Would you like to start a business or improve your business on Amazon?
Amazon is quickly becoming the go-to source for buyers and sellers. More than half of all shoppers start their product research on Amazon.
Businesses and ad agencies are listing more products on Amazon and their moving their ad budgets from Google to Amazon. What that means for you is that you have to have a perfect listing to have a high Amazon ranking.
Keep reading to learn how you can improve your product listings to ranks high on Amazon and beat the growing competition.
1. Your Business Basics
What’s your business about? You sell a product on Amazon. That’s great, but so do millions of others.
Why would someone buy from you instead of one of the other listings? That is literally a million-dollar question. That’s something that you need to get clear about as you start to build or revise your product listings.
You also need to keep the consumer in mind and ask if you’re offering the right products for their needs. Doing a little bit of research into your market can help you make sure that you’re putting your business and your product listings ahead of the pack.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Do people search for the product you’re selling?
- What are the specific search terms they use to find your product?
- Are people buying your type of product?
- How much are people paying for the product?
- What is the profit margin for the product?
These questions will help you determine the profitability of your business, and what the demand is like for your product. Answering these questions will help you set expectations for sales and give you the keywords you need to use for your listings.
2. Amazon is a Search Engine
Amazon is the third largest search engine, behind Google and YouTube.
Do you treat Amazon like a search engine? You know that people turn to Amazon for product research, but they don’t realize how much it matters to sales.
Amazon’s search results are determined using its algorithm, codenamed A10. Like Google’s search engine algorithm, there’s a lot of mystery that surrounds it and it is always changing to give users the best results possible.
What is known is that there are a lot of different factors that determine search results. Keywords, reviews, clickthrough rates, images, product page bounce rates, and conversion rates are all apart of the equation.
You can learn how the algorithm works in this article that sums it up for you.
3. Reviews Matter
While there is a bit of mystery that surrounds the Amazon algorithm, what is certain among industry experts is that reviews are a critical part of your Amazon ranking.
The number of reviews doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll have a higher ranking. What reviews will do is increase your conversion rate. Shoppers trust online reviews to make a buying decision. The more positive reviews a product has, the more likely that will turn into more sales.
The conversion rate has a bigger impact on your listing than the sheer number of reviews. However, if there are two products that are equal in everything else, the one with a higher number of positive reviews will get a better ranking.
How do you get reviews as soon as your product is listed? Have a system in place before you launch a product.
If your product has been available for a while and you don’t have a lot of reviews, all is not lost.
You can encourage reviews from your buyers. Have a messaging campaign to follow up with customers after they made a purchase. You need to make sure that you comply with Amazon’s terms and conditions. That could result in a penalty for your business and your listings.
4. Optimize Your Listings
How do you optimize your listings to improve your ranking? As noted earlier, you have to appeal to shoppers and to the search engines. Let’s take a look at the main things you need to cover in your listing.
Headline: This is 80% of your product listing’s value. It’s the first thing that people will notice when they’re looking for a product. Amazon also uses this as a way to figure out what you’re selling.
If your headline misses the mark, your product won’t get found and buyers are likely to bypass it.
Your headline should describe what the product is, have the model number, and one main keyword.
Images: On your product page, you want your images to be compelling and stylish. This listing for gluten-free crackers is an example of how you can make product images stylish and appealing.
About the Product Section: This is where you can relay the main benefits of your product and describe what makes your product different from all of the others. You can write your description in 5 bullet point and use your main keyword and a few other similar search terms.
Product Description: The product description is the story of the product. Talk about the inspiration behind the product and why you sell it. This is the space where you relate to your potential customers. It’s also another place to utilize keywords in your listing naturally.
5. Deliver Outstanding Service
You can have an awesome listing and sell a lot of products. However, if you deliver a horrible service, that will be noticed by Amazon’s algorithm.
If you have a high return rate, that will result in a drop in listings and you’ll be less likely to win the buy box. You’ll also get negative reviews, which will further damage sales and your Amazon ranking.
Improve Your Amazon Ranking
Amazon is one of the top search engines, right behind Google and YouTube. It’s important to remember that fact and treat your product listings accordingly.
You create a listing that appeals to your audience and then creates a listing that appeals to users and to Amazon’s algorithm. That will improve your chances for a higher Amazon ranking.
A higher ranking will turn into more clicks, more sales. You have to serve your customers well and make sure you get outstanding reviews to maintain your rankings.
Want more marketing tips? Check out this article that explains why digital marketing is a must for any business.