That Amazon is the number one product search engine for many consumers in Western countries, even before Google, has gotten around now. Since it is obvious, as a manufacturer or dealer to deal more closely with which ranking your own products in the search result on Amazon to which keywords have and how they can be played as relevant as possible on the search results page. this article will explain Amazon SEO step by step. How does such marketplace optimization work?
What is Amazon SEO?
Before we get into the actual optimization. Let’s explain some important terms and basic principles.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for internet search engines like Google is the set of measures that should help a website appear as high as possible in the organic (unpaid) search result lists.
Search engine optimization on Amazon (Amazon SEO) is often titled “Marketplace Optimization” or “Marketplace Optimization” and abbreviated as MPO. It refers to measures by which products appear in the organic search engine ranking on the front squares or sides or are to be found, where customers make their purchase decision.
The appearance of the Amazon search results is very different from device to device, especially mobile and app compared to desktop and tablet. Therefore, not only places 1 to 3 or the first page should be the highest goal here.
Either way, keep in mind that in many customer segments, the proportion of mobile shoppers is 50% or more.
Just as an automatic (algorithm) evaluates the position of a website on a Search Engine Result Page (SERP) for a particular search query based on a number of factors, this is controlled by the so-called A9 algorithm on Amazon.
Important when looking at Amazon is the sorting. The page sorts the search results by default as “Amazon presents” (formerly “Best Results”). In English, it becomes clearer what Amazon means: “featured” (formerly “Sort by relevance”). This simply means that the more relevant a product is to the search term entered by the customer, the higher the product is on the search results page.
The Phases of Amazon SEO
Amazon SEO into four phases:
- Upstream Amazon SEO: In the course of the content relevance analysis, I first determine which products are played by the algorithm under certain search terms, filters, categories, etc., and what they have in common.
- Active Amazon SEO – also defined as target combinatorics: I select regularly, in which for me relevant keywords, filters, categories, etc. I want to be found and check the results.
- Passive Amazon SEO – also defined as cross-combinatorics: I look at how selected content is played on other search terms, filters, categories, etc.
- Downstream Amazon SEO – also called Nachoptimierung: I look at and rate changes regularly. This is important to maintain relevance over time.
Evaluate Search Results Pages
The SERP composition is almost the most important. Price, grading, product type in color, severity, and number are just some of the factors that should be considered. Pay attention also to it: How is the exact structure of the search results for filter options, category selection, but also simple product composition and price structure?
Important: You should consider this in a timely manner and not draw conclusions from a one-time investigation. For example, many products simply have a bonus, since they have been available for ten years and have been able to collect a corresponding number of ratings.
The compilation of the search results to the search queries also gives you tips on current trends or the understanding of the customer to the entered search word.
All this can be summarized under keyword volatility, ie the frequency of changes of the displayed offers under the same search term over the time course.
How much are the positions of displayed products changing under certain search queries, and why is that so important? Oftentimes, products are quickly brought to the marketplace and the most important presumptive search terms are determined. Rarely does one examine the average price among the relevant search words, but even less one examines the fluctuation intensity of position changes.
So it can be quite interesting to sell a nutcracker in the Christmas business. However, if the volatility among the key search terms is very rigid, you have to start much earlier to even reach the visible range of the customers.
Click Factors And Real Performance Factors
For your success on Amazon, your product must appear as relevant to the search of a user. On the other hand, you have to make sure that this user then clicks.
To achieve this, there are several factors that can best be broken down into “Click Factors” and “Real Performance Factors”, with intersections, of course.
Real (Direct) Performance Factors
The following factors cause a product listing to occupy higher / more relevant places in the search result.
- Availability: Product must be deliverable (in stock) and generally have the highest possible availability over a long period of time
- Buy-Box generally available: Yes / No
- Price: in relation to other products that are also relevant to the customer and also in recent price increases/decreases
- Location of customer: regional supply and proximity of the warehouse can affect delivery time
- return rate
- If Seller: Dealer Ratings / Dealer Performance
Supplementary Reading Tip: This article shows why reservations about the conversion rate are justified as an alleged performance factor.
Click Factors
The following factors cause the customer to click on certain entries in the search result rather than others.
- Main picture: meaningful, high quality/resolution, the scope of delivery/size, and other important specifications immediately recognizable
- Title: meaningful, includes the main product features, the optimal length
- Ratings: average and number
- Price: Corresponds to the target price of the customer or below
- Prime: Yes / No
- Shipping costs: Yes / No
- Promotion, Coupon, …: Yes / No
Creating SEO Basics – The Content Relevance Analysis
Important, as shown above, is the relevance of the product to the user’s search query. It’s all about Amazon on various factors. The appropriate category of the product to its content is important, but also how much search terms harmonize with the product and the customer search intention. Often too much emphasis is placed on traffic and too little on conversion keywords. What that means, let’s look at the details below.
Let’s start with the analysis:
Category
First, take care of selecting the category. Since the bestseller rank has no effect, the choice of the category for a good Sales Rank placement does not make sense! Much better is to focus on actually appropriate categories.
Example: Should the barbecue glove not be in the category “garden and barbecue accessories” in summer and in “kitchen and oven gloves” in winter? We think so. The reason for this is category-specific keyword assignments by Amazon, which influence not only the visibility but also the advertising performance.
