7 Tips to Optimize Your Amazon Product Listings

Amazon is one of the biggest online retailers in the world, with 6.3 million sellers (approximately 2 million sellers were active in 2022).

The competition here is stiff; optimizing your Amazon product listings to improve their discoverability is vital. While many factors are beyond your control, you can create an impressive product list that increases your click-through rates and sales.

But the question is, how do you optimize your Amazon product listing to enhance your search rank?

I hear you ask. In this guide, I take you through the process of improving your Amazon product listing quality. You might also enjoy reading: the top 5 inventory management tools for Amazon FBA sellers.

What is Amazon Product Listing Optimization?

Amazon product listing optimization is the process of improving the visibility, discoverability, relevance, and conversion rate of your Amazon product listing. The goal is to make it more appealing and informative to potential customers and to appear in relevant search results.

The process includes key elements, such as:

Keyword research
Product title and description optimization Image optimization
Pricing optimization
Customer review management.

Amazon product listing optimization helps you to stand out from the competition, drive more traffic to your page, and increase sales.

Now let’s discuss the “how?”

How to Optimize Your Amazon Product Listing?

If you already know the most popular products on Amazon FBA you want to sell, it is time to optimize your listing. Follow these steps and convert your click into sales.

1- Include Relevant Keywords in Your Product Listings

How do potential customers in your niche find products they want to buy? They type in keywords on the Amazon search bar.

But how do you know which keywords customers will likely search for in your product category? That is where the Amazon keyword tool comes in. This powerful tool uses autocomplete function to display popular keywords (short and long-tail). These keywords are what customers often type on the search bar when looking for a related product.

From this screenshot, if you type “lingerie,” the Amazon Keyword tool gives you a list of short and long-tail keywords such as “lingerie for women, sexy lingerie for women, sexy lingerie for women naughty sex, etc.”

Including long-tail keywords on your product listings reduces competition and increases discoverability. Amazon is one of the unique ways to do keyword research without tools for bloggers, and you can also use it as a seller.

2- Create a Clickable And Converting Product Title

While including keywords on your product title will help people find the item, they will also see your competitors’ listings.

So what will make them click on yours to see more? The way you write your product title. Since the title is the first thing potential buyers will see, you want it to stand out. It should help your product appear in the search result.

To help start on a good note, here are Amazon’s guidelines.

Amazon’s title guidelines:

The length should be at most 200 characters. Amazon put this guide to prevent keyword stuffing, where sellers would create longer titles to rank on more search results.

Another reason for this guideline is to assist the customers in understanding your product in the best way possible.

You can capitalize the first letter in each word except for words like “for,” “the,” “an,” “and,” and “in.”
Use numbers where applicable (4 instead of four).
State the number of items in the pack if you sell your products in packs.
Spell out units like “inch” instead of using abbreviations.
State the color and size of the product when relevant.
Avoid special characters like “!”, “&” “?” etc.
Avoid subjective commentary like “Bestseller.”
Don’t use promotional phrases like “sale.”

How do you optimize Amazon product titles?

You should include several elements, such as

Brand name
Keywords
Model numbers
Descriptive details like size variation, color, or quantity.

Here is an example of a seller who is doing too much with their product title

Let’s compare that with how a good product title should look like.

The latter example is more concise, with relevant keywords appearing on the search result. Instead of listing individual kitchenware, it uses the term “set.” It has 103 characters instead of 196 of the former.

You can borrow some tips from our article “7 blog headline writing tips that get more clicks to improve your product titles.

3- Select The Correct Category

When uploading products to your store, you’ll choose a product category. Ensure you narrow down your product category in a way that defines your item.

Customers searching for products on Amazon are often directed to relevant categories based on keywords. So, if your products are incorrectly categorized, customers won’t discover them.

For instance, if you pick the Electronic category for kitchen utensil products or women’s clothing products in the Pet Supplies category, they won’t appear in the search results.

From the image, you can see that if you’re selling kitchenware, you can select categories like Kitchen and dining, cooking utensil set, block knife set or any other heightened relevant department.

4- Optimize Your Product Description

This is where you showcase your copywriting skills. You’ll provide detailed information on the features and benefits of the product.

An excellent product description should guide potential customers to find, examine, and buy products. So, ensure you cover all the basics someone can type on the search bar, including information you haven’t used anywhere in the listing.

Customers expect to find your product’s physical and technical qualities. Speak to your target buyer describing why your product is the solution they need.

Here is how to optimize product descriptions.

Include the following:

Brand name
Sizes
Material type
Color
Quantity
Packaging

Carefully assess your product before indicating its condition and review conditions guidelines to know prohibited items.

You can also incorporate A+ Content to include your brand story, text placement, and enhanced images in describing your product features. People love stories, and this product description strategy could boost traffic, conversion rates, and sales.

5- Optimize Images

Your customers can’t touch the product; they can only visualize it from the image on your store. Therefore, ensure you use high-quality photos that do 60% of the talking and convincing.

