Amazon’s A9 algorithm is simply put “that thing that decides where everything goes” based on some set of rules. Some of those rules tend to change from time to time, which makes it that much more difficult to figure out. No one really knows what all of those rules are, however we can deduce some things on our own just by selling there. The longer you keep selling and the closer you keep looking into the data you get as a seller, you start to piece some of these things together. Each and every one of those things you realize about how Amazon works is extremely useful and precious knowledge. It is a given that every time you discover something new you have a way of using it to increase your sales.

Every Amazon seller knows that there is a lot of trial and error involved in this business and that if you are constantly not experimenting you will fall behind. There are 200 million people shopping on Amazon, so obviously you can always do better. If you ever catch yourself thinking that you have exhausted your products selling potential,think again. A good Amazon seller will do their best to be aware of as many different opportunities as possible. Another thing a good thing an Amazon seller does is constantly reevaluate everything that they are already doing. It is very important to remember that Amazon is always changing and not just its algorithm. The market, the competitors, and the search volumes of keywords are in a constant flux as well.

In order to be able to keep up as an Amazon seller you must develop certain practices in the way you run your business. You must also be vigilant and aware of new opportunities. One of those smart practices would be to pay attention to your organic rankings and to be on a lookout for new keywords you can rank for. This takes advantage of certain things we know about how Amazon’s algorithm works and it can present your product to new potential customers.

Let’s say that we are selling a product and that product is a fuzzy blue blanket. To start things off it would be best to simply see the search volume of your main keyword and all the other keywords related to it, in this case it would be “blanket.” We at AMZscout have developed a tool that does exactly that called the keywords explorer. Searching for the keyword “blanket” will give you a long list of results:

The interesting part is what can be done with this information. The first thing you should know is if you are ranking organically for any of these keywords already. Since we described our product as a “fuzzy blue blanket,” naturally, this would be in the title of the product. Which means we know that we are ranking for “blue blanket” and “fuzzy blanket” organically already. An organic ranking is the position a listing has once you type in a certain keyword according to the relevance to that keyword.

Using our example: this blanket might be on the first page when you type in “blue blanket” into the search bar. However when you type in “fuzzy blanket,” you might have to go all the way to page 5 or 6 to find it. It is a very important thing to be aware of what organic rankings your listing has on a certain keywords. The wise thing to do would be to search for all the relevant keywords that are in your title, bulletins, description, and backend first.

As mentioned before no one is exactly sure how the relevance of keywords used in the title as compared to the ones used in the bulletins is determined. We do know that the keywords in the title are the most relevant ones. So make sure you check the ranking for every keyword in your title + your type of product to find out your organic rankings.

The Difference Between the Organic Rank (Position) and the Bestseller Rank (BSR)

It’s another one of those things where we can only speculate, however it is obvious that those 2 rankings are not the same thing. First, you can see your Bestseller rank in your department. Additionally you can see your BSR for your specific subcategory. For example: the blue fuzzy blanket we used an as example would have a BSR for the department of Home&Kitchen. It would also have another one in the Home & Kitchen > Bedding > Blankets & Throws > Throws subcategory.

It’s obvious that the Bestseller rank is based on Amazon’s structure and system, and that is generated in the relation to Amazon’s departments and subcategories. On the other hand, every relevant keyword you can type in has to give you some results based on some criteria. Those are your organic rankings and they they are not as structured as BSRs are. Arguably you can only affect your BSR by selling more in a certain period of time. You can affect your organic ranking by selling more while being found through a certain keyword. In other words you can find new keywords where you could be relevant and make some adjustments in order to start ranking for them. Keep in mind that number of reviews and your rating also have an effect on both your BSR and your organic ranking. However, right now we are focusing on things we can do immediately to give us an advantage.

Finding New Keywords

First and foremost you should know what keywords you are ranking for organically already. Once you have done that, look into finding out if there are some that you should be ranking for and make the necessary adjustments to make it so. While looking for those keywords you can think in several different terms, like:

Synonyms – For our example, we can look for synonyms for “fuzzy” which could be: soft blanket, fluffyblanket, thick blanket, warm blanket etc..

Intended Use – In our case there are beach blankets, winter blankets, throw blankets, outdoor blankets etc…

The color – Since our example is a blue blanket, we can look into keywords like: navy blue blanket, dark blueblanket and sky blue blanket. Also, let’s say our blanket is blue with white motives. We can look into ranking for white and blue blanket as well as white blanket .

