With rising competition, it can feel impossible to get your products where you want them in Amazon’s search results. Even when customers search by brand name, sponsored product ads (SPAs) and sponsored brand ads (SBAs) still dominate the first page.

A solid Amazon PPC strategy can boost your product visibility, but it’s not enough on its own. To rank for the right keywords and increase conversion rates, you need to optimize your listings. But changing rules, a new search algorithm, and ever-evolving AI tools can make Amazon listing optimization more complicated than it sounds. 

Today we’re sharing everything you need to know to level up your listings and increase your visibility on Amazon.

Keep up with the A9 algorithm. Book a free demo and see Trellis’ AI-driven product content optimization in action.

11 Ways to Optimize Your Product Listings and Drive Sales

The Amazon ranking algorithm is always changing. Though often analyzed, much of how it works is still a well-kept secret. The good news is, there’s a lot we do know about how to boost your Amazon rankings.

Amazon recommends focusing on the following factors:

• Keyword research
• Product titles
• Product descriptions
• Bullet points
• Backend search terms
• Product images
• Product prices

But if you’re like most Amazon sellers, you know that factors like customer experience, Amazon FBA inventory, and seller performance also matter.

In the following sections, we’ll walk through each element that goes into optimizing your Amazon listings, and show you how to get the best results.

1. Write Better Product Titles

Amazon product titles let customers know exactly what you’re selling. They help the algorithm and external search engines find and display your products when a customer searches for them. That’s why it’s crucial to use relevant, specific keywords that tell users and Amazon exactly what each product is.

The following steps will help you make the most of your Amazon product title:

• Identify key search terms and phrases: Use Amazon’s Search Query Performance Dashboard, Amazon search bar suggestions, and competitor listings to research keywords. Or, use a free Amazon keyword research tool to find the most relevant keywords for each ASIN.
• Be as specific as possible: Include the product type, brand name, and specific information like the color, size, or number of items in a set. Include any alternate keywords people might use to search for the same product, e.g. both “sweatshirt” and “hoodie” in the product title.
• Use clear, direct language: Leave out unnecessary or subjective descriptors; let customers decide for themselves if your product is “cute” or “fun.” Stick to the facts, and try to keep it down to 60 characters. Avoid abbreviations that could confuse readers or the algorithm.
• Follow the rules: It goes without saying, but avoid shady practices like keyword stuffing or trying to “trick” the search algorithm. Steer clear of promotional language and other prohibited words.

2. Optimize Product Feature Bullets

Feature bullets are the place to showcase the most important aspects of your product. The right details can set your product apart from others and give potential customers all the info they need to make a purchase.

Here are some tips to help you optimize product bullets:

• Talk about the product: This is not the place to tell your brand’s marketing story. Use bullets to help customers decide whether this specific product is the right fit for their needs.
• Choose the right details: Read customer reviews for competitors in your product category to see what they’re missing. Then highlight the standout features of your product that make it a better choice.
• Differentiate them: Each bullet should clearly describe one specific benefit of your product, eg. “50 M ATM Waterproof: This diving watch can be completely submerged and used at depths of up to 5 ATM or 50 meters.”
• Keep them brief: The character limit is 255 per bullet, but Amazon recommends 100 or fewer.
• Follow the rules: Avoid prohibited environmental claims, subjective claims, or references to your other products, and never use salesy or comparison language like “best,” “cheapest,” “get it now” or “buy today.” Start each bullet point with a capital letter and don’t end with a period.

3. Use Quality Product Images

Your product images are what makes (or breaks) that crucial first impression on your customer. So it’s no surprise that Amazon prioritizes high-quality images in search results. Follow all Amazon image requirements, and note that they’re different for main versus product images.

