Do you know the major differences between Google’s search algorithm and Amazon ranking system?

Let's face it at once – according to the recent research, the modern user is three times more likely to go searching for the needed product particularly on Amazon, rather than on any major search engine, for example like Google itself, as well as Yahoo, Bing, etc. And I'm betting that most of us are still unaware of the A9 product algorithm driving Amazon ranking system. Seriously, I'm sure that the lion's share of active shoppers making regular purchases on Amazon was never bothered with that. So, the very existence of Amazon ranking system itself, as well as the way it works aren't too popular subject discussions. Of course, unless you are operating, for example as an ecommerce merchant selling products over there, or at least have a piece of experience in the industry of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Amazon ranking system isn't that comprehensive and far-reaching, particularly if weighed against a whole load of over 200 ranking factors used by Google search engine and its really sophisticated algorithm. 

Note, however, that Amazon still has its own main ranking factors and optimization peculiarities. Nevertheless, if you already know a bit of SEO, probably you're already halfway to understanding the very basics of ecommerce optimization and Amazon product search in particular. I mean that it's far more effective to learn and understand the main differences of Amazon ranking system against the one Google search engine relies on. Why? Simply because that two got really much in common. That's why below I'm going to quickly run through the main differences between ranking on Google and Amazon for you to get the major focus in the right place and have fewer chances of optimizing your product listing the way that doesn't serve your business success. So, let figure everything out.

Before anything else, let's start with comparing two ranking schemes taken at scale. On on hand, ranking in Amazon seems definitely more straightforward than Google. It may seem a no-brainer, but Amazon ranking system is all about on-page SEO – simply because there is no off-page search optimization involved to the A9 product search algorithm. And this single core aspect of diversity is going to cut any guide or probably case discussion about Amazon SEO at least by half already, right? It means that there is no need for us to mess with those external factors, for example like social media, link building, DA, PA, PR, and so on. 

Next, I'm glad to say that luckily there are just a few simple rules and core pillars of Amazon ranking system for you to remember them once and for all. Not too much, right? Note, however, that the following three statements are of core importance, so make sure you’re getting them right from the very beginning.

Here they are:

• While Google seeks to provide the most accurate response to the user doing best to match the keyword query, Amazon is just focused on showing a certain set of customized product offers that a potential buyer is most likely to obtain upon filling a search request over there.
• Amazon ranking system is mainly intended to be always moving towards just one single aim – maximizing the level of RPC (revenue per customer).
• Avery action taken by the visitor looking for products on that really crowded online marketplace never takes place without being noticed and tracked by Amazon's A9 search ranking algorithm. Seriously, every click (and even where the mouse hovers on the web page) is constantly tracked and taken into account in its own way.
• Ultimately, Amazon ranking system itself and its A9 product search algorithm are meant to connect the above-mentioned track data and maximize the revenue per customer by using common shopper intents, behavior patterns, preferences, spheres of interests, etc. 

And now it's time to finally look through the core pillars of the A9 search algorithm. In other words, below I'm going to show you the major factors Amazon ranking system is mainly betting on. Put simply, all the factors can fall into just three categories of top importance – Conversion rate, Relevancy, as well as Customer Satisfaction and Retention. Note that I pulled together the following information, owing to the A9 official website, and the basic seller instructions I've got from my personal Seller Central account. 

Conversion Rate – this category covers all Amazon's ranking factors, which are considered to bear a statistically measurable effect relevant particularly to the rate of conversion. Among the other examples over there, product quality, customer reviews, competitive pricing and clear product images are seen by Amazon ranking system as the primary factors contributing to conversion rate.

Relevancy – is the second category of equally important ranking factors. And the thing is that relevancy itself is exactly what both online giants are revolving around. I mean that the very concept of Relevancy used by Amazon ranking system is absolutely different from the one used by Google (they've got completely mismatching approaches for making most out of the factor of relevance, to be more precise).

In other words, Amazon ranking system is just gathering all the relevant results corresponding to the search query – simply to decide in what way to list them. So, such major factors of relevancy like Product Title and Description Sections are always taken into account by Amazon ranking system, for example when it comes to ranking your product page for a certain keyword or long-tail search term.

Customer Satisfaction and Retention – it may seem like a no-brainer, but Amazon knows the secret of maximizing the rate of RPC. That's why everything with the third group of ranking factors is quite simple – doing best to make as much cash from every shopper as possible, Amazon ranking system is meant to make all buyers happy so that they are successfully converted into the standing clients who are more likely to make repeated purchases time to time. Most commonly, this category of ranking factors is related to the rate of ODR (order defect rate), and customer feedback.