon SEO.

Register Your Product On The Amazon Vine Program

Amazon Vine Program allows brand-registered Amazon sellers to get their products reviewed by vetted and approved reviewers.

It’s only open to brand-registered sellers with less than 30 reviews on their products.

The goal is to give these sellers a chance to get those crucial first reviews.

When you register your product for the Vine program, you send 30 units to different reviewers, who then leave you an honest review based on their experience using your product. The Amazon Vine Program is a great way to get reviews for a new ASIN.

Price Your Product Competitively

Competitive pricing is a crucial factor not only in ranking but also in winning the Buy Box and increasing your sales revenue. There’s a reason most people start their buying journey on Amazon — because Amazon has a reputation for offering the best prices.

You must ensure you price your product competitively to avoid losing sales to a better-priced competing product. But more importantly, your product is more likely to get a better rank on Amazon SEO when you offer it for a fair price, so always keep an eye on how your competitors are pricing their products.

Answer Shoppers’ Questions In The Answered Questions Section

Shoppers want all their questions answered so they can make informed buying decisions.

It’s common for shoppers to want answers to questions you haven’t addressed in your listing. You can use the answered questions section to answer shoppers’ questions and eliminate any doubt the shopper may have.

This will facilitate conversions, which will, in turn, help you rank your product higher on Amazon SEO.

For example, if a shopper wants to buy a wristwatch, they might wonder if the watch band is adjustable. These are the answers you need to answer in the answered questions sections.

Past customers can also answer questions in this section. But it’s better when you reply so you can give accurate product information.

Does Amazon PPC Help With Amazon SEO Ranking?

A common misconception in Amazon selling is that Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO are two independent, or even competing, facets of Amazon marketing. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO have a strong bond. They’re besties, and you need them both. Amazon SEO and Amazon PPC complement each other when they’re strong. When they’re weak, they drag each other down.

The ideal SEO to PPC keywords ratio is 2:1. Your Amazon SEO-indexed keywords should be twice as many as your PPC advertised keywords.

The Effect of Amazon PPC On Amazon SEO Ranking

One of the common dilemmas amongst Amazon sellers is whether they should advertise for a keyword they already rank for. There is a misconception that Amazon SEO and Amazon PPC on the same keyword result in self-cannibalization. Well, it doesn’t.

Advertising for your top keyword props it up and defends it against the competition. If you’re ranking high on a keyword and don’t advertise for it, you leave it vulnerable for the competition to advertise and take your sales and rank.

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An Amazon PPC and SEO combo put your PPC ad close to your organic SEO results. When customers see this in their search results, they perceive you as a credible and legitimate seller, which drives sales and conversions.

We’ve established that sales velocity and conversions are major Amazon SEO factors. Amazon PPC, when done correctly, boosts your sales velocity and conversions on your advertised keywords.

The A9 algorithm doesn’t care if you get sales from PPC or organic ranking. A sale is a sale as far as it’s concerned, so the more sales you generate via Amazon PPC, the better you rank on Amazon SEO for converting keywords.

What Is The Effect Of Amazon SEO On Amazon PPC Performance?

Amazon displays ads based on relevance. A shopper will only see your Amazon PPC ad if it’s relevant to their search phrase. You need to optimize your listing for Amazon SEO keywords to achieve relevance before advertising with Amazon PPC.

Amazon SEO helps you identify new keyword suggestions for your Amazon PPC campaigns. A reverse ASIN look-up on your product will reveal your organic keywords and where you rank for each. You can then bid on these keywords in your PPC campaigns to improve ranking and generate more sales.

What's The Relationship Between Amazon SEO and Google SEO?

Amazon SEO and Google SEO are like two kings ruling different kingdoms. They share their differences and similarities, but they get along fine.

Google SEO’s main objective is to give answers, while Amazon SEO’s primary goal is to provide product suggestions.

You can combine both Google SEO and Amazon SEO to grow your Amazon business. Google offers answers, making it ideal for capturing the top-of-the-funnel traffic in the product research phase of their buying journey. Amazon then serves them the best product options once they’re ready to buy.

In the beginning stages of their purchase journey, a shopper will look for answers, so Google will be their first go-to for information. You want them to see your product on Google as one of the product options.

When the shopper is in the last stages of their buying journey, they already have the answers they need after doing Google searches. They now want the product. So, they’ll come to Amazon to search for the best product option.

If you’re on top of your Amazon SEO game, the shopper will see your product in their search results. If they’d previously seen your product on Google, they’ll be drawn to it because it’s already familiar. That’s one of the ways Google SEO and Amazon SEO work together to increase conversions on Amazon.

What Are The Similarities Between Google SEO And Amazon SEO?

Google SEO and Amazon SEO have some things in common, and some things that are unique to each. Understanding how to use both platforms increases your overall marketing strength.