• Follow main image rules: Your main image must be on a pure white background with RGB color values of 255. It must show the product outside of its packaging, and cannot include additional text, logos, borders, watermarks, or graphics. Don’t use additional objects or props that the customer could mistakenly assume are included with the product. The product must fill at least 85% of the image frame.
• Get creative with additional images: For other images, you can get more creative with showing off different uses of your product. Use lifestyle images, infographics, instructional visuals with text, diagrams to demonstrate size, and more.
• Ensure accuracy: Images must not be digitally enhanced or altered in any way (other than resizing) and must accurately reflect the product and its condition.
• Use high-quality images: Images must be at least 500 pixels minimum on the shortest side, or 1000 pixels in height or width to enable the Zoom experience. Note that Amazon advertisers who made at least a quarter of their product images zoomable saw an average sales uplift of 64%.
• Use at least four images: Advertisers who used four or more images on their product detail pages saw an average uplift of 59% in one week. Show your products from different angles, highlight details and key features, and let customers know if it can be used in different ways. If your product comes in a range of styles, colors, or has other variations, show an image of every option.

4. Add Product Videos

If you’re not sure how to add video to your Amazon listings, now is a great time to learn this process. Product videos not only give customers a better sense of how to use your product, they also give you a bit more leeway to market your product and talk about its story.

These tips can help you make the most of your product video:

• Choose the right video type: Most product videos fall into one of six categories: Product Overview, Unboxing, How-to, Set up, Troubleshooting, and Brand Story. Get clear on the type of video you want to create and the goals you want to achieve in the time you have.
• Use quality content: Shoot original images for customers to associate with your unique brand. If you have it, add user-generated content such as customer testimonials.
• Cover core product elements: Your product video should include a 360-degree view of your product and a few shots demonstrating it in use. The video should also help users understand your product’s size and dimensions, and what they should do next (add to cart, join the waitlist, etc.)
• Don’t worry about the camera: You don’t need a professional cinematographer. Just make sure your video is compressed and formatted to Amazon’s specifications, so it doesn’t wind up blurry when you upload.
• Keep it short: Many customers lose patience well before the two-minute mark. Keep your video to about 30-90 seconds, unless you really need more time to explain your product’s features.

5. Use Backend Search Terms

Backend search terms, also known as backend keywords, are hidden keywords that your customers can’t see. Backend keywords help Amazon’s algorithm accurately rank your products, without having to keyword-stuff your product listing.

Here are some tips for using backend keywords:

• Choose the most important keywords: You only get 250 bytes for backend keywords, so prioritize those that really matter. Use Amazon’s performance reports and dashboards or a dedicated keyword research tool to find relevant keywords, such as local or regional words people might use to describe or search for your product.
• Try complementary keywords: Add keywords for related and companion products that customers would naturally purchase together (e.g., “toothpaste” for a toothbrush listing).
• Don’t duplicate keywords: Use only keywords you weren’t able to include in the product title, bullet points, or Amazon product description.
• Use different types of keywords: You can experiment with short-tail, long-tail, branded, and non-branded keywords. But keep in mind that using competitor brand names in your backend keywords is a violation of Amazon’s policies.
• Use data to assess and adjust: Use Amazon data or integrated profitability platforms like Trellis to monitor and improve your keyword performance.

6. Optimize Prices

Setting the right prices is critical to boosting your click-through rate, your conversion rate, and your search visibility on Amazon. Violating Amazon’s pricing guidelines can cost you your Featured Offer, inventory, or even selling privileges.

The following strategies can help you optimize pricing for search:

• Use fair pricing practices: Don’t price gouge, or set prices much higher than other recent prices for the same product. Don’t raise the price per unit when selling multiple units of the same product together.
• Keep prices competitive: Keep your prices lower than or equal to the lowest price from other major retailers off Amazon. Track what your on-Amazon competitors are charging for the same products.
• Price new products lower: If you don’t have enough customer reviews for a product, try offering a lower price until you’ve earned more social proof.
• Check the Pricing Health Dashboard: This dashboard in Amazon Seller Central can help you understand if offers or listings have been deactivated due to pricing errors.
• Use dynamic pricing: Use Amazon’s Automate Pricing Tool or purpose-built Amazon Dynamic Pricing Software to optimize your pricing automatically, in real-time. With the right tools, you can set rules to increase sales velocity, improve Best Seller Rank (BSR), win the Buy Box, manage inventory, and more.

