10 Amazon Product Listing Optimization Tips

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WHAT TO INCLUDE A PRODUCT LISTING

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR AMAZON LISTING?

10 WAYS TO OPTIMIZE AMAZON LISTING

It’s no secret Amazon is a massive, crowded marketplace, with hundreds of millions of shoppers browsing their site each month. That’s because Amazon has managed to create an incredibly sophisticated platform, with a built-in audience that’s always ready to buy.

 

But regardless if you’re a burgeoning brand or an established ecommerce seller, when customers can quickly locate and review your products on Amazon, your company is sure to stand out in a sea of competitors. By making an effort to clean up and take control of your Amazon listings, you can actively monitor your inventory, respond to issues, and provide superior customer service. But first, let’s start with understanding what a product listing is and why it’s a key component of driving sales.

What is a product listing?

A product listing is a dedicated webpage for each product that is listed for sale online by a seller. This is a key component in the e-commerce buying journey as this page serves as the “first impression” for people who are interested in purchasing a product. In a marketplace like Amazon, creating the right product page can be the differentiator between someone buying your product or a competitor’s. 

What are Amazon product listings?

An Amazon listing usually includes all relevant product information such as name, description, price, pictures, and reviews. This page should function to represent a product to buyers in a realistic way, while representing the seller’s brand. A well-optimized Amazon product listing can help a product stand out from other similar items, build credibility, and drive sales. It’s very important for sellers to get Amazon product listings right as it plays a big part in the customer’s decision to buy a product or not.

What To Include In An Amazon Product Listing?

Amazon product listings consist of six key features or components: title, images, description, features, reviews, and ratings. When these elements are properly utilized, they can help brands really stand out within the bustling Amazon marketplace.

1. Product Title 

A product title is often the first thing a potential buyer notices about your listing, which is why it’s so important your title is well-crafted to grab their attention. Amazon allows up to 200 characters per title for most product categories, but 100 to 150 characters will likely be your sweet spot to allow for the best customer experience.

2. Product Photos

It might go without saying, but your product images need to be high-quality if you hope to convert browsers into buyers. Amazon’s top sellers tend to include five to eight images in their listings, though six images seems to be a happy medium that informs (rather than overwhelms) the customers visiting your page.

3. Product Description

The best product descriptions blend creativity with keyword optimization to improve your rankings and drive conversions. These descriptions can have a huge effect on a shopper’s perception of your product(s), and can convince them why they need to buy from your brand and not pursue whatever a competitor is offering.

4. Product Features

Product features typically appear as bullet points, which are much simpler and easier to read than large blocks of text. Most shops stick to around five bullet points per product, as a way to really hone in on its greatest attributes or assets. You’re also encouraged to include those unique elements that distinguish your product from similar sellers. 

5. Product Reviews

Since the majority of online shoppers rely on customer reviews, it’s necessary for you to gather honest opinions about your product’s pricing, value, and so on. When someone is interested in purchasing from your store, Amazon product reviews can have a powerful impact on whether or not they complete the transaction.

6. Star Ratings

A product’s reviews go hand-in-hand with its ratings; essentially, the more reviews you have, the higher your ratings. If an item lands within the range of four to five stars, it’s safe to say that particular product is performing well. 

But if an item falls below four stars, there are definitely ways to improve your product data and metrics. All you need to do is look for patterns within your negative reviews, and come up with a solution to the product flaws or defects your customers are complaining about.

What Is Detail Page Control?

The primary landing page for any Amazon product is known as a detail page. While there are a number of factors that influence what content is displayed on this page, there are really three levels of detail page control for any item sold on Amazon.

Level 1: Seller Contribution

The first level of detail page control is known as seller contribution. Simply put, any seller on a listing can contribute content — like product photos, features, and descriptions — to the detail page. But when multiple sellers are posting content on the same listing, Amazon will employ an algorithm to determine what content is the most appropriate to display to consumers. 

Level 2: Brand Registry

Did you know your company can actually have its own Amazon URL? The ability to register your brand isn’t all that new, but it is undervalued by large and small businesses alike. 

