Create a plan to go from “too stale” to “more sales”

Amazon content is the lifeblood of businesses selling on the platform. Producing exceptional Amazon product listings should be a priority for any brand or seller pursuing growth and long-term success on Amazon. However, creating product listings that reach the right shoppers, earn the Buy Box and have high conversion rates requires more than a desire to achieve those goals or even the existence of quality products to back them up. It demands a strategic plan and, as importantly, the time and expertise to execute it.

Effective Amazon product listings are built accurately and organized with your customers in mind. They feature detailed information, high-quality images and, in many cases, helpful videos. The best listings are optimized for Amazon’s search algorithm and benefit from a seller that monitors and reacts to threats from fraud or competitors. And they capitalize on the support that a well-designed Amazon Storefront can lend to a listing’s ability to attract shoppers and close sales. If your listings are falling short in any of these areas, it’s time to begin crafting a plan to rejuvenate your Amazon listing content and reinvigorate your sales. 

You need a solid foundation

Every Amazon listing has some key components that are too important to screw up. A failure when it comes to the required product information necessary  to create a new product listing can undermine any further efforts to elevate their effectiveness. While writing a listing’s title and description or distinguishing between its brand and manufacturer may seem intuitive, some nuances can easily trip up inexperienced sellers. 

Creating a successful Amazon product listing hinges on your familiarity with the process, understanding what the platform values, and a thorough approach to meeting Amazon’s requirements for product detail pages. 

Understanding product listings

Amazon expects every product on its site to have a high-quality detail page. Meeting this obligation means satisfying specific requirements laid out in its policies. Product listings help shoppers find the product they are searching for and can influence their decision to buy the product or not, which is why Amazon insists on such careful consideration. 

For the sake of buyers, product listings for identical products are grouped in search results. However, only one seller of a particular product will benefit from the all-important Buy Box. This integrated aspect of a product detail page allows a customer to purchase or add the item to their shopping cart with a simple click. Competing sellers who are not selected to host the Buy Box box are relegated to a less visible portion of the listing where buyers can compare their other purchase options and opt to use one of these “other sellers” if they desire.

Cover your basics

The race for the Buy Box begins with a solid foundation for your Amazon product listing. Some structural elements should not be overlooked if you want to avoid listing suppression and have a viable chance of competing for the top spot. These include:

• Title – One of the leading influencers of Amazon’s organic search results, the title should be descriptive but concise. Focus on including the brand, model, product name, or other relevant specifications while staying under the 200-character limit. 
• Brand – While this may also be included in the title, adding it to the appropriate part of your listing allows customers to filter results by brand and can help them distinguish products from competing brands. 
• Manufacturer – In the case of private label brands, this may be your seller name. Otherwise, you should accurately include the company manufacturing your product if it differs from the brand or seller. 
• Key Features – This is your opportunity to highlight the top five features of your product. These appear as bullet points “about your item” adjacent to your product images and near the top of your listing. They should be specific but not address pricing, shipping or company information. 
• Product Description – Found deeper into your listing, the product description is an opportunity to provide a more detailed explanation of your product offering. This area can be used to address information such as intended use, dimensions, care instructions, warranty or other facts that will be useful to prospective buyers. 
• Images – Amazon product listings must be accompanied by an image, preferably more than one. These should be high-quality, at least 1,600px on the longest side, and have a pure white background, though the product should account for at least 85 percent of the image. 

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Organize your Amazon listings

While it may seem simple, as an Amazon seller adds products to their inventory, their ability to keep them organized can quickly become more complicated. Keeping listings properly organized can play a crucial role in a seller’s success. Not only because organized listings allow for better performance in the organic search results but also due to the improved customer experience that it creates. 

Of course, organizing Amazon products effectively demands more than just knowing which products you have available and listing them in the proper Amazon category. A strategic approach to product listing organization also dictates that you avoid duplicate listings and use Amazon’s parent-child relationships appropriately. 

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Avoid duplicates

A surefire way to face listing suppression is by posting duplicate Amazon product listings. Every product on Amazon is assigned a unique ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). This 10-character alphanumeric code should identify an item, regardless of the seller. Occasionally, a product is unintentionally listed under two different ASINs. When a duplicate listing results from your mistake, it’s relatively simple to correct.

If an unauthorized seller creates a duplicate listing, the brand owner can report the violation to Amazon Seller Support. Every seller should be comfortable using the inventory tools in Seller Central to identify and resolve duplicate listings. You also need to have a process in place to avoid the internal creation of duplicates and monitor for other entities infringing on your listings via duplicates. 

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The value of parent-child relationships

Rather than creating a separate Amazon product listing for every product, it’s imperative that you understand Amazon’s listing variation options and how using them efficiently can improve the performance metrics you value most. You should aim to integrate variations into your listings when relevant to streamline your customers’ shopping experience and introduce them to more of your products after a single search. 

Where it makes sense, utilize these parent-child relationships to offer multiple buying options simultaneously. Creating product listings that combine options such as color, size or flavor into a single encounter will improve your listings’ discoverability and conversion rate.

Don’t overlook the details

But simply having organized product listings that meet Amazon’s basic requirements is not enough to dominate the platform. 

The most successful sellers know a strong foundation is just the starting point; from here they focus on the additional enhancements and optimizations that can most dramatically impact conversion rate and increase ROI. 

