eCommerce & Digital Solutions
eCommerce & Digital Solutions
A step-by-step guide to Amazon listing optimization: keywords, title, bullets, description, backend terms, images, A+ content and reviews.
An Amazon listing has two jobs. It has to be found, which means Amazon's search engine needs to understand what the product is. And it has to convert, which means a shopper who lands on it decides to buy rather than going back to the results.
This guide goes through each part of the page in the order we usually work on them.
Everything else depends on this, so do it first. You are looking for the words real shoppers type when they want a product like yours.
Sort the list into three groups: the two or three terms that define the product, the supporting terms for features and uses, and the long-tail phrases that are specific but lower volume.
The title carries the most weight for search and it is the first thing a shopper reads. It needs to be readable first and keyword-rich second.
A reliable structure is: brand, main product term, key feature or material, size or quantity, and main use. Put the most important keyword near the start, because Amazon truncates long titles on mobile.
Avoid stuffing. A title that reads as a list of keywords looks untrustworthy and can breach Amazon's style rules for your category. Check the category style guide in Seller Central, as length limits vary.
Bullet points are where shoppers decide. Most people skim them, so lead each one with the benefit and then explain the feature that delivers it.
Bullets are indexed for search, so they are a good place for terms that did not fit the title.
If you have A+ Content, the plain-text description is often replaced on desktop, but it still appears in some places and on some devices, so do not leave it empty. Use it to tell the fuller story: how the product is used, what makes it different, and any reassurance about quality or guarantees. Write in short paragraphs.
The listing editor has a hidden search terms field. Shoppers never see it, but Amazon indexes it. Use it for relevant keywords that did not fit the visible copy: alternative spellings, regional words and related terms.
Images do more for conversion than anything else on the page. Shoppers judge the main image in the search results before they have read a word.
The main image must show the product on a pure white background, filling most of the frame, with nothing that is not in the box. Use the remaining slots to answer questions visually:
Upload at high resolution so zoom works. If your category allows video, a short clip is worth adding.
If your brand is enrolled in Brand Registry, you can replace the plain description with A+ Content: image and text modules further down the page.
Good A+ Content answers the questions the bullets could not. Use it for comparison charts across your range, larger lifestyle images, and short sections on materials or care. Keep the text short, let the images do the work, and fill in the alt text because it is indexed. We have a separate guide to A+ Content examples and layouts.
Reviews affect both ranking and conversion, and they are the part of the listing you control least directly. What you can do:
Never pay for reviews or offer incentives. Amazon's enforcement is strict and the account risk is not worth it.
Listing optimization is not a one-off task. After you make changes, watch sessions and conversion rate in your business reports for a few weeks. If sessions rose but conversion fell, the keywords are bringing the wrong traffic. If conversion rose, apply the same change to your other listings.
If you can only do three things: fix the main image, rewrite the title around your most important keyword, and rewrite the bullets to lead with benefits.
If you would rather hand the whole thing over, listing optimization and Amazon SEO are part of our marketplace services. We will look at what you have now and tell you what we would change before you commit to anything.
