Amazon has become one of the largest online marketplaces in the world, making it a top choice for every business.
However, the platform is highly competitive. Thus, sellers need to put in extra effort to stand out by ranking higher on Amazon’s listings as it unleashes more chances of sales and profit.
This article covers proven tips and strategies for businesses to rank higher on Amazon, simplifying the perplexities of Amazon’s algorithm to enhance their online presence and grow on the platform.
Table of Contents
What is Amazon SEO, and how does it work?
Amazon’s key criteria for search ranking
6 tips to get high rankings on Amazon
Time to rank higher!
What is Amazon SEO, and how does it work?
Amazon’s Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves strategically enhancing a product listing to increase its likelihood of appearing on top in consumers’ search queries. In Amazon SEO, these three points must be considered:
- Search box: This is where consumers search for items or products. Amazon’s algorithm uses the keywords or phrases users type to determine what products to show them.
- Ranking SEO feedback loop: Amazon’s algorithm constantly adjusts product rankings based on their performance and relevance. This continuous process uses factors like customer reviews, click-through rates, conversion rates, bounce rates, etc.
- Top ranking results: These listings appear at the top of the search results and are more likely to attract higher clicks and conversions.
Amazon’s key criteria for search ranking
Customer reviews
Higher reviews on a product often influence its ranking positively as the algorithm interprets this as greater engagement and interest in that product.
Additionally, the algorithm analyzes the text and sentiment of these reviews to identify keywords and phrases to know what search queries to rank such products for.
Relevancy
It refers to whether a title and product description matches the search query of its target audience. Hence, sellers must conduct intensive keyword research and understand their target audience.
Similarly, businesses should optimize product descriptions by including target and additional keywords in the detailed product information for better visibility.
Amazon sales rank
Amazon sales rank is a number that represents how well a product is selling compared to other products, and a lower number indicates a higher sales volume and vice versa.
Amazon’s algorithm considers more popularly sold products more relevant and trustworthy, thus suggesting them to potential customers.
Conversion and click-through rates
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors that does a specific required action on a product page, like buying a product. On the other hand, click-through rates refer to the percentage of users that click on a product when it appears in search results.
A high click-through rate means that the product listing is compelling enough for users to click on it, while a high conversion rate means that the listing successfully turns many visitors into customers. Amazon sees both as a good signal and will make such product rank higher.
Price
Businesses that offer competitive prices have higher chances of ranking high, as most shoppers prefer affordable products.
However, sellers must stick to the balance between quality and price, as meager prices are counterintuitive. They should regularly monitor and adjust their prices to reflect market trends as it affects conversion rates positively and improves search rankings.
Time on page and bounce rate
This refers to users’ time on a product’s page before moving away. Amazon’s algorithm assumes longer times to mean users find the content interesting and useful. Hence, it’ll increase its ranking.
Contrarily, bounce rate means the percentage of people that leave a page without further interaction. It negatively affects product ranking as Amazon will label the content as disengaging and unappealing, making it less visible to other users.
Sellers should aim for high time on the page and low bounce rates.
6 tips to get high rankings on Amazon
1. Optimize product listings
Optimizing product listings is a key strategy for achieving high rankings on the Amazon platform. Businesses can optimize their listings by doing the following:
- Using relevant keywords in the product titles and backend search terms.
- Adding clear and concise information about their products, including compelling descriptions and bullet points of the product’s features for easy understanding.
- Adding appropriate “alt descriptions” with target keywords.
- Encouraging customers to leave reviews, and offering some incentives like “credit points” when they do.
- Regularly updating product listings based on user data and customer feedback.
2. Leverage high-quality visuals
Customers are less likely to be attracted to product pages with no or poor visual elements. Hence, sellers should include hi-res feature images and videos to highlight their products’ unique features.
They are essential to increase the number of clicks on a product, with videos enabling users to see the product in action.
3. Apply competitive prices
Competitive prices are a sure way to get high click-throughs and conversion rates, which help to rank higher on the search page. Businesses can ensure these by:
- Calculating optimal price ranges: Businesses can use factors like cost of production, market demand, and profit margin to offer products to customers at attractive prices and still generate profit.
- Understanding price elasticity: This refers to how sensitive the market demand is due to price changes. High price elasticity can cause significant changes in demand over small price adjustments. This knowledge can help businesses to set better pricing.
- Analyzing competitors’ pricing: This helps to gain insights into the market dynamics and set prices that satisfy market expectations and customer preferences.
- Identify the best pricing model: Depending on the product’s nature, consumers’ preferences, and market conditions, businesses can choose the best pricing model (cost-plus, value-based or dynamic) for their products.
4. Increase traffic and rank with Amazon ads/PPC
Amazon ads help sellers increase their visibility and ranking through:
- Search engine optimisation: Ads allow sellers to target relevant keywords related to their products.
- Brand awareness campaigns: Amazon ads can display the brand names, logos, and product descriptions to potential customers browsing related products.
- Precise targeting: Businesses can aim ads at specific demographics, interests, and purchasing patterns to help them reach customers that have high chances of making repeated purchases, leading to a high customer lifetime value (CLV), which helps in building brand trust and boosts visibility.
5. Manage inventory properly
Proper inventory management is critical to avoid these two situations:
- High out-of-stock rates result in missed sales opportunities and higher bounce rates. To counter this, brands should closely monitor their catalogs and use effective replenishment strategies to make their products available and visible.
- High unfulfillable inventory rates: Failing to manage inventory properly may let some unfulfillable products linger longer than necessary. And, unfortunately, leaving unfulfillable inventory can negatively affect a seller’s net income. Thankfully, all businesses need to avoid such situations is proper inventory management, ensuring they remove all unfulfillable inventory early enough.
In addition, retailers should consider factors such as lead time, demand forecasting, sales velocity, and seasonal trends when planning their inventory to avoid unforeseen circumstances
6. Utilize better shipping and delivery mechanisms
Businesses with better shipping and fulfillment rates have higher chances of keeping consumers satisfied, and they can achieve this by:
- Utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for seamless storage, processing, and shipping services. They can also employ Amazon’s inventory placement service (IPS) to help optimize fulfillment.
- Leveraging seller-fulfilled prime programs for faster shipping.
- Improving product packaging and labeling to prevent shipping errors, extra charges, and delays.
- Making adjustments to order fulfillment workflows when necessary.
Time to rank higher!
Amazon offers an opportunity for online retailers to reach a wide market base, but in order to capitalize on this businesses need to know how to rank high in product search listings.
For aspiring brands, implementing the strategies above can lead to higher rankings, new customers, and increased profits. This will allow Amazon retailers to seize opportunities to optimize their presence in the online marketplace and boost their chances of success.
