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Is it fair to say that the first page of Amazon search results is pretty much the only page that gets attention? 

Most people completely ignore the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and… is there anybody that knows there’s a 5th page? 

No one needs these other pages if they can find what they’re looking for on page #1!

And that’s the aim of Amazon sellers around the world, isn’t it? To rule the front page and preferably be above the fold!

But, how do you do it? What step do you need to take and what items do you need to keep an eye on in order to give yourself the best chance of attaining such positions?

Today we’ve got 8 items to watch that can help your Amazon listing optimization and boost sales. These 8 items are broken down into 3 groups: Content, Keywords, and Maintenance.

Let’s jump right in.

CONTENT (1-3)

TIP #1 Title

Arguably, the most important aspect of Amazon SEO is a strong well-laid-out product title. 

This is one of the first things customers will see so your job is to please both the customer and Amazon at the same time. Here are 4 guiding factors from Amazon itself:

 

  • Titles must not exceed 200 characters, including spaces.
  • Titles must not contain promotional phrases, such as “free shipping”, “100% quality guaranteed”.
  • Titles must not contain characters for decoration, such as ~ ! * $ ? _ ~ { } # < > | * ; ^ ¬ ¦
  • Titles must contain product-identifying information, such as “hiking boots” or “umbrella”.

 

That’s the basics. It’s also important that the title makes sense. For example, instead of writing “Messenger Men Sling Bag”  try, “Messenger Sling Bag for Men”.

Make sure that the most important information is seen at the BEGINNING of the title.

And don’t make your titles too long or Amazon may reject it or suppress your product in the search results. 

TIP #2 Key Feature Bullet Points

This part of your description allows you to easily showcase the top benefits and features of your product. Consider the following concepts to create effective bullets:

  • Key-Features should show the benefits offered to the buyer.
  • Don’t try to cram more than one point into a single bullet and do your best to keep the bullet to 1 sentence.

TIP #3 Product Description

Your Amazon product description is a great opportunity to convince the potential customers that your product is the right choice to answer a problem or fulfill a desire. Remember these tips:

  • Include additional information about the product without duplicating the bullet points. 
  • Short paragraphs, think 3 sentences, can be easier for customers to read.
  • Since your prospective customer can’t touch or test the product do your best to demonstrate its value with a short success story.

Check out the article TIPS AND TRICKS TO WRITE HIGH-RANKING AMAZON PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS for more on this topic.

KEYWORDS ( 4-6)

TIP #4 Keyword Tools

Keyword tools are applications or websites people can use to generate keywords. Here at ManageByStats, we have the Catapult tools Keyword Scout and Keyword Distiller.

These tools were designed for Amazon sellers by Amazon sellers to be the most effective and easy to use Amazon specific keyword tools available. If you haven’t been using tools like Keyword Scout and Keyword Distiller here are some reasons to consider them:

  • Allows you to find the best keyword for your product.
  • The better your keywords the easier it will be for customers to find your product
  • The right set of keywords can boost your Amazon SEO which increases visibility

Visibility on Amazon is another topic that can make or break your business. There several important components to increasing Amazon visibility that you can read about here

TIP #5 Conducting Amazon Keyword Research 

We get it. If you’re new to Amazon you might be thinking that you don’t want to pay for a keyword research tool. You could manually search for keywords by conducting, what could be grueling, research. But, if you choose to or must start manually then here are some suggestions:

Amazon Autocomplete – Enter a keyword in the Amazon search box and Amazon will present you with several suggestions. It shows you common words or phrases that customers use along with the keyword.

Competitor Listing – View similar products and try to identify the keywords being used.

Customers Review – See how customers describe products and test words and phrases you find to see if it helps your listing.

Just remember that while you’re “trying to save money” you could be losing out on massive amounts of sales. 

It’s kind of like how you could get the same education, for free, that a Harvard lawyer pays hundreds of thousands of dollars for by going to the library. 

But, then it’s up to you to figure out where to start, decide which books have the most accurate information, and spend years digging through them in order to piece together relevant concepts or ideas. 

That’s not how we want to run our Amazon businesses, what about you? 

By the way, most of us spend more on coffee, snacks, and other vices every day than the investment into tools such as Keyword Scout and Keyword Distiller. But, hey we’re biased.

TIP#6 Know How Amazon Treats Keywords

In the Help section of Amazon Seller Central, it mentions different do’s and don’ts when it comes to using keywords. Check out these highlights: 

  • Repeating keywords show no positive impact on ranking.
  • Use space properly.
  • Choose between singular or plural form of the keyword because adding both is unnecessary.
  • It is irrelevant to capitalize letters.

 

We’re in the home stretch, you still with me?

 

MAINTENANCE (7-8)

TIP #7 Reviews Matter

Why? Because customers will often read previous reviews as part of their research before buying.

In fact, positive reviews on your product can create a massive impact in your Amazon sales velocity. The more positive reviews you have, the easier it becomes for customers to decide that your product is the right one for them.

But, let’s keep things real here, negative reviews will eventually happen to all of us. It’s part of the game we play as Amazon sellers. So, when it does happen, look at them as a great opportunity to earn more business, either from that person or others. 

By replying to negative reviews with swift kindness and a desire to make things right can save an otherwise lost sale and demonstrate to prospective buyers that you take responsibility for your products and you care about your customers. 

TIP#8 Competitive Price

Due to the rules of supply and demand, you need to monitor your prices to stay competitive. A stable price doesn’t necessarily earn the highest possible revenue.

Many people think that a competitive price means the cheapest price for the product, but that’s not always the case. Think about yourself, do you always buy the cheapest items? Or do you make your purchases based on multiple factors?  

For example:

  • When a product’s price is high but it has overwhelmingly good reviews in comparison to its cheaper competitor, which one would you buy?
  • Let’s say a product’s price is very cheap with a handful of good reviews, how would you feel about buying that product?
  • But, if you find a product with a lower price and a ton of good reviews, that could very well be the selling sweet spot, which is sure to get the most “add to cart”s.

 

There you have it: content, keywords, and maintenance, a trifecta of Amazon optimization that could help you get more eyes on your products and boost sales. 

Until next time.

 

Happy selling.