Amazon Product Listings Optimization Guidelines
Looking back over the last few years, we are all astounded by the torrent of cash that Amazon has generated for so many people – from stay-at-home moms to big household brands as a result of its development. And, while it is not always good news (nothing in business is), the potential remains very real and, in my opinion, will continue to improve.
According to Statista's most recent estimates, Amazon reported overall net revenues of 87.44 billion USD in its most recent quarter, up from 69.98 billion USD in the previous quarter. Amazon.com alone said $178 billion in sales in 2018, making it the largest e-retailer in the United States. With this data, it is clear that Amazon will continue to expand, creating more opportunities for third-party sellers with their fingers on the eCommerce pulse. As a result, the greater the number of vendors, the greater the competition.
However, as more competition has entered the market, sellers must bring their most substantial hand to the table to succeed. As a result, understanding how to build and automate product listings that drive more traffic and perform better is critical for sellers. Furthermore, it is even more important to understand what other sellers do on the Amazon marketplace as a seller.
Do you want your product to appear higher in Amazon search results? Merely by deliberately optimizing your product listing, you can boost your ranking (Amazon SEO or search engine optimization), as well as increase traffic and sales. On that note, let's go over Amazon SEO in-depth and what rules to follow to improve your Amazon product listings for higher conversions.
What is Amazon Listing Optimization and 8 Proven Steps to Improve Your Amazon Listing
What is Amazon Listing Optimization?
If you're an Amazon seller, you'll almost certainly need to build an integrated Amazon product listing at some point. It may be for a private label item, a new retail arbitrage item, or a one-of-a-kind package. Having insightful and convincing product listings will help improve your sales and product rating.
If you make daily Amazon purchases, you've probably come across examples of lousy product listings from which you can learn. Typical product listing errors include keyword-stuffed names, ambiguous images, and mediocre product descriptions.
Amazon listing optimization improves product pages' search visibility, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rate (CR) to produce more sales. This procedure entails discovering keywords, optimizing listing text and image material, and increasing reviews.
In reality, this is one of the most important things you can do as an Amazon seller or vendor. In this article, we will discuss some of the most important approaches for product optimization:
· Search terms: keyword research and on-page activities
· Content: product information, texts, and images
· Reviews and Questions & Answers
Amazon's product listing is divided into eight distinct components.
1. Product title
2. Product images
3. Key product features
4. Product description
5. Keywords
6. Search terms fields
7. Product reviews
8. Product rating
Each section should guide the customer through a process that will help them decide whether to purchase your product. Your listing should be search engine friendly and, hopefully, one-of-a-kind.
Related: Six Best Selling Category and Products on Amazon
8 Steps to Improve each Aspect of Your Amazon Listing
1. Product Title
Amazon makes a product title length of 250 characters in most categories. It's worth noting that the majority of sellers keep their descriptions to less than 200 characters. Although Amazon says you can use up to 250 characters, there is still a suppression rule in place that prevents listings of titles longer than 200 characters from being shown.
The title should provide the buyer with enough details to determine whether or not to proceed. Include the most relevant details — the details you'd like to see if you were looking for your product. Consider the brand, model, scale, quantity, colors, and so on.
Consider another form of balance when choosing keywords for your title: high search volume and relevance. Many sellers make the mistake of using all high-volume search terms, regardless of how applicable those words are to their goods. Anker should have added keywords like "headset with microphone" in this case.
Although this word has a significant search rate, it has little to do with its sold product. Headsets are usually worn over the head and cover the ears fully with padded earpieces. These are not to be confused with headphones or earphones, which may be of either type.
Anker may have encountered a high number of bounces due to sending in significant traffic to their website (customers, who land on their listing, then leave without buying). Amazon takes such acts seriously and can demote listings in the rankings if there are too many bounces.
Suggestions
• Avoid using all caps.
• Use capital letters for the first letter of each name.
• Use "and" rather than ampersands (&)
• All numbers must be numerals.
• Leave out the price and quantity.
• There are no advertising messages such as "discount" or "sale," and there are no symbols.
2. Product Images
Amazon will allow you to upload up to nine product images, including a lead image. Include as many high-quality photos as you can, with a width of 1,000 pixels and a height of 500 pixels.
