If you want to make a good impression on your customers and increase your sales figures, you need to strategically optimize your Amazon listing. Learn what it takes to optimize your listing for better conversions, and download the Simpliworks Amazon Listing Success Check-in Scorecard to audit your own listing!
Why Bother Optimizing Your Amazon Listing?
- Your competitors are already doing it.
- It improves sales and conversion rates.
- It increases your chances of getting to the first page of Amazon, making it easier for customers to find you.
- It leads to more reviews, which builds trust with customers.
- It sets up your foundation for sustainable brand building and growth!
How to Optimize your Amazon Listing
1. Use Target Keywords Throughout Your Listing
Keyword optimization is a process where you bring your listing in front of your target audience's eyes by using the words and phrases they are searching for. Keyword research is an important step in any SEO strategy, but it’s especially useful when building your listing on Amazon. Optimizing your listing for your target keywords will go a long way in improving conversions.
When people search on Amazon with keywords related to your product category and brand name, their searches are matched against listings that include those terms (or appear to have similar content). This is called "keyword targeting." If a user sees a listing that has been optimized for their intended search terms, they’re more likely to click through to view the product because they believe it'll satisfy their needs. If relevant keywords are used in the right places of your Amazon product listing, you’re optimized for sales growth!
Keyword optimization = Better customer targeting
It’s imperative to routinely conduct keyword research when creating your Amazon listing for organic and paid sales opportunities. Finding the right keywords to target with your PPC ads will show you what search terms are most relevant to your product. Simpliworks experts recommend updating your Amazon listing every 90 days to ensure you’re using up-to-date keywords. PPC advertising, no matter how expertly managed, won't lead to conversions if your listings aren't optimized with relevant keywords. We don't want you throwing your ad budget down the drain
2. Make Your Product Titles Clear and Concise
Make sure that your title is descriptive of the product with 150 characters. Include the most relevant information here that give shoppers an indication of your product specifics at a glance. Things to include are brand, size, color, and quantity. What kind of information can you provide in the title that will entice shoppers to click on your Amazon listing?
Your title is the first place to add your most relevant keywords into. You can also take advantage of keyword hinging in your product title. Keyword hinging is when you add a string of valuable keywords as a phrase to maximize the real estate Amazon provides. For example, a product with the title “Stainless Steel Kitchen Knife Sharpener” includes these keywords, leading to better searchability:
- “knife sharpener”
- “kitchen knife sharpener”
- “steel kitchen knife sharpener”
3. Include Clear Images of Your Products
You should include at least 6 product images on your Amazon listing. The first image should have a white background, and the others should be in color with good resolution. Make sure that each image is clear and easy to see without any blurriness.
The first product image will also appear on Amazon's search results page, so you want it to to be a clear representation of your product when customers are scrolling through search results.
Showcase details, size, and application of your products with your images. Can shoppers visualize how your product can fit in their lives by viewing your images?
4. Explain Your Product’s Features and Benefits in the Description
Keep your product descriptions accurate, informative, and detailed. The most important thing about a good product description is that it must be accurate. If you’re listing a game controller that has 10 buttons, don't write that there are 11 buttons on the page — you’ll lose the customer’s trust this way.
Next, include features of the product without going overboard. One sentence per feature should suffice; otherwise you risk overwhelming your readers with too much information at once while also making it difficult for them to read and understand each point individually.
Also, make sure to include benefits that help customers understand why they should buy this particular product over your competitors—and always give them more than one reason why! This can be done by using language like “is guaranteed to improve speed," or "will help reduce stains."
Finally, provide additional details about what makes this particular model unique from similar ones offered by competitors (for example: “This item comes pre-installed with an extra large battery pack so no need for extra batteries!").
It’s important to add keywords in your product descriptions, but be sure that they don’t take away from the main goal: to highlight features and benefits for consumers. Add keywords where it makes sense, and remember to never keyword stuff.