Here are some tips for better Amazon product images:

Use a pure white background to help the product stand out.
Take multiple images that highlight different angles and features on your product listing.
Cover 80% of the image.
Ensure the image is at least 1000 DPI for good resolution, even if someone zooms in.
Images should be 500 x 500 or 1000 x 1000 pixel
They should match the product description.
Don’t use drawings
The images should be taken at a flattening angle.
Take close-up images without shadows.
The photos should be taken in a well-lit room.

6- Optimize Key Features And Benefits

Shoppers are skimmers, so ensure you write your product features and benefits in a way that encourages skimming. Use five bullet points to provide descriptive and concise information to convince them to buy.

Of course, you should also include keywords but don’t stuff them. You want prospective customers to understand your product, not confuse them.

For the five bullet points, keep the total character count above 1,000. You can also include emojis to catch people’s attention on your bullet points. Well-written features help differentiate your product and could win the Buy Box. Unleash your copywriting skills here to help buyers make a favorable decision.

Other things you can do to optimize features include

Adding concise and clear call-to-action words in the bullet points.
Capitalizing the first letter of every point
Including differentiating points

7- Encourage And Manage Product Reviews

Most online shoppers check product reviews before they can buy a product. Positive product reviews tell a prospective buyer that your product is incredible. So encourage your customers to leave honest reviews about your product.

While star ratings are excellent, you will see better results if customers add written reviews. For instance, a product with a 4.2-star rating and 500 reviews will outperform a product with a 4.8-star rating and 20 reviews.

Requesting and managing reviews is one of the strategies to boost your e-commerce conversion rate. However, manually doing so can be time-consuming, so I recommend using automated feedback solicitation tools to send those requests.

How To Improve Your Reviews:

Besides requesting customers to leave reviews on your product, you can also do the following:

Respond promptly to messages: Faster customer response time can improve your Amazon’s Buy Box ranking. So, respond to customers’ messages within 24 hours.
Address negative reviews: Negative reviews are inevitable online. Rather than frown at them, you can follow up with the customer to discover their challenges with the product or purchase process. Promptly address their complaints, and they may change negative reviews to positive ones.
Request the removal of non-seller reviews: Some reviews have nothing to do with the product. They could be related to customer support inquiries or shipping; you can request their removal.

7- Optimize Search Terms

Search terms are also called backend keywords, and you can use them to create engaging and readable product page content.

This is where you include keywords you hadn’t used in other areas of the product listing. And since they are backend keywords, customers won’t see them, but they enhance your product discoverability.

How To Optimize Your Search Terms:

Include synonyms, alternative names, and abbreviations

Use phrases in their logical order.
Stay within the length limit and eliminate unnecessary characters.
Don’t include punctuations like hyphens and colons.
Eliminate words like “and,” “an,” “for,” “of,” “with,” etc.
Use spaces to separate words.

Best Amazon SEO Practices

As you optimize your Amazon product list, follow Amazon guidelines on keywords. Here are the best practices to implement.

1- Don’t Repeat Keywords

Naturally, write your product listing to give your customers valuable information to help them buy instead of stuffing unnatural keywords.

Remember, people buy after reading your product features, benefits, and description. So, write for your customers first, then optimize for search engines.

2- Focus On The Customer

Your sales copy should address your customers’ pain points. Anticipate what they want to know about the product and include that information in your listing.

3- Use Amazon Programs

You can improve your ranking through the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program. Enroll in the Brand Registry and Use A+ Content.

Amazon FBA qualifies you for Amazon Prime badges, thus allowing you to offer free shipping to draw customers to your store.

4- Follow Amazon Policies And Guidelines

Be clear and concise with your descriptions.
Persuade customers, but don’t be salesy or pushy
Be truthful and accurate on the product quality and condition.

FAQs

How Do I Fully Optimize My Amazon Listing?

Optimize your Amazon product title
Use five bullet points for Amazon product features.
Use keywords in your Amazon product descriptions.
Select descriptive product images for your Amazon listing:
Encourage positive Amazon product reviews.

What Are The Qualities of a Good Amazon Product Listing?

A good Amazon product listing should:

Include relevant keywords in the right places
Have detailed product descriptions.
Be scannable by customers
Have attractive visuals.

Is Amazon Listing Optimization Worth It?

Yes. Optimizing your product list means that many people will see it, and if you did an excellent job convincing buyers, the click-through rate and conversation rate will increase, and so will your revenue.

What Is Amazon’s Featured Offer or Buy Box?

This offer for new products gives the option to include the Add to Cart button on the product detail page.

Professional seller accounts are eligible for the Buy Box offer. So if you want it, you can upgrade your account to professional.

What Is Amazon SEO?

Amazon SEO is a process of improving the traffic quality and quantity to your Amazon product listings using organic search results. It lets you connect with more customers, boost product visibility, improve rankings, and grow sales.

How Do I Increase Your Amazon Ranking?

Do the following to increase your Amazon ranking:

Maintain Amazon standard
Optimize your product listing (title, descriptions, images, key features, and pricing)
Encourage positive reviews
Enroll in Brand Registry and use A+ Content
Use Amazon FBA
Use Amazon Selling Coach