Amazon Listing Optimization: How to Create an Awesome Amazon Listing
Proper Amazon listing optimization is one of the keys to becoming a top seller on the platform. So, what is it? Amazon listing optimization is a series of actions aimed at improving your ranking in Amazon’s search results and sales. You can achieve higher ranking by making sure that the photos, copy, keywords and other elements in your listing meet Amazon best-practices.
So, how do you create an Amazon listing that will help your item reach top-seller status? We’ve put together this guide to answer that very question.
Table of contents
Keep reading to learn how to get the best results for your FBA business through optimizing your Amazon listing.
The 4 Main Components of Amazon Listing Optimization
There are four factors within your listing that through shared research have been shown to affect search rankings, click-through rate (CTR), and conversion rate:
Keywords
Content
Product Images
Reviews
We’ll break down each of these components to explain why they’re important and what you need to do to optimize them.
1. Keywords
The keywords you include in your listing dictate which terms Amazon will rank your product for. Not only do you want to include keywords that are related to the item you’re selling, but you also want to choose the ones that get the most searches.
You’re probably wondering how to check which keywords you should use. Luckily, there’s a simple software solution for this.
The AMZScout Keyword Search Tool will help you use the right keywords for your listing every time. Simply open the tool and type your product into the search field, then click “Perform Search” to get dozens of related and variated keywords. Terms are listed in order of estimated monthly searches so you can select the ones that will bring you the most traffic.
Click the graph icon next to the estimated monthly searches to see how many searches a term has received over the last few months or year. Target keywords that get consistent searches throughout the year.
You can also search for terms using AMZScout’s Reverse ASIN Lookup. With this tool, enter the ASIN to see all the keywords associated with that item. In addition to monthly searches, you’ll be able to see where that product ranks for that keyword, what page it appears on, how many sales you can get for ranking for that keyword, and how relevant the keyword is to that product.
Once you identify all the keywords you want to target with your listing (choose as many as possible) it’s time to include them in your listing. To make this process seamless, consider using listing-building software, like the AMZScout Listing Builder.
2. From the top panel, select the Keyword Group section. Save the gathered keywords as a new keyword group. You can also export the keyword lists of your competitors by entering their ASINs.
3. Click Create Listing.
4. Craft your Title, Bullet Points, and Description – the convenient character count tracker will help you stay within the character limits. Keywords that on the list have already been used will be crossed out.
Your Title: Select the four or five keywords with the highest search volumes and work those into your product title. Just make sure your title still includes your product name and accurately describes your item. This isn’t about hacking the search algorithm, it’s about creating a strong title that happens to include some keywords.
Your Product Description and Bullet Points: Include as many keywords in your listing content as possible. However, like your title, make sure it still reads well. Putting lots of keywords into your description might help your search rankings, but if your content doesn’t make sense then no one will buy your item.
Backend Keywords: Amazon also lets you submit a list of keywords when creating your listing. Place these keywords in the “Search Terms” field on the listing creation page. You can include a maximum of 249 bytes of terms here.
The AMZScout Listing Builder won't let you exceed the character limits, thanks to its convenient count tracker.
5. Make sure your description meets Amazon’s requirements and does not contradict common practices by checking the suggested criteria for an ideal listing in the left part of the Listing Builder panel.
Using the most effective keywords properly will have a significant impact on your Amazon SEO and ensure that your product always appears in relevant searches.
2. Content
As we just mentioned, you’ll want to include keywords in your listing content, but that isn’t the only thing you need to worry about.
So, why is your content so important? Because if you want to make a lot of sales you need to describe your products in a way that makes people want to buy.
Here are three keys to focus on when writing your content:
Provide Lots of Information: You don’t want people to be left with any questions after looking at your listing, so make sure to give as much information about your item as possible. Think of common questions people might have and provide answers to them in your bullets and description.
Focus on Benefits, Not Features: A common mistake people make is to just simply list off the features of a product. Instead, a better strategy is to focus on the benefits of those features. How does each feature benefit the customer? By highlighting this you’ll let people know what an item will actually do for them.
Use Proper Formatting: Break up your text with headers and images, and keep your paragraphs short. This will make your text look more inviting, making people more likely to read everything.
Remember, don’t just write for the Amazon algorithm. Your primary concern should be to write for the customer. This will lead to a higher conversion rate and more sales.
3. Product Images
The one downside about online shopping is that people can’t actually pick up and try products out. This is why having excellent pictures is so important.
Here are a few things to remember when choosing photos for your listing:
Use High-Quality Images: This is the most important thing when it comes to photos. All your images need to be HD quality. Fuzzy, out of focus photos not only make you look unprofessional, but it also makes it harder for the customer to see what your item actually looks like. Using great photos is one of the easiest ways to increase for conversion rate.
Use Lots of Photos: Amazon lets you upload six different photos. Use all your available images to show as many angles and features as possible.
Show the Product in Use: While your main photo should be just the item, use your other photos to show the item actually being used by someone. This helps people visualize themselves using it.
Follow Amazon’s Guidelines: Amazon has a number of guidelines for product images, so make sure to follow them to ensure your listing gets approved. You can see a complete list of these guidelines here.
People are visual, so your photos are just as important, if not more important, than your content. Take the time to get them right and upload the best images possible.
4. Reviews
Having a good review score contributes to both your search rankings and your conversion rate. Amazon prioritizes products with high review scores in their search results, and lots of positive reviews make people more comfortable buying from you.
