Amazon.com blog gives us detailed description how to do it in 7 steps.
Start by making optimization an ongoing part of your ecommerce business strategy
You can also focus your efforts on seven parts of a product listing:
- Keywords
- Product images
- Product titles
- Product pricing
- Product descriptions
- Key features (bullet points)
- Backend search keywords
Let’s dive into the details of how to improve each of these elements of a product listing from an SEO standpoint.
Step 1: Conduct keyword research
Compile a comprehensive list of keywords Keywords are the words and phrases people look for when searching for something online. Think about the products you offer and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What words or phrases will they type into the Amazon search box to find the products they want?
When you look at sales through this perspective, you’ll start to see patterns. How do customers find products like yours? To figure out what keywords to incorporate into your SEO strategy, give these ideas a try:
- Type a variety of words and phrases in the Amazon search box. Then, take a look at the drop-down suggestions, and start compiling a list of relevant keywords for similar listings.
- Use competitor results as a starting point for your own listings. Experiment with similar searches on Amazon.com to see what’s already out there. Then compare product search terms.
- Explore the Amazon suggested and related item categories for additional ideas.
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While compiling your list, think in terms of long-tail and short-tail keywords.
- Long-tail keywords are relatively specific. They typically have low search volume, low competition, and may have a higher conversion rate because the customer typically knows exactly what they are looking for.
- Short-tail keywords are broader searches that typically have high search volume and high competition. They may have lower conversion because the customer is browsing for different options.
- The auto-complete feature on the Amazon search box is a great way to find popular long-tail keywords related to your product.
Step 2: Optimize the product title
You only have a moment to catch a shopper’s attention. The product title (product name) is one of the primary fields used by Amazon and search engines to measure the relevance of a detail page as part of a customer search. There are a few things you can do to increase the chances of a customer clicking on a title:
- Your product title should match what would be on the physical packaging of your product.
- Pay attention to title length. We recommend approximately 60 characters long and fewer than 80 characters. Longer titles are also harder to read than shorter titles, so the longer your title is, the more you risk losing a customer’s attention.
- Pay attention to the different title lengths along with preferred title styles for listings in each product category.
- Do not use all caps. Capitalize the first letter of each word except for prepositions (in, on, over, with), conjunctions (and, or, for), or articles (the, a, an).
- Begin a title with the product’s brand name in addition to ensuring the brand name field is populated.
- Use numerals: “2" instead of “two.”
- Don’t use non-language ASCII characters such as Æ, ©, or ®.
- Titles should contain the minimal information needed to identify the item and nothing more.
- Don’t use subjective commentary, such as “Hot Item” or “Best Seller”.
- Titles can include necessary punctuation, like hyphens (-), forward slashes (/), commas (,), ampersands (&), and periods (.).
- Titles can abbreviate measurements, such as “cm”, “oz”, “in”, and “kg”.
In general, review product title requirements and be sure to follow the criteria to show up in relevant searches and avoid search suppression.
Step 3: Optimize product descriptions
Use detailed information about product features and product usage in high-quality product descriptions to help customers find, evaluate, and purchase products. You can also highlight specific product information not located elsewhere in the listing.
Here are a few more tips for creating high-quality product descriptions:
- Include brand names.
- Include sizes, such as shoe size.
- Include material type, such as canvas for a backpack.
- Mention relevant details such as colors, packaging, and quantity.
In general, keep in mind the best practices for listing quality and check the product listing guidelines for specific policies, rules, and restrictions. You should also make a careful assessment of your product before specifying its condition. Be sure to review the condition guidelines for unacceptable and prohibited items.
Seller tip: use the brand field While the brand is often contained in the title, description, and bullet points, you should also include it in the brand field. If customers filter by brand and your listing is missing the brand designation—even if it is included in the description—the customers may never find your listing.
Use the Manage Your Experiments Tool
Optimizing your content with the Manage Your Experiments Tool can help to drive an additional $15K in yearly sales, on average. Compare different product images, titles, and A+ Content to figure out what content performs better. Run A/B tests to see what content drives more sales.
Step 4: Optimize product key features
Key features (bullet points) also factor into the relevance of a detail page as part of a customer search. Well-written bullet points will naturally contain keywords, but the first priority should be to communicate clearly and help customers make a buying decision. One approach is to start a bullet point with a feature and then state the benefits of that feature.