The search for the word “suitcase” shows this well. Here you end up immediately and exclusively in search results of the corresponding category (see figure). Which category is the most relevant, you can also see on the filters: The arrangement from top to bottom can be understood as a weighting!
Synonyms
Next, finding a synonym around your product is a priority. In addition to the search results on Amazon, it is also necessary to search external shop systems to identify possible further ideas for synonyms. Tools like Sellics or ANALYZE also help to discover more details of the searches at the product or search level and to recognize which terms the customers choose.
The customer search intention is better understood with tools like the free Google Extension “Keyword ANALYZER” . The input of terms here shows more possible search terms and with a few simple steps you can analyze these extensively. In addition, pages like Answer the Public are well suited to gain a better insight into the thinking of the targeted audience.
Customer Relevance
Therefore, it is important to address not only the category and the terms, but also the customer relevance analysis. What bothers customers after the purchase? This is usually found as feedback in the reviews. What customers lack in advance of information can be found in the questions and answers about the product.
All this data should be worked through. Excel or simply slip and pen and a little time here help you to perfect customer-oriented content for the description and other content.
Content Optimization
Speaking of content: Let’s start by improving the content of your product page step by step.
Title
You should start at the title. It is less about the overall length, but primarily about which terms, the customers can read on which device at all. Often only 30 characters are directly visible in ads, only 60 to 70 characters on mobile phones in the Amazon app, and only 130 characters in the search pages on the desktop in the tile view. In this limited framework, you have to persuade the customer to click!
The most important synonyms used should occur, but much more important is information and content that leads to a click.
As a practical example, a trash can is also a waste container, but the statistical analysis of all queries shows that the site (kitchen, bathroom, etc.) and volume (40L or 60L) have the highest search intent. So this is information that must be presented directly in any case. Another example: If a “dinghy” only hides as a keyword that it is suitable for 4 people, the right customer will not recognize it as a relevant product and shortlisted.
The biggest mistake is to only go traffic and forget relevant content.
Bullet Points
Bullet Points are a kind of extended title. Often, people tend not to re-read content. When I click on short titles, I rarely assume that it will be long after the click. Bullet points in and of themselves have to explain succinctly what a product has and why that is good and in which application it helps me. More customers do not need it. The bullet points then help, but only on the desktop. Mobile, they are “hidden” at the very bottom and therefore not really relevant as a source of information.
Images
On mobile devices, the image guide is the alpha and omega. Again to clarify: Now that in many cases more than 50% of users also access Amazon on mobile (some even speak of over 70% of Amazon users), the focus of your SEO should Measures are also on these devices. After the main picture should therefore immediately use images or dimensions, delivery, etc. are visible. Customers tend to swipe left and right rather than scroll. You should also take this into account because the shopping cart field comes first and there are many advertising spaces for other products.
Tip by Karim-Patrick Bannour: Manufacturers (vendors) as well as sellers (sellers) with a registered trademark (brand registry) can also add a product video to the pictures. Especially in the case of products or products requiring explanation with a large number of functions or areas of application, this can have a purchasing power and reduce returns. In addition, there are already metrics for the videos in the USA, such as click-through rates and viewing time.
Product
Descriptions may then go much further. The focus should be on complete search phrases. The use of HTML is mandatory for a good reading flow. In addition, you should use after 160 characters breaks. The white space theory clearly shows that the customer is so directed to the text. The continuous text without upheavals does not create any white space and thus often goes completely under the numerous advertising and product spaces.
Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)
In the meantime, sellers can also use extended brand content (Enhanced Brand Content, EBC) for registered trademarks. These are currently replacing the description and are visible far ahead of the bullet points. For the first time, text and image are brought together here on Amazon. So you can show the benefits of products with a picture directly and explain supportively. The text should never be longer than half a display. Your personal story of suffering or brand story is also not required here. A customer who has not bought here has definite questions. Because the shopping cart field (buy-box) is much higher, both mobile and on the desktop.
A + Content
Vendors have the option to add advanced branded content in the form of A + or A + Premium Content under “Product Information from the Manufacturer”, as in the example below.
The Care of the Backend
Visibility and discovery begin on Amazon first and foremost data-driven. If the search query and the product do not match in Amazon’s opinion, the product simply will not be displayed. Therefore, the first goal must be to have the necessary relevance of all relevant search queries. Whether data filters, categories, or specific terms.
We’ve already covered the search terms above, but the backend also hides a veritable treasure trove of data fields. However, it is essential to work with the category-specific inventory files. They are different here and there and therefore not everything can be filled out of one area.
For example, all valid values for the fields in the flat file are in their own tab. Do not think about what you want to use, but find out what Amazon expects. Analyze also the search process on Amazon, so which filters are made available to the customer. In turn, colors must be entered twice, for the product itself but also for the color filters. If you give the dimensions/weights of the product. The packaging and the shipping package wrong. You lose the Prime status “next day” and is visible only as a Prime long haul.
The variety of relevant fields varies widely by category and must always be considered separately.
Some fields are also used only for the ranges of comparison tables or technical information. If you do not maintain these. No content will appear and the customer will only switch to other products due to the lack of data.
If you are clever, you should choose a meaningful category for each product and at the same time use the various filters and data in the backend to comprehensively support the findability.
