What do Amazon SEO services include?
Amazon SEO services make your products easier to find and choose in Amazon search: keyword research, titles, bullet points, descriptions and backend search terms, images and A+ Content, plus the listing health and pricing that keep an offer eligible to show. For a CPG brand, the goal is ranking for the terms that convert, not just more traffic.
That is how Amazon itself describes it. Amazon's SEO guide covers keyword research, titles, descriptions, bullet points, backend search terms, images and pricing, and says listing quality and account health can contribute to search rankings.
Getting found is half the job; the listing still has to convert the visit. For the image stack, A+ Content and conversion copy, see Amazon listing optimization services.
How it works
- Search term research. Brand Analytics (Search Query Performance and Top Search Terms), Product Opportunity Explorer and your own ad search term reports, sorted by which terms actually convert for your products.
- Listing rebuild. Titles, bullets, descriptions, backend search terms and image alt text written for the terms that matter, inside Amazon's limits.
- Fix what blocks ranking. Suppressed or restricted listings, stock, and eligibility for the Featured Offer, because a product that can't be bought can't rank its way to sales.
- Test and measure. Manage Your Experiments where the brand is eligible, then organic rank, sessions and conversion tracked by search term.
How does Amazon search decide what ranks?
Amazon's own SEO guide points to three things: relevance, from the keywords in your title, bullets, description and backend search terms; listing quality and account health; and the things that drive sales, such as images, competitive pricing and conversion.
Amazon's guide is specific about the listing. The title can run to 200 characters, but Amazon recommends no more than 60. Bullets work best as a one or two word description followed by 100 characters or fewer. Backend search terms go in lowercase, separated by spaces. And keyword stuffing can hurt rankings rather than help them (Amazon SEO guide).
Buyability matters as much as keywords. Amazon says an offer that is out of stock can't become the Featured Offer, and a price that is too high or suspiciously low can make it ineligible (Amazon).
What does Amazon SEO look like in practice?
For a lash care brand, three restricted ASINs were relisted and the five main listing images rebuilt, with ad spend held flat. Over six weeks, click through rate rose 184%, conversion rose 193% and purchases rose 119%.
Nothing else ran in that window: no new channel, no extra spend. It is the cleanest picture of what fixing an existing listing is worth. Read the lash care case study, or see all case studies.
Results are specific to each brand and the time period shown. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Amazon SEO or Amazon PPC: which comes first?
Usually the listing. Ads buy traffic, but they can't fix a listing that doesn't convert, and Amazon says a Sponsored Products ad for a listing that isn't eligible for the Featured Offer won't display at all.
Once the listing converts, ads and organic rank work together. Our Amazon agency page covers how we run advertising, and TACoS reduction covers keeping ad spend efficient as organic sales grow. Source for the ad eligibility rule: the Amazon Ads FAQ. For negative keyword match types, see Amazon's match type guide.
How much do Amazon SEO services cost?
Pricing is discussed on the call, because the scope depends on your catalog.
Frequently asked questions
How do I do keyword research on Amazon?
Start with Amazon's own data. Type terms into the Amazon search box and note the suggestions, read competitor listings, and use Product Opportunity Explorer. Brands enrolled in Brand Registry also get Brand Analytics, where Search Query Performance shows the queries leading shoppers to your brand with impressions, clicks and cart adds. Mix broad short tail terms with specific long tail ones.
How do I make keywords relevant on Amazon?
Put the primary terms in the title, secondary terms in the bullets and description, and synonyms or alternate names in backend search terms. Write for the shopper, not the algorithm: Amazon warns that keyword stuffing can hurt rankings, and suggests that if you use a key phrase once, you probably don't need it again.
What are negative keywords, and when do you use negative exact vs negative phrase?
Negative keywords stop your Sponsored Products ads from showing on searches you don't want. Negative exact blocks a search matching the exact phrase or a close variation, up to 10 words. Negative phrase blocks any search containing the complete phrase or close variations, up to 4 words. Use exact to cut one wasteful search and phrase to cut a whole family of them.
Do backend search terms still matter on Amazon?
Yes, according to Amazon. Backend search terms are not visible to shoppers, but they can help a product rank for specific searches. Use them for synonyms, abbreviations and alternate names, in lowercase, separated by spaces, and leave out redundant or irrelevant terms.