How to Optimize Your Amazon Listing in 11 Simple Steps to Increase Your Sales

William Ferrer
Mar 3, 2019
12 min read

Updated: Mar 6, 2019

GUIDE OUTLINE

Step #1: Use the Right Keywords
Step #2: Write an Attention-Grabbing Title
Step #3: Write with a Native Speaker
Step #4: Highlight the Features & Benefits of Your Product in Bullet Points
Step #5: Write a Description with A Story
Step #6: Have Attractive Images
Step #7: Run A PPC Campaign (temporarily)
Step #8: Gain Positive Reviews
Step #9: Use Amazon Compliant Launch Services
Step #10: Use FBA
Step #11: Provide Warranties and Guarantees

INTRODUCTION

In 2017, Amazon posted a record-breaking net sales revenue of $178 billion USD, now that's a lot of money! If you're reading this guide, I'm sure you're looking to get a piece of that.

A common mistake a lot of new sellers make is they think they can simply put up a product listing, sit back, relax, and watch money come flowing into their bank account. That's not how it works.

Amazon is a competitive market place. To make money on Amazon, you have to compete. To compete, you're going to need a proven sales and marketing strategy.

In this guide, I'll be sharing with you the best practices, strategies, and steps Amazon's Best Sellers use to optimize their product listing to dominate the market.

STEP #1: USE THE RIGHT KEYWORDS

The first step in optimizing your listing is to perform keyword research.

Your goal is to find the right keywords for your product to drive traffic to your listing. So what makes the right keywords you ask?

Well, the right keywords are highly relevant to your product and have high search volume.

I do have to emphasize the use of relevant keywords to drive relevant traffic to your listing. There's no point of using irrelevant keywords to index in more queries.

Even though your listing may appear in more searches, customers won't be compelled to buy your product because it wasn't the product they were looking for.

Your conversion rate will suffer which in turn will negatively affect your search rank.

What you need to know:

Search rank is primarily based on sales, conversion, and ranking signals, keywords are of secondary importance.

The more relevant keywords you use, the better, as you're creating a bigger target for Amazon's search engine to index your listing which will bring more traffic to your listing.

Place your best keywords in the title because it will be given the most weight in the search engine. Place your other relevant keywords in the bullet point section as long as it sounds good and fits in naturally with your sales copy, don't force it.

You can place any leftover keywords in the search term section.

In this section, you're allowed to use up to 249 bytes total. I recommend taking advantage and using up as many bytes as you can to better index your listing and rank higher.

The lesson:

The more relevant traffic you drive to your listing, the more potential sales you will get

STEP #2: WRITE AN ATTENTION-GRABBING TITLE

Once your listing shows up in relevant search queries, your second task is to entice customers to click on your listing above all others. You'll achieve this by creating an attractive title.

A common mistake sellers have made in the past is they would overstuff their title with as many keywords as possible in the hopes of showing up in more search queries. The problem with this strategy is that you end up with a title that's ridiculously long, messy, and confusing to buyers.

You have to remember, your task is to write a title that's good for Amazons search engine and good for customers reading the title. It's a balancing act.

A golden rule you should follow is to prioritize the customer experience first above everything else.

Why? Because they're the ones with the credit cards, not the robots!

So what makes an attention-grabbing title you ask?

Well, an attractive title is a title that's concise, easy to understand, creates interest, and describes your product.

The best practices to follow to optimize your title are...

Keep the length to around 200 characters because of Amazon's character limit policy. The exact character limit will vary depending on which market and category you're selling in so you should always check.

Include:

Product name
Brand name to build brand recognition
Insert your best keywords since they will be given the most weight in this section
include a unique selling proposition, feature, or benefits to create interest
Descriptors such as size, color, amount etc. to provide technical information

This is the general template I like to use when I write attention-grabbing titles:

[Name of the Product] by [brand name] – [1 to 3 High Search Volume Keywords] – [USP or benefits] – [style/size/quantity/material if applicable]

STEP #3: WRITE WITH A NATIVE SPEAKER

It would be in your best interest to hire a copywriter who natively speaks the language of the market you wish to sell in.

For example, if you plan on selling in Amazon Japan, it would be best if you hired a copywriter from Japan who speaks Japanese perfectly.

Or, if you plan on selling in Amazon US, Canada, UK, or Australia, it would be in your best interest to hire a copywriter who lives in one of those countries and speaks perfect English.

Why does this matter you ask?

Well, customers expect professional standards and professional standards require perfect and fluent writing.

A listing full of spelling and grammar mistakes looks unprofessional to customers and will completely turn them off because it's confusing, it shows a lack of effort to achieve standards, and most importantly, the low quality of the writing will lead customers to think the product being sold is of low quality as well.

All of which will kill your sales.

It's important to note that translation is more than the literal translation of words from one language to another.

You also have to translate meaning, expressions, slang, as well as accommodate cultural style and etiquette.

Only a native speaker would be able to accomplish these tasks.

