The Do's and Dont's Of Amazon Product Listing Optimization

You’re already providing awesome products for Amazon customers. But making sure your products land on the screens of your target audience? That’s harder. Learning the do’s and don’ts of Amazon product listing optimization is key to ensuring your potential customers are seeing (and buying) what you’re selling. 

Amazon doesn’t show random listings to customers. Instead, the marketplace relies on an algorithm that shuffles listing orders according to keyword matches, customer search filters, sponsored listings, product titles, prices, features, images, and more. 

With this info in mind, you can apply the general do’s and don’ts of Amazon product listing optimization to make sure your items are making the cut when it comes to customer searches. When you optimize your product listings with these tips in mind, you can look forward to:

• Higher-ranking product listings in customer searches
• More product listing traffic
• Higher conversion rates
• Amplified brand and product visibility on the platform

Sound good? Let’s take a look at the do’s and don’ts to start boosting your listings for better visibility and increased conversions. 

Do: Research Relevant Keywords

If you’re not using the right keywords or leave important ones out of your product titles and descriptions, you’re missing opportunities to drive conversions. Keyword research is one of the most effective ways to optimize your product listings and it’s really easy to do. 

Try some of these methods to discover the most popular search keywords customers might use to find your products:

• Type basic product keywords (like “hoop earrings”) into the search box and let auto-complete show you relevant long-tail keywords people are searching for (like “hoop earrings for women hypoallergenic”).
• Make a list of keywords you’d use to find a product like yours -- think like a customer!
• Note the keywords your competitors use for similar products and don’t be afraid to emulate.
• Use an online Amazon keyword tool to find relevant keywords and see their search volumes.

Do: Enhance Your Product Descriptions

Your product titles provide some information for customers and factor into listing search rank, but product descriptions are the meaty portion where you can use more of the keywords you’ve researched and give more detailed information about your products. 

Amazon considers descriptions important in their search ranking system. If you can squeeze in all the information, specs, and details your customers want to know in the 2,000-word limit while optimizing descriptions with SEO in mind, you’ll benefit from higher-ranking listings and better conversion rates. 

The algorithm rewards listings with descriptions that include the following, so make sure these are in all of your product listings:

• Product features, specs, and uses
• Brand name in the brand field
• Size, color, materials, and quantity

Keeping your customers’ search intent in mind can help you craft better product descriptions. If it’s a detail you’d want to know before buying, your customers do, too! Pad your listing with plenty of detail to help your products rank higher in search results. 

Do: Check Your Listing Quality Dashboard

When did you last check your Listing Quality Dashboard? This powerhouse feature alerts you to missing product information that might lead to your items being penalized in search, tanking your conversion rates and preventing customers from seeing your products. 

You can find the Listing Quality Dashboard in Seller Central under Inventory, then click on Improve Listing Quality. The dashboard displays your products that are missing key attributes and sort them all by total page views and sales (high to low).

Hover your cursor over a product to see what it’s missing and why it’s hurting your listing -- a missing color attribute, compliance or safety details, etc.

If any of your listings are at risk of being removed from Amazon’s search results because of missing information, you’ll see them under the Review At-Risk Listings tab. You can add missing information individually by product or in bulk to update lots of listings at once. 

Don’t: Create Long Product Listing Titles

People have limited attention spans. Chances are, you’ve already skimmed over some of this guide! If you want to grab customer attention quickly and get more product listing traffic, stick with short, informative titles.

Amazon recommends using titles that are no shorter than 60, but no longer than 80 characters. With 60–80 characters, you’ve got plenty of room to display the brand name, product title, and bonus tidbits customers may want to see at a glance.

• This Sample Sentence Has Exactly 80 Characters, Making It the Ideal Title Length
• This Sentence Is the 60-Character Minimum Recommended Length

Longer titles can read as spammy to customers or lose their attention entirely. Shorter, stronger titles are a must if you want to optimize your listings on Amazon.

Don’t: Rely on Short-Tail Keywords Alone

When you’re optimizing products for Amazon’s search algorithm, the low-hanging fruit of short-tail keywords can be tempting to focus on (like “dog collar”). These are the most popular and general search terms, but every seller is competing for them.

Ranking well is a lot tougher if you’re targeting short-tail keywords alone. 

Your listings can easily get lost in the sauce if you’re only trying to rank for general keywords, but once you start tacking on extra details that narrow the search (long-tail keywords), your listings start landing in front of a targeted audience that’s more likely to actually purchase your product. 

Split your efforts between short- and long-tail keywords to see the real magic happen. Use keyword research to find the long-tail keywords with less competition (like “dog collar for large dogs heavy duty”). 

Focusing on long-tail keywords kills two birds with one stone: The short-tail keyword is still included in the phrase, and the added details put your products in more narrowly targeted customer search results to boost your conversion rates. 

Don’t: Let Your Listings Get Suppressed in Search

Amazon can and will suppress listings it considers poor or not meeting requirements from showing up in customer search results. Suppressed listings can kill an Amazon business quickly. 

Reasons Amazon might suppress listings in search include:

• Too-long titles
• Promotional and subjective phrases in titles
• Unnecessary characters, symbols, and punctuation (~ { } *)
• Titles that lack basic product information

Do a check-up in Seller Central to see if any of your listings have been suppressed. Check under Manage Inventory and click Suppressed to see any listings that need your attention before they’ll be shown in search results again. 

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