Amazon has a huge catalog of products from around the world. Consumers rely an Amazon’s site search to find those products. But it doesn’t mean they will find the best products. Your product may have the best quality, but your competitors will generate more sales if they appear higher in the listing of similar items.
To increase your sales, you must develop a deeper understanding of how you can optimize your Amazon listings, to increase your search prominence and overall conversions.
In this article, I will review six ways that I optimize my Amazon listings.
6 ways to optimize Amazon listings
Title of product. Amazon allows 50 characters in most product titles. Some categories, however, allow up to 200 characters. In its search results, Google shows roughly 50 characters in title tags. Thus Amazon’s 50-character limit is enough to ensure a good title, using keywords strategically.
Sellers usually title their products functionally, utilizing important attributes. However, to gain a higher listing on Amazon, think back to search-engine-optimization practices in the 1990s. Add as much detail to the title as you possibly can. For example, instead of using the title “Reebok CrossFit. White,” consider using “Reebok CrossFit. Men’s Training Shoes. White.”
The more detail you add in the title area, using critical keywords, the higher the chances of your product being viewed by potential customers.
Importance of photos. The importance of quality product photographs cannot be overstated. The main photo should clearly show the item. Additional photos, including lifestyle shots, should show the product at different angles. Buyers instinctively value relevant photographs.
There are nine image slots available to Amazon sellers. I never use less than six. The main photo should fill most of the frame with a close-up of the product as the consumer would receive it. Add detailed images of the product — out of its packaging and from multiple angles. Then create lifestyle images of the product in use and add a benefit statement to each image. Tell the consumer why she should buy this product. What problem does it solve?
Don’t use too much text or the images will be disallowed. Try to keep text under six words.
Feature-benefit description. Consumers don’t buy features. They buy benefits. They don’t care that your eye cream has polypeptides (a helpful amino acid). They care that it will remove fine lines and wrinkles and make them look and feel younger. Product benefits on Amazon get the best visibility on the bullet-point fields.
Shoppers mainly view the images and the bullet points. That is often enough to close the sale. Long paragraphs will not grab or hold their attention. It is important to make these key selling points as strong as possible. I obsess over these and use the maximum amount of space I can with high-value keywords.
Product description. Use at least 1,000 characters for each product description. Get as many keywords as you can in this area. Even if the shopper doesn’t view it, Amazon’s search tool will. You are in a better position if your brand is listed in Amazon’s Brand Registry, as can use the expanded pages.
The product description area supports light HTML. You can bold, italicize, and a use few other HTML text enhancements. Make your product descriptions as engaging as possible. Even if prospects only glance at this area and don’t read it, your listing will appear much more professional.
Search terms and keywords. The backend of your Amazon product setup contains non-public fields. I fill in as many of these as I can. Amazon uses these to find the best product to a shopper’s query. So, the more information you can add the better.
Amazon has several fields for extra search terms and keywords that are related to the product and how consumers might search for it. In the keyword field, you have 1,000 characters to use in a string. Use spaces between the keywords but don’t use commas. So, your keyword field may look, in part, like this:
Best razor Gillette shaving razors 5-blade razors 3 blade razors.
Try to string the keywords in logical order. List every relevant keyword, those that are important to buyers and related to the product.
Search terms are an area that most sellers overlook. Don’t. They can be powerful. But do your research and see how consumers search for products similar to yours. Don’t just put “eye cream” or “body wash” in the search terms. Instead, say something like this:
Anti-aging eye cream removes fine lines and wrinkles.
and
Moisturizing body wash natural shower gel.
There are other areas in the backend to supply product data. My rule is that if there is a field in the Amazon product setup pages, I use it.
Product reviews. Product reviews are extremely important for making a sale on Amazon. Reviews provide credibility to your listing, which is crucial for attracting buyers. Amazon reviews range from 1 to 5 stars.
Use an auto-responder system, such as Feedback Genius by Seller Labs. Set this up so that you automatically communicate with your buyers, to ask for a review. In my experience, it takes roughly four attempts to connect with a buyer before he will provide a review.
Make sure the auto-response emails thank the customers and explain how reviews help other buyers. Let the customers know that you value them and want their honest feedback. You need a system — approved by Amazon — that works within the Amazon platform.
Authentic product reviews can be highly beneficial for your listing. They improve your ranking in the search results and signal the quality of your products to other users.
Monitor and refine
Take advantage of all the ways Amazon allows you to optimize your product listings, to improve your search rankings and conversions. Monitor your changes to product listings, and then refine continually. Never accept a “set it and forget it” mentality with your listings.