STEP #4: HIGHLIGHT THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT IN BULLET POINTS

An important thing you need to know about online shoppers is they have really short attention spans. Online shoppers don't like to thoroughly read, instead, they like to quickly scan and skim for information. In this case, what they're looking for are the features and benefits of your product.

The bullet point section is your opportunity to highlight and summarize the value of your product.

Some best practices to follow to write optimized bullet points are...

Be concise:

Online shoppers have short attention spans so it's in your best interest to keep each bullet to around 250 characters in length. It's the perfect amount that's not too long and not too short.

Address:

Why customers should buy your product
A unique selling proposition to differentiate yourself from competitors
Any important or notable aspects of your product
Answer any concerns or objections customers may have
Present your product as a solution to needs or problems

STEP #5: WRITE A DESCRIPTION WITH A STORY

The product description section is your opportunity to provide a further explanation of the technical aspects, features, and benefits of your product in addition to what you have already written in the bullets.

To make your description more interesting, include a short story.

The purpose of a short story is to provide an example of when and where your product can be beneficial. A good story is one that influences customers to imagine using your product and the benefits it provides.

With your description and story, your goal isn't to write a novel or manual, your goal is to briefly summarize the value of your product.

Some best practices to follow are...

Keep it up to 2000 characters in length because of Amazon's character limit.
Ensure its easy to read by using simple language and short sentences.
Allow customers to skim and scan by breaking up your description into short paragraphs with HTML coding.
Don't bore customers with too many technical details, instead, focus on the benefits.
Don't waste characters by focusing on the placement of keywords because any keywords placed in this section have little to no effect on your search rank.

STEP #6: HAVE ATTRACTIVE IMAGES

You're allowed to have up to 9 images in your listing, I recommend taking advantage and using all 9.

Product images are mandatory for your listings success because as humans, we're visually oriented by nature.

Product images are essential for catching the attention of customers and creating a good impression.

In fact, an eye tracking case study done by seomaxx shows that customers focus mostly on the main product image before anything else.

An important lesson you need to learn is that customers in large part will base their purchasing decision on whether they like what they see or not.

That's why attractive product images are so important for your listings success.

When it comes to product photography, you have two options, your first option is to get it done by a professional, your second option is to do it yourself.

These are some best practices you need to follow to achieve optimized product images...

The bigger the image size, the better:

Amazon minimum requirements state that images should at least be 1000 pixels in width and height.

In this case, more is better because bigger image sizes result in more detail. So when customers zoom in on the product images, the image will still be clear, not blurry or fuzzy.

Big image sizes allow customers to zoom in and inspect closeup in full detail exactly what they will be buying which will make them feel more comfortable about making a purchase. More customer comfort = more sales.

Have good lighting:

All your images should have adequate lighting to properly display your product. It shouldn't be too dark, or too bright.

Have clean images:

What this means is that you need to have a few images that just show your product with a plain white background without any other distractions.

In fact, Amazon requires that your main image should have a plain white background without any infographics or watermarks. It also states that your product should fill at least 85% of the photo.

To further showcase your product, you should have a couple more clean images showing your product from different angles.

Have infographics:

You should include infographics in your images to better highlight the value, benefits, and features of your product. Just don't overdo it and make the infographics too distracting.

Have lifestyle images:

The purpose of lifestyle images is to provide demonstrations of your product's use and value.

You should have models demonstrate your product to influence customers to imagine themselves in the role of the model and fantasize about the benefits of your product.

To learn how to optimize your product images, you need to watch my other video "How to Optimize Your Amazon Product Photography."

STEP #7: RUN A PPC CAMPAIGN (temporarily)

It's no secret that highly ranked listings generate more traffic which in turn generate more sales.

But if you're selling in a competitive category full of other sellers competing for a higher position, it's going to be difficult to rank high organically.

What you're going to need to do is artificially boost your rank temporarily with a Pay-Per-Click Campaign.

With your PPC campaign, ideally your ACOS should be 25% or lower.

If you find your listing struggling to show up on the first page, you may need to consider setting your bid higher to catch more sessions and potential sales. This strategy may not be profitable in the short term, but you should consider it as a temporary expense for long term success. I'll explain why.

As mentioned before in step 1, one of the biggest factors of search rank is sales.

A highly ranked listing receives more sessions which in turn will lead to more potential sales. The cycle continues as more sales results in a higher rank which in turn leads to more sessions and in turn leads to more sales.

You can think of a PPC campaign as jumpstarting a positive feedback loop towards more sales.

Once your listing has generated enough sales from your PPC campaign, Amazon's search engine will organically rank your listing on the first page without the need to run another PPC campaign assuming your listing can continue to generate more sales above others.

STEP #8: GAIN POSITIVE REVIEWS

Positive reviews (4 stars or higher) are a crucial component of your listings success because of 2 reasons.

Number one: search rank

Number two: social proof.

A major factor of search rank is positive reviews.

The more positive reviews your listing has, the higher your search rank will be which in turn will lead to higher traffic and a higher conversion rate.

