Amazon’s search engine operates on an algorithm that rewards certain things and penalizes others. With that being said, understanding the Amazon algorithm, known as A9, is your ticket to success on Amazon.

You might be an established seller or just getting started in eCommerce. Whichever the case, there’s always something you can learn about the Amazon algorithm to make your business work better.

This post will walk you through what A9 is and how it works so you can optimize your listings to make it work for you.

How the Amazon Algorithm Works

Basically, when you understand the Amazon algorithm, your products can rank high on Amazon’s Search Engine Page Results (SERP) and you have better chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box.

High rankings on Amazon for the right keywords is the best way to drive purchase-ready customers to your listings so they can click the Buy button. If you can follow A9 and optimize accordingly, you can experience a lasting boost in conversions.

The A9 algorithm is a system that Amazon developed to determine which products should be shown to customers when they search the marketplace using keywords. Below are the major ranking factors that come into play for Amazon searches.

• Relevance

This works similarly to the way Google chooses what search results to display when keywords are entered into that engine. In other words, A9 will rank you if your keywords match what customers are typing. But that is only the beginning.

• Conversions

Amazon is focused on selling more. It’s a business that makes money when third-party sellers sell more. Unlike the Google algorithm, then, A9 will look at whether or not your listing is converting. If your keywords aren’t relevant, you will get a lot of traffic but not a lot of sales.

The Amazon algorithm will then drop you from the rankings. This is so that they can feature listings that are generating sales and are more likely to result in bigger profits for the marketplace.

Relevance and conversions work together as well to achieve higher rankings on Amazon searches. If your listing uses relevant keywords that take customers to the products they are looking to buy, you will get more sales, which will result in higher rankings. If your listing is highly ranked, you will get even more converting traffic, sales, and so on.

That being said, the goal is to optimize listings with keywords that drive more relevant traffic from purchase-ready customers.

• High-Volume Keywords

You want to optimize your listings with keywords that are used by more customers when they search for products to buy on Amazon. The best way to find them is to use a keyword research tool that’s specifically designed for Amazon. A quick search on Google for “Amazon keyword research tool” will yield tons of results to choose from, depending on your budget and how deep you want to go.

You do need to have what are called “seed keywords,” though. These are the keywords that you start with to generate more ideas. To get these, the best thing to do is to look at similar products to yours on Amazon that are high-ranking and look at the keywords that they are using on their listings.

Jot those down and plug them into the tool of your choice. You can, of course, also use your own ideas for terms that you know are relevant for your product and that customers have used to find your listings.

The last step is to take the most searched keywords from the tool and use them to optimize your listings. Make sure you take only the relevant ones!

• Competition

Note that the most highly-searched terms will also likely have a ton of competition. You can combine these with lower-volume keywords with less competition to balance it out. This way, you can get some traffic to help boost your rankings as the Amazon algorithm works your listing up the rankings for the competitive search terms.

Optimizing for the Amazon Algorithm

Put simply, Amazon A9 had a point system for ranking listings based on keywords. To get the highest possible score, you need to place your keywords into your listings in a strategic manner. As you distribute them according to the tips below, remember that each element of your listing must, above all, read well – don’t just stuff them with keywords!

• Title

This is where the best of the best keywords go. Include as many as you can without affecting readability. You can use connector words because Amazon does not count those as part of the keywords and phrases. You can also use pipes (|) and dashes (–) to separate the benefits and features you are highlighting.

• Bullets

This is where the next best keywords go. Use synonyms, too, where it makes sense. Add at least one keyword per bullet point that’s relevant to the benefit and feature. You can use longer variations (key phrases) of the main keywords here to support the title.

• Description

This is where you can expand on your product’s benefits and features, and where all the rest of your keywords and synonyms and long-tail variations can go. But don’t write senseless or repetitive information just to get more keywords into the listing! Customers will get annoyed and be less likely to buy. This means that you will lose ranking even if your listing ranked well initially because of the keyword content.

How to Improve Sales Conversions

You need a high conversion rate to get and keep high Amazon rankings. This means creating your listing copy in such a way that attracts and persuades. Customers need to want to buy from you instead of just using your listing to do a comparison.

• Clearly State The Benefit(s) Of Your Product(s)

Most sellers focus on talking about product features. You need to focus on product benefits – what customers get and how their lives will change when they use your product. Create for them a clear picture in their minds with your copy so they can see the wonderful improvements they will experience when they click Buy Now.

• Have a Unique Selling Point

You need to communicate your product’s unique selling point. See to it that customer knows how your product is different from – and better than! – all the other similar products out there. Tell them about secondary uses, too, so that they can see how much more useful the product is than the competition.

• Provide Social Proof

If you have recommendations or endorsements (other than Amazon reviews), add them to your listings. This supports your reviews with stories from other people whose lives have been made easier, more convenient, etc., by the addition of your product.

• Include Images

Make sure you follow Amazon’s image guidelines when you choose listing photos. Within those guidelines, choose product pictures that give customers as full a view as possible of the product and its benefits. Custom graphics and in-use shots are great for discussing further benefits. Then don’t neglect to add titles and alt text optimized with your keywords.

Final Thoughts

Your listing needs to pass the Amazon algorithm’s standards to gain and maintain rankings on the platform. One good way to check if you’re doing well with your optimization is to take a glance at it and see if you can capture the vital information about the product in 3 seconds. If not, rework the elements that are lacking until it does.

Once you have your optimized listing, prepare for a flood of new visitors and sales! You need to be able to cope with the increase in volume and make sure that you are satisfying customers or risk losing your rankings due to poor seller performance feedback and bad reviews.

