Amazon Keywords: Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Listings

When it comes to creating a new product listing on Amazon, knowing which keywords to include and where to place them within your Amazon listing can make all the difference. Keywords are incredibly important to your products sales, ranking, and overall success. Properly researched and targeted Amazon keywords are the lifeblood of your listing.

The best use of targeted keywords and keyword variations can often result in improved search volume, increased traffic, longer sessions, and most importantly, improved sales.

Often times you will hear the process of targeting Amazon keywords referred to as Amazon SEO. In broad terms, SEO refers to the process of “Search Term Optimization,” a system of sophisticated techniques used by content creators and marketing teams to optimize the search volume and page rankings for web content, social media sites, or news stories. For our purposes “Amazon SEO” is often used alongside or in place of keyword ranking and keyword optimization.

This guide will take you step-by-step through the procedures used by leading Amazon sellers and keyword experts to get the most out of your Amazon keywords. We’ll cover:

Industry-leading keyword tools, which can help take the guesswork out of determining which keywords to target while helping you to understand which keywords are most important for your product.
Tips and tricks to improve your keyword rank while exposing some myths and misunderstandings associated with keyword search volume.
Key factors when it comes to assembling and arranging your Amazon keywords within the body of your product listing.

So let’s jump in!

PS, if you’d like to check out our video walkthrough on optimizing and writing your listing, check out our video below!

1. Determine Which Amazon Keywords To Target For Your Product

To begin, let’s explore two of the leading keyword software tools available to Amazon sellers, beginner and expert alike. A good keyword tool is vital for sifting through the thousands and thousands of variations which can occur within any given keyword phrase. One of the most common software tools for establishing Amazon keywords is Google Keyword Planner.

Part of Google’s AdWords tools, Keyword Planner is a simple, easy-to-use keyword tool that allows you to quickly establish Google search volume for virtually any keyword phrase or product. Google Keyword Planner features easy-to-read graphs, plus a full breakdown of keyword search volume, and keyword priority.

One drawback to Google Keyword Planner is the broad scope of the tool’s results. Keyword Planner has been designed to collect results from Google’s search algorithm exclusively. These Google-only search trends tend to skew results from groups of exclusively E-commerce keywords, to a broad range of internet content and web searches.

For example if you search “best skateboards” in Keyword Planner, your results will include data for searches referencing popular skateboarders or skateboarding videos. Because of this wide net tendency, you’ll want to pay special attention to your results, being sure to eliminate keywords phrases that involve multimedia, name brands, and specific locations, persons, or businesses.

One way to specialize your keyword searches is to use Amazon-specific keyword software. Doing so allows you to make sure you’re only seeing searches from Amazon, instead of external search engines like Google or Bing. Again, search behavior is very different. An Amazon keyword tool will allow you to best optimize your listing for Amazon search.

For example the Viral Launch Amazon Keyword Tool gives users a huge range of keyword statistics and metrics in one, easy-to-understand place. One huge advantage of Viral Launch Keyword Research is its superior Amazon specific data which gives you extremely accurate breakdowns of the most important keyword insights.

You will see a list of all your product’s relevant keywords, alongside helpful metrics: volume, opportunity, priority, and relevancy. With one search, you have all the information you need to write your listing or optimize your keyword targeting in sponsored ads.

Check out how to use Keyword Research to ensure your listing is optimized specifically for Amazon.

2. Aggregate Then Curate Your Products’ Top Amazon Keywords

Once you have your list of targeted keywords and keyword phrases, you’ll need to condense your findings down to the highest ranking and most relevant words. This process can be tricky and even experienced sellers often get it wrong. One of the most common mistakes new sellers make is to over-emphasize exact search volume.

Though volume, or the pure number of searches for a word or phrase, is very important, it is not the only factor to consider. You also want to consider metrics such as opportunity, relevancy, and broad search volume. These metrics can reveal a host of chances for you to target neglected keywords and untapped markets.

For instance, you can target keywords with high search volume and high opportunity scores. A high opportunity score means that keyword is being overlooked by competitors and is easy to rank for just by adding it to the title of your listing. You would be surprised how many high volume search terms are not included in your competitors’ listings. By giving these keywords priority in your listing, you can quickly gain visibility and pull in sales from overlooked keyword markets.

You might also consider looking at broad search volume. Broad search volume represents all of the keyword phrases that contain that keyword. For example, if you are looking at the term “rattle” and see a broad search volume of 76,518, that means that 76,518 searches contain the term “rattle.”

By looking at the broadest spectrum of search rather than just the narrow spectrum of exact volume, you can get a better overall picture of which keywords are most important to your product. A balance of keywords from these different categories is vital for producing a well-balanced listing which targets multiple demographics and search pockets. Read more about the 3 crucial keyword scores shown in Keyword Research.

