Amazon SEO: A Complete Guide

What is Amazon SEO?

Amazon SEO is the process of optimizing your product listings within Amazon so that your products are easier to find and purchased more often. Whereas SEO for ‘normal search engines’ often focuses on the entire customer journey, Amazon SEO revolves around users who are ready to buy.

What makes Amazon unique is how its search engine works: Amazon wants to connect buyers directly to the products they are most likely to purchase. This means that strong sales figures, conversion rates, and good advertising performance have an impact on your findability. Amazon not only earns money from advertising, but also charges the seller a commission on every sale.

Optimizing for Amazon therefore means that you primarily respond to purchase intent, with a focus on commercial keywords, convincing product presentation, accurate inventory management, and a healthy account. The algorithm (A9/A10) not only looks at keywords, but primarily at which products are most relevant and most likely to sell to the buyer.

The differences with SEO for Google:

• Purchase intent is central: Amazon is a marketplace. The user wants to buy, not search for information.
• Other ranking factors: with Google, there are many different factors that influence your position, from technology to content and authority. With Amazon, it’s mainly about conversion, sales data, price, reviews, and inventory.

The opportunities of Amazon SEO

Amazon’s role in the e-commerce landscape is growing. With millions of active users and a growing number of suppliers, Amazon is the place to quickly increase your reach. Anyone who thinks that advertising alone is the key to success is mistaken. By investing in Amazon SEO, you can:

• Achieve structurally higher sales without relying on paid advertising.
• Strengthen your brand position.
• Grow sustainably with a healthy margin by being organically visible.
• Gain insights into the search behavior and needs of your target audience.

Who is Amazon SEO interesting for?

Amazon SEO is relevant for anyone who sells products through Amazon, regardless of whether you have your own brand or not. Precisely because of the enormous reach and growing competition, it is becoming increasingly important to distinguish yourself and be findable within the marketplace. For Amazon, there are three categories of sellers for whom SEO is valuable:

• Own brands and manufacturers: with Amazon SEO, you retain control over your brand and are able to expand your brand more quickly.
• Sellers of general products: you compete directly on price, stock, and visibility. That is why it is important that you are easy to find.
• Retailers and existing webshops: Amazon can be an additional sales channel or even become the most important revenue driver.

A practical example of the power of Amazon SEO: thanks to targeted optimization, a Dutch manufacturer of sports accessories has tripled its organic visibility and now sells in six European countries via Amazon. The basis: strong product listings, good stock, competitive prices, and actively collecting reviews.

How does Amazon’s algorithm work?

Amazon’s algorithm (A9/A10) is built entirely around one goal: maximizing the chance of a sale. Amazon does this by showing the most relevant products that are most likely to be sold for each search query. This happens in two phases:

Important to know

• Listings that are temporarily sold out or penalized by Amazon (e.g., due to poor fulfillment or complaints) quickly lose their position. Recovering from this takes a lot of time.
• The combination of organic performance and advertising (Amazon PPC) is indispensable in many markets for breaking through this conversion paradox: you need sales to rank high, but you rank high because of more sales.

How do you optimize for Amazon SEO?

1. Keyword research specifically for Amazon

• Use tools such as our Amazon keyword suggestion or MerchantWords to find relevant keywords. Look at search volume, relevance, competition, and purchase intent.
• Amazon autocomplete is also a good addition. Look at the search terms Amazon shows here and make a note of them.

2. Optimize your product title and add bullet points

• Include the most important keywords in your title and bullet points, but always remain clear and relevant. Your title can be up to 200 characters long; use this space effectively, but avoid keyword stuffing. Stay concise and relevant: titles up to 200 characters, bullet points up to 250 characters.
• Use bullet points (up to approx. 250 characters per point) to list the most important benefits, features, and use cases in a structured way. This makes your listing scannable and helps the algorithm understand what your product is all about.
• Put the most important product features and unique benefits at the front of your title and explain the details in the bullet points. Think of material, size, color, application, or USPs.
  The text should directly answer the questions of the target group. What makes your product distinctive? Why should someone choose your offer?

3. Fill in backend keywords and A+ Content correctly

• Fill in the backend keywords with synonyms, plural forms, alternative spellings, and relevant search terms that don’t fit in your title or bullet points. Also consider common spelling mistakes, English translations, or other variants that customers might search for. These keywords are not visible to customers, but they help Amazon index your products.
• Use A+ Content to expand your product page with additional text, images, comparisons, and visuals. This allows you to tell your brand story, highlight unique features of your product, and gain the buyer’s trust.
• Combine strong text with clear, professional images and ensure that each module of the A+ Content really adds value for the customer. Good A+ Content directly contributes to your authority and higher conversion rates.