What you need to know:

Customers in large part will base their purchasing decision on reviews. Why?

Because reviews are a form of social proof. Positive reviews provide social proof that the product being sold is good.

The more positive reviews you have, the better, as you will gain more trust and credibility with customers which will dramatically increase your conversion rate.

How do you gain reviews you ask?

The answer is simple, you just need to ask. There's a saying in sales, "if you don't ask, you won't get."

You can ask by placing inserts in your product package asking customers to voluntarily provide an honest assessment of your product by writing a customer review.

You can also ask for reviews with an e-mail campaign.

Some best practices to follow with your email campaign are...

Use automated e-mail services:

To make your e-mail campaign a fast and efficient process, I recommend using automated e-mail services. Some good ones are Jumpsend, MailChimp, or Sendy.

Inform & Follow Up:

inform customers when they can expect their product to arrive, follow up by asking about their experience to show customers they are valued and then ask for their honest feedback.

Comply with Amazon's Seller Policies:

You should make sure that your e-mail campaign complies with Amazon's seller policies regarding reviews because any violations can result in penalties such as losing your reviews or having your account suspended.

Here is a brief statement from Amazon regarding their review policies

"Reviews are important to the Amazon Marketplace, providing a forum for feedback about product and service details and reviewers' experiences with products and services—positive or negative. You may not write reviews for products or services that you have a financial interest in, including reviews for products or services that you or your competitors sell. Additionally, you may not provide compensation (including free or discounted products) for a review. Review solicitations that ask for only positive reviews or that offer compensation are prohibited. You may not ask buyers to modify or remove reviews."

STEP #9: USE AMAZON COMPLIANT LAUNCH SERVICES

Another great way to gain positive reviews is to use Amazon product launch services.

Launch services are a great way to get a new product with no reviews in the hands of shoppers who are eager to provide their honest feedback.

With launch services, you gain the advantage of quickly accumulating customer reviews which will boost your sales velocity and improve your sales rank.

Some examples of good Amazon launch services are vipon

STEP #10: USE FBA

In April 2018, Amazon reached a record-breaking 100 million prime members globally and that number continues to grow as customers love the superior service and benefits that come with a prime membership.

When you use FBA, it's like you will be adding some of that superior service and benefits to your listing which will greatly appeal to customers.

Here are some reasons why you should strongly consider using FBA.

Shipping becomes Free for customers:

With FBA, the shipment of your product becomes free for prime members as the shipping cost are already included in their prime membership. With non-prime members, shipping is free as well as long as they meet the minimum order amount.

Put yourself in the customer's position. Would you rather buy from a seller who independently ships their products at an additional cost, or buy from a seller who uses FBA with no additional shipping cost?

The answer is obvious, if I was the customer I would rather buy from an FBA seller to avoid paying for shipping.

Faster Delivery Service:

With FBA, your product can be delivered to customers in one or two days thanks to Amazon's delivery system which is far superior above all others.

Put yourself in the customers' position. Would you rather buy from a seller who independently ships their products which can take weeks to deliver, or buy from an FBA seller who can deliver their product in one or two days?

The answer is obvious, if I was the customer I would rather buy from an FBA seller to avoid waiting longer for my order to arrive.

Easy Returns for Customers:

One of the benefits an FBA product provides customers is that it is covered under Amazon's own return policy which gives customers the option to return purchases easily and at no cost.

Put yourself in the customers' position. Would you rather buy from a third party seller who requires you to go through a troublesome return process, or buy an FBA product which is supported by Amazon's customer service and hassle-free return system?

The answer is obvious, if I was the customer I would rather buy an FBA product for hassle-free returns.

STEP #11: PROVIDE WARRANTIES AND GUARANTEES

Imagine yourself as the customer.

You like what you see and you're willing to pay the cost but what's holding you back from making a purchase is the fear that you may potentially receive a defective unit.

Or, the product may break down in the future.

Or, the product could be falsely advertised and not meet your expectations.

Buyer fear or doubt are some of the biggest obstacles to closing a sale and the only way to overcome this is to back up your product with warranties and guarantees.

Warranties give customers peace of mind by providing support in case they receive a defective unit or in case the product breaks down in the future.

Guarantees give customers confidence that what is being advertised is true and that the product will meet their expectations.

By providing customers with peace of mind and confidence you'll make them feel comfortable about making a purchase, as a result, you'll see an increase in your conversion rate.

BONUS STEP: USE NEUROMARKETING PRINCIPLES

If you really want to optimize your listing further above the competition and dominate the market, incorporate neuromarketing principles.

Neuromarketing is the newest and most advanced approach to advertising.

Simply put, neuromarketing is a psychological approach to sales.

Neuromarketing was developed from two fields of science,

neuroscience and marketing = neuromarketing.

In regards to your Amazon listing, Neuromarketing studies have discovered that a large part of our purchasing decision is largely based on emotions and subconscious primal needs.

A quick overview of these subconscious primal needs are...