For those who are accustomed to the logic of Google SEO, the listing and sales optimization process on Amazon can be somewhat confusing as it is not necessarily similarly intuitive.
Even though both Google and Amazon are essentially powered with the search function, the factors their algorithms take into account organic rankings are completely different.
According to Jungle Scout, the A9 Search Engine that powers Amazon outperforms Google significantly for product searches.
This makes it very important for merchants to master Amazon SEO expert.
The main focus of Amazon search is to make it easy for customers to locate products so that they can buy them.
Overall, Amazon tends to give priority to products that have a better chance of being purchased.
As simple as it may sound, there are diverse factors that influence the rankings, so optimizing for ranking can be somewhat complex.
Some of the prime considerations that you need to look out for:
Use of Keywords That Are Buyer-Oriented and Targeted
Most marketers stop at five to ten keywords for product listings and these are usually based around the product title, color, brand, size, use type, etc.
However, this may be grossly inadequate because you need to also look at the profile of the target customers, the keyword frequency in addition to the product attributes.
After covering the essentials, it can be a good idea to expand the list by considering alternative uses, and listings of competing products with the help of automated tools that also provide an estimate of the monthly search volume of the keywords.
It is also important that you maximize the number of keywords that you are indexed for, especially for keywords that are highly relevant to the product.
The concept of being indexed for a keyword is that the product will appear on the Amazon search results.
Typically, the best results for indexing are obtained in places like the title, bullets, backend keywords, as well as structured or other data.
Video by: Tyler Horvath
Focus on Conversion Elements to Make Sure the Listing is Retail Ready
While nothing can get sold if it does not turn up in the search results but it is equally true that the rankings need to convert to sales for the entire process to be of any use.
By referring to the detailed sales and traffic report, you can get information that will reveal whether your sales are not happening due to the absence of adequate traffic or because the traffic is not being adequately converted.
Some of the most useful conversion elements include high-quality images that you must use as much as is available with you.
Additionally, including an infographic can help to inform and highlight the product benefits as well as the transformations that the product is capable of undergoing, which are especially useful for lifestyle products like bags.
Another common conversion mistake that is made by merchants on Amazon is ignoring or underestimating the impact of making the product eligible for a Prime offer.
Often by undertaking a simple step like moving a product from Merchant Fulfilled to Prime, the sales can be boosted by as much as four times.
Merchant can explore three methods of making their products eligible for Prime membership.
These range from selling products through Amazon Vendor Central, using fulfillment by Amazon through Seller Central, and using Seller-fulfilled Prime through Seller Central.
Pricing:
As far as pricing on Amazon is concerned, there are two ways of monitoring it.
By ensuring that you are eligible for Buy Box, you can have the price detailed on the product page itself, which aids the conversion process as most customers simply click the “Add to Cart” button when they have decided to purchase it.
As a result, most of the purchases that take place on a product detail page will be with merchants that are Buy Box eligible.
The detailed sales and traffic report will also reveal the merchant’s Buy Box percentage for a specific product.
You also need to monitor the prices of similar products from other merchants.
You can find out if any similar product is stealing market share by looking at the same report.
If the number of page views and sessions are approximately the same, it will indicate that when people leave your page, they are not returning, and the pricing or some other conversion factor needs tweaking.
Enhanced Brand Content & Video:
Merchants having a live trademark are qualified to participate in Amazon’s Brand Registry program that permits the addition of videos and enhanced brand content that can boost conversions by 7-11%.
Some products may benefit even more with videos that are also available to merchants of Vendor Central.
Reviews:
Even though reviews remain important to Amazon and customers both because they reflect the extent the customer has liked the product, it is no longer considered integral to the search process because of rampant misuse by sellers.
Amazon has been banning sellers that continue to flout the applicable standards for reviews.
Catalyzing Sales and Listing Conversions
A truism applicable for Amazon is that sales lead to more sales, so even after optimization of your list; your organic rank will be influenced partially by your initial sales sending out signals to Amazon that the listing is a good match for the targeted keywords.
To help rank up the initial sales, you can concentrate the traffic by removing duplicate listings or if necessary, arrange them into a parent-child relationship so that the traffic can be focused on fewer listings allowing the ranking to climb.
You need to be careful when doing this as you run the risk of suspension by Amazon if you manipulate the parent-child relationship for better ranking.
To encourage buyers, you could think of offering a promotion code or coupon.
This route is better than offering a deep discount as it can result in long term sales being affected due to a Suppressed Buy Box.
Conclusion
Since Amazon is completely focused on the customer, manipulation of the system in any way can get you suspended or even banned, so it is better to stick to black hat tactics despite the increasing competition taking a toll on their efficacy.
Very much like Google, Amazon is also constantly changing the search environment so it is best for merchants to keep on testing images, copy, and other optimization methods to find out how to stay ahead of the curve.
