A Step-by-Step Guide To Creating a Sales Worthy Amazon Listing
Think of Amazon like a dating app where the SERPs (search engine results pages) of Amazon are like the catalog of women or men to choose from and the DP (detail page) is where you read their actual dating profiles. Much like perusing your options on, say, Match.com or Okcupid, Amazon customers are doing the same when they search the results of the keyword phrase they typed in. And just like the behavior on dating websites, Amazon customers are looking on the SERP for a main image that captures their attention and a great title that makes them think, “Yes! This could be the one!”
Here’s the thing, though: Keywords, a great main image, and an enticing title only get people onto your detail page. They don’t actually sell your product. Much like a dating profile, a detail page has to represent your product so well that customers decide your product will make their lives better.
And there is only one way to do that (the formula is rather simple):
Great photos, compelling sales content, and A+ content that really emphasizes why you’re the best soul-mate - I mean, product - out there.
At the end of the day, sales is a psychological transaction. It’s important to remember a few fundamental things about people when it comes to marketing:
1. People aren’t emotionally connected to things. People are emotionally connected to the value that things bring to their lives. You aren’t selling a product. You are selling a way of life.
2. People purchase things for two reasons: To make their lives better or easier. That’s it. If you can’t prove why your product will do either or, you won’t make a sale.
3. People on the internet do not have long attention spans. Most people will jump off your listing in 4 seconds if you haven’t captivated their attention.
4. People want to know the who-what-where-when-why-and-how of your product and brand. You have to be able to convey that accurately and effectively.
Just like keywords, product campaign launches only drive people to your product. They don’t convert sales. That’s your job as the seller.
Even more importantly, if you drive people to your listing through Amazon launching strategies such as using Rebaid, if the click-through rate is high but the conversion is low, this will have a negative impact on your ranking, rendering the entire launch completely useless.
First of all, you have to have a great product. Period. You can have the best images, A+ content, and bullet points, but if your product gets in the customers hands and it doesn’t live up to the expectations you presented on paper, you will get high return rates and bad reviews. Which, again, defeats the whole goal behind product launches.
If you know your product isn’t a luxury item or high-end, don’t present it that way. If you are selling fun wine tumblers with goofy sayings on them, don’t compare them to your competitors whose products are designed with hand-designed pure crystal. Lying to your customers is the worst thing you can do for your brand’s reputation and success. Be honest about what your customer can expect to get so that you aren’t flooded with complaints about being misled.
Your product listing title and main image are like the big sign outside of a brick-and-mortar store. It’s what attracts the customers to come into the store.
Your title should include the following:
• Brand name for brand recognition
• No more than 3 of your main keywords you are trying to target
• Your main keyword and descriptor within the first 80 characters of your listing (this is because mobil only shows the first 80 characters of your title
• Use dashes (-) or pipes (|) to break up the phrases and descriptors. This can improve readability and doesn’t look confusing for the viewer
• Include Unique Selling Point (USP) of the product
• Capitalize the first letter of each word in the title except the, or, and, a, for, in, an, with, overInclude color, model number, series, and quantity (if required).
• Write numbers like numerals (“2” instead of “two”)
Your Main Image is like the main image of your dating profile. It’s what is going to get the interested person to either decide they are interested or keep moving along. (This means no weird angles to hide what your product really looks like! Remember: deception is the worst thing you can do to a customer and their buying experience).
According to Path Edits, these are the metrics you should be aiming for with your main image:
Because a potential customer cannot actually interact with your product, you must give them an experience as close to real-life as possible. Bright, clear, and high-quality pictures with Amazon’s “zoom” feature is a must for conversions. Most listings allow 7-9 images with fewer images in place of a video (which is highly recommended). Your product should be taken at all relevant angles, as this appeases the A9 algorithm to boost rankings.
Amazon’s recommendation is to have at least 1280 pixels on the longest side. Ideally, you should go for ultra-HD images that have 2560 pixels (or more) on the longest side. You can also try images with 3D rendering. These images give authentic appeal to your visitors.
Your images need to convey an entire story, walking your customer through the buyer’s journey. Keep in mind that many customers skim over the actual bullets and product description, so it’s important that your images convey all the product’s benefits and features, using infographics to help relay that information.
People tend to connect with other people, so we highly encourage sellers to use lifestyle photos. Have some of your images with people in them so that the viewer can mentally picture themselves using your product.
Product features (also known as bullet points) are there to provide customers with just enough information to qualify their decision-making. The bullet titles should highlight the benefits that the customer will enjoy by using your product while the rest of the text should be what features your item has that support the benefits. While each bullet offers 500 characters of space, we recommend staying around 200 characters. This goes back to the fact that most people simply skim bullets and too long of pose may keep them from wanting to read more.
• Do: Include keywords in your bullets but one per bullet should suffice
• Don’t: Stuff your bullets with keywords. It doesn’t help the A9 algorithm and the message becomes disjointed to reader
• Do: List the most important features first in case a customer isn ‘t willing to read through the whole lot
• Don’t: Use keywords beyond 1,000 characters because Amazon doesn’t index any words that go beyond
• Do: Make your images match with the bullets as if your customer is reading a book
First and foremost, you must be Brand Registered to enjoy these benefits. According to Amazon, having A+ content can increase sales between 3-10%. Plus, it takes only a few days for Amazon to register your Trademark (which is essentially what Brand Registry means).
A+ content replaces the boring, hard-to-read text of your product description (which often goes unnoticed anyway), providing the opportunity to create engagement and explain (in detail) why your product is the best.
While A+ should be utilized to re-promote the benefits and features listed in your bullets, you don’t want to sound repetitive. A+ gives you the convenience of being able to really expand on what makes (not just your product) but also your brand so great. Brand building is essential in marketing and client-retention, so it really benefits customers to see what Who, what, where, when, and why of your company.
WHO are you?
WHAT makes your company unique/valuable?
WHERE should people use your product?
WHEN is the best time to use your product?
WHY is your brand/product better than others out there?
HOW is your company or product going to enrich your customer’s life?
The text on your A+ portion does not index on Amazon, so you are better off using robust banners and images to convey all of your information. However, as a caveat to that last sentence, it is important to know that your headliners in your A+ modules as well as the alt text in the images for said modules does index on Google, so make sure to utilize that space with long-tail keywords. It helps you be found on Google’s search engine.
A+ is also recommended because it actually shows up FIRST on mobile devices, so that’s the first impression a potential customer is going to get of your brand and product. Make it POP.
As an Amazon seller, you are not selling to Amazon. You are not selling to the A9 algorithm. Keywords may get your foot in the door, but that’s about it. Launching your products on Rebaid may get people to your listing, but that’s about it. It is absolutely your responsibility - and your responsibility alone - to make that conversion
Yes, selling on Amazon is hard and can be complicated, but it shouldn’t be void of common sense. Observe your audience, listen to your audience, and then offer your audience something they can’t refuse.
