7 simple tips to improve Amazon ranking
With dozens of people searching for products like yours and hundreds of sellers selling either a similar or even the very same product, it’s important to understand how to increase organic sales on Amazon, for example – or how to boost your Amazon listing.
Amazon search rankings are pretty much the Holy Grail for sellers. From integrating the right keywords and earning customer reviews to uploading high-quality images and optimising the price, there are many steps you can take to increase sessions on Amazon and, hence, boost your Amazon listings.
How to increase product ranking on Amazon?
“Why am I not getting sales on Amazon?” is a question that has many sellers scratching their heads. There could be many reasons behind this, including not having a reasonably good understanding of how Amazon’s search engine algorithm works (it’s a lot different to Google’s than you may know).
If you’re not sure how to grow on Amazon or you’re struggling to rank, here are some suggestions for Amazon growth that are sure to point you in the right direction:
Tip #1: Include keywords for Amazon SEO (not Google)
If you want to increase organic sales or boost your Amazon listing, one of the first things you must consider are your keywords – i.e. are you integrating the right ones?
Choosing the right Amazon keywords will help you reach the maximum number of leads – more leads means more conversions, and hence, an increase in sessions on Amazon.
To find the appropriate keywords for your listings, there are both paid and free tools available online, although to find the most accurate and relevant ones, we’d highly recommend consulting an Amazon ad and marketing agency. Researching the right keywords is a step in the right direction and is among the most common suggestions for Amazon growth that you will hear from experts.
Now, once you have found your ideal keyword(s), you need to place it in your product title, because this is how people will find your product.
As you complete your Amazon listing, include your primary and secondary keywords throughout your product description and product details. Be careful though as you don’t want to stuff your listings with too many keywords – as long as you are using them once, that is enough to rank for them. Amazon will know that you are trying to rank for specific keywords, and if those are high-value or sought after keywords, more people will discover your product easily.
Having trouble fitting all researched keywords into your description? No problem – just plug them into your listing’s backend. Amazon does offer backend keywords which you can fit into your site’s backend. Naturally, your buyers will not be able to see these, but your product will still rank for them. Let’s call them off-page or backend keywords for now. It’s important to have both on-page and backend keywords as it can help you boost Amazon listings (compared to using on-page or visible keywords only).
Tip#2: Earn positive customer reviews
Among the most common suggestions for Amazon growth this year: earn more customer reviews.
Amazon truly values customer satisfaction – they want new people to choose Amazon over other online buying platforms and, therefore, if your product is getting plenty of good reviews, it will rank higher. The more business Amazon gets, the higher your product ranks.
Some people, however, are either shy to leave reviews online or simply don’t bother with it. Well, that’s understandable, considering how most are pressed for time – that’s why they’re probably buying from Amazon to begin with and not a brick-and-mortar store.
Therefore, it is up to you to encourage your buyers to take a moment and leave an honest review about how they would rank their experience and the product itself. You don’t even need to earn 5-star reviews only to improve your ranking or increase organic sales – even a handful of 4+ star reviews will boost your Amazon listing.
Also, don’t be alarmed if you don’t get too many 4+ star reviews – if people see 4+ or 5-start reviews only, they might start to wonder if your reviews are genuine. So, it is okay to get mixed reviews every now and then, although you’d want the majority of them to be 3.5+ and 4+ star reviews, as it will give people a chance to see what others specifically like or dislike about your product.
Getting negative reviews? Worry not – take some time out to respond to them. Correct issues whenever possible and tell the buyer what you can do for them to improve the experience – people don’t really recall a tonne of positive reviews but if they see even one or two bad reviews, they are likely to remember them for a long time as they stick out like a sore thumb!
When potential buyers see that you acknowledged a poor experience and tried your best to rectify issues, they will feel very confident buying from you – it’s a very clever way to increase sessions on Amazon.
Tip #3: If you’re not using the parent-child feature (variations), start using it now!
When someone looks at your product, they have a natural tendency to want to see all the available options. So, say, you offer something in different sizes or colours, your prospective buyer should be able to see them all under a single listing and not go through individual listings just to pick a different size or colour.
The parent-child feature lets you display all your varieties under a single listing. So, if you’re selling men’s shirts, for instance, your audience would be able to see the available sizes and colours under one listing.
Customer convenience aside, this also allows you to see all your reviews in one place – indeed a great way to boost Amazon listing and continue to see your leads grow under a single listing.
Tip #4: Answer Amazon customer questions
Answering Amazon customer questions will indirectly affect your product ranking.
And, even though it doesn’t directly impact your ranking, it’s important to follow this step when we talk about “how to grow in Amazon”; it affects conversions which definitely have a direct impact on your ranking.
