The key to figuring out how to rise to the top in search rankings is understanding Amazon SEO. It can help you leverage organic traffic and get closer to the coveted #1 Best Seller badge for your product.
Amazon expert Steven Pope joined us on an episode of the “Lunch With Norm” podcast to discuss the intricacies and strategies involved with Amazon SEO optimization. We have covered that and much more in this article.
Amazon SEO is the process of getting your product to rank higher in Amazon search results. It helps you improve the quality of your Amazon listing to boost its visibility and drive traffic to it. Ultimately, it helps you sell to customers more.
Entrepreneurs who understand how Amazon’s SEO process works will be more successful in the marketplace and yield significant results.
During his interview, Steven Pope mentioned that “people misunderstand the value of SEO and how to measure its value against other opportunities. SEO is a long-term investment. It’s not a short-term gain. If you are looking to please the boss or the shareholders, SEO is a really hard sell. PPC is a really easy sell. If you are the owner, you have the ability to think long-term, and you are building to hold your organization, SEO should be a top priority or objective.”
Traditional SEO isn’t focused on getting you sales. It aims to provide users a good search experience, so they come back. Amazon, on the other hand, is an e-commerce site to drive sales. In fact, with 386 million US dollars in net sales in 2020, it’s the most dominant e-commerce site in existence today. It needs to work differently from search engines to achieve its goal. That is why Amazon uses different search ranking algorithms to the likes of Google.
The main purpose of the Amazon search ranking algorithm is to help users with their product search. It ranks brands and their products on the e-commerce platform to provide the most relevant results to buyers. It does this by assessing how relevant your product listing is to the search (relevancy) and how likely your products are to sell (performance). It also regularly updates its algorithm to increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
“Amazon is entering a maturity phase as a platform. They are putting higher and higher barriers. Because those barriers go up, your sophistication levels also must go up. Your ability to dodge and navigate that system has to increase. Otherwise, you will hit a pitfall and see some sales get damaged,” Steven says.
Relevancy ranking factors that influence the algorithm include:
Keywords are a big part of displaying your relevancy. That is why they are so important in the world of Amazon SEO.
If you want to start optimizing your product listings for Amazon’s ranking factors, you need to choose the right keywords. They will be the bread and butter of your Amazon SEO. Research as many relevant keywords as you can for your product listing. You can use keyword research tools to find them. Steven Pope recommended Helium 10 on the podcast for sellers interested in boosting their Amazon rankings. Other tools to keep in mind:
If you are just starting, the simplest way to start your keyword research is to use Amazon’s auto-fill feature. It’s simple and free! Record all the auto-fill suggestions that Amazon generates. You can also use Amazon’s automatic campaigns to do additional keyword research. Download the search term report to find keywords for your existing product listings on Amazon.
The challenge of indexing on Amazon is to maximize the most important keywords for customers to find your products. The best sellers on Amazon work on optimizing their product listing in phases, according to Steven Pope. Here are three phases he recommends:
Once you have done your keyword research, you need to add your top keywords wherever possible. You can include them in the title, the description, the bullet points and the backend. Then you wait to be indexed for these relevant keywords.
“The goal of phase one is indexing. You want to maximize the number of words you can focus on. If you use commas in the search term fields, you are taking away character count. The permutation aspect is weakened based on the data we have seen,” explains Steven.
Once 30 days have passed since you added your first set of keywords, you can update your backend search term fields. You should cut out any keywords that are already in your title or bullet points. Replace them with additional value keywords from your original keyword list. This will further boost your indexing on Amazon.
Once a few more weeks have passed, you can start looking at lower-ranking keywords. Your goal is to focus on keywords that convert but might not get you traffic. Add them everywhere, be it the search term field, the bullet points or the alt text for your images. You should see the keyword matriculate and increase its ranking.
“The goal of SEO is to increase sales to the listing without paying for it long-term. If you index but never convert, you won’t be on page one,” says Steven.
Creating an Amazon SEO strategy is one thing, but maintaining it is a different story. Just like with traditional SEO, Amazon SEO is an ongoing process. Maintenance can help you appear in the right searches and ultimately drive more traffic. Pay attention to keywords that help you convert and enhance them in your product listing. Since the algorithm is always changing, you will need to stay on top of your listing for best results. Your goal should be to figure out what works and continue to push in that direction.
You can’t win as a seller on the online platform without Amazon SEO. Learning how to optimize it for your products is a make-it-or-break-it deal. Try to do keyword research and follow our best practices and phases to optimize your product listings.
Steven Pope has much more to say on Amazon SEO during his episode “Talking SEO” on the “Lunch With Norm” podcast.
Past shows are available on iTunes, Audible, Amazon, Podbean, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Alternatively, you can listen live on Facebook; the show broadcasts live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, featuring the best minds in the online business world.
Norman Farrar Entrepreneur and businessman Norman “The Beard Guy” Farrar stands at the forefront of the economic mega-machine known as Amazon Marketplace. As a leading expert with over 25 years of product sourcing, development, and branding expertise, Norm is an advisor to many and an inspiration to all.
Norman Farrar Entrepreneur and businessman Norman “The Beard Guy” Farrar stands at the forefront of the economic mega-machine known as Amazon Marketplace. As a leading expert with over 25 years of product sourcing, development, and branding expertise, Norm is an advisor to many and an inspiration to all.
