For most customers, Amazon is simply an online marketplace. It offers a convenient destination for consumers to compare products and purchase the items they need. But fundamentally, Amazon is as much a search engine as it is a place to shop. Hundreds of millions of products from countless sellers are listed for sale, and they are all competing to climb Amazon’s rankings to be among the top results when a customer types in a relevant search term. 

Unfortunately, there is no single factor that determines your product’s placement. Instead, success within the Amazon ranking service requires a comprehensive approach of capitalizing on the right tools, targeting the appropriate shoppers, having a detailed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan, avoiding costly mistakes, and constantly refining the process. To help Amazon sellers get on the right track to their ranking goals, we’re sharing some insights into eight of the most critical factors to climb Amazon’s rankings.  

#1 Understand the importance of keywords

Identifying the primary keywords that are most important to Amazon listing optimization is the first step to making a push to move up in product rankings. The challenge often comes in prioritizing those terms and effectively integrating them into a product listing. Effective Amazon SEO requires gauging the relevance and appropriate keyword ranking to determine how to best leverage them within a product title, feature bullet points, product description or elsewhere. 

Optimization is also more complex than repeating keywords numerous times. When it comes to Amazon’s algorithm and keyword integration, quality is way more important than quantity. In many cases, once a search term appears in your Amazon listing, it has likely added all the value it can. Therefore, adding it repeatedly, especially to the detriment of the copywriting, is unlikely to improve your spot in a search result. 

The products that dominate Amazon’s search results capitalize on both the broadest keywords and the long-tail keywords that help differentiate a brand from its competition and reach customers who are closer to the point of purchase. More importantly, they do so with engaging copy while leveraging Amazon’s backend keyword tools that other brands overlook. 

#2 Encourage reviews

There’s no question that reviews, positive and negative, can impact product sales and conversion metrics. Surveys have shown that nine out of 10 customers read reviews before clicking the buy button, while eight out of 10 give them as much weight as a personal recommendation. 

What may not be as clear is how the relationship between Amazon reviews and sales can begin before a prospective customer even finds your listing. Product reviews on a site like Amazon can impact your organic rank even before a shopper discovers your product detail page. Quantity and quality both matter when it comes to the role reviews play as a ranking factor. Having a lot of positive reviews can improve your chances of landing on the coveted first page of search results. Since substantial and credible reviews also benefit your ability to convert potential customers, and your sales volume and velocity are critical factors for the algorithm, a steady stream of positive reviews is a great way to double-dip your optimization efforts. 

So, how many reviews do you need? While a magic number would simplify things, reality, as usual, is more complicated. However, data does suggest that younger customers expect more reviews than older ones. For example, a 2019 survey found that digital shoppers aged 18-24 anticipated more than 200 reviews for a product they were considering, while those over the age of 55 were comfortable with less than 50.  

#3 Improve your content

On Amazon, where customers can buy almost anything under the sun with a few clicks, brands need a way to stand out. Enter A+ Content: your secret weapon for selling more products online. If your brand has already begun selling via Amazon Seller Central, you’ve probably heard about A+ Content before. But perhaps you haven’t considered what it can actually do for your business. To sum it up in one sentence: Amazon A+ Content offers a proven way to boost traffic and sales.

Adding enhanced brand content for your Amazon product pages that can take many forms, including high-quality product images, comparison charts, video content, FAQs and more. Each of them can increase the likelihood of customer conversions, and when used together, they can create a personalized, seamless experience that is hard for Amazon shoppers to ignore. Brands hoping to boost their product ranking need content that is an extension of their website and social media that can delight and connect with their customers. 

#4 Integrate Amazon PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) Amazon ads can be a direct way to drive traffic to your product listings, but they can also improve their placement in Amazon search results. PPC ads allow e-commerce businesses to break through the immense competition on the Amazon marketplace and increase their reach. Done well, an Amazon PPC campaign can increase sales velocity, which is the number and efficiency of shopper conversions. The Amazon A9 algorithm will factor in this success, giving companies a bump in their organic rankings as well. But achieving this requires a solid plan, a broad understanding of the tools available and skilled execution on behalf of the advertiser. 

The last thing any Amazon seller should want is to run an Amazon campaign without a plan. While online advertising can be quite cost-effective, a poorly planned campaign will have very little Return on Ad Spend (RoAS), meaning you will have paid too much, no matter the cost. The advertising tactics should be determined by whether you are trying to raise brand awareness, launch a new product or grow market dominance. Ongoing data analysis and coordination with other digital marketing initiatives is also necessary to create and maintain the sales impacts that will improve product rankings organically.

