What factors is Amazon product ranking algorithm mainly betting on?

Much like with Google, Amazon product ranking algorithm has a lot of its own nuances. Not to mention the mystery that surrounds a part of its sometimes too cloudy ranking factors. But today I’m going to eliminate all related misunderstanding so that you will know exactly what should be done in order to rank well in Amazon’s product SERPs. 

Amazon Product Ranking Factors

It’s already well-known that the major search engines like Google are using external factors to determine the search ranking position for every page indexed on the internet. Among the others, Google’s search ranking algorithm is focused mainly on website’s backlink profile, social media presence, website/domain authority, etc. At the same time, however, Amazon product ranking algorithm is using only internal factors with no off-site SEO elements taken into account. That’s why Amazon is looking at the purely internal factors, such as actual sales, product titles, right usage of keywords and long-tail search combinations (most commonly, in the backend field), product availability, customer satisfaction, competitive pricing, customer reviews, etc. But how to understand in what way Amazon actually ranks products to make your ones be listed on the first page after all? There is a generally accepted conversion-based approach to Amazon product ranking, and below I’m going to quickly run through a short set of its main elements.

Conversion-Based Approach

Unlike Google having over 200 ranking factors, Amazon product ranking algorithm isn’t that sophisticated. In fact, everything is quite simple – the more people make a click to buy with you, the higher your product listing will be ranked on Amazon. The thing is that Amazon just wants to make more sales. So, when your product converts well, it will naturally rank the same way. That’s it!

Sales

Once again, considering that Amazon ultimately seeks for more sales, the more successful sales deals you deliver, the higher your potential ranking progress will be. It means that those items which are well-sold are consistently ranked on the top of the SERPs over there. And they don’t even necessarily have to be well-optimized or rated at the same time. Note, however, that Amazon product ranking algorithm considers not only your recent sales results, but the overall sales history you’ve got since your first successfully completed sales deal over there.

Sponsored Products

Let’s face it – ranking higher particularly those products which have got more sales does make sense (at least from the viewpoint of this online marketplace). And it’s all about practically any business we can possibly imagine, right? Though, it has a certain drawback for Amazon sellers. I mean that this situation is very much like those with the websites which have more traffic. Put simply, the faster your product is sold through the most recent timeframe (sales activity), the better and more rapid ranking promotion you’re going to have. As a result, it can become really challenging to launch a new product line or survive on Amazon as a novice seller. That’s why sometimes starting with Amazon’s sponsored products, or PPC ads becomes the only way to break this would be “ranking gap” and have a benefitting kickstart with a rapidly improved sales velocity.