Can you tell me all about Amazon optimization to rank higher?

Amazon optimization is an ongoing practice, which mainly starts with off-page marketing (to boost sales), regular listing optimization (experimenting with bigger long-tail keywords and phrases to beat your niche competitors), as well as building up a positive and welcoming purchase history. And you will need to keep working persistently to adapt to Amazon’s ever-changing market reality - ultimately, to stay out of the competition and take the lead. Of course, it may seem a really daunting and time-consuming task, but below I’m going to state a list of bullet points about Amazon optimization for you, at least to have a kickstart mark to start from.

Amazon optimization starts with Keyword Research

Apparently, every product listed on this crowded marketplace can be found only for a specific search query containing the main target relevant keywords. That’s why the overall process of optimization should always start here with a comprehensive and in-depth keyword research. To make things a little bit easier, you are welcome to try any known customized research tools (Sonar, for example). Feel free to try one of them and get assisted with detailed suggestions on the actual requests of the real shoppers, as well as some practical insight of the search volumes for certain keywords and key phrases on Amazon.

• Keyword Selection - remember, while nearly 97% of shoppers are more likely to proceed with the first page of the search results, something around 70% of search queries are coming as long-tail key phrases.
• Choose Right Location - consider the general order of thumb for keyword placement, as follows: product title rich with relevant keywords and LSI synonyms, bullet points including long-tail keywords (regarding the use, benefits, ingredients of the product, etc.).
• Long-tail Amazon Optimization - it’s probably the most challenging and time-consuming task here, but focusing your keyword research particularly on long-tail search phrases is a MUST - not only for your listing text but Pay-Per-Click ads as well.

Next comes Amazon SEO and CTR

Let’s face it - each keyword and long-tail combination on Amazon has its personal ranking. It means that CTR is also always determined individually for each keyword and its corresponding rankings. Put simply, the higher CTR is, the better ranking potential that related product will have. 

Here is a brief list of the main factors driving CTR:

• Product Title & Image
• Brand Name with Bestseller Label
• Price & Delivery Cost
• FBA, Prime
• Availability & Rating
• Product Category, Feature Preview, and the rest of Buying Options

Amazon Reviews and Sales

Even considering the most recent update to general review policy out there, reviews remained a very important part of overall Amazon optimization strategy. Why? Because they are capable of driving your CTR. I mean that you should keep monitoring customer reviews, to get negative ones responded in a timely manner (for some reason these quite apparent actions are too often neglected by many sellers). That way, make sure to offer a refund option for faulty or/and broken products, and any other standard ways of settling negative cases - just to show that you do care about healthy shopping experience and customer satisfaction.

Bottom Line

Doing so, don’t forget that Amazon is actually using successful deals as a strong performance indicator. Okay, it may be a kink of a no-brainer, but if you have just started over there, I recommend setting a strong focus on promotional giveaways, running PPC ads, offering discounts and any other means of bolstering sales, at least through the earliest stages of functioning - to get some initial sales momentum. And running only bare listing optimization would be hardly enough for that period, particularly considering a real cut-throat competition over there.