We all know that Google SEO is one of the central tools of any business. It’s

true that visibility is everything and Google SEO is a powerful way to increase

your visibility, but for manufacturers its importance may be overstated.

Ranking high on Google is all fine and good, but it’s rare for consumers to

buy products directly from the manufacturer. In fact,

55% of online shoppers are skipping the Google search engine entirely and h

eading straight to Amazon

to find what they’re looking for.

Optimizing Your Amazon Search RankBy Pete Andrews, Account Manager at One Click Retail

So stop worrying about your Google rank and start optimizing

your position on Amazon’s search pages. We know from our

analytics that 81% of people browsing Amazon never go past

the first page of their search, and 64% of them click through

to one of the top 3 results, so we’re going to use this

opportunity to show you how to compete for a better Amazon

Search Rank.

Amazon’s secret weapon is called the “flywheel”.

The Amazon Flywheel is the defining concept of the company’s operati

ons strategy.

Lower prices drive more traffic, resulting in more sales -> more sales

drive more third-party sellers, allowing Amazon to bring in more

commissions and increase efficiency on overheads -> more efficiency

allows Amazon to lower prices -> and on and on the cycle goes.

Pull the Levers, Spin the Flywheel

It takes some energy to get the flywheel spinning, but once it’s

turning, it’s easy to keep the momentum going. The faster

your Amazon Flywheel turns, the higher your Amazon Search

Rank will be. So let’s look at the 4 levers you can pull to help

drive the flywheel and in turn improve your search ranking.

Just like in traditional SEO, keyword content is king in Amazon Search Rank.

However, the same strategies that work for Google may not work for

Amazon. Just as you need to market your brand differently depending on

your target audience, you need to tailor your content to match how the

customers are using that search engine. For example, a mom searching on

Google may ask “Why won’t my child sleep through the night?” whereas on

Amazon she will specifically search “overnight diapers.”

1. Relevancy – Improve your keyword content to target the right audience.

There is a 60% variance in the frequency of

specific keywords between Amazon and Google,

so it’s important that you optimize your content

based on the keyword Amazon customers are

searching.

Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) allow you to target specific keywords

using Top of Search placements, Product Ads (appearing in the side bar)

and Sponsored Search (temporary ranking in search results). If used

effectively, over the course of these marketing campaigns you can drive

more traffic to your details pages that will improve your search ranking

and in turn drive more traffic, getting that flywheel spinning.

2. Traffic – Leverage Amazon Marketing Services to draw more people in.

For example, MMP Living, a 3rd Party Seller, saw

one of their products jump from #70,000 to

#20,000 and go from page 4 to page 1 of search,

resulting in a return of investment of 2,600%!

Customer conversion is important to Amazon’s search

algorithm. The percentage of visitors to your details page who

actually go through with purchasing the product tells Amazon

a lot about the value of your product and the customer

experience you’re providing.

3. Conversion – Keep your visitors informed to lower your bounce rate.

One of the leading reasons why visitors don’t complete a purchase is

that not enough information is provided. Make sure to include enough

informative bullet points, hi-resolution product photos, detailed,

high-quality content and descriptions, and positive customer reviews.

And don’t forget to ensure that your products are in-stock. If you would

like to learn more about staying in-stock, please read our article

Don’t Be a Sell-Out: How to Stay In-Stock for Cyber Monday.

Although your long-term goal is a sustained lift in sales, short-

term boosts can help get you there. Because of how the

Amazon Flywheel works, even a small increase in sales, no

matter how brief, can improve your search ranking and speed

up your flywheel, which in turn increases more traffic to your

products.

4. Sales – Utilize Amazon promotions to boost sales.

Using Amazon promotions strategically can improve how high you show

in search as well as how many keywords your items return in the search

results. For example, one of our clients ran a coupon campaign in July

on all items in their brand. For a two-week period, this campaign led to

a 10% improvement in search rank within keywords where their items

already appeared in the first 3 pages of search. In addition, the total

number of keywords (where one of their items appeared on the first 3

pages of search) increased by 9.5%.

Using these 4 levers in concert to understand and manipulate the Amazon

Flywheel is the secret to getting your products climbing to one of the top 3

results in the Amazon Search Rank. It does take some effort to get the

flywheel moving, but once it starts spinning you will quickly realize that the

more you invest in climbing up in the ranks, the easier it will be to stay there.

To get the latest and most accurate industry insights and reports, check out our weekly articles at

www.oneclickretail.com/insights, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Final Thoughts

One Click Retail (OCR) is a market leader in eCommerce data measurement, sales analytics and search optimization for brand manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia. Thanks to our proprietary sales calculations that are 98.5% accurate down to the SKU level, OCR’s accuracy is unrivaled in the marketplace. The OCR Product Suite provides 1st and 3rd party business intelligence across the 30 largest retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Staples and Home Depot. The world’s top brands, such as Procter & Gamble, Panasonic, Nestle, Hamilton Beach and HP, rely on OCR insights to drive sales and profitability across eCommerce.

Founded in 2013 by eCommerce experts from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Overstock and other leading retailers, OCR was acquired in 2016 by Ascential plc (LSE: ASCL.L), a UK-based international B2B media company with a focused portfolio of market-leading events and information services products.

To learn more about how OCR can provide your brand with the competitive edge in today’s ecommerce marketplace, visit www.oneclickretail.com.

About One Click Retail