For the majority of items, we recommend using a white background for the primary picture. Display your product from various perspectives in operation, and include a picture of the product packaging in the other photos. According to Amazon, the product should fill at least 85 percent of the image.
Your images should also show the size and scope of the product you're selling, as consumers who don't realize the actual size of what they're buying can leave negative reviews. Overall, you should have more than one picture and photos with a minimum size of 1000 x 500 pixels that illustrate your product should be used.
3. Key Product Features
Amazon allows you 1,000 characters to identify the main features of your product. Use it to show prospective customers that the product is superior to the competition by discussing its applications and benefits.
Put yourself in the consumer's shoes and assist them in visualizing the experience of using your product and the advantages it provides. It may include real-world examples or lifestyle applications and demonstrate how the product solves its problems.
Amazon bullet points vary in length depending on the category. Unless Amazon specifies otherwise, about 200 characters will allow you enough space to identify features and insert key phrases into the bullets.
At the moment, Amazon only ranks the first 1,000 characters of the bullets. Using 200-character bullets ensures that all five will be indexed, but as you'll see below, adding a range of bullet formats, such as Anker's, will help you keep the attention of more shoppers.
Specifications of the product
• Attention-Getting: A brief phrase designed to pique the shopper's interest before delivering details.
• Benefit First: State a benefit of the product first, followed by the feature specifications.
• Aspect First: Describe a physical feature of the product before moving on to again.
• Informative: Provides answers to concerns consumers can have before making a purchase.
• Keep mobile optimization in mind at all times.
4. Product Description
The product summary is your chance to show that your product is superior to similar ones. Amazon allows you 2,000 characters to describe your product and what it does to potential customers. Customary, try to use as many characters as possible to expand the features listed in the previous section.
Use concise sentences to make it easier for potential buyers to read, and don't be afraid to emphasize any vital detail. You may also provide any relevant information about the product or organization in this section. Don't go overboard here because you don't want to deceive the customer or set standards that your product can't reach.
Related article: Best Ways to Reduce Amazon Seller Fees and Increase Profitability
What Can You Do in Your Product Description?
Broaden on Your Bullets: If there wasn't enough space in the main feature bullets to completely describe all of the details available for that specific feature or advantage, use the overview section to do so.
Consider introducing Additional Features/Benefits: Include any additional features or benefits in the overview section if your product has more than five.
Highlight Uses: Despite your best intentions, merely listing features and benefits does not always help the consumer appreciate how your product can improve their lives. Incorporating real-world applications goes a long way toward helping them experience the product in the copy they read.
Support Your Claims: It is personal when you say something thrilling about your product. Of course, you believe your product is fantastic, but when another company or industry expert says something about your type of product, it serves as evidence.
Tips:
• Use light HTML to break up paragraphs and highlight important details.
• Include any keywords that aren't in your title or backend keyword portion.
• Leave out the seller's name, website URL, and company details.
• There is no advertising jargon such as "sale" or "free shipping."
5. Keywords
To optimize the product listing, sellers should know which keywords they are targeting and ranking for. The incorrect use of keywords in a product listing is a popular Amazon seller error, and only valid keywords are included. It may apply keywords to the product description or features.
Keywords should be used in appropriate positions on your Amazon product page, such as the title and product features. On your product page, provide all applicable keywords.
Allow enough time to perform extensive keyword research to find these essential keywords. Using our Amazon keyword testing tool Sonar — it's free! After you have completed your keyword analysis, you must incorporate the keywords into your product in strategic locations. Take into account the following:
Product Title: Use the top five keywords in the title of your product. It is no longer possible, according to the new ranking algorithm. You can now focus more on creating a descriptive and readable title.
Backend keywords: Include up to 249 bytes of additional essential keywords in the "search terms" (also known as "common keywords"). Caution: If you use more than 249 bytes, Amazon will not index these keywords (more information on backend keywords).
Bullet Points and Product Description: You can provide more keywords here if they do not interfere with the descriptive consistency of the product texts.
Other Keyword Categories: Some products allow you to define additional keyword categories, such as Target Audience (for example, men/women). Be sure to include them in your quest because Amazon filters them.