7. Get More Product Reviews

A whopping 91% of customers say they look at reviews before making a purchase. Products with more customer reviews tend to rank higher in Amazon search results, and Verified Purchase and Vine Reviews can help boost product rankings. 

Here are some tips to help ramp up your reviews:

• Request a Review: Use the Request a Review feature in Amazon Seller Central to automatically send review requests to recent customers.
• Enroll in Amazon Vine: Enroll in Vine to send up to 30 free units of each product (up to 200 products at a time) and receive high-quality reviews.
• Respond to reviews: Reach out to customers who left negative reviews to try and offer a resolution. While you can’t directly ask them to change their reviews, you can still encourage a change of heart.
• Use inserts: You can include inserts in your product packaging to request reviews, as long as you follow the rules. That means no incentivizing reviews (eg. offering discounts, refunds, or gifts), asking specifically for a positive review, or using manipulative language.
• Don’t buy fake reviews: If Amazon finds out, they may suspend your account or revoke your selling privileges.

8. Improve Product Ratings

Amazon uses a simple 1-5 star rating system to help customers find the best products. Star ratings are calculated using a machine learning model—they aren’t just the average customer rating. 

Amazon says its models take other factors into account, like how recent a rating or review is, and whether the purchase has been verified. The system is designed to give more weight to customer feedback that’s deemed authentic.

These tips can help improve your Amazon product ratings:

• Get more reviews: Try the Vine program and other tips as mentioned above.
• Improve your products: Make sure your product is in line with the expectations you set up on your product detail page. Read negative product reviews and look for features you can improve on. Monitor competitor product reviews to learn how you can offer something even better.
• Speed up your fulfillment or use Amazon FBA: Fast and on-time delivery can improve overall customer satisfaction. If you want higher ratings over time, speed up your shipping.
• Focus on customer service: If you handle your own customer service, make sure you respond to all customer communication within two business days. You may be able to stop negative reviews before they happen by being responsive when issues arise.

9. Use A+ Content

Taking advantage of Amazon A+ content is a great way to make your product pages stand out. It also gives your customers a clearer picture of what you’re about, helping you build a deeper connection with your target audience.

To get started with Amazon A+ content, you need to:

• Gain eligibility: To access A+ Content, you first need to enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry.
• Head to Seller Central: From there, access the Amazon A+ Content Manager, choose a Content Type, and assign a Content Name & Language.
• Add Modules: Create different types of media, like comparison charts, brand stories, and more.
• Assign ASINs: Choose the products where you want to display your A+ Content.
• Review and Publish Content: Proofread and check to make sure you’re not breaking any rules.

10. Master Amazon SEO

According to Amazon, the platform’s search engine optimization (SEO) is powered by the five ways customers find products: via the Amazon search box, search filters, search results page, Amazon sales rank (Amazon Best Sellers list), and finally sponsored products and advertising (PPC ads).

Successful Amazon SEO often comes down to effective keyword research. There are a number of Amazon keyword index and rank trackers available to help you with this.

With the Trellis Free Amazon Keyword Research Tool, you can easily pinpoint the keywords that will get your products in front of more customers—in less than 5 minutes. All you need to do is:

• Sign up for a Trellis account.
• Plugin your product information and preferred keywords
• Identify low-competition, high search volume keywords with the “Keyword Suggestions” tool and other helpful features.

11. Use an Amazon Listing Quality Checker

With so many components to the Amazon listing optimization process, it’s easy to miss a few details or prioritize the wrong adjustments. If you’re selling a long list of products, you might not have the manpower to manage the entire optimization process manually.

Our Amazon listing quality checker analyzes your listings in real-time, and offers actionable insights and recommendations to help you optimize. It can rapidly analyze elements like:

• Product title
• Product description
• Bullet points
• Image quality
• Problem content (i.e., forbidden words)

Win More Conversions with Fully Optimized Product Listings

Optimizing your listings and keeping up with the Amazon algorithm can get tricky as you scale. Why not automate your Amazon listing optimization for compliance and visibility with just a few clicks?

For more information on how to improve your Amazon listings, get in touch with the Trellis team today. We can help you optimize your brand content, perfect your pricing strategy, and get your products to the top of the search results page.