Let’s begin by understanding where Google SEO and Amazon SEO are alike:

Organic And Paid Ranking Options

Both Amazon and Google let you pay for ads to have your product appear on top of search results. As an Amazon seller, you can combine Amazon PPC and Google ads to claim the top search results spots on both platforms and increase your visibility drastically.

Google ads are more advanced than Amazon ads, making targeting more precise and the results more pronounced.

Prioritizing Relevance

Google SEO and Amazon SEO prioritize relevance when ranking. The two platforms’ definition of “relevance” differs because their search engines have different objectives.

Google prioritizes clicks, while Amazon prioritizes sales. But, they both rank results based on keyword optimization and the relevance of those keywords to the searches.

They Frown Upon Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is the overuse of keywords in text to trick the search algorithm into ranking you better. Keyword stuffing ruins the readability of your text and, by extension, user experience.

Both Amazon and Google hate keyword stuffing. Each platform has its ideal keyword density that, when surpassed, you enter into keyword stuffing territory, and your content doesn’t rank.

Continued Optimization Is A Requirement For Ranking

SEO is not a “set and forget” strategy on Google or Amazon. You need to constantly optimize your content to keep up with your target audience’s preferences and any changes in SEO guidelines. Updating your web pages and listing regularly positively impacts your ranking.

What Are The Differences Between Google SEO And Amazon SEO?

Remember how we said Google SEO and Amazon SEO are like two kings ruling two kingdoms, and they have their differences? Well, let’s see the differences in how these two kings run their empires.

This is what differs between Google SEO and Amazon SEO:

Keywords Apply Differently

People search on Google and Amazon for different reasons, so the keywords’ applications will also differ.

Someone searching on Amazon is looking to buy a product, so the keywords that perform well on Amazon are product-related. For example, keywords that highlight a product’s features have a high volume on Amazon, e.g., “cordless clippers” is an example of a search phrase that a shopper would use in an Amazon search.

Google users, on the other hand, typically search for answers. The typical search phrases on Google will be in the form of questions. For example, a standard Google search would be “What is the best cordless clipper?”

This is why long-tail keywords get top priority on Google ranking, while single-word or two-word keywords tend to perform well on Amazon.

The Gravity Of External Links In Ranking

Quality external links are a primary ranking factor on Google. The more quality websites link back to your site, the higher your authority score and the better you’ll rank.

To give users the best answers and most relevant information, Google assumes that other websites link to your site because it has the most valuable information. It makes sense to rank your site better so users searching on Google can find your helpful information easily

Amazon, on the other hand, doesn’t support external linking. Amazon’s goal is to offer the best products to shoppers, so their primary metrics for SEO ranking have to do with conversions and sales, not external links

How Do I Rank Amazon Products On Google?

Leveraging Google SEO to impact your Amazon listing and improve your sales is possible. Amazon likes it when sellers drive external traffic to their listing.

But, with the differences between Amazon’s and Google’s search engines, you need to find a middle ground where you’re serving their needs.

Here’s how to rank Amazon products on Google:

Conduct Separate Keyword Research

The difference in Google and Amazon search engines means that the high-performing keywords will differ for each platform.

The keywords that perform well on Amazon won’t necessarily perform well on Google, and vice versa. It would be best if you did separate keyword research to find the performing keywords in each platform.

For example, you can use a dedicated Amazon keyword research tool to find Amazon’s best keywords.

Then use Google Keyword Planner to find the best-performing keywords on Google. Once you have the two sets of keywords, you can use them in your listing to appease both Amazon and Google’s SEO algorithms.

Use Long-Tail Keywords

Using short-tail product-specific keywords will help you rank on Amazon SEO. But that won’t cut it in Google SEO. Google loves long-tail keywords. You’ll have to incorporate more long-tail keywords in your Amazon product listing text.

Remember to keep the balance between Amazon’s high-performing keywords and Google’s long-tail keywords.

Backlink To Your Product Listing

You will need an external site to backlink your product listings. Ideally, you’ll want to use an authoritative website that offers valuable insights to your target audience.

This site will link to your product listing in the website content, e.g., blog posts. This will get Google to recognize your product listing as a valuable resource and rank it higher.

Optimize For Amazon SEO

Google and Amazon have some common factors they look for when ranking products, so there will be an overlap of Amazon’s ranking factors that also help you rank better on Google.

For example, they both love ranking content with good visuals. You need to use high-quality images in your listing to rank on Google. It’s also a requirement for Amazon SEO, so you’re probably already using high-quality photos.

Other factors that work for both Amazon SEO and Google SEO are:

What Are The Amazon SEO Mistakes That Could Hurt My Ranking?

Most people imagine that winning the metaphorical battle and conquering territory is the difficult part. It’s not. Once you claim a conquered territory and plant your flag in the ground, the real work begins — defending the territory, so you don’t lose it!