Additional Product Details: Assign additional product information to your product, such as material type. Please fill out this information as completely as possible so consumers can access it through the filter navigation and relevant product finders.
6. Search Terms Fields
When you've narrowed down your list of favorite keywords, use them in your title and bullet points. Whatever remains will be entered into the backend Search Terms sectors.
Keywords in the regular Search Terms area are limited to 250 bytes. These should be words that do not appear anywhere else in your edition. A byte equals one character for letters and numbers, while symbols and special characters equal two characters.
If your Search Terms field contains more than 250 bytes, all keywords in that field will be ignored. Less relevant keywords are used in the Intended Use, Target Audience, and Subject Matter areas. These words should be unique to each name. For example, in the Target Audience area, include words relevant to your audience: hair color for me, children's cough medicine, and so on. Keywords such as hammock for camping, runner's shoes, and so on are entered into the Intended Use area.
The Subject Matter area is more general and will include words related to the topic of your product. Sunglasses, for example, may be associated with sports, fashion, or eye protection. Fill out at least the Subject Matter fields if your keyword list has a strong balance of importance and search volume. The others may or may not be included in the ranking.
7. Product Reviews
On Amazon, product reviews are highly significant. They serve as social evidence that the product is of high quality. On the other hand, obtaining product reviews is challenging, particularly for new sellers/new products.
You can get ahead of your rivals by using models that have been shown to increase buyer engagement. Some sellers will also run advertisements and promotions to increase the number of product reviews. You can raise your review count in a variety of ways. In general, outstanding customer service enhances a customer's ability to file a review. You may also use parcel inserts to solicit feedback from consumers or advertise on product testing platforms.
Often follow Amazon's review guidelines, mainly when using the latter tool. Amazon also has its fee-based services for producing feedback for vendors and sellers: Amazon Vine (vendors) and the Early Reviewer Program (sellers) (seller).
8. Product Rating
The best way to get four or 5-star ratings is to have a high-quality product that you accurately portrayed. If you do get some negative or neutral feedback, make sure they follow Amazon's guidelines.
For instance, if a customer leaves seller reviews as a product review, you can request that Amazon remove them.
Related: What Is UPS SurePost? How Businesses Can Benefit From It
How to List a New Product on Amazon?
When you list a new product on Amazon, you must keep two things in mind: If you offer your product on Amazon, you can make a new listing. It means you are the first seller on the Amazon marketplace to sell the order.
If you have several merchants selling the exact item as you, they will share an Amazon listing. It would be best to use the duplicate listing and not make a new one for it. To make a new listing, follow these steps:
Step 1: Sign in to your seller central account and navigate to the dashboard.
Step 2: Hover over "Stock" in the main menu.
Step 3: A sub-menu appears. From the list, select "Add a Product."
Step 4: You will take to a detailed page where you can enter the product.
Step 5: At this stage, you can either pick an existing item or build your own. You can browse Amazon's catalog or add a new product that is not sold on Amazon.
Step 6: Choose a product category and subcategories to identify the item you're selling. If you believe your product can be classified into two categories, look at the other sellers' listings to see which category they are in.
Step 7: After selecting the relevant product category, you will fill out the details for the product listing.
Step 8: You will be prompted to enter the product title, summary, photographs, and so on. It is the part of your listing that can make or break it. The information you provide should be both engaging and insightful. Most importantly, it should be compelling enough to persuade consumers to buy your product.
Step 9: Fill out the information in each tab, such as Variations, Offer, Images, Description, Keywords, and so on. If you see a red alert icon on any of these tabs, it means you forgot to enter the necessary information to make the listing accessible on Amazon Marketplace. Your listing will not be released until you do this.
If you continue to have problems publishing the product listing, you can always contact Amazon Seller Support by clicking on the "Help" connection at the top, right side of the page. Take the appropriate measures to get help with the issue.
Related: 9 Of The Best Free Tools For Amazon FBA Sellers 2021
Bottom Line
That brings us to the end of our detailed 2021 guide to Amazon listing optimization. In a nutshell, this means using concise, descriptive language that says what you're selling, selecting imagery and bullet points that proactively address consumer queries, and finding synonyms for your backend search words to maximize your scope and impressions.
Next article: Amazon Seller Account- How You Can open It and Common FAQs
