At the very core of your Amazon sales is your product listing. It is how shoppers find your product, and it is what they base their buying decisions on. On-line shopping removes a shopper’s ability to pick up an item and inspect it. Therefore, it is imperative that your listing provide a comprehensive overview of your product while still being reader-friendly and SEO optimized.
In this informative guide we will break down the anatomy of a high-quality product page, from title through product description.
Let’s Take It from the Top
The very first thing that an Amazon shopper sees about your listing is the Title. Because your entire listing is now indexed for search terms, you should take care to make your Title informative without “cramming” it or using spammy sounding puffery. Amazon has even taken measures to prevent spammy looking titles by banning certain words such as “best seller”, “award winning”, “special offer”, “super sale”, and “supplies won’t last”. In short, stick to only factual or measurable qualities – not opinions – about your product. Try to include differentiators that set your offer apart from the competition.
The title will generally be composed in the following order, but you may want to refer to the style guide for the particular category you are listing in:
[Brand] + [Pattern Name/Material] + [Product Type] + [Model Number (if applicable] + [Size/Style] + [Set Quantity] + [Color]
Example: Eureka AS2113A AS ONE Bagless Upright Vacuum, Blue
If you are making a parent-child listing for a product that comes in different sizes or colors, you should not mention the variations in the title of the parent listing. Variations will be addressed in the flat file that you use to denote sizes or colors.
Additional Do’s and Don’ts
- DO capitalize the first letter of each word
- DO use numerals (2 instead of two)
- DO keep it short but include critical information
- DON’T use ALL CAPS
- DON’T include merchant information in the title
- DON’T include promotional messages such as sale or limited time offer (these are more spammy words)
Design your bullets for maximum impact
Customers rely on bullet points in a product listing to quickly summarize an item’s best attributes. Notice I emphasis “quickly”. These should not be wordy paragraphs, but rather 100-200 character (including spaces) synopses of a product’s durability, ease of use, color or size variations, versatility and so on.
Though you may be able to enter up to 500 characters per bullet, you’ll lose the shopper’s interest and possibly the sale. More is not necessarily better.
Amazon may not index your bullet points past 1,000 characters!
Do be sure to use all 5 bullets that you’re afforded, but never include shipping or company information as this is a violation of Amazon’s Terms of Service.
When composing bullet points, start with the BENEFIT to the customer, followed by the related feature. For example:
- EASY INSTALLATION requires no specialized tools or electrical expertise
- LONG-LIFE bulbs rated for 50,000 hours of use without replacement
- ENERGY EFFICIENT 30-watt LED bulb brightly illuminates any work space without exorbitant electric bills
The order of your 5 bullets should be carefully considered as well. Smartphone and tablet devices account for 70% of Amazon sales. A product listing looks vastly different on a phone or tablet than it does on a desktop or laptop computer.
For instance, only 3 of your bullets will appear initially, unless the shopper clicks on through the listing. That’s why your bullets need to be concise and have the 3 most compelling benefits listed first. (If you’ve strayed from the rule of a 100-150 character title, that is likely to be clipped and unseen as a result of mobile formatting, too.) Economy and efficiency of words should be your goal here.
Wrapping up your sales pitch
Now you’ve reached the Product Description section of your listing. Don’t be intimidated by its 2,000 character limit, as that typically amounts to only about 450 words. Adding light HTML code to create paragraph breaks and bold headings will make that expansive section more visually impactful and easier for the eyes to read, especially to shoppers relying on those smartphones and tablets.
Use the Product Description section to go into more detail about your product. Boast about its compact portability if applicable, or its multi-functionality. Try to work in any keywords that didn’t make it into the title or bullets. While it is not beneficial to be repetitive with the same high-converting keywords, employing as many different but relevant keywords will ensure that your listing is seen by as wide an audience as possible.
Do not stray too far from specific keywords, though, just to fill space as this could have a negative impact. For instance, if you’re selling a baby high chair and you use “stroller” as a keyword, your bounce rate is going to go UP as shoppers click on your listing and then find it’s not what they’re looking for. As your bounce rate climbs, your appearance in search results goes DOWN.
As you describe your product, avoid being redundant. Don’t use the word “beautiful” over and over. If you’re running out of words to use instead of “beautiful”, Google search “beautiful synonym” to bring up a variety of alternatives: “attractive”, “stunning”, “gorgeous”, “dazzling”, and so on. This ensures that your listing sounds professional and that your reader (i.e., shopper) stays interested.
I like to break my product description into 3 easy-to-digest pieces. First I introduce my product and its use. In the 2nd paragraph I address its design, construction, durability, etc. This is where I would mention size availabilities, color choices, dimensions and so on. In the 3rd paragraph I tout the product's additional uses, giftability and the company's values.
Finally, I wrap up my listing with a call to action. I craft a clever phrase that links to the product’s use, if possible. Then you’re ready to dress it all up with paragraph breaks and bold headings with light HTML coding!