Clear and concise bullet points are best. Use the following guidelines as you craft your bullet points:
- Include up to five bullet points for each product.
- Keep your bullet points under 1,000 characters in total (for all five bullets, not per bullet). This guideline improves readability. Bullet points are not always indexed by Amazon Search, but always appear in full on product detail pages.
- Highlight the five key features you want customers to consider, such as dimensions, age appropriateness, ideal conditions for the product, skill level, contents, country of origin, and so on.
- Reinforce important information from the title and description.
- Begin each bullet point with a capital letter.
- Write with sentence fragments and do not include ending punctuation.
- Do not include promotional and pricing information.
- Be sure to follow all product detail page rules and policies.
Product key features examples
Here’s an example of a basic bulleted list that follows the guidelines in describing a set of rain gear:
- Drawstring-adjustable hood and snap-adjustable cuffs to keep you dry
- Roomy, comfortable fit suitable for any season
- 100% waterproof for rainy weather protection
- Breathable to keep you cool in the dampest conditions
- Available in khaki, yellow, or green colors
Besides these general guidelines, each category has a templated guideline.
Step 5: optimize product images
Quality images help customers visually evaluate and compare key features. Multiple images enable them to see the product from different angles and can persuade a customer to choose one search result over another. Effective product images stimulate a customer’s imagination and inspire them to make a purchase.
Images should show the product in use, show various angles, and highlight different features.
Here are a few more factors to keep in mind with photos:
- Every detail page requires at least one product image. Six images and one video is ideal.
- Images should be clear, informative, and attractive.
- Images should have a white background and fill at least 85% of the image space.
- Use 500 x 500 or 1000 x 1,000 pixels to increase listing quality.
Evaluate your image quality based on these guidelines:
- The image matches the product description in size, color, and accuracy.
- The product is recognizable.
- The image is a photo and not a drawing.
- The photo is taken at a flattering angle.
- The product is focused and well-lit.
- Close-up shots are not obscured by highlights or shadows.
- The entire product is depicted in the image.
- Backgrounds are simple and clean so as not to distract from the product.
- Provide as many different images as possible. Many product categories allow for the inclusion of swatch images and alternate images.
Additionally, be sure to follow all site standards and product image requirements. Photos you upload should also meet technical file requirements. If you run into problems, check image issues and image troubleshooting.
If you create your own images, you may find our self-service imaging products useful.
If you sell clothing, download the Image Style Guide to check requirements across product categories, learn the dos and don’ts, and see examples.
See Amazon portable photo studio tools and products here.
Step 6: optimize product Search Terms
Search Terms are backend keywords that allow you to create engaging and readable content for a product page, while still ensuring that Amazon indexes all keywords relevant to the product. Shoppers do not see these keywords, so by adding them on the “backend” of product listings, you further enhance the discoverability of products.
Tips for optimizing your Search Terms:
- Only include generic words
- Include synonyms, abbreviations, and alternative names for a product.
- Stay under the length limit. You have less than 250 bytes, so minimize unnecessary characters. Spaces and punctuation don’t count. Learn more about keyword attributes, limits, and options.
- When entering phrases, type them in a logical order of search.
- Include spelling variations if applicable, but don’t deliberately include common misspellings.
- Include abbreviations and alternate names.
- You can use all lowercase letters.
- You don’t need any punctuation, so skip hyphens (-), colons (:), and so forth.
- Separate words with spaces only.
- Don’t repeat words within the Search Terms field.
- No need for stop words such as “a,” “an,” “and,” “by,” “for,” “of,” “the,” “with,” and so on.
- Use singular or plural, no need for both.
Get to know Amazon’s Search Terms best practices and avoid prohibited Search Terms.
How to add Search Terms through your Amazon Seller Central account:
Here’s an example of a basic bulleted list that follows the guidelines in describing a set of rain gear:
- Log in to your Amazon seller central account.
- Under Inventory, go to Manage Inventory.
- Find the listing where you want to add backend keywords and click Edit.
- Select the Keywords tab.
- Enter your keyword in the Search Terms field and save.
Step 7: optimize product price
The price of products can influence conversion rates and sales growth. To price products competitively, research the competition and make adjustments to develop a compelling price point within your niche.