3. Capitalize On Strategic Amazon Keyword Placement

Once you have determined the keywords or phrases you wish to target, you can begin to assemble your listing’s title and bullet points. It’s vital for you to keep in mind how the Amazon search algorithm places greater emphasis or “weight” on certain portions of your listing. This means that certain sections of your listing contain greater ranking power than others when it comes to customer search. A simple breakdown from highest priority to lowest is as follows:

Listing Title
Bullet Points
Backend Keywords

By far the most important element of your listing is the title. The title is weighted extremely high and constitutes the most powerful search portion of your listing. When beginning to assembling your title, you want to focus the most effort on the first 5 words. These first 5 keywords in your title will constitute what is known as the Canonical URL.

In simple terms, the canonical URL contains the 5 words that are indexed for online search engines like Google. This search engine indexation is vital for pulling in

outside traffic. A recent Survata study showed that 36% of product searches start on search engines like Google, not on Amazon. If you don’t choose the most relevant and powerful keywords for your title, you put your listing at a disadvantage from being discovered through Google searches.

Next, you want to complete your title keeping in mind that your remaining keywords should be used from left to right in order of importance. The Amazon algorithm reads listing titles with this left to right, making it vital for you to use your highest ranking keywords first.

Once the listing title is complete, you will focus on your listing’s bullet points. The bullet points, or key product features are a chance for you to continue to include relevant keywords and phrases. Many categories have extremely limited character counts for the bullet points, so it’s important to maintain a strategic outlook when building out this section. Don’t hesitate to use various keyword plural forms while including as many keywords gathered from your research as possible without compromising the readability of the bullet.

Pro Tip: Most research indicates that your product description is not affected by Amazon keywords or search engine keywords. This being said, your product description is a great opportunity for you to expound on your product’s unique features and quality. In short, your product description is a chance for you to make a unique and memorable marketing pitch for your product without concern for using the proper ranking keywords or phrases. Use the 2,000 characters allowed in this section to your advantage by creating a unique brand voice and addressing any features that are not covered within the title and bullets.

4. Repeat Keywords and Use Various Plural Forms

Once you have developed a draft for your product’s title and bullet points you want to scan your listing for missed opportunities. Many sellers neglect to include the plural forms and variations of phrases in the listing. Anytime you can include plural forms or mix-and-match various phrases into new threads, you improve the likelihood that your listing will index and rank for multiple variations. This multi-pronged approach coupled with the strategic inclusion of high ranking keywords gives your listing the best opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

5. Leverage Backend Amazon Keywords

All Amazon listings are allowed 250 bytes to include keywords that are not in the title and bullet points. This is a powerful opportunity for you to include outlier keywords which are not seen by Amazon shoppers. These hidden backend keywords can include phrases or terms that may not make sense in the context of your listing. It also gives sellers the chance to exploit the use of common misspellings or slang used in many searches. These misspellings and common phrases can be singled out when doing your keyword research with either Google Keyword Planner or more powerfully with Viral Launch Keyword Research.

When you are in the midst of your keyword research, start to compile a list of candidates for these backend terms. Once you have drafted your title and bullet points, review your list and compile the top ranking words which you have not included in the listing proper. Take caution to exclude name brands or copy-written material from you backend terms, as this practice can be grounds for your listing’s removal.

Once you have established the highest-ranking keywords that you have not included in your title or bullets, simply copy and paste these terms into the edit listing portion of your Seller Central.

Pro Tip: Our current research is showing an emerging trend of powerful foreign language search terms. These keywords, (often in Spanish for US markets) are many times direct translations of the highest ranking english keywords or phrases. The inclusion of foreign language phrases is a powerful way for sellers to tap into underserved markets and exploit this portion of your listing to its maximum advantage. Note* The foreign language phrases are included within the Viral Launch Keyword Research Tool.

In conclusion, we encourage every seller who is forming a new listing to keep these three principles in mind.

Research: Be sure to take your time and do the proper research to establish which keywords and phrases to target. No matter what software you end up using, take the time to be thorough and don’t miss out on high ranking words or outliers in your market.
Target: Always keep in mind where you are placing keywords within your listing. Always remember that your title and bullet points are the key aspects of your listing when it comes to achieving keyword ranking. Always Apply the principles of keyword placement and plural forms to achieve the best results.
Diversify: Remember to think outside the box for where unused keywords might be used. Utilize the backend terms to the best of your ability to capture these outliers and put them to work for your listing.

The application of these 3 simple principle coupled with the powerful software tools and data available online can put your listing in a powerful position to start converting keywords to cash in no time.

Pro Tip: Use a Listing Builder, like the one included in Keyword Research, for a seamless experience writing your Amazon listing. Listing Builder allows you to write your listing and see, in real time, which important words you’re still missing. View your optimization score and how many potential searches your could include in your copy.