In the world of eCommerce, one of the key success factors is ranking high in search results. Studies have shown that people rarely go past the first page of search results – so if you’re not on that first page, you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic and sales.
This is where Amazon’s A9 algorithm comes in.
A9 is the algorithm responsible for Amazon’s search results, and it’s constantly being updated and improved. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how A9 works and what you can do to make sure your listings are as visible as possible.
How Does A9 Work?
A9 is a complex algorithm – and a powerful one at that. With 35 percent of shoppers clicking on the first result from their Amazon search, it’s well worth your time to understand the ins and outs of this all-knowing algorithm.
Amazon is constantly tweaking it to deliver the best possible results to their customers; however, there are some key factors that consistently influence A9’s ranking of listings.
Keywords
Just like Google’s algorithm, Amazon takes into consideration how many relevant keywords you’ve used in your listing title and product description. In addition, they look at the overall keyword density of your listing to make sure you’re not “keyword stuffing” in an attempt to game the system.
What does this mean for you? Well, your listings should be using plenty of relevant words and phrases (you can find out what keywords people are searching for by using Amazon’s keyword tool, which is free to use). Just remember not to stuff those keywords in awkward places; A9 is sophisticated enough to catch on.
Sales history
As a customer on Amazon, you’d probably much rather see listings that lots of people have bought and rated before you – right? It’s a sign that you can trust the seller and the product.
The Amazon team is aware of this, and they factor in a listing’s sales history when determining its ranking. If you’re just starting out, this may mean that your listings are lower down on the page than you’d like. However, keep at it! The more sales you have, the higher up your listings will appear.
Customer reviews
In 2021, Amazon recorded an estimated 2.45 billion monthly visits, and they’re insistent on maintaining that market penetration by recommending only the best products. The more positive reviews you have, the better; you won’t get bumped down just for one bad review, but you should be getting great reviews from the vast majority of customers.
Amazon looks at the overall rating of your product, as well as the number of reviews you have. They also take into consideration how recent your reviews are – so it’s always a good idea to encourage customers to review your products soon after they receive them.
Pricing
This one is a little bit complicated. In general, Amazon favors listings that have low prices; however, they also want to make sure that their customers are getting a good deal. They don’t want to show too many listings for products that are ridiculously cheap, because it would turn their customers off.
Basically, you need to find a balance between pricing your product too low against competitors (which will result in Amazon thinking it’s a scam product) and pricing it too high (which will turn potential customers away).
Images
As you can imagine, Amazon doesn’t want its front pages filled with pixelated, dark, or small images. They want their customers to be able to see what they’re buying.
Your images should be high quality and clear, and they should also be relevant to your product. In other words, don’t just upload any old picture; make sure it shows the customer exactly what they’ll be getting if they purchase from you.
Product description
The product description feature on Amazon is your chance to really sell your product to potential customers – and not just your customers, but the algorithm, too. Show Amazon that you’ve got a relevant product worthy of making those front pages.
Amazon likes to see keywords here, as mentioned earlier, and they also want to see that you’re providing a detailed and accurate description of what the customer will be getting.
Availability
And of course, Amazon wants to make sure that the products their customers are looking at are actually in stock and available for purchase. If you’re constantly running out of stock, your listings will suffer.
Keep these factors in mind, and you’ll be a successful Amazon seller in no time at all.
Optimizing for the Algorithm
Now that you know what the A9 search engine takes into account when sorting search results for customers, you can really start optimizing your products’ pages to get the best results with the A9 algorithm.
1. Write strong, keyword-rich titles.
The title of your listing is one of the first things that the A9 algorithm looks at, so it’s important to make sure that it’s as strong and keyword-rich as possible.
Your title should be clear and descriptive, but also include relevant keywords that you want to rank for. For example, if you’re selling a digital camera, a good title could be “Canon EOS Rebel T6 Digital Camera with 18-55 mm Lens.” Another example might be “Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional Upright Vacuum.”
Of course, you don’t want to stuff your title with so many keywords that it’s no longer readable. A good rule of thumb is to keep your title under 80 characters, and make sure that the most important keywords are towards the beginning.
2. Make use of backend keywords.
Amazon allows its sellers to add backend, or “hidden,” keywords to their product listings. These hidden words are not displayed, but help your product show up in more searches than they normally would with just the title and description.
Using this feature wisely can really help increase your product’s visibility. To edit your back-end keywords, go to “Edit Product Details” under the “Inventory” tab on Seller Central. From there, you’ll be able to add or remove keywords as needed.
3. Write strong, to-the-point descriptions.
Make sure your product descriptions are clear, concise, and to the point. The A9 algorithm puts a lot of weight on these descriptions when determining search results.
A good rule of thumb for descriptions is to keep them under 500 words. You also want to make sure that you format your descriptions in an easy-to-read way, using bullet points or short paragraphs.
4. Use high-quality product images.
Another important factor that the A9 algorithm looks at is product images. In general, shoppers are more likely to buy products that have multiple, high-quality images.
Images should be clear and well-lit, and show the product from multiple angles. You should also include lifestyle shots whenever possible (for example, if you’re selling a piece of jewelry, show it being worn rather than just lying on a table by itself).
In addition to multiple product shots, you should also consider adding an image of the packaging. This can be helpful in convincing shoppers that they’re getting a quality product.
5. Use Amazon’s Enhanced Brand Content.
Use Amazon’s Enhanced Brand Content (EBC). If you’re selling a branded product, you can take advantage of Amazon’s Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) feature. EBC allows you to add additional images, videos, and text to your product listing, which can help it stand out from the competition.
To use EBC, you’ll need to be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. Once you’re approved, you can start creating your EBC listings.
6. Use Amazon’s Sponsored Products.
Another way to improve your visibility on Amazon is to use Sponsored Products. Sponsored Products are essentially ads that you can pay for, and they appear in search results and on product detail pages.
To get started with Sponsored Products, you’ll need to create an ad campaign in Amazon Advertising. You can then target your ads to specific keywords and products.
7. Work with a professional market research firm like Algopix.
Don’t have the time to do it all yourself? Market and product research firms like Algopix can take a load off your shoulders with directed, to-order market research on specific industries or verticals.
Get Selling
As an Amazon seller, it is important to understand how Amazon’s A9 algorithm works in order to have the best possible chance at ranking highly for your chosen keywords. Although it may seem daunting at first, finding resources and using analytical tools to guide your selling habits will more than pay off in the long run.
By following the tips in this article, you can create a keyword list and product listings that are optimized for the A9 algorithm and start selling more products in no time!
