Once you have gone to the effort of setting up your Amazon store with a range of products, it can be incredibly disheartening when you don’t see your products ranking as highly as you would like – especially when you know that some of your competitors are doing well in the search results. If this is your situation, you certainly aren’t alone.
To put things into perspective: Marketplace Pulse reviewed Amazon’s sales statistics for 2021, revealing that reaching the top sellers list in any category is a difficult thing to do. For example, only five brands made it into the top sellers list in the Headphones category – and those were already well-established brands like Sony, Samsung, and Apple.
If this is the case, how can you make sure your products have a chance of ranking higher? You need to work on improving your organic ranking, not just your BSR – and that involves understanding the basics of seller SEO.
In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the key Amazon SEO factors that you need to focus on in order to improve your chances at a sale. Let’s get into it.
How Does Amazon’s A10 Ranking Algorithm Work?
The first SEO concept you’ll need to familiarize yourself with is Amazon’s A10 ranking algorithm. Named for the tenth revision of Amazon’s search engine, A10 is responsible for determining which products appear in a customer’s search results.
A10 takes into account a variety of factors, including:
- Conversion rate – how many clicks translate into sales
- Internal sales – the number of products sold from your store that are initiated within Amazon, not through search engine results
- Seller authority – how long you have been a merchant on Amazon, what your ratings are like, your performance metrics, and the size of your catalog
- Click-through rate – the number of products in your store that lead customers to click on the thumbnail and read the description
- Sales history – how many products you’ve sold, how frequently your catalog products are in-stock
- Organic sales – the number of sales initiated through search engine results
- Impressions – is your product placed under the right category and described using the appropriate key search terms?
- Amazon Pay-Per-Click – priority is now given to organic sales, but PPC is still an important factor
- Off-site sales – how many sales are made outside of Amazon, and how do these sales affect Amazon’s traffic?
Where the previous algorithm focused on your customer feedback and reviews, A10 focuses more on organic SEO details in order to present customers with the most relevant products for their search – not necessarily the most popular.
So, how do you make sure your product is as relevant as possible and has high demand?
How To Rank Higher on Amazon
As previously mentioned, boosting your organic rating on Amazon is important to your success as an Amazon seller – and unlike your Best Sellers Rank, there’s a lot you can do to influence it.
Amazon Rankings: Organic vs. Best Sellers
While your Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is determined by the popularity of your product, your organic ranking is determined by the thoroughness of your SEO. Now that you understand how Amazon’s A10 algorithm works, you’re in a better position than ever to optimize your product listings for maximum visibility and organic traffic.
Let’s go through each element of Amazon’s SEO algorithm and see how you can optimize it for better visibility on the Amazon marketplace.
Optimize Product Listings
To move up the list of search results on places like Google and the Amazon search tab, you’ll need to know which keywords to target. Amazon’s algorithm pays attention to the words you use to describe your product, so it’s important to perform comprehensive keyword research and optimize your product listings before you launch your product.
You can use tools like AMZScout to perform keyword research and find out which words will be picked up by the algorithm for your specific product.
Once you’ve got an idea of which words to use, it’s time to work on your product listing.
Product Title
When giving your product a title, Amazon recommends a specific formula: Brand + Model Number + Model Name + Product Type, and Color. So, for example, if you’re selling a red KitchenAid, Amazon’s recommended title would be KitchenAid KSM150PSER Artisan 5-Quart Mixer, Empire Red.
Bullet Points
Amazon allows you to describe your product with 5 bullet points, each with 10 to 500 characters, and it’s best that you use all of the space to sell your product.
The title of each bullet point also matters because it will show up in search results. Make sure to include keywords in your bullets and put the most important ones at the beginning.
For example, if you were writing bullet points for the red KitchenAid mixer, they might look like this:
Convenient: KitchenAid mixes up to 14 cups of batter
Precise: 5 speeds and a pulse function for better control
Multi-functional: Includes a wire whip, dough hook, and beater blade
Compact: Design takes up minimal counter space
Risk-free: Backed by a 1-year warranty
These points are effective because they highlight the benefits of the product in a way that is clear to the customer.
Product Listing Example
This Bluetooth speaker is among the top search results from typing “bluetooth speaker” into the Amazon search bar, and it’s BSR is 167. Let’s take a look at the product listing to see what makes it so successful.
As can be seen in the title, this seller has made use of the recommended title formula by including the brand, model, product type, and color. The About This Item section outlines the product’s functionality in precise yet comprehensive dot points, sprinkling in keywords like “Bluetooth”, “speaker”, and “Anker SoundCore”.
Product Reviews
Another element of your product listing to think about is product reviews. Amazon uses customer reviews as a ranking factor, so getting more (positive) reviews for your product can help you rank higher. You can increase the chances of customers leaving a review by using automated email campaigns and/or social media blasts to ask customers to leave a review.
You can also get creative with your review solicitation process. For example, you could incentivize customers to leave a review in exchange for a discount on their next purchase or entry into a contest.
High-Quality Images
Successful Amazon listings are those that use high-quality images, as pictures are a key factor in how Amazon determines a product’s rank.
When uploading images, be sure to use the correct file format and size. The most common image formats are JPEG (.jpg) and PNG (.png), and both can be used for product listings on Amazon. For best results, however, use a PNG file that is at least 600 pixels wide and 500 pixels high.
In addition to using the correct file format and size, be sure to properly name your images. Use keywords in the file name, as this will help Amazon index them correctly. For example, if you are selling a coffee mug, name the image “coffee-mug.png” rather than
Price Competitively
Using competitive prices is obviously going to attract more customers, but it also helps in terms of your product’s visibility on Amazon. This is because (as you know) Amazon observes how well the product is selling in comparison to other products in the same category – aka, your BSR.
If your product is priced higher than most others, it’s going to be harder for your product to rank as highly as a product that is priced lower. Ensure that you conduct a thorough search of your competition and price your products in a similar range.
Make Use of Amazon PPC
Amazon’s Pay-Per-Click service allows you to boost your visibility by appearing in ads, and you’ll only need to pay for the number of clicks you receive on each ad. You can specify a budget and Amazon will work to ensure your ad is seen by as many people as possible.
To optimize your PPC ads for Amazon, consider using keywords that are specific to your product. This will allow you to target potential buyers who are already interested in what you have to offer.
Be sure to use high-quality images and product descriptions that accurately reflect your product. Potential buyers will then be compelled to click on your ad and learn more about what you have to offer.
Review Your Bounce Rate
Once you have taken the time to optimize each of the elements above, Amazon allows you to view your seller metrics and see how well your SEO is working. One important metric to take note of is your bounce rate.
Your bounce rate is the percentage of visits to your detail page in which the visitor left without viewing any other pages on Amazon. A high bounce rate may be an indication that your product listing needs improvement, while a low bounce rate generally indicates that your listing is appealing to customers.
Final Thoughts: Beyond SEO
It’s important to note that, while the above SEO considerations are highly influential in terms of sales, they won’t work unless you are selling an in-demand product. Amazon is a search engine in its own right, and customers are looking for the best deals on products that they need. If you’re not selling a popular product, your Amazon SEO efforts will be fruitless.
This is where many sellers go wrong, as they are unsure of how to find profitable products. Fortunately, there are tools like the AMZScout product search that allow you to see exactly which products are going to be popular. You can also do some manual research on your own to find products that have a high demand and low competition.
Assuming you’ve found profitable products to sell, the tips outlined in this article can help you launch your SEO-optimized products to the top of the list!
