The Ultimate Guide to Amazon Listing Optimization
The
popularity of Amazon has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for
e-commerce businesses. While customers now expect levels of speed and
convenience that may be hard for some companies to achieve, the Amazon
platform provides e-commerce businesses an invaluable tool to connect
with audiences that might not have otherwise discovered their products.
As one of the most profitable and robust e-commerce marketplaces in the world, Amazon can be profitable for around 64% of sellers after 12 months,
according to some sources. However, that still leaves 36% of sellers
who are not profitable after a year. Sellers obviously want to find a
way to end up in that 64%, but doing so requires them to understand how
to find their audience on Amazon’s massive marketplace platform.
Finding success in the Amazon marketplace
You may have heard that the Amazon marketplace is incredibly competitive, and to an extent, that is true — 2024 saw nearly 1 million new sellers join the marketplace.
However, the beauty of Amazon is that, despite this competition, there
is plenty of room for sellers to thrive if they can carve out their own
unique niche for their products. Even if there is direct competition,
you can still find your success through effective marketing.
To
overcome this competition on Amazon, it is imperative that sellers get
their products ranked on the first page of search results. Statistics
paint a very clear picture of the importance of ranking highly in search
results:
- 90% of all product views on Amazon come from searches rather than advertisements.
- 70% of Amazon shoppers only see the first page of search results.
- 64% of clicks go to the first three results displayed in a search, with 35% going to the number one result.
This is why the first page of Amazon listings — particularly the first spot — is prime real estate for Amazon sellers.
Sellers
might be wondering how they can get this all-powerful top ranking on
Amazon, and the answer is simple: optimizing your listing page. Just as
websites must be optimized using SEO strategy to rank highly on Google
and other search engines, Amazon sellers must optimize their product
pages to maximize traffic and sales. Like SEO, Amazon listing
optimization is not an exact science — there is no magic formula a
business can follow to guarantee success — but there are a few
principles that sellers can follow to best set themselves up for
success.
How to optimize your listing for Amazon marketplace success
One
of the most critical aspects of your Amazon listing in determining
click-through rates (CTR) is your main image, which is the first thing a
potential customer sees when searching for your product. You want to
make your main image as eye-catching as possible to entice consumers to
click on your page, not the second or third result. You’ll also want a
clear, well-lit photo of your product, but don’t overcomplicate it. In
our experience, a good main image can make a difference of several
hundred percent over a bad one.
Amazon sellers can also benefit from targeting low-competition keywords
on the platform. However, it is crucial that you find the right balance
between competition and demand. Remember that the most ideal keywords
will have a high volume but not enough relevant products showing up.
When these two factors are true, it means that the buyer intends to
purchase the product they are searching for but is not inundated with
options in a way that will leave your product liable to be buried.
Finally,
Amazon sellers can optimize their sales success by earning the coveted
“best-seller” badge, as this creates a powerful cycle on Amazon’s
e-commerce platform. High interest from consumers coupled with growing
numbers of positive reviews earn sellers the badge and give them a
higher page ranking. In turn, their sales increase even further, and the
perceived value of the product increases. According to some sources,
the “best-seller” badge can increase the views your product’s page gets by as much as 45%, which can be invaluable for potential conversions.
Of
course, you will never know what strategies work best for your product
until you try them out, but that’s why A/B testing with actual customers
is essential. Don’t be afraid to try out multiple versions of your
listing, see which one works best, and make that one your actual
listing. Whenever possible, watch people shopping in the real world and
see what they realize before making a purchase — it can help you
optimize your listing to maximize sales.
Selling on Amazon can be competitive, but there is plenty of room for every business leader to thrive. By maximizing your product listing to rank higher on Amazon’s search results, you can prime your product to get more clicks and, hopefully, more sales. That is the secret to ending up one of the thousands of e-commerce entrepreneurs who have used the Amazon marketplace to launch a successful business.
