What is the essence of Amazon A9 search engine work?

Digital marketers who sell their inventory on Amazon find it extremely important to show the right products before the right people, and at the right time. According to the recent industry figures, Amazon’s market share was more than 70% among leading ecommerce sellers in the US. The number of unique visitors who come on Amazon with a purpose to purchase something is 183 million users. Sellers who have a smart approach to their business make million dollars on this platform. If you want to cut your slice too, you should be ready to confront the army of niche competitors. There are no uncompetitive product categories on Amazon. You may be first only in the case if you provide something entirely new that have no equivalents. 

Like Google Amazon has its algorithm to decide the ranking of product listings and distinguish the best sellers in the crowd. A9 product search algorithm serves to determine product rank over the Amazon system. It was designed to provide customers with the guarantee desired purchase oriented results. This system ensures complete relevant taking into account numerous aspects such as sales history, reviews, sales velocity, and others. Amazon A9 search engine helps to maximize system’s revenue, ranking at the TOP of search results page those products that have a high purchase likelihood. Some e-commerce specialists call Amazon ranking system self-perpetuating loop as here sales make more sales. In other words, products that are selling well have a higher conversion rate and subsequently cause more sales along with the improved customer satisfaction. 

To be a competent seller on Amazon marketplace, business owners need to provide the most relevant and complete information regarding their inventory, for ensuring increased visibility and sales. 

There are two groups of factors that are taken into account by Amazon to determine a product rank. 

• Relevance factors

Relevance factors refer to comprehensive keyword research and listing optimization. In other words, it shows how relevant a product description to user’s query. It is found in things like titles, bullet points, product description, and photos. 

• Performance factors

Performance is how Amazon ranks products according to their potential profitability and purchase likelihood. These indicators help Amazon to determine product placement on search results page. It includes things like sales velocity, sales history, inventory levels, price, conversion level, seller feedback score, and product reviews.

How to improve your products relevancy and performance?

Relevance improvement

• Title

Start your relevance improvement with listing title optimization. Your title should not be longer than 200 characters. It should contain only relevant information about your product without any additional or complementary features. You need to be selective and wordsmith your titles to be as descriptive and keyword-rich as possible. Write your targeted search terms at the beginning of the title, but make sure it looks natural. Spammy and keyword stuffed titles won’t give you any effect and most likely decrease your position in search results page. The primary things that should be in your title include your brand name, size, color, and construction materials. 

Do not write your title words with capital letters or exclamation points. Moreover, you should avoid incoherent titles with no tangible descriptions. 

• Bullet Points

It is essential to fill bullet points section as it includes a lot of use for customers information and help them to make their buying decision. Make an accent on the first three bullets as they are mostly researched by shoppers. It is essential because most people look at the bullet points than the description. 

Each bullet should be one or two sentences long. Make sure your bullets are not too long and keyword stuffed as users will most likely skip this listing section. Show your customers what your product may give them and why is it so great. Use uppercase letters to make your keywords stand out. To make your bullets list easy to skim, you may implement HTML formatting. It is reasonable to include long-tail search terms in your listing as they perfectly suit to describe product features. 

• Product description

A product description is the last chance to convince your customers to purchase your stuff. Here you need to describe your product advantages and fundamental reasons why shoppers need your inventory. A description is a perfect place to include your targeted search terms that did not fit title and bullets. You need to describe there what task or issue your product can solve. It has a good impact on shoppers and makes them make a deal with you. 

What should you avoid in your description is keyword stuffing and self-promotion. 

• Photos

As an e-commerce seller, you should provide your customers with the most quality product images to give them an opportunity to zoom and see some tiny details. If you have any product images on your listing, your targeted audience will never find and click on your listing. This aspect of your product listing isn’t necessary calculated into Amazon’s A9 search engine but it has a significant impact on whether someone purchases from you or not. 

It is better to make professional photos of your inventory to create a good image of your brand. Moreover, you should follow Amazon image optimization guidelines to make sure your products will convert. The basic Amazon requirements include: white background, 1000 pixels in width and height, a product needs to fill 85% of the space. 

Use all eight photo slots available on Amazon to show your product from different angles. Make sure you have one primary photo and several additional lifestyle images that show how your product can be used in everyday life. 

Performance improvement

Improving your performance on Amazon will help you to boost your sales and raise your rank on Amazon SERP. It takes a little more sweat equity than improving listing visual and content aspects. The primary performance factors include:

• Sales Velocity

Sales velocity is the number of products sold within a definite period. You should continuously track this metric as it has direct consequences as to how your products rank on Amazon. You need to have a higher sales velocity than your competitors to improve your rank position on Amazon search results page. Moreover, sales velocity is a contributory factor in Best Seller Rank. 

Sales velocity directly depends on the number of sales made per day. However, in reality, the amount of units sold per hour have more effect on your product rank, primarily if you are selling more products than your competitors. 

• Sales History

Your sales rank directly depends on the previous purchases you made. On Amazon, the value of sales decreases over time. That is why sales that you made earlier have more impact on your product rank than those you made several days ago. 

• Price

Price is a significant aspect of e-commerce marketing. Your pricing policy should depend on the type of your product, market niche, the level of competition, your brand popularity, and your business goals. All in all, you should set the price to make a healthy profit on Amazon but not race to the bottom to win the Buy Box. To set a competitive price, you should research your market and analyze your TOP niche competitors to distinguish an average market price on your inventory and provide a put a little bit lower price tag. It may seem complicated to make complex researches of your market on a daily or weekly basis. Fortunately, some professional research and repricing tools help to keep your price always competitive. These tools provide accurate data as they adjust within the parameters you select. 

• Listing Conversion

Conversion rate is essential for your business performance improvement. It is defined by the ratio between the page sessions and the number of sales. If the number of sessions is much higher than the number of sales, it shows that your listing is not relevant. Amazon notices the fact of high bounce rate and reduces your listing rank on search results page. Amazon rewards sellers who have the highest conversion rate in their product categories. To increase your conversion rate, you should test different titles and photos as well as generate organic reviews. 

• Organic Reviews

Product reviews are essential for boosting sales on Amazon. They serve as the social proof of brand reliability. Amazon product reviews topic is one of the most discussed in the industry. Most sellers wonder how to get honest product reviews to boost their products purchase likelihood, and whether or not the means justify the ends. 

All incentivized reviews have been prohibited since 2016 as Amazon’s primary purpose is to boost a product’s discoverability on a site. Product reviews help to improve shopping experience on Amazon. Looking for the reviews, customers can make educated purchasing decisions, reducing the probability of buying something of low quality. That is why product reviews are so crucial to your Amazon’s business success and credibility. 

Remember that product review is the primary deciding factor between your products and a competitor’s. That is why it is essential to provide your clients with the perfect customer support services and quick delivery. You need to do your best to satisfy customer needs, and they will be glad to write their positive feedback on your product page. Another chance to get organic reviews is to follow up with your buyers, asking them to share their opinion about your online store.