This is the case with Amazon SEO. Ranking your product is just the beginning. You now have to put in the work to maintain your SEO position or even improve it, and a single mistake can undo all the work that got you to your current ranking.

Here are the 9 mistakes you should avoid to keep your ranking and keep improving your position on Amazon SEO:

Amazon SEO Mistake #1 : Double-Dipping On Keyword Placement

Repeating your primary keyword across your listing section and backend keywords is a waste of space and may look spammy to shoppers.

Amazon won’t rank your product better just because you repeat your primary keyword multiple times in your listing. Instead, you want to save that space for other keywords, so you have numerous different but relevant keywords instead of the same keyword repeated multiple times.

Amazon SEO Mistake #2 : Not Using Product Synonyms In Backend Keywords

Some products have more than one name, and shoppers will use different names for that product in their search terms. For example, a shaver can be referred to as a hair trimmer, clipper, or shaving machine.

If you only optimize your listing with the keyword “hair clipper” and its variations, you risk not showing up when shoppers search for a “hair trimmer” or “shaving machine.”

Your backend keywords could help you hit all these alternative ones if you optimize them correctly. Ensure you include all your product’s synonyms in backend keywords to rank for them.

Additionally, adding your product’s name in another language could help you rank for those keywords and reach shoppers who search on Amazon using that language.

For example, “hair clipper” in Spanish is “broche del pelo.” Adding that keyword could help you reach a Spanish-speaking shopper that searches for a hair clipper in Spanish.

Amazon SEO Mistake #3 : Not Using Misspelled Keyword Variations In Backend Keywords

Shoppers will sometimes misspell the product name when searching on Amazon. If you don’t have a misspelled keyword variation of your product name, a shopper that misspells it might not see your product in their search results.

Pro Tip: Research the most common misspelled product name variations and add them to your backend keywords.

Amazon SEO Mistake #4 : Treating SEO As A “Fire-And-Forget” Strategy

Earlier, we mentioned that both Amazon and Google require you to optimize for SEO constantly. When you treat Amazon SEO as a fire-and-forget strategy, you risk losing traction and getting overtaken by the competition.

You’ll also miss out on discovering new keywords that could get your product to the top spots of Amazon search results

Amazon SEO Mistake #5 : Poor Inventory Management

Amazon wants to give shoppers a seamless shopping experience. That means making sure customers see products that are in stock.

Poor inventory management will have you constantly going out of stock. Amazon doesn’t like showing listings for products that are out of stock, so they’ll automatically move your product lower on SEO ranking. And when you move from the top SEO spots, a competitor is always on standby, ready to take your spot.

Amazon SEO Mistake #6 : Ignoring Amazon PPC

We’ve explained the relationship between Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO. Advertising for keywords you already rank for helps you maintain and improve your ranking.

You’d leave your ranking vulnerable to being claimed by the competition if you don’t incorporate Amazon PPC in your Amazon SEO strategy.

Amazon SEO Mistake #7 : Slacking On Competitor Analysis

You snooze, you lose!

Amazon is a fiercely competitive marketplace, and every seller is trying to find ways to get a leg up on the competition and claim a larger market share.

If you slack in your competition analysis, you risk getting overtaken by the competition and losing your ranking. You should constantly monitor the competition for new keywords and pricing. This will allow you to find ways to counter their moves by targeting their keywords and repricing your product to remain competitive.

Amazon SEO Mistake #8 : Failure To Expand Your Product Line

The fastest way to grow sales on Amazon is to add more new products — new products, not variations of an existing product.

You can only rank one product so high and sell so many units of a single ASIN. Expanding your product line allows you to expand your reach when you start ranking the new ASIN and, consequently, growing your sales.

You can compound these sales by advertising the product with Amazon PPC to get the sales velocity going.

Amazon SEO Mistake #9 : Not Rotating Your Search Terms

Remember, we said that Amazon SEO is a continuous process. After the initial keyword setup, the next thing you need to do is incremental indexing. It involves looking at your SEO gaps and filling them to boost your organic power. You do this by rotating search terms.

Amazon has a feature we call the Pink Word Update. It looks at low-value search terms in Seller Central and marks them pink.

You need to remove the pink search term and replace it with another search term to give your listing more ranking power. Failure to rotate your search terms prevents you from ranking for more keywords and may affect your Amazon SEO rank in the long run.

And these are the nine Amazon SEO mistakes to avoid if you want to optimize and excel over your competitors!

Ramp Up Amazon SEO Now

Whew! That is a lot to digest!

Amazon SEO should be a top priority for anyone building a business on Amazon. We’ll admit that ranking your listing on the top of Amazon search results takes work. It’s tempting to kick back and relax when you achieve top ranks, but you’ll have to defend your Amazon SEO position and try to improve it with PPC advertising and continuous optimization and updating.

The strategies we lay out in this blog post will be your roadmap to conquering Amazon SEO and getting more visibility for your products.