When you register with Amazon, your customers can easily land on your site and enjoy more of a direct-to-consumer experience. Plus, this action supports customer loyalty and brand autonomy (despite still selling within the expansive Amazon platform).

Level 3: Vendor Central

Vendor Central is an invite-only platform for businesses who want to sell their products to Amazon itself. Any time a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer sells products directly to Amazon via Vendor Central, they become the supplier. In essence, Amazon sends a purchase order detailing what they’d like to buy, and then the supplier ships the inventory Amazon ordered.

It’s important to note the content submitted to Vendor Central will retain priority and override Brand Registry, in a move known as ‘Retail Contributions.’

How To Organize Your Amazon Product Listings? 

Keeping track of inventory can snowball into a mess the more your Amazon business grows. Here are two things you need to be aware of to keep your inventory organized. 

Duplicate Listings

Sellers might choose to create duplicate listings for a variety of reasons — perhaps they never took the time to look up the UPC on a product to find the original listing, or they never made a new code where one was missing. 

However, it’s more likely a seller introduced duplicate products to have their own listing, which can drive Amazon sponsored ads or organic traffic without having to fight for the buy box.

Parent Child Variations

It’s possible items in certain categories are listed within a product variation theme, such as size, color, or flavor. When these variations show up on a single detail page, customers have the ability to choose exactly what they want. In addition, multi-packs can also be placed in a parent-child variation by making each option a different size (i.e. one pack versus two).

10 Ways To Optimize Your Amazon Listings

Every Amazon business owner should be eager to implement new opportunities for discovery and engagement among their potential customers. Optimizing your Amazon listings is a simple way to drive traffic to your product pages and give customers the branded store experiences they’re looking for.

1. Apply for Amazon Brand Registry

As we mentioned, although Amazon’s Brand Registry isn’t a new offering, it’s still not leveraged by a high volume of ecommerce companies. Applying for the registry not only validates your company in a big way, but you can register multiple brands under one umbrella, as well. 

The primary function of Brand Registry is to let sellers gain detail page control, and to report any intellectual property or counterfeit infringements. By enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry, you’ll unlock a suite of tools to help build and protect your brand, and ultimately, give your customers the navigation they deserve.

2. Track Existing Amazon Listings

A crucial part of being a successful Amazon seller is managing your inventory. To begin, create a spreadsheet to track your existing product listings, by typing in any variations of your brand name, product name, or model number in the search bar. For each product, take note of the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), as well as the 10-digit alphanumeric number. 

Because Amazon ties every UPC to a single ASIN, you’ll also need to determine whether any of your primary barcodes are already in use. You can manually check on this by going to Inventory – Add a Product, and entering the UPC.

If a listing pops up, that will be the primary ASIN for your listing. The products you find will typically fall into one of three categories: (1) a legitimate listing using your manufacturer UPC, (2) a duplicate listing using your product title, photos, etc, or (3) a knockoff listing partially using your brand name, photos, and so on.

HEALTHY ORGANIC REVIEWS vs. COUNTERFEIT REVIEWS

3. Keep Track Of Existing Sellers

Once you’ve categorized your current listings, you’ll want to inventory the Amazon sellers related to those listings. For each detail page, select the option to view all available listings by other sellers; when you click on a seller’s name, you’ll automatically be taken to their storefront.

In a new tab on your spreadsheet, copy both the seller’s display name and their seller ID. Then, add any ASINs they’re listing next to that seller ID. 

Note, the reason it’s so important to include their ID along with their display name, is that a seller can change their name at any time. Their ID, on the other hand, will always remain the same, and allow you to track said seller even if their display name looks different later on.