Bullet points are great for breaking up text, highlighting key features, and helping your readers visualize what life would be like with your product. Aim to have 5 bullet points highlighting features and benefits.
Bullet points can also make it easier for skimmers to find relevant information quickly. But it's important to remember that the ultimate goal of bullet points is not just to break up text or highlight key points in your listing—they should help customers envision using your product in their lives.
Therefore, each bullet point should be 200 characters long (including spaces). If a customer can read through a well-written bullet point quickly and easily understand how they could use your product, then you've succeeded!
5. Utilize Amazon A+ Content
If you're not familiar with A+ Content, it's a feature that allows you to add rich content to your listing. Having A+ Content ensures you're utilizing every piece of real estate that Amazon offers to describe your product or service. This is where you gain the competitive advantage and establish credibility as a brand.
It's an opportunity for you to provide helpful information about how your product solves a problem (or at least alleviates one). It’s also an opportunity to tell customers why they should trust what they’re buying from you over other similar products on the market.
The more information about how your product works and how it can help solve problems, the better chance someone has in choosing it over another option that looks similar but doesn't include this type of insight into its purpose or function!
6. Carry the Search Terms to the Backend of Your Amazon Listing
An optimized Amazon listing will include multiple keywords for customers to find the product. But sellers can add a list of relevant keywords in the backend search terms of their Amazon listings. This is not visible to shoppers, but these keywords give Amazon a better idea on how your product fits into what customers search for. Make sure you take full advantage of the real estate Amazon provides!
7. Build Trust with Amazon Reviews
As customers, we trust other people's opinions over those of companies or brands. Reviews are the new word of mouth, and they can have a huge impact on your brand's reputation and sales.
Reviews help build credibility in the eyes of consumers. When potential buyers read reviews by previous customers, they see that you've been recommended by someone like them: someone who bought something similar and was happy with their purchase. A positive review goes a long way towards helping people decide whether or not to buy from you. And once they buy from you once, those customers will be more likely to come back for another purchase!
What to know:
- 3.5 stars is the minimum you want, but 4.5+ stars is ideal, as it will round up to 5 for potential buyers browsing your products.
- All reviews count, but targeting 15-20 will earn you "retail ready" status on Amazon. This is when both Amazon and potential buyers start to gain confidence in your listing - and this is what makes or breaks whether they'll buy from you or someone else.
9. Test, Measure, and Tweak
As with any marketing strategy, it’s important to test your approach.
If you don't have a lot of data to go off yet, get some! Measure the effectiveness of each element on your listing by tracking its conversion rate: how many people take action after seeing that particular section? If something isn't working well, try changing it up—but don't get too attached to one idea: there are plenty more options to A/B test. For example, try a new keyword you found with your PPC campaigns until you find what works best for your listing on Amazon.
The nature of Amazon is evergreen; the platform is always changing. It’s important that you routinely clean up your Amazon listing every 90 days to ensure your product is optimized for conversions. What works today might not work a year from now!
Free Simpliworks Listing Success Scorecard
Want to know how optimized your Amazon listing is? Simpliworks created the Amazon Listing Success Check-in Scorecard for sellers to gain expert insight into how their listings compete in the marketplace.
What you’ll get:
- Clear insight on where your Amazon listing needs updates
- Amazon expert strategies for your product listings based on your score
- A chance to gain a competitive edge with listings that Amazon loves
Start your journey to a better listing with better sales. Get instant access to the Simpliworks Amazon Listing Success Check-in Scorecard.
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Launching new products on Amazon can be a daunting task. Simpliworks, An amazon account management company can help you navigate the process by conducting thorough market research, optimizing your product listings, and developing a launch strategy that maximizes visibility and sales. Let us help you successfully launch your next product on Amazon.
Now you know what it takes to optimize your Amazon listing for sustainable sales growth. How are your listings performing according to the scorecard? Talk to a Simpliworks Amazon Growth specialist to create a plan to getting your listings looking their best.