Anything that makes some kind of sense – Basically if you find a keyword interesting you should go to Amazon, type it into the search bar and look at the results. While looking at them you should ask yourself:

“Would it make sense if my listing was one of the ones listed here?”

and

“Would a person searching for this be interested in considering buying my product?”

You shouldn’t only be looking for keywords that can be used to better describe your product. For example we might want to rank for “dolphin blanket” because a person looking for one might consider ours because it’s blue. Odds are they are already planning on having a blue blanket in their room. If you look at things this way you will always be able to find new things to explore. Also you can even try to rank for keywords that are not related to your product like in our example things like throw pillows can be relevant, or bed sheets, the options are endless.

What to Do With the New Keywords

Once you find some keywords you might think are a good match for your product, it would be best to test them out. You can do this in 2 ways:

Include Them in Your Listing

It is well known that the most important keywords you rank for are the ones in your title, so if it makes sense add some new keywords there to test them out. You cannot look at your title solely as a keyword attraction tool, because it’s not. The title needs to still be appealing as well as to make sense. Your title also should not be longer than 200 characters including spaces, just to keep in mind. You can consider adding some keywords you discovered into the bulletins or the product description, especially your backend. The backend might be the best idea since we know the bulletins and the product description are not as relevant as the title. They are also expected to primarily serve as a way of informing the customer of the product and its features. It’s not wise to sacrifice that space for the sake of jamming in keywords. The backend is perfect since it’s not visible and we know it’s only there for the purpose of holding keywords and ranking. So it is prudent to include all the relevant keywords into your backend. By doing this Amazon will recognize the keywords and your listing will rank for them organically.

Include the New Keywords in Your PPC

By including your newfound keywords in your listing you are guaranteed to have an organic rank on those keywords. However, that rank is most likely going to be very low. You might start ranking for a specific keyword only to find your listing to be all the way at the 9th page once you type it in. The best way to increase that ranking, and of course to see if using that keyword is a good idea at all, is to include them in your PPC campaigns.

This is a very logical assumption that we have no reason to doubt. If an Amazon user types in a certain keyword and after doing so comes across your product and buys it, your organic rank for that keyword rises. Makes perfect sense, right? Now let’s say that you have a PPC ad displayed on the top of the first page on a certain keyword and your listing is organically ranked on the 8th page. It would make sense that when someone buys your product via PPC that your organic ranking will rise for that keyword. The logic is simple –the more someone types a certain keyword and end up buying your product Amazon will rank it higher. What Amazon’s algorithm is able to recognize is that someone came looking for something, typed in a keyword in the search bar and found your product. Amazon will then rank you higher on that keyword, since obviously if people find your product to be what they are looking for, it is in Amazon’s best interest to help them find it easier with your product.

On the other hand, if you have found a keyword and included it in your title, backend and PPC, and you don’t seem to be getting any sales from it - don’t use it anymore. If you include a certain keyword and the PPC for it produces an unacceptable ACOS or you simply don’t get any clicks from it, means that it’s not a good fit for your listing. In that case you should move on to other keywords. You might be in a situation where your listing doesn’t seem to be getting traction with a very important keyword. If that is the case, you might want to consider adapting your listing (especially your product images) to better fit that keyword.

Make This a Common Practice

It is very important to keep track of the keywords you are ranking for as well as how those keywords are doing in terms of search volume. As an Amazon seller you can never expect that you have resolved anything permanently. Make sure to always keep tabs on how the keywords you are using in your title and PPC are doing and to be on the lookout for new ones. By developing a habit of simply paying attention to the keywords relevant to your niche you can become a much more proficient Amazon seller. Let’s say that you are selling the fuzzy blue blanket and you notice that week after week the number of searches for “red fuzzy blanket” keeps rising.This might be a good time to add a red variation to your listing, or to make a variation with teddy bear prints or any print… As mentioned before in this article, you could always be selling more and evolving as an Amazon seller. Becoming adept with keywords is one of the best ways of doing that.

We at AMZscout have developed our keywords explorer having this very thing in mind. We are very aware of how much of an impact having access to this type of information can have on an Amazon business. You can find out everything related to keywords by using it. You can also register for a free 7 day trial as well.

Next time we will discuss Amazons badges, and try to figure out how exactly can you get your hands on one of those.