4. Create Optimized Amazon Listings

Using a Flat File Template (that is, Amazon’s Excel-based templates for adding new products), you can develop optimized product listings for all inventory items. Regardless if these products already exist or will be new listings, you’ll still want to meet the following optimization criteria.

a) Conduct SEO Keyword Research for Amazon

Amazon SEO keyword research is the foundation for any profitable listing, so you’re wise to analyze which search terms customers are using to find products similar to yours. With this knowledge, you can be proactive to include those keywords in your listing, and make sure your products have as many eyes on them as possible.

b) Optimize Your Amazon Listing Titles

While you’ll need to abide by the style guides Amazon provides for your specific category, you can optimize your product titles by including your brand name, followed by the most relevant, highest-searched keywords. Your title should be specific, but brief, and grab the attention of your customer within a limited character allowance. 

c) Highlight Product Features

For each of your bullet points, you’ll want to include quality product features, plus benefits customers can expect from using the product. Don’t simply tell customers what your product does — share how it can improve some aspect of their everyday lives. Using all caps can be a great way to highlight a particular feature (or benefit) of what you’re selling.

d) Create Easy-to-Read Product Descriptions

The goal of each description is to help the customer imagine what it’s like to use your product. While Amazon has placed certain restrictions on HTML use in their style guides, you can use the bold (<b>) and break (<br>) code to split up the product description and make it easier to read. And don’t forget to add in a handful of keywords here, too.

 

e) Use Clear Product Images

Product images on Amazon need to be at least 1000 pixels on the longest side, and 500 pixels on the shortest side. The main image on your listing should showcase the product on its own, positioned on a pure white background. Any additional images should be shot from different angles, and show practical ways to use your product on a daily basis.

f) Search Terms

While Amazon search terms only exist within the back end of your product, they’re still incredibly helpful in driving traffic toward your listings. Right there in the first search term field, you’ll want to include any terms you were unable to fit in the product title (thanks to the confines of the 200-character limit).

5. Manage Your Amazon Listings Regularly

After you’ve optimized your listings within a template, you’ll finally be ready to upload them. For products assigned a UPC barcode, you’ll want to use that code as the product ID. Then, when you upload your template, Amazon will scour current listings to check if that UPC already exists and is assigned to an ASIN. (If it does exist, you’ll receive an error that some of your information does not match what’s listed on Amazon.)

Save a copy of the template, add -ASIN in the title for reference, and paste the ASIN in the product ID over the UPC. In the product ID type field, manually enter the ASIN (since it isn’t available as a dropdown option). 

Next, change the update delete field to Partial Update. Repeat this process for as many errors as you received in the upload report, and then upload the template again. This time, it’ll override the values in the back end of Amazon, and along with Brand Registry, it’ll push the updates through to the detail page somewhere between fifteen minutes and twenty-four hours.

For sellers with a registered brand, you’ll want to do a Partial Update using the product ID (typically UPC or MPN), with only the required information in the first portion of the template. Doing so will mobilize Brand Registry and assign your products a GCID.  

To verify which of your products are currently activated by Brand Registry, go to: Reports – Business Reports – Brand Performance. Every product in your catalog that has Brand Registry activated will be listed there.

6. Communicating With Infringing Sellers Is Not Allowed (Anymore)

In 2018, Amazon updated its policy to prohibit seller-to-seller communication, which was previously used to send cease and desist letters to unauthorized sellers. In the years since this update, Amazon has also added filtering at the server level to block any messages or communication referencing infringement.

As stated in Amazon’s terms of service: “This form is for use by Amazon customers to ask product-related questions of sellers on our third-party platforms (Amazon Marketplace and Merchants). The use of this form to send unrelated messages to sellers is strictly prohibited.”

7. Report Copyright, Trademark, Counterfeit & Listing Abuse Infringements

When contacting fellow sellers on Amazon, it’s important to reference the specific policy that’s being violated. In addition, when it comes to duplicate listings or a trademark in a competitor’s title, you can specify in your report that the infringement is against the listing itself (rather than against the seller). This helps you remove unauthorized use of IP, but without creating an influx of emails from merchants who were selling on that listing without knowledge of the infringement.

Whenever you submit an infringement report, Amazon requires you to acknowledge the following statement, so you fully understand the infringement you’re reporting and the consequences of submitting a complaint against other sellers that are false or inaccurate.

“As an Amazon seller, I understand that submitting false or inaccurate complaints against other sellers may result in the suspension or termination of my Amazon selling privileges.”