4. Improve your product images and video

• Add at least seven images per product, always using a main photo with a white background (this is mandatory on Amazon).
• Use a mix of different types of images: show the product from multiple angles, show details with close-ups, and add lifestyle images showing the product in use.
• Where possible, add a short product video. Videos increase persuasiveness, show the benefits of the product, and build trust with the buyer.
• Ensure that all images are sharp, professional, and representative. Poor or blurry photos immediately reduce conversion rates.
• Also consider additional visuals, such as size charts, instructions, or before/after situations if they are relevant to the product.

5. Collect and encourage reviews

• Actively ask customers for feedback after purchase, for example via an automatic email or a friendly card with the order.
• Respond to reviews, both positive and negative. Thank customers for their feedback and resolve complaints or problems quickly and professionally.
• Always adhere to Amazon’s guidelines: do not use prohibited terms or methods to influence reviews, such as rewards or discounts after posting a review.
• Monitor your review score regularly and analyze patterns in feedback so that you can make continuous improvements.

6. Keep your inventory, price, and fulfillment in top condition

• Monitor your inventory daily so you never unexpectedly run out of stock. Use (automatic) tools that alert you when inventory is low.
• Where possible, use FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) for maximum visibility, faster shipping, and access to Prime customers. This immediately builds trust and increases conversions.
• Regularly assess your fulfillment process: if your own fulfillment is better or more reliable than FBA, this can actually be an advantage for some products.
• Adjust your prices when necessary. Continuously compare with competitors, respond to seasonal influences or promotions, but always monitor your margin.

7. Start with Amazon PPC for more visibility

• Set up ad campaigns with relevant keywords to immediately gain more visibility with your target audience.
• Focus on a mix of branded search terms (targeted to your brand) and non-branded search terms (general product terms) for an optimal balance between volume and relevance.
• Monitor your ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) and adjust where necessary. Analyze which campaigns perform best and disable poorly performing ads.

8. Compliance and account health

• Do not use prohibited words, claims, or misleading information in your content. Check Amazon’s guidelines regularly, as they change frequently.
• Actively take Amazon’s policies into account and monitor your account health. For example, pay attention to customer satisfaction, returns, and complaints.
• Make sure your listings always meet the requirements. Products that are taken offline or penalized by Amazon immediately lose their ranking, and recovering from this takes a lot of time.

Measuring and analyzing: data & optimization

Amazon offers various dashboards and reports that allow you to monitor and improve the performance of your products and campaigns. Smart measurement and analysis are crucial to maintaining structural growth, because only then will you know where opportunities lie and where you may be missing out on revenue.

So look beyond just your revenue or number of sales. Analyze, among other things:

In addition, use external tools such as Helium10 or JungleScout to analyze more deeply. These tools allow you to compare competitors, estimate search volumes, discover trends, and identify new market opportunities. By continuously monitoring your data and optimizing based on it, you can stay on top of your performance and stay ahead of the competition.

The future of Amazon SEO

Amazon SEO is constantly changing. In the coming years, several developments are expected that will directly impact how you, as an entrepreneur or marketer, remain successful on Amazon:

• AI and automation: Amazon is increasingly focusing on artificial intelligence and automation. From automatic product matching to smart tools for keyword research, content creation, and ad optimization. AI enables search algorithms to better respond to users’ search behavior and purchase intent. Optimization tasks are also performed faster and more efficiently.
• Stricter compliance: Amazon is implementing increasingly strict policies regarding product listings, claims, reviews, and user-generated content. New and stricter controls ensure that only products that fully comply with the rules remain easy to find. Entrepreneurs would do well to continuously adapt their content, claims, and policies accordingly. Structural violations are more likely to result in sanctions, such as temporary removal or even an account ban.
• Marketplace growth in Europe: Amazon is investing heavily in the growth of its platform in Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. This offers entrepreneurs and brands opportunities to scale up internationally quickly. However, this requires that your SEO, content, and fulfillment are in order and that you take into account local differences in search behavior, regulations, and customer preferences.
• More focus on content quality: the bar for content is getting higher and higher. Not only texts, but also images, videos, A+ Content, and even customer questions (Q&A) determine your findability and conversion. Amazon rewards brands and sellers who offer high-quality, unique, and helpful content that truly addresses the questions of the target audience. Think clear product information, compelling visuals, and authentic reviews. Quality is increasingly winning out over quantity.

Conclusion and practical tips

Amazon SEO requires a thoughtful approach that differs from SEO for search engines such as Google. Start with the basics: conduct thorough keyword research, write for both the buyer and the algorithm, use strong visuals, monitor your inventory and price, and focus on reviews and customer satisfaction. Continue to measure, learn, and optimize. This will enable you to build sustainable growth on Amazon step by step.

Three tips you can apply right away:

1. Optimize one of your bestsellers according to this step-by-step plan and monitor the difference in visibility and sales.
2. Set up a review strategy: every review counts towards your ranking.
3. Use A+ Content and video to make your product and brand stand out.

Want to know more about outsourcing your Amazon SEO? Contact one of our specialists. We’re happy to help you get started.

Frequently asked questions about Amazon SEO