The Amazon ranking refers to the position of a product in the search results on Amazon. Every day, the marketplace grows by many retailers who want their products to be at the top of the search results page. As a rule, most users buy exactly those products that are presented on the first two pages of the search results (SERP). All other items on the following pages become less and less interesting for potential Amazon consumers and often achieve a significantly lower conversion rate. The motto here is: “If you can’t be found, you can’t sell.” Very few users on Amazon click past the first two search results pages. One reason for this is that Amazon as a company enjoys a high level of trust among users. If Amazon presents a product in the first few places, many users assume that it is a product worth buying. On the other hand, Amazon users want to complete the purchase quickly. Especially for inexpensive, frequently reordered or self-explanatory products, the purchase process should be quick and uncomplicated – a lengthy search is undesirable.
For this reason, Amazon merchants should take certain aspects into account, because success or failure depends largely on Amazon’s own A9 algorithm. Fed with millions of user search queries every day and analyzing the resulting click and purchase behavior, the algorithm’s goal is to always offer users a positive user experience. The goal of Amazon merchants is to achieve the best possible Amazon ranking. The higher your product appears on the search results page, the more likely it is that the product will be purchased.
It should be noted that the first products on the search results page are usually paid ads (paid search). This is followed by the organic search results, which are determined by the Amazon algorithm A9. In order for retailers to be able to serve the search queries of potential buyers, a number of factors that influence the A9 algorithm should be taken into account. A distinction is made between relevance and performance factors. Amazon search engine optimization (Amazon SEO) can improve the Amazon ranking and thus increase the performance and relevance of a product.
The Amazon ranking factors
As already mentioned, a distinction is made between relevance and performance factors. On the one hand, it is important that the keywords entered by the sellers or vendors match the search queries of Amazon users. On the other hand, factors such as price, shipping method, reviews, etc. also influence the ranking on Amazon.
Amazon Ranking: Relevance factors
The most important Amazon relevance factors that are visible to potential buyers are presented in the following three points:
Product title: The title of a product should be short, concise and, above all, sales-promoting. It is also essential to integrate the most important Amazon keywords here. When creating the title and all subsequent points, it is advisable for sellers and vendors to adhere to the Amazon Styleguide guidelines. Depending on the product category, the structure of Amazon product optimization can differ significantly from category to category.
Tip: When creating the Amazon title, we recommend that sellers integrate the most important arguments in the first 80 bytes. The reason for this is that on mobile devices (e.g. smartphones), only these are usually displayed to Amazon users. You should therefore consider in advance which arguments are decisive for potential buyers.
Bullet points: This is where sellers and vendors have the opportunity to present their product in more detail. As a rule, five bullet points/list items with approx. 200 bytes each (max. 1,000 bytes in total) can be created. However, here too it is important to find out about the Amazon guidelines for the individual categories in advance.
When creating the bullet points, you should make sure that the most important information is presented in the first three points. This is because there are also differences between the desktop and mobile view. On a smartphone, often only the first three bullet points (or even fewer) are displayed. To get more information, the interested user must click on “Show more product details”.
Product description: The product description offers Amazon merchants the opportunity to describe their products in even more detail. Above all, however, additional keywords can be placed here that could not be placed in the title or in the bullet points. Sellers have an additional 2,000 bytes available for this purpose. However, as soon as sellers create Amazon A+ Content or Amazon A+ Premium Content, the product description is no longer displayed in many categories. However, as the keywords stored in the product description are still indexed by Amazon, this part should be an important part of a well-maintained product listing.
The following two points show important Amazon ranking factors that are not visible to Amazon users, but are nevertheless an important basis:
The right categorization: The basis for an optimal ranking on Amazon is the product catalog. The Amazon catalog consists of over 30,000 different categories from which the right one must be selected. A distinction is made between main categories and the associated sub-categories to which the product can also be assigned. Products can therefore have several items. Under “Product information” on the product detail page, both retailers and Amazon users can see the Amazon bestseller rank of a product.
Backend keywords: This area is not visible to Amazon users, but is absolutely important for the placement of additional keywords. This is where retailers can place 249 bytes that have no place in the frontend (title, bullet points, product description). Keywords, synonyms, English spellings etc. can be perfectly accommodated here. The following also applies here: The naming of third-party trademarks or registered trademark terms of competitors is strictly prohibited and must not be mentioned under any circumstances.
Product features should also be maintained and stored by sellers and vendors in the best possible way. In particular, search queries such as color, size and content can be covered with the help of product features.
Amazon Ranking: Performance Factors
The following points show performance factors that are also decisive for the Amazon ranking:
Conversion rate: The conversion rate (CVR) indicates how many Amazon users view and subsequently purchase a product. The following three points are decisive for the conversion:
a) Selling price: The selling price should always meet the expectations of potential buyers. It should be noted that both too low and too high a price can have a sales-inhibiting effect.
b) Reviews: Amazon also pays particular attention to product reviews. The more positive reviews products have, the better. As a rule, products with 4 to 5 stars sell better. But good reviews can also be a convincing selling point for potential buyers.
c) Images: The external appearance of the product (how well the product images are selected) is just as important. Good product images can be just as strong a selling point as product reviews.
Click Through Rate: The Click Through Rate (CTR) is also decisive for the Amazon ranking. The CTR is a key figure for measuring performance. It measures the ratio of impressions to clicks and is calculated as follows: Clicks / Impressions = Click Through Rate.
Returns: The returns rate is also decisive for the ranking of a product. Sellers or vendors should check exactly why a product is being returned. Is there something wrong with the quality of the item, or are the end customers simply missing important information? Ideally, this information can be communicated via the product title, bullet points, product description and/or Amazon A+ content.
Delivery times and shipping costs: Another important point for Amazon users is the delivery time. Prime users in particular expect the ordered goods to be delivered quickly. Users even have the option to filter for Prime products and often do so. Long delivery times or shipping costs often put users off and lead to them abandoning their purchase.
Sales history: Whether organically or through Amazon advertising, the more frequently a product is purchased, the better it can affect the Amazon ranking. A long sales history can be decisive if the product has of course also proven itself with good sales figures and solid relevance and performance factors.
Contact response time: An excessively long response time or non-response to customer inquiries by sellers or vendors can also influence the Amazon ranking. This point in particular is often neglected by retailers, but should be given much more attention.
This list of options provides a good basis for sellers and vendors to improve the Amazon rank of their products.
Conclusion on Amazon Ranking
In order to be successful on Amazon, Amazon merchants should think about a good layout for their products in advance. All of the points mentioned are fundamental to improving your Amazon ranking.
In order to place your products well and be successful on Amazon in the long term, many more steps are necessary. Whether it’s setting up, managing and creating campaigns, the experts at ameo are happy to assist you. With the right combination of automation, human control and professional know-how, we are constantly developing our strategy. Let’s take a look at your goals on Amazon together.