#5 Manage inventory

Few things can make an item lose its stellar product rank than being out of stock. Amazon’s primary goal is to sell things, and customers are impatient. So a product that isn’t available is unlikely to be added to anyone’s cart. Similarly, brands that can’t provide fast shipping will have trouble breaking through the competition vying for a spot near the top of the search results. That’s why a robust inventory management program is essential for sellers looking to improve their ranking on Amazon. 

In many cases, the best way to accomplish this is via Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Consider utilizing a logistics partner with Amazon experience or that has warehouse options located near Amazon’s shipping hubs to streamline the process. Remember, not only can shipping challenges harm your product’s ranking, a poorly-managed inventory can negatively affect a company’s bottom line since Amazon can charge expensive aged-inventory fees for stagnant inventory. Some sellers seek the additional simplicity of using Amazon to fulfill products that are ordered from other websites. Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) can provide the same features and services of Amazon FBA for orders that originate from most online merchants, including a brand’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) website. 

#6 Organize Listings

One of the most critical aspects of an effective ranking strategy is the organization of your Amazon product listing. Parent-child variations offer the advantage of grouping products with minor variations in sizing or color options into a single listing. The benefit of this structure is that traffic to the listing and any resulting conversions are combined to provide more influence within Amazon’s search algorithm. 

Organization is also critical within a company’s Amazon Store. One of the quickest ways to lose potential customers is by presenting them with a confusing layout that frustrates them and makes finding products difficult. ‍Opt for simple naming conventions for your Store’s pages rather than trying to cram descriptive details into each one. Save those long-tail keyword efforts for your product listings. It’s also best to create a minimum of three pages for your Amazon Store. More expansive stores make organizing products in appropriate categories easier and keep shoppers in your brand store longer, often increasing sales per visitor to the benefit of product rank. 

#7 Price effectively

As e-commerce continues its rapid growth, pricing policies are becoming more important for both retailers and manufacturers. First and foremost, an effective pricing policy can enhance profits by avoiding short-term price wars and making the company a more attractive partner for retailers. The market awareness required to implement and monitor pricing policies can also result in less competition from businesses that will likely seek out more vulnerable targets. Relatedly, well-executed pricing policies will likely lead to greater market share as brand image improves and accessibility increases. 

All of these benefits can contribute to a brand’s ability to rank highly in Amazon search results. The alternative of using a destructive race to the bottom and hoping a lower price will improve your ranking is unlikely to be a successful long-term strategy. Other resellers will become frustrated by brands undercutting their margins on Amazon, and consumers will begin to lose confidence in the product’s value. Prioritizing margins and protecting retailers is the better way to see a bump in Amazon’s ranking of products. 

#8 Make Data-driven adjustments

Since 2021, brands have had access to anonymized data on customer interests, preferences and shopping behavior via the Amazon Brand Analytics Dashboards. They are an incredible resource for companies looking to optimize their Amazon ranking.

The brand analytics shared by Amazon are divided between two separate tools – the Search Query Performance Dashboard and the Search Catalog Performance Dashboard. 

The Query Performance Dashboard provides key metrics on top search terms associated with a brand’s products. Such information can help you better target keywords, as well as identify opportunities to improve messaging, run advertising campaigns and even expand product offerings. 

The Catalog Performance Dashboard helps brands analyze product-level performance and can be used to discover conversion issues and find out where customers lose attention or click away. The dashboard also offers insights on inventory planning, marketing investments and your products’ competitiveness, especially in pricing. 

Both offer data on impressions, clicks, cart adds and purchases to assist brands in their efforts to maximize conversions and fine-tune their Amazon listings and product offerings. Since minor improvements to a listing’s content, or even an adjustment to the product title, can result in dramatic increases in ranking and conversion rates, this can be a considerable asset to brands that know how to react to the information. 

Elevate with Amify

The Amazon Buy Box isn’t the only key to winning on the platform. Turning your product into a best seller means beating out the competition to climb Amazon’s rankings and reach the top of the search results.

Fortunately, the pros at Amify are ready to provide you with the Amazon SEO service you need to increase traffic and convert shoppers. From Amazon keyword research to actionable data analysis, reach out to our experts today to discover how we can make a difference for your brand.