Amazon SEO: The Beginner’s Guide

Amazon isn’t just an online retail store. It’s also a prominent search engine in the ecommerce industry, which means it has its own set of rules and standards for search engine optimization (SEO).

Amazon SEO is the work you do to improve your appearance on Amazon’s search results pages, which will lead to more sales.

It involves choosing the right keywords to target, knowing how to properly target those keywords and improving product ratings.

In this post, we cover what this aspect of selling on Amazon is and how to approach it.

What is Amazon SEO?

Amazon SEO is a process you as a seller should follow in order to optimize your product listings and improve your search rankings on Amazon.

It mostly involves choosing the right keyword to target based on your seller profile as well as using that keyword properly in your product title and description.

There’s no 1:1 process you can follow in order to improve your search rankings on Amazon, but taking the time to set your listings up, using high-quality product images, acquiring more positive reviews and even allowing your listings to mature a little can do a lot to drastically increase your appearance on the first page of Amazon’s search results.

How does Amazon search work?

The Amazon search engine is made up of a few different components:

• Search box
• Search results page
• Search filters
• Sponsored products

These are customer-facing elements on Amazon.com, ones you’re likely familiar with both as an Amazon seller and an Amazon customer.

The Amazon search box is made up of three elements:

• Category selector
• Search bar
• Search button

Not including the Amazon homepage and personalized product recommendations, this is where product discovery begins.

Amazon customers select the category the product they’re looking for belongs to. They then type a keyphrase for that product into the search bar to begin their search.

This is where the remaining elements of Amazon search come into play.

The search results page on Amazon is made up of a collection of sponsored product listings and organic product listings.

Sponsored product listings appear at the top of the search results page.

Some search terms even produce large sponsored banners.

Sponsored product listings are paid for by sellers. Sellers pay for cost-per-click (CPC) ads, which allows them to compete for sponsored product listing spots that appear under specific search terms.

Following sponsored listings are organic product listings, the order of which is determined by Amazon’s algorithm.

There’s no specific metric that determines how Amazon ranks product listings for specific search terms, but we do know that the top listings always seem to have the following attributes:

• Descriptive product title that includes the search term
• High-quality main image
• High product rating, usually 4.9 stars
• High seller rating, such as 4.7-4.9
• A lot of reviews for that specific product listing
• High number of sales in the past month for that specific product listing

Finally, customers can use the search filters on the left-hand side of the search results page to narrow down their search.

Common filters include price range, brand, minimum product rating, condition, product-specific attributes, such as capacity, size or color, and seller.

This is why creating product variations for your listings and properly filling them out is so important.

7 methods that enhance Amazon search engine optimization

1. Amazon keyword research

The most important tip you can follow for Amazon SEO is finding a long-tail keyword to target.

Long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that are at least three words long, such as “white wireless headphones” instead of simply “wireless headphones.”

The reason you should target long-tail keywords is because they’re less competitive and are far more descriptive than their short-tail counterparts.

A simple way to find long-tail keywords is by typing the common keyword phrase that represents your product into Amazon’s search box and seeing which search suggestions pop up.

You can also try adding words like “for” and “with”.

Study the search results page for each keyword suggestion. You’ll be able to see which keywords are less competitive as well as which keywords have quite a few products that don’t match the query’s search intent.

For example, many listings for “french press with grinder” are just coffee grinders or coffee presses, not bundles that contain both.

Consider using a keyword research tool to discover more potential keywords.

Use Product Opportunity Explorer, Amazon’s proprietary product research tool, to discover metrics for search volume, sales potential, click count, average price, average units sold and more.

Jungle Scout is a popular third-party tool Amazon sellers use to perform keyword research, among other tasks, such as rank tracking.

If you’re a brand that sells on Amazon, you can use the Search Query Performance dashboard to reveal the top 1,000 search queries that lead customers to your products.

Find a target keyword

The more keyword research you do, the more target keywords there will be to choose from.

Choose a single keyword to target. Again, avoid competitive keywords that are too short. Find a longer, more descriptive keyword instead.

This is the main keyword you’ll use in your product title and description.

Find keyword synonyms and variations

Keyword stuffing is something you need to worry about with Amazon SEO. It’s a spammy SEO technique that involves using the same keyword over and over again to rank higher in search results.

To avoid keyword stuffing, use multiple backend keywords in the form of keyword synonyms and keyword variations instead.

For example, use “french presses,” “french coffee press” and “french-pressed coffee” throughout your product listing to avoid overusing your target keyword “french press.”

Find related keywords

Including relevant keywords that relate to your product throughout your product listing can do a lot to optimize it for search engines, especially Amazon and Google.

This is why an Amazon-specific keyword research tool like Jungle Scout is so useful. It provides dozens of keyword suggestions for a single seed keyword, giving you plenty of related keywords to include in your listing.

You can also use a regular keyword research tool for this purpose. Just keep in mind that these tools only include keyword data from regular search engines, primarily Google.

2. Product variations vs multiple product listings

If you sell multiple variations of the same product, such as “white wireless headphones” and “black wireless phones,” it may be tempting to create an individual product listing for each in hopes of ranking for these less competitive keywords.

However, because listing maturity and product reviews have such large impacts on your rankings on Amazon, it’s much better to create a single listing with multiple product variations.

So, create a single listing for “wireless headphones for work” or “wireless headphones for kids,” and create a different variation for each color you sell.

3. Choose the right categories for your products

Amazon customers use categories to improve search results on Amazon. This is why it’s important that you choose the right categories for your products.

When you create your listing for the first time, you have the opportunity to choose your product type, which sets up your product category.