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About the Author:

Matt Harrison is the VP of Strategy of FreeUp, the preeminent freelance marketplace for hiring high quality, vetted talent. He has hired freelancers from around the world and built teams to service multinational brands resulting from over $100 million in web hosting company acquisitions. He currently lives in St. Petersburg, FL.

With that in mind, it is important that you understand how Amazon product ranking algorithm works. Thus, making it necessary for you to learn not just Amazon SEO, but also the dynamics of the Amazon ranking algorithm. Understanding how Amazon A9 search engine works will guide you on how to optimize your Amazon listing for better results.

The Product Ranking Amazon A9 Algorithm Dynamics

According to Statista, Amazon’s combined mobile and desktop visits from 2019 to 2020 amounted to over 2.44 billion. Thus, making it the most visited eCommerce platform in the United States. Amazon.com leads by a wide margin over other online selling platforms, with 214.8 million users.

With such statistics in mind, it is crucial for Amazon sellers to rank their product on the first page of the Amazon A9 search engine result if they want to take advantage of the numerous online transactions. To serve as a starting point, having a better understanding of how the Amazon A9 algorithm works would be beneficial. Without a clear understanding of the Amazon A9 search engine and how it works, Amazon sellers don’t always maximize the full potential of their business.

Similar to the Google algorithm, Amazon ranking algorithm performs data analysis, which includes the analysis of historical traffic patterns, since Amazon’s searches are not informational, but rather more transactional in nature. Apart from data analysis, the Amazon A9 algorithm also performs indexing, for it indexes the inputted text in the Amazon listing.

When performing a search, the algorithm takes into consideration the most optimal matches to that of the customer’s search keyword/s and the item relevancy. What makes the Amazon algorithm unique from other online selling platforms is its capability to automatically learn the combination of various relevant features. It is also capable of analyzing past search patterns in order to adapt to what is relevant to the customer’s search.

To simplify its functionality, the Amazon algorithm focuses more on relevance and performance. The “relevance” aspect of its search relates to how products are optimized, especially in its description and use of proper keywords.

On the other hand,  the “performance” aspect relates to the historical performance of a product in terms of its sales history. That is why products that are well-optimized and have been generating sales in the past are more likely to rank higher, as Amazon product ranking algorithm favors both

To boost the historical performance aspect of your product or its sales performance, make use of Amazon seller tools, like Amazon repricers. Amazon repricers will help secure your profit margin and potentially increase the Amazon Buy Box winning rate.

Reliable algorithmic repricers like Seller Snap will deliver an automated repricing strategy to help maximize your profit potential. To learn more about AI repricers, CLICK HERE.

Effective Optimization for Better Amazon A9 Search Engine Ranking

Successful sellers on Amazon understand that in order to rank higher in Amazon search results and increase chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box, an Amazon SEO strategy should be established. Amazon SEO is one of the factors that the Amazon A9 algorithm takes into account. In order to improve your Amazon SEO campaign and for your Amazon listing to be more A9 algorithmic friendly, here are some particular elements to check and optimize.

Handle Title & Brand Name Well

Using the correct title on your Amazon listing has a huge impact on your product ranking. In order for your title to be A9 algorithm friendly, it is suggested that titles should mimic the text found on the physical packaging of the product. In terms of length, titles must not have more than 200 characters, including spaces. To know more about policies for writing listings, CLICK HERE.

The product title should be keyword rich and identify the item you are selling. Take note that the wording employed on your title will determine your potential spot on the Amazon search result page.

Similarly, consideration should also be assigned to the brand designation. Your brand name should be included in the title format. This will increase the chance for your product to rank on searches that are filtered by shoppers according to brand.

Deal With Back-end Keywords

When it comes to ranking your product on the Amazon search engine results page, you should also consider back-end keywords. Back-end keywords do not appear to shoppers checking your Amazon listing page. They are hidden terms that can be inputted in the back-end search field when preparing/editing your Amazon listing.

To help you access the back-end keywords section, here are simple steps to follow:

STEP 1: Click the “Inventory” tab on your Seller Central account

STEP 2: Go to the right side of the page and look for the “Edit” button beside your active products. Click the “Edit” button

STEP 3: You are now in the “Edit Product Info” screen and will automatically see the “Offer” navigation tab

STEP 4: Click on “Keywords” to open the “Search Terms” section

Back-end keywords will help your product reach more relevant traffic. If you are familiar with the WordPress plugin, Yoast, the concept of back-end keywords are somehow closely related to “Keyphrase Synonyms.” For example, if you are selling a hand moisturizer, one potential back-end keyword to use would be hand lotion; for other users may use such terms as their search keyword. To know more about the effective use of search terms, CLICK HERE.

Improve Bullet Points

Another avenue for optimization would be bullet points. Amazon allows you to include at least 5 bullet points in order to quickly highlight your Amazon product. The best Amazon sellers are fully aware of the importance of bullet points.

Bullet points found on the “About the product” section of the listing serve as a quick and substantial preview for shoppers. Bullet points should be used efficiently to effectively convey what your product is and why it stands out over its competitors on the Amazon marketplace.

Product Description

As mentioned above, one of the main basis for ranking a product by the Amazon A9 algorithm is conversion or sales history. For that matter, you should optimize your product description well.

In optimizing this section, mere keyword stuffing will not work. Since your goal is to attract more potential buyers, your product description should be informative, brief, and engaging. Make use of marketing language and strategy that will help answer the query or need of a shopper. Make your description look natural while maintaining proper keyword balance.