How Amazon Listing Optimization Can Make You a Best Seller

You already know it’s important to SEO optimize your website for Google searches, but are you also optimizing product listings on Amazon?

If you’re not, you should be. According to SimilarWeb, 2.65 billion people visited Amazon.com in July 2019 alone. Amazon Prime has more than 100 million members, and nearly all of them (90%, to be exact) are price checking on Amazon before making a purchase anywhere.

Forget Bing ⁠— Amazon is the closest competitor to Google online. According to a May 2018 study from Adeptmind, 46.7% of product searches start on Amazon versus 34.6% on Google. And with Alexa holding 61% of the smart speaker market, there’s money on the table just waiting for you.

Here’s how to use Amazon listing optimization to obtain an Amazon Best Seller Rating (BSR).

Use Amazon Listing Optimization to Achieve Amazon BSR

Become an FBA Seller

Believe it or not, over half ($118.57 billion of $232.9 billion) of Amazon’s annual revenue last year came from third-party sellers. The reason you may not realize this is because they’re still fulfilled by Amazon. In fact, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a specific level of professional seller that gains priority from both Amazon and its customers.

You’ll need to store your products in Amazon’s warehouse, but in doing so, they’ll qualify for Prime shipping. Not only that, but there’s an entire third-party market of business financing for FBA Amazon bestsellers, and the company itself is known to provide loans to businesses on its platform.

Prime is the crown jewel of Amazon, and that logo next to your product’s price increases conversions by 50%. Many Prime members search and purchase exclusively Prime products, and with the company expanding the offerings into Prime Pantry, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Wardrobe, Prime Day, Prime Rewards, and more, it’s a prime time to get your business listed in these top promotional spots.

Optimize Images and Tags

Amazon is ultimately an e-commerce marketplace, so product images are the most prominent part of increasing your click-through rate (CTR). Thankfully, the company lists out the technical requirements on its website to make things easier. Don’t skimp on details like image resolution, as it’s necessary to enable the zoom feature.

The main product picture should be just the plain product, but from there, you can add lifestyle photos, different angles, and be more creative. And don’t forget to fill out all the metadata for pics. This valuable SEO opportunity is skipped far too often. Image metadata is the only place it’s acceptable to “keyword stuff.”

Write SEO-Friendly Copy

Ranking on Amazon isn’t much different than ranking on Google. The same basic SEO principles apply – perform keyword research, target long-tail keywords, provide quality information within a context, etc. Amazon and Google are ultimately competing for the same search traffic, so the fundamentals will come in handy.

Keep in mind that Amazon is still listed on Google, and its product listings and other pages still rank there too (for now). Amazon provides the template to maximize search exposure, whether you start that search through the Amazon app, your Echo Dot, or even Google. You just need to take full advantage and ensure you’re maximizing the potential of each section.

Draw Off-Platform Traffic

Just because you’re selling on Amazon doesn’t mean you can’t sell on other places too. The reality is quite the opposite – in fact, Recode reports 80% of Amazon sellers actively sell on other platforms, including eBay, Walmart, Jet, Newegg, and their own websites. Amazon isn’t your one-stop-shop for business success. It’s just another channel to build into your sales approach.

And if you want to double-dip, sign up for Amazon Affiliates. This gives you a commission for any sales you refer to Amazon from off the platform. The best part is they don’t need to even purchase your product. You get a commission off anything they purchase from your link. So, you’ll make money even if they end up purchasing a competitive product.

Work for Positive Reviews

Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising report consistently shows online customer reviews and friend recommendations as the most trustworthy resources for purchasing decisions. A product with a low rating is going to have a lot more trouble selling than one with rave reviews. Amazon’s marketplace has excellent reviews, and it’s working hard to keep clean of fake reviews.

Blackhat tricks such as paying for reviews, hiring writers to provide fake ones or having your friends and family help will be noticed. Instead of trying to game the system, encourage a review in your product packaging, follow-up emails and on your website.

Customers who are truly blown away by your product can often leave very detailed, 2000-word reviews that are just as good as anything Consumer Reports or CNET puts out. These keyword-rich reviews are guaranteed to give your Amazon product listings more exposure.

Conclusion

Amazon is a massive marketplace, and if you’re not a Prime member, you’re soon to be in the minority. The company is always looking to expand, and its partnerships with Ring, along with the delivery fleet it launched, provide a business-to-consumer (B2C) connection stronger than any other retailer has.

You’re not competing with Amazon – Google is. Your job is to make sure your business and its products are featured prominently on both. The fundamentals are the same, and if you pay attention to the details, you’ll maximize earnings by getting your Amazon listing optimization to be the top search result.