Commit to A+ Content

Enter Amazon A+ Content. This is your chance to provide fantastic product details for your Amazon product pages, integrating high-quality images, comparison charts, and more. In a world of e-commerce often driven by social media, shoppers now expect this combination of personalized service, captivating content, and a flawless user experience. 

Consider A+ Content necessary to showcase your products in the best ways possible. The visuals and copywriting must complement your website and social media, in addition to connecting with your customers. Most importantly, you need to communicate your product’s unique advantages over the competition and offer customers a satisfying shopping experience that creates loyalty.

High-quality images and videos can drive sales

Among the most influential pieces of Amazon Content are high-quality images and videos. In fact, 78% of people say video has convinced them to buy a product, while 30% of shoppers won’t even consider a product that presents low-quality images. Professionally shot and art-directed photos or videos will help you create visuals that don’t just look good but also help you sell. 

The media on your product pages or Amazon store should tell a story. Showcase your product from multiple angles, add compelling text overlays to relay product benefits and use precise measurements and comparisons to establish its size and function. And remember, nothing packs a storytelling punch quite like video. Done correctly, it has the power to engage your customers and provide information that can minimize confusion and lead to fewer returns and better reviews.

Get in front of your customers

Creating top-notch, engaging content can go unrewarded if it doesn’t land in front of the right shoppers. So while it’s a big step toward outperforming the competition, additional tactics can also support your newly-revised listings. It starts with comprehensive knowledge of your target customers and continues with the vigilance necessary to protect your sales from competition and fraud.

Find the right search terms 

Describing your products with clarity and precision, keeping them organized and enhancing your product visuals are not the only ways to optimize listing content. A well-executed SEO plan specifically for integrating keywords into your Amazon product listings can increase the likelihood that they earn the Buy Box and land at the top of the search results for the customers you’re seeking. Conversely, using the wrong search terms can mean ending up in the results of an irrelevant search that tanks your conversions. 

Compiling a list of the most appropriate keywords is best accomplished from the perspective of your ideal customer. Placing them strategically throughout your title, bullets and product description is step one; step two is adding them to the backend of your listing in Seller Central. You should also avoid submitting backend keywords that reiterate terms already included in your title, brand or similar fields. Instead, focus on generic words that shoppers are most likely to use when searching for a need your product would fulfill. Thorough research on your product category and competitors can help you develop a list of specific, long-tail keywords and effective short-tail keywords to include with your Amazon product listings. 

Monitor your competition 

Regardless of what or where you sell, it’s always advisable to be mindful of your competition. An e-commerce site such as Amazon is certainly no exception. Using the most relevant search terms can help you identify competing brands and products, evaluate pricing strategies, compare reviews and spot ways to differentiate your product listings. 

Be sure to review what products are available, how they are organized and what tactics are used to describe and promote them. Most importantly, you’ll need to do so regularly to remain aware of any changes to the competition that could begin to undermine your other optimization strategies.

Strengthen your brand

For sellers of private label brands, there’s still more work to be done. Not only do you need to be concerned with creating the best possible product listings, but you must also focus on strengthening your brand within Amazon. The good news is that because of a symbiotic relationship between product listings and brand, the tools we’ve outlined above set the stage for such an effort. 

The next step is to be sure your company has access to the Amazon features and tools that can help position, promote and protect your brand. 

Brand Registry

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The Amazon Brand Registry is a tool that brand owners can implement to differentiate themselves on Amazon’s platform and give shoppers an experience that will augment rather than clash with their other brand assets. Eligibility is limited to sellers with an active trademark registration or pending application. Once established, registered brands can access additional tools to protect against fraudulent activity and unauthorized resellers. 

Amazon Brand Registry is a valuable part of your Amazon strategy but is often overlooked by novice sellers. Beyond the benefit of helping to fend off threats and build your reputation with customers, it offers another in-site perk that can result in an edge over the competition. 

Build your Amazon Storefront

An Amazon Storefront is only available to brands who complete the Brand Registry process. Sellers who create a Storefront can display all of their products in a single location using their custom branding and logos. A well-designed Amazon store allows brands to showcase their content in a more engaging way, using banners, photos, video and graphics. 

In addition to the visual enhancements, Amazon Storefronts can provide sellers with more insight into customer behaviors and the steps that lead to conversion. Brands can use these comprehensive analytics to refine their sales strategies and develop more effective digital advertising campaigns that can use the store as a landing page and gather more data. Without question, an Amazon Storefront is one of the best brand-building tools that Amazon offers and an invaluable mechanism for optimizing your Amazon presence.  

Amify’s Free Amazon Listing Assessment

If all of the factors that influence the effectiveness of your Amazon product listing seem overwhelming, don’t panic. Instead, start by targeting the areas you’re most comfortable with or most concerned about before moving on to another. Just keep in mind that Amazon listing optimization is an ongoing process, so you’ll want to return to areas you have previously addressed to maintain your improvements. 

You may also find that a full-service partner like Amify is the best way to grow your Amazon business. Our team of subject matter experts knows what it takes to make your products stand out. That’s why our clients have an average growth of over 100% within our first year of engagement with their business. Contact us today for a free Amazon Listing Assessment and find out exactly what we can accomplish together.