Amazon certainly places value on it so you should do your best to answer customer questions. In doing so, you will start to see the benefits soon:
- Build more trust with your audience
- Earn more conversions
- Improve product exposure
- Learn from your audience (to better serve their needs or address pain points)
All of the above can potentially help you increase Amazon product rankings.
Amazon understands all too well that people will ultimately have questions about your product, which is why they include a link at the top of each product listing.
Now, whenever your buyers ask questions, you should be ever-ready to dive deep into understanding their pain points and really take the time to answer them – because there’s a very good chance that other buyers have similar questions or the exact same ones. If the question has already been asked, they’ll already have an answer. This builds trust and credibility.
You could also look at it this way: if people don’t get answers to their questions, they will likely not buy your product.
By answering questions and addressing concerns, however, you are actively encouraging more people to buy from you. This means more conversions for your listing, which will indefinitely improve your ranking.
Tip #5: Optimise your price
Setting the right price can have a major impact on your product’s rankings. What happens is Amazon looks at your price, compares it to your competitors’ prices, and then estimates the conversion rate for your product.
If your product turns out to be pricier than your competitors’, Amazon will automatically rank it lower because it believes you won’t get as many conversions.
This makes perfect sense as Amazon customers want the best deal they can get. If your fellow sellers are pricing something at around £25 and you’re pricing it nearly double that, then buyers (which could have been potentially yours) will certainly buy from your competitor. Amazon understands this all too well and, therefore, will not even bother ranking your product highly for the given keyword.
It goes without saying: if you want to rank well for a specific keyword, the first thing you want to do is check your competitors’ listings. What price range do they have? If their prices fit into your price range, then that’s a great Amazon keyword to rank for as long as the price is something you’re willing to compete on or beat altogether – that will help you gain valuable leads.
Top tip: Don’t price on being the cheapest. price based on your margin and if in doubt use a high pricing velocity tool which focuses on keeping your price up and still obtain the buybox
Tip #6: Use high-quality images
When it comes to “how to increase product ranking on Amazon” naturally, photos are one of the most important elements that can help you earn more conversions. High-quality images are all a part of the Amazon SEO game, so you need to make sure yours look good.
There’s a ‘zoom’ feature in Amazon which lets users zoom in on a product by hovering their mouse over it. It’s really helpful if you think about it as it gets people interested and coaxes them to buy the product.
Test this yourself first – when you zoom in, are all the details crystal clear? If people zoom in on low-quality photos they will likely not convert. But, on the other hand, when they get to view high-quality photos, they will make the decision to buy with little effort (as long as your product meets their needs).
Tip #7: Create more content (particularly video)
This ranking factor is an extension of the previous one (high quality photos) – sellers have known for a long time how quality images are important to their product listings but what they may not know is that there are other types of content which can be created and then shared around their product – helping to eventually rank that product higher.
Video, in particular, is highly valuable and, interestingly, largely unused. There’s a good reason TikTok is so wildly popular today: people just love consuming video and can’t seem to get enough. Videos are an opportunity to really show your customers up close what your product can do – something which simply cannot be achieved with photos, no matter how high-quality they are.
If you’re not sure where to start with the videos, here are a few ideas to inspire you:
- Try narrated explainer videos
- Show videos that display a 360° view of your product
- Shoot a product unboxing video and include it in your listing
- Full-fledged video product review
- Grab some customer testimonials on video
- Show “action” videos that show the product being practically used under a common use-case
No matter how basic or ‘boring’ your product may be, there’s always something you can do to create great video content for it. For example, collaborating with influencers can help you create a superb product video, where you ask them to do a video review or unboxing video. You see TV manufacturers doing this all the time by working with a popular industry expert, insider, or influencer on YouTube or TikTok.
Approaching an influencer to make a video of your product and then introduce it to their own audience as well, is a great way to get noticed and, ultimately, make your product rankings skyrocket.
Why am I not getting sales on Amazon – no more!
These tips should help you understand how to grow on Amazon and answer several questions related to “how to increase product ranking on Amazon”, which has even experienced sellers stumped at times.
With Chris and his Amazon expert marketing team on your side, there’s practically no room for error, only consistent sales growth and more popularity around your Amazon listings. Give us a call so we can show you firsthand through a free initial consultation how you can start taking the right steps to boost your Amazon listing, increase organic sales, increase sessions on Amazon, and much more.
These suggestions for Amazon growth should do it for the time being but you absolutely need a product sales and ranking plan tailored to your exact goals and objectives – in order to beat the competition and keep your buyers happy!