Amazon has a search box here that allows you to search for categories. Enter your target keyword, and choose the most relevant category from the list of suggestions.

If there are multiple relevant categories, do a bit of research on each in another tab to determine which one is least competitive.

4. Optimize product titles

Amazon gives you 200 characters for your product title, so it’s best to optimize it as much as possible.

And while Amazon’s product titles may seem a bit ridiculous, their lengths are useful as they describe each product’s most important features.

This is why, along with your target keyword, your product title should also include the following details, if relevant:

• Quantity
• Size
• Important product-specific features
• Who the product is for

Here’s an example of a good product title:

Benebone 2-pack Wishbone/Dental Durable Dog Chew Toys, Dog Toys for Aggressive Chewers, Real Bacon, Made in USA, Medium

Editor’s note: Let’s be honest. These types of titles look horrible. But it’s the way Amazon’s search engine works and it’s what most other sellers are doing. If you don’t, you’ll miss out on a lot of visibility for your products.

It starts with a brand name, but Amazon inserts brand names at the front of product titles automatically, so there’s no need to include yours at the start of your product title.

It goes on to include the following keywords: “dog chew toys” and “dog toys for aggressive chewers.”

These phrases also perfectly describe who these chew toys are for.

The title also includes quantity in “2-pack,” important product features in “real bacon” and “made in USA,” and size in “medium.”

“Wishbone,” “dental” and “durable” are additional attributes that differentiate this listing from other chew toys.

Optimizing your product titles with A/B split tests

Amazon allows you to conduct experiments with product listings. You can test multiple product titles and images at the same time to see which ones bring in the most clicks and sales.

So, if you’re not sure which order to list your product attributes in or which ones to use, create multiple product titles, and test them to find the best one.

5. Optimize bullet points

Amazon gives you five bullet points that appear underneath the size/variation selection part of your listing.

This is where you can expand on the features you mentioned in your product title and explain why they’re beneficial.

Here are the bullet points from the chew toy listing:

• DOUBLE THE FUN – You know what’s better than a Benebone? Two of them. Benebones are tougher than real bones and last for weeks. Two fun shapes in one pack!
• REAL BACON! – We use only 100% REAL BACON for flavor. Trust us, dogs can tell the difference.
• EASY TO PICK UP AND CHEW – Our Wishbone and Dental Chew are curved for a paw-friendly grip so your pup can quickly grab them and get a good chew going. Think about it: dogs don’t have thumbs. DURABLE, LONG-LASTING – Benebones are tougher than real bones and last for weeks.
• USA MADE – We make and source everything in the USA.
• HAPPINESS, GUARANTEED – Have an issue? Want to chat? Reach out to us directly and you’ll get a real person whose sole job is to make you and your pup happy.

The seller uses four bullets to expand on the product’s most important features mentioned in the product title. They even begin each bullet point with capital letters to emphasize the feature being described.

In the last bullet, they describe a secondary feature that comes with choosing their products: great support!

The most important takeaway here is that you shouldn’t only name a feature, you should explain why it benefits your customer.

Include your target keyword, and try to include synonyms or variation as well as a few related keywords. Your features may count as related keywords naturally.

6. Optimize product descriptions

Amazon gives you 2,000 characters to use in your product description. If you’re part of the Brand Registry program, you can create an A+ Content Description, which allows you to include large images.

The product description is a great place to expand on your features, use your target keyword and variations a few more times, and include more related keywords.

You can also provide context on your brand, product packaging, support, shipping information and materials you use in your product.

7. Use high-quality images

The last primary optimization tip we have is to use high-quality images.

Customers are going to see your main image before they see your product title, price, product reviews or seller rating.

Your main image should include your product, preferably outside of its packaging, against a white background.

It should fill up 85% of the image and not have text or other image overlays, such as watermarks, nor should it have borders.

It should be JPEG, but Amazon also accepts PNG, TIFF and GIF (just not animated gifs).

To be zoomable, images should be at least 1,000px on the longest side and 500px on the shortest side. However, Amazon recommends using a minimum of 1,600px on the longest side for best results.

Be sure to also include your target keyword in the alt text of your main image.

Here are other types of images you should include in your product gallery:

• Multiple images that depict the product at different angles.
• An image with components apart if your product features multiple components that go together.
• Image of product packaging.
• Image that includes box contents, i.e. “what’s in the box.”
• Use case images.*
• Lifestyle images.*

*Great way to showcase product size naturally.

Additional tips for your Amazon SEO strategy

• Adjust product prices competitively. You can do this manually or by using Amazon’s Automated Pricing tool.
• Improve listings, don’t create new ones.
• Get product reviews by asking for them in packaging inserts. Include discount codes as an incentive.
• Try to get spam or irrelevant negative reviews removed. For example, if you’re an FBA seller, also known as a Fulfilled by Amazon seller, which means Amazon ships your products for you, you have no control over shipping. In this case, negative seller reviews that mention shipping are irrelevant. Unfortunately, getting false or irrelevant product reviews removed are less likely to happen, but you can still attempt to flag them and get in touch with support.

Final thoughts

If you’re going to be selling products on Amazon, you need to optimize your listings. It’s as simple as that.

Most other sellers are using the same approaches to optimize their listings. So, you’ve got to do the same in order to compete on a level playing field.

And where possible, go above and beyond.

But it’s about more than optimizing product titles. Following the methods discussed above, you’ll get far more eyeballs on your listings.

Just remember that you’re not just optimizing for Amazon. You also need to optimize for potential customers as well.

Want to learn more on optimizing your images not just for Amazon? Check out our post on Image SEO: How To Rank Your Images & Earn Links.