Amazon SEO

Amazon SEO

If you are an Amazon seller, it is important that you understand how Amazon SEO works. This can help maximize your rankings, and potentially your profits.

Billions of dollars are spent on online goods. If you want to maximize the possibilities of e-commerce, it is a good idea that you take a closer look at what Amazon can offer. When it comes to online shopping, forget about Google just for a while. It is a good idea to focus on what Amazon can bring to the table. According to studies, 55% of online shoppers head to Amazon first and not Google. And this number could be on the rise following the trends from the past years.

What we know about Amazon is that the company makes use of a different algorithm than that of Google. Though you want your Amazon listing to be seen in Google, don’t forget that majority of online shoppers go directly to Amazon to check products that they need.

Even for veteran SEO experts, it can be a bit shocking to know that Amazon’s algorithm is so much different than Google.

What makes it different from Google?

It is important to understand that Google and Amazon have two different search engines. Google ranks websites according to user experience.

With its focus on experience to enable clicks on ads, Google looks at high-quality content, mobile friendly web designs, and websites that showcase positive social media signals to name a few. All of this is to enable Google to sell ads to advertisers and for the users to come back for more. Users are happy finding relevant information from their searches and therefore could even click on ads.

On the other hand, Amazon works a bit differently. It ranks products based on success. Its goal is to sell more products based on the results that it shows its users. To put it simply, you can improve your product’s Amazon ranking by focusing on your conversion rate. The more people buying your product, the more likely that it is going to be found on the top of the Amazon search result page.

What drives Amazon’s rankings?

Conversion

Amazon rankings are pretty much straight forward. It follows the general rule of thumb of introducing products that are most likely going to sell. Thus, if the product is converting, your product’s placement will also improve.

How do you improve your sales in the first place? This can be a dilemma especially for someone who is new to Amazon.

In order to sell, it is important that you attract your audience with high-resolution images. Be sure to choose photos that are stunning if you plan on converting. Next, it is imperative to also include a compelling copy included in your Amazon post.

Unlike Google’s algorithm that needs to be unique, it isn’t an issue if you copied your content. Also, it is better if it is on bullet points.

It is also important that you win the buy box. If you’ve monopolized selling a particular product, winning the buy box can be easy. However, if you are competing with other sellers, this can get tricky. Maximizing the buy box can give your product an edge over other products.

You can maximize the buy box by offering shipping options. It is also crucial to include the description “Deliver unbeatable customer service 24/7”. These small details can help make your post stand out.

Pricing

Pricing is yet another factor that is considered by Amazon when it comes to ranking products. Keep in mind that there are three things you always want to remember if you plan on pricing your product.

  • Amazon wants you to price your product low, but the catch is you will have limited profit margin.
  • You naturally want to price your product high to get the most profit you can squeeze out of the product.
  • There will be competitors waiting to undercut you.

Because of these three factors, it is important to invest in a repricing tool. Repricing tool software allows you to automatically change your pricing without suffering losses.

Relevance

Since it is still basically a search engine, Amazon will still be looking at the relevance of the search to what you are actually offering. Among the things that you want to include in the title are:

  • Brand and description
  • Product line
  • Material
  • Color
  • Quantity

But what you want to avoid is keyword stuffing. This can hinder attracting potential buyers and can hurt the product’s click-through-rate.

Also, be sure that you include the right brand name in the brand field provided by Amazon. There are users who like searching for similar products offered by the same brand. Therefore, there is a chance of getting picked by users.

Other seller metrics

According to Amazon, they are also looking at “other seller metrics” when it comes to ranking the products sold on their site. For instance, it also boils down to how your customers find your product. But this goes beyond the number of stars that they will give your product.

Pre-fulfillment cancellation rate is another measure of your overall performance as a seller. What exactly does this mean? It means that you’ve canceled an order because you actually ran out of stocks. This rating can reflect badly on your ranking.

What you can do instead is to invest on inventory software that can monitor the number of products automatically. This helps remove human error as a factor.

More importantly, this is retail. You need to always offer help to your customers. It is imperative that you respond both diplomatically, and provide customers with information that they need to get a positive review.

But what if you have some customer who is up at 3 in the morning? That’s when you will need to have additional manpower such as a customer service team.

Going beyond Amazon

Is it possible that you improve your rankings on Amazon by getting out of the entire Amazon ecosystem? In reality, this is possible. For instance, reviews can be a good way to improve your sales on Amazon. Apart from reviews, buying guides also make sense for those who sell products using Amazon.

Keep in mind that a lot of users might find all the brands, products, and technical jargons a bit intimidating. They’d most likely do their research first, this time using Google. Here’s when reviews and buying guides can help. And in the end, you can provide links that can go to Amazon to convert your site’s traffic.