Amazon’s Algorithm: Everything You Need To Know

Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies
6 min readOct 3, 2022

Are you interested in knowing the ins and outs the Amazon ranking system? Take a look at our special post to help you increase your Amazon listing’s SEO and Amazon search ranking!

What is Amazon’s Ranking Algorithm?

One word could strike fear in the majority of Amazon sellers. What is it? Rankings.

In our world, in which things are always changing. From mobile phone technology to food items we consume the only thing that is constant is the constant change. This is also true with Amazon ranking algorithm (A9).

Contrary to other search engines Amazon’s is an product-based engine. This means that it was created to perform one task which is selling products. In contrast to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other internet search engine, Amazon does not need to interpret searcher intent, which means phrases such as’ sell my house’ or “buy the latest car do not appear in the Amazon platform. This is a significant element from this puzzle of search, yet the ranking process remains complex.

How can I increase my position in Amazon is a query that sellers are asked almost every day. It is essential to know that the signals for ranking given by Amazon’s A9 algorithm are intricate, but can be boiled in two categories: optimization on the page and off-page optimization. Since on-page optimization is the only that we have total control over, it is the main focus of this article.

Amazon A9 Algorithm vs. A10 Algorithm

Ranking = Research

It doesn’t matter if you’re just beginning your journey to become a seller on Amazon and are trying to rank your first product after doing Amazon search, or if you are an experienced veteran who is ranking your 100th item, the path to success remains identical. To sell a product you must:

  1. Know EVERY. Single. Information about the product You are Selling

It’s not enough to simply describe your product as “Girl’s ballet tights. Your buyer would like more information about the size, the approximate age at which they will fit, how they’re made or can they be worn with school uniforms, and so on. Knowing the answers to the most basic questions will help you when you get to creating your listing.

2. Know Your Audience

This is essential to Amazon optimizing listings. Who is most likely to purchase your product? What is their daily routine like? What obstacles do they have to face and how will your product aid them in facing it?

These are the questions that aid in gaining a picture of your customer’s needs so you can pinpoint their needs and discuss the ways your product can be an answer to their needs when you create the content of your listing.

For instance, let’s say you’re selling acne cream. Your target market could be teens with acne-prone skin. Their problem may be that an upcoming prom/homecoming/special event is stressing them out because they want flawless skin at the event. Your product can help to accomplish that goal.

The most important thing to keep to keep in mind that although you may be selling products targeted towards teenagers however, you are actually selling to parents who have the power to purchase the product behalf of their child or daughter. While you might be advertising to teenagers, shouting to parents might make a huge difference to your list since they are the ones who have the purchasing power.

3. Find out about your competition and what makes you different from them

So now that you’ve had the opportunity to understand all aspects of your product and learned about your customers it is time to examine your competitors. Your product may not the only product of its kind that is available, and this is an important step to understand two things:

1. What are their competitors doing that are working for them?

2. How to improve your performance.

Let’s say that you’ve got an ordinary product but there are plenty of options on the market. You decide to look through your competitors’ listing, both positive and negative reviews, and find out what kinds of questions people are asking regarding their products. Find out what sets your product apart from other products and include it in your posts.

Keywords, Keywords, Everywhere

Once you’ve mastered your product from beginning to end and backwards, you know what your target market is and you are aware of the areas your competitors excel at and can improve upon Now is the time to search for the keywords you want to use.

A keyword is the simplest word or phrase that your potential customer could use to find your products. The ability to nail this element is vital to the optimization of your website and organic search ranking.

Keyword research is as simple or as complex as you wish you to make it, however being more precise, the simpler the process of ranking will be. There are numerous tools you can use to conduct Amazon keyword research, as well as paid ones however one method to start is on Amazon’s search bar.

Craft Your Listing

Have you ever asked me why you should be wasting time doing keyword research? Here’s the reason!

Utilizing your most popular search words in your title description and bullet points will significantly enhance your optimization on the page. Depending on your industry , you could have anything from 80 to 250 characters to inclusion within your description, title and bullet.

This is prime real estate. Make use of it! Utilize your highest volume of words closest to the starting point of the title as you can to ensure that when prospective customers look over the title, they can get all the information they need. The formula to create an effective title that converts is this:

Brand + Product + Feature 1 + Feature 2

Here’s an example that shows our ballet tights. You can see that they carry the name of the brand, ballet tights (product) footed (feature), Ultra Soft Pro Hold and Stretch (feature)

Once you’ve developed your name that includes your most relevant keywords, you’re now ready to provide your customers’ needs in bullet points. They should be engaging and keyword-rich to answer your customers queries and boost your ranking.

The better you understand your products and your target market more effective to make this happen. Here’s an excellent example of a slime maker which excels in both these areas:

The most important thing you need to remember when writing is to write for human beings not for bots. While you’ll want to utilize the most high-volume keywords as you can but you must make them appear natural in your way.

Consider your website as a way to talk to your customers, even if you’re not interacting with them in person like you would in brick and mortar stores.

It’s not easy to do within the limitations of your character and could require more than one attempt before you get it right But the more you respond to questions on the listing and the shorter time your customer service department will take to respond to them after the sale.

Watch the video below to know about Amazon Listing Optimization 2022 — The Science Behind Amazon SEO & Product Listing Explained!

Conclusion

Although these strategies for optimization on the web are completely within your control however, they aren’t the sole ranking factors on Amazon. They can, however, help you get started in getting your listing higher from the beginning. They also eliminate some of the skepticism surrounding the term ‘Amazon rankings.’

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Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies

Developing SEO strategies to maximise performance and ROI for the enterprise, small business clients & Implementing and managing SEO campaigns.