Dick Speer

Successful Amazon product listing must be optimized for a number of key processes.

  • Showing up high in the shopper searches
  • PPC ads showing where shoppers are looking for your type of product
  • Converting shoppers on your listing into buyers

An Amazon listing consists of quite a lot of data.  Some of the data is shown to shoppers on what Amazon has named the “product detail page”(PDP).  The PDP together with additional data that I call the “Back Page” are the Full Product Listing.    The PDP clearly is important to all three key processes.  The back page has a great deal of data that contributes to the success of the listing.  Amazon uses most if not all the back page data to feed the search algorithm.

Amazon runs what is said to be the second largest search process on the internet.  Of course, Google is the largest.  Amazon search software is named A9 and is used for customer product searches and for advertising placement.

A9 matches customer search terms with relevant product information and keywords from the PDP.  It also factors in the number of customer purchases for the search term and the prices of the matched items.  Then it presents a list of products sorted in order of relevance of all the factors considered.  The exact weighting of every factor is a secret.

A9 goes through each PDP and builds an index of the keywords and other factors.  The index is the memory of the search engine.  The most important factors have been identified by Amazon sellers though a series of experimental changes to the PDP.

The first step to optimizing a listing is to complete all relevant fields in the PDP.  Be sure to complete the relevant items in the More Details tab.  Upload excellent photos that are compliant to the Amazon requirements.  The Key Product Features in the Description tab should highlight the product benefits. The Product Description should be a robust description of product benefits, uses, key features, and maintenance.

Next, identify the search terms buyers are using to search for your product.  Multiple sources should be used such as:

  • Search terms you would use if you were looking for the product
  • Google and Bing keyword research tool
  • Amazon search suggestions (There are apps that will extract Amazon search suggestions)
  • Amazon competitor search terms. (There are Apps that will extract competitor search terms)
  • SEO keyword search term tools
  • Actual results from advertising campaigns using automatic and suggested keywords

Keywords need to be included in the PDP in Order for A9 to show your listing in a relevant customer search.

The Product Name is often referred to as the Title.  It appears at the top of the customer listing page in large letters.  The Product Name is one of the most important items in the listing for A9 ranking.  It should contain the top keyword or keywords.  This can take a bit of skill because it also must express what the product is and comply with Amazon terms of service.  Some Amazon product categories allow long Product Names and other only a short.

Key Product Features are the next most important element in the PDP that is indexed by A9.  The next most important keywords should be in the Key Product Features.  It is acceptable to reiterate key features in the Product Name.  There is no set length for Key Product Features.

Product Description should include additional keywords and reinforce the features and special warranty information.  Amazon allows the Product Description to be quite large so use the space to provide a detailed description that includes many keywords.  Some sellers include Spanish language text in the description. According to Amazon, repeating keywords does not improve the ranking of a listing in the search results.  And that the sequence that the keywords are in the listing does not impact the results.

The Product Name, Key Product Features and Description are shown on the PDP and keywords in these sections have the most impact on the ranking in search results.  Now let’s turn to the back page where there is a Keywords section.   It includes six sections.  Only use the Platinum Keywords section of you are a Platinum Merchant.  Fill in the other sections according to the table below:

Section

What To Include

Platinum Keywords

Only Platinum merchants can use this section.

Search Terms

Include relevant keywords that are not in the PDP.


1,000 characters per line. Total of 5,000 characters. Separate every word with a space. Don’t use any commas.


Do include keyword phrases that are not in the PDP such as “leather dog collar nylon dog collar steel chain dog collar” otherwise don’t repeat keywords already in the PDP.


Do not repeat any words in this section.


Do not include any irrelevant words. That is words that are not used by buyers when they are searching for your type of product or a highly related product. They will hurt the search results not help them.


Tests have demonstrated that Amazon does not always index all the words in this section. It indexes 2,000 to 2,500 characters regardless of which row they are in. So lead with the most important keywords.


Some sellers have shown good results including misspelled versions of keywords. Amazon A9 corrects for most misspelling so I do not think that this benefit will last.


Some sellers include the Spanish translation of the most important keywords.

Target Audience

For whom is the product intended?

Subject Matter

What is the product’s subject? What is the product about?

Other Attributes

What are additional attributes of the product?

Intended Use

For what activities, events, locations or conditions is the product intended to be used?

Keywords customers are using in searches can change.  Changes to the Amazon A9 search criteria (a.k.a. algorithm) can drop some of your keywords, impacting where your product shows in the search results. For these reasons keywords must be monitored to maintain optimal performance in search results.

Including the keywords that customers are searching for in your listing allows Amazon’s A9 search engine find your listing and display it in the search results.  Including the correct keywords in your listing is critical to being seen high in the search results.