Can you show me the major ranking factors of Amazon A9 algorithm to optimize for?

Yes, I can show you the main areas of SEO optimization that Amazon A9 algorithm mainly takes care of. So, my general categorization is intended to cover all three major spheres of ecommerce search engine optimization, each backed with several associated ranking factors of the preeminent importance for the A9 search engine. Note that while my approach to Amazon A9 algorithm and its main ranking factors is based on Amazon’s official site itself, the rest of seller guidelines and tips coming by default were grabbed directly from my Seller Central account.

Here are the main three areas that are given the primary attention by Amazon A9 algorithm – Conversion Rate, Relevancy and Customer Satisfaction plus Retention. So, I’m going to quickly run through those three categories, to be followed by the major ranking factors themselves – they’re listed below.

• Conversion – covers Amazon product ranking factors that are recognized for their statistically relevant effect spilled over Conversion Rate metrics. Among the others, Amazon A9 algorithm finds most of the conversion-generating potential through the following: Amazon Sales Rank, Customer Reviews, Questions & Answers, and High-Quality Product Images, Pricing Policy, Parent-Child Products, Time on Page, Product Listing Completeness, as well as Bounce Rate.
• Relevancy – much like with Google search engine, Amazon A9 algorithm has Relevancy as the first thing to be considered when it comes to awarding product ranking positions in the list of the SERPs. Put simply, Amazon search engine acts proactively. Doing so, it pulls together all the data found mainly in your Product Title and Product description to finally decide in what way they should be listed. That way, these content-oriented factors of relevancy are telling the algorithm how fitting (or probably not) a given product page is for a certain keyword/long-tail search term. Among the others, here are the rest of performing factors of Relevancy recognized by Amazon A9 algorithm. Apart from your Product Title/Description, make sure you’ve got everything in place with List of Bullet Points (Features), Product Brand, Manufacturer Name, Specifications, Categories & Subcategories, Search Terms (Backend Keyword Section), as well as Source Keyword itself.
• Customer Satisfaction – the very existence of this category means that Amazon A9 algorithm has a strong focus on maintaining a positive level of customer satisfaction. That way, its main task is not only to assure the maximum level of Conversion but, more importantly, maximize RPC (Revenue Per Customer). Of course, Amazon knows what actually makes a good profit – Customer Satisfaction & Retention. Seriously, what if having a dozen of really loyal clients making certainly more measurable purchases or coming back to buy another item they need – with your webstore and nobody else, rather than having each unique sales deal just once. This category is mainly related to the following ranking factors: Negative Seller Feedback, Speed of Order Processing, Rate In-Stock, ODR (Order Defect Rate), POP (Perfect Order Percentage), Exit Rate, Options for Packaging/Shipment.

Amazon Sales Rank

It may seem like a no-brainer, but everybody visiting that crowded marketplace at least once know it well – Amazon Sales Rank is the ultimate ranking factor which is always considered before anything else. Seriously, having a vast quantity of successfully fulfilled sales deals is self-explanatory. What’s more, there are two sides to the coin, as selling more means are going to have a higher Sales Rank – and vice versa, having a good Sales Rank means you keep benefiting from a more effective sales progress. Anyway, it seems like a vicious cycle, right?

Customer Reviews

Next important factor of conversion considered by Amazon A9 algorithm is a general level of “positiveness,” as well as the count of your customer reviews. Of course, it’s pretty obvious that common review quantity is always correlated with their quality. Nevertheless, all you need (at least for the beginning) is maintaining a healthy conversation with every client – remember, the way you’re responding to your customers can simply draw the line between a successful seller, and irreversible business failure. 

Answering Questions

And here we’re entering a rather delicate junction. I mean that even despite answering questions has never been reconfirmed by Amazon officials to be among those powerful factors contributing to conversion, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Q&A sections are dead for SEO. The thing is that Q&A data is usually located close to the top of the product listing. And it means that answering questions you can potentially drive higher conversions, just keep that in mind.

High-Quality Product Images

Amazon A9 algorithm keeps tightening most of the current quality policies. And let’s face it – image size and quality are now among top strongest ranking factors. What's more – for the moment, some product categories or would-be “suppressed listings” will simply ignore your offers, unless there is at least one image coming with at least 1,000x1,000 pix. resolution. And no need to say that by providing a solid set of five high-quality images giving a concise overview of the product has an extremely powerful effect on you conversion-generating potential. It means that you should triple your efforts precisely with visual content. 

Ding so, don’t forget to give a handy zoom option to each image so that the potential customers will be able to examine and realize what exactly they are going to have with you. After all, just take it for granted – despite the fact that the average product image count per item is often advised to be kept somewhere within 4-6 pictures, forget about image quantity. Once again, there are a lot of sellers on Amazon rocking the scene with just one good image of high-quality. Nevertheless, you’d still better find a healthy balance between their quality and quantity – just because it has never been proven for multiple images to convert measurably better rather than just a single one.