Duplicate Listings

A duplicate listing describes a secondary listing of the same product, often created with a reseller UPC. The goal of Amazon’s duplicate listing policy is to remove (or merge) all sellers from the duplicate listing so it becomes inactive.

Trademark Infringement

Trademark infringement describes a seller who is using your trademarked brand name in their title, copy, or display name. The goal of Amazon’s trademark infringement policy is to have the seller performance team remove the trademarked term(s) from the listing.

Counterfeit Products

Counterfeit products describe a fraudulent imitation of lesser quality, intended to deceive the consumer. The goal of Amazon’s counterfeit products policy is to remove the phony listing or seller from Amazon (permanently, if possible).

Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement describes any seller who is using your photos or copy directly from your listing or company website. The goal of Amazon’s copyright infringement policy is to remove the copyrighted text or photos from the infringing listing(s).

Detail Page Listing Abuse

Detail page listing abuse describes a seller with an offer on a listing that does not accurately match the detail page description. The goal of Amazon’s detail page listing abuse policy is to remove the infringing seller from offering a listing on your product detail page or bundle.

Filing the Infringement Report

Once you’ve contacted an infringing seller, you can file your infringement using the Amazon Infringement Report or the Brand Registry’s Report a Violation tool.

Infringement Report Outcome

If you prove infringement, Amazon will act on your request and remove the copyrighted or trademarked information, or contact the infringing seller. However, Amazon may deny the request if you have not adequately proven the infringement. 

In some cases, you may receive an email from a concerned seller asking you to withdraw the infringement against them. You’ll then need to carefully consider if the seller knowingly infringed upon your rights, and whether it was done by mistake (without malicious intent).

To retract a complaint, brand owners must send a retraction notice to Amazon and provide the infringing seller ID, complaint ID (if provided), and a notice of the retraction.

8. Merging Duplicate ASINs

To keep Amazon’s platform clean, sellers have the ability to ‘merge’ duplicate ASINs. The goal is to have every product listed just once, since duplicate listings can create customer confusion and hurt Amazon sales. Merging duplicate ASINs also has a variety of benefits for brand owners, like increasing the number of product reviews and tracking resellers on a single listing. 

But keep in mind, nearly everything you do on Amazon can later be undone, including unmerging ASINs; if merging ASINs causes issues, a seller can request they be unmerged at any time. In select cases, Amazon may actually unmerge them if there are complications within the system, like when FBA inventory has been mismatched with UPC barcodes.

9. Change Listings via the Catalog Department

As its name suggests, Amazon’s Catalog Department is primarily responsible for maintaining or amending Amazon’s massive catalog. For any issues regarding detail page updates, those requests will need to be filed with the Catalog Department. 

In addition, this department can also assist sellers with: merging and unmerging ASINs, removing child ASINs from parents, removing contributions from other sellers to display Brand Registry content, and more. 

10. Enforce Distribution

It’s important to remember that distribution enforcement is always done through a brand’s supply chain long before a product makes an appearance on Amazon. Amazon’s official stance on Distribution Enforcement is:

“Amazon respects a manufacturer’s right to enter into exclusive distribution agreements for its products. However, violations of such agreements do not constitute intellectual property rights infringement. As the enforcement of these agreements is a matter between the manufacturer and the retailers, it would not be appropriate for Amazon to assist in enforcement activities.”

For both emerging and established merchants, having the ability to create individual reseller agreements through your distributor is essential to having a clear brand presence on Amazon. Similarly, having a strong handle on your inventory is critical to controlling who’s selling your products and where it is they’re sold.

Manage Your Amazon Listings Using Skubana 

By cleaning up your Amazon product listings, you can drive more traffic, improve your conversions, and achieve the growth you’ve been dreaming about. And yet, listing optimization won’t make much of a difference if you don’t have a good Amazon order management system to streamline your operations — which is where Extensiv comes in.

Extensiv is ready to help your brand elevate its fulfillment and inventory management for Amazon FBA and FBM orders. Schedule a demo today, and take advantage of all that Extensiv can do for your ecommerce enterprise.