However, it’s not just your review score that’s important, it’s also the number of reviews you have that matters.
Here are a few tips for generating more positive reviews:
Sell Quality Products: This is kind of a given, but if you sell a really good item that delivers on your promises people will be more likely to leave a review.
Offer Great Customer Service: If you go above and beyond with your customer service and really wow people you’ll get more reviews.
Include Inserts with Your Products: You’re more likely to get reviews if you ask for them, so consider including an insert with your items that asks customers to leave a review.
Follow Up with an Email: Send an email to people after they receive your item. You can use this email to make sure they’re satisfied with their purchase and also to ask them to leave a review.
Good products will always get good reviews, but make sure you do what you can to get as many reviews as possible as it has a big impact on the quality of your listings.
Amazon Listing Quality Score
AMZScout Pro Extension provides a quality score that will show you how well certain listings are optimized. To view the score, search for a product or niche and then open the extension. Click on the arrow next to a product. You’ll find the score under “LQS.”
The listing quality score is out of 100 and is based on the following criteria:
Name Length
Brand
Bullets
Rating
Number of Reviews
Seller Type
Description Length
Images Count
Listings that are optimized in all these areas will score high, whereas listings that aren’t will receive a lower score.
An Example of How to Fully Optimize an Amazon Listing
To give you a better idea of how to enhance an Amazon listing, we’ve included an example of a current listing that doesn’t follow most of our suggestions above. We’ll then give you some suggestions on how they can improve their listing.
For our example we’re going to use this adjustable dog leash:
1. Keywords
This listing seems to really be lacking keywords. The title does an alright job of including keywords in the title (although there could be more) but there are almost no keywords used throughout the rest of the content.
Here’s what we found when entering “dog leash” into the Keyword Search Tool:
These are just some of the keywords that come up for this product. There are a number of additional keywords we found that could have been used in this listing, such as “long dog leashes”, “heavy duty dog leash”, and “strong dog leash”.
By using the Keyword Search Tool the seller could have found many more keywords to include in the listing which would have greatly helped their placement in the search rankings.
2. Content
This listing doesn’t have nearly enough content. In fact, they don’t even use the product description field. The only information they have is in the bullets.
So, the first thing they should do is create a product description where they go into more detail about the item. Here’s a great product description from one of the top-selling dog leashes on Amazon:
Here you have some additional selling features and photos that really hammer home why this is a great leash. Our example listing is missing out on a great opportunity to promote their product by not utilizing this section of their listing.
The copy in the bullets could also be a lot stronger. Here’s what they’re currently using:
They need to do a better job of explaining some of the benefits of their product. For example, why is the fact that it’s soft and lightweight a good thing? It might seem obvious but reinforcing that in your content is still a good idea.
Also, what does the “D-ring” they mention do? Unless you have a lot of experience with leashes you probably won’t know. They’ve included this information in their photos but it should still be in the bullets as well in case people don’t look there.
We would recommend focusing more on benefits to really make it clear why people should buy this leash.
3. Photos
This is one area where this listing does an alright job of following our recommendations. They have six high-quality images that show a number of the different features included with this leash.
The one photo they’re missing is a photo of the product being used. Here’s a great example of what we’re talking about:
It doesn’t matter that people know what a dog leash looks like when it’s being used. They still want to see the item to make sure it works the way they expect it to. So, don’t forget to include this important type of photo.
4. Reviews
This is another area where this review is lacking. The overall score of 4.3 is okay, but it could be better. This seller might want to look at their reviews and see what people are saying about the item.
For example, one review mentions how the latching mechanism doesn’t seem very sturdy. The seller could go back and change this to improve the quality of the product and hopefully get more 5 star ratings.
The other problem is that this item only has 8 reviews which is way too low. The seller should make an effort to ask people to leave feedback, either through product inserts or email follow-ups like we discussed above.
Additional Tips
Want to go above and beyond to create a listing that’s truly exceptional? Here are a few more techniques you can use to make your listing stand out:
Price Your Product Competitively: Your price impacts your search rankings and conversion rate. Look at what other similar items are selling for and try to compete with them. The AMZScout Pro Extension makes this easy by allowing you to analyze prices for individual products or entire niches. Choose a price that’s relatively low while still allowing you to make a profit.
Hire a Professional Photographer: Consider hiring a professional photographer to take photos of your product. There are a number of people who specialize in Amazon imagery and they’ll be able to supply photos that really catch people’s attention.
Hire a Copywriter: Describing an item in a way that makes people want to buy it isn’t easy. Copywriters are excellent at this and can write bullets and a description that will greatly increase conversions.
Manage Your Inventory: It doesn’t matter how great your listing is, if you’re out of stock no one can buy from you. Your search rankings will also be impacted if you don’t have any inventory, so make sure you always order more products from your wholesale sellers and suppliers when you start running low.
Boost Your Search Rankings with Super URLs: In order for people to find your listings, they’ll need to show up in Amazon searches. One thing you can do to help with this is to generate super URLs. These are links that send people to a list of search results that only include your products. Promote or send these links to customers, and every time someone buys a product after using them it will improve your search rankings.
Keep experimenting with your listing to find what works. Sometimes just changing a photo or headline can have a big impact. So, if you’re not happy with your results try something new to see if that helps.
Conclusion
Making sure your Amazon listing is optimized isn’t hard if you know how to do it properly. If you follow the advice above you’ll have no trouble creating an awesome listing that will set you apart from your competitors.
