New to selling on Amazon? The first major step after getting signed up to the platform is to build your product listing pages. How you put together your product listings is one of the largest factors in how your products will rank organically on Amazon in relation to your competitors.

Before you begin, take a look at a few different product listings from the top competitors in your category. Are there any trends you can identify with competitor’s product images, titles, descriptions, or features? There are a multitude of different strategies around building the perfect product listing, so researching what your top competitors are doing is the easiest way to get an inside look on what seems to be working well without constantly testing different updates to your product description pages.

Product Images

The first step is selecting your product images. 62% of the top Amazon product listings contain at least 5 images, so be sure you have an assortment of high-quality creative to choose from before building your listings.

Main Image

• The first image, or main image, should be a close-up photo of your product. Photos of the product in its packaging may be a better fit for some product categories, while a photo of the product outside of its packaging may be a better fit for others.
• Main image must be a photograph (no renderings or illustrations allowed).
• Main images must also be on a plain white background.

General Image Best Practices

• Select images optimized for mobile devices. Be sure the product can be seen clearly on mobile devices.
• Include multiple viewpoint photos of your product. If you’re selling a food product, it’s especially important that you include a photo of the back of the product packaging with nutritional information that is easily legible.
• Be sure the product is framed in the center of the image. Product should take up ~80% of space in the image.
• We recommend including photos with relevant ingredient lists, nutritional facts, or major warning labels.
• We recommend including image(s) of products in-use or being prepared. This can include lifestyle images of people using the product.
• Include image(s) showing everything that comes included with the product.
• Amazon allows up to 9 images within a product listing, however 5-6 images is generally considered the best practice.
• Include alt text for all your images. Amazon incorporates image alt text into their search algorithm.

Product Title

A product title, along with the main image, is the first thing potential customers see when discovering your product on Amazon. Product titles should start with your brand name followed by the official product name and quantity included. Keep in mind that the first 5 words of a product title often make up the canonical URL. This means that the first 5 words of your product title will often be included in the URL of your product listing, once published. The canonical URL makes a significant impact to your listings’ SEO performance, so try to include as much relevant information as possible within the first 5 words of your product title.

Product Title Best Practices

• Recommended length is between 50 – 80 characters.
• Product titles should start with your brand name, followed by product name, and have the quantity included (if applicable).
• Product titles should contain high-value keywords relevant to your product.

Product Description

Product descriptions allow for the most creativity within a product listing. Descriptions are a valuable tool for informing potential customers about the benefits of your product and its advantages over similar products they may be considering.

Product Description Best Practices

• Describe how your product can help your customers. How can it make their lives easier?
• Describe the product’s functionality, features, and potential uses.
• Only include information that is relevant to the specific product.
• Ensure the product description matches the product images.
• Avoid using quotes or testimonials in product descriptions.

Product Features

The Product Features area of a product listing consists of 5 bullet points. This is the ideal place to describe every important feature of the product that distinguishes it from the competition.

Product Features Best Practices

• Focus each bullet point on a single important feature of your product.
• Consider utilizing any high-value keywords that are not already included in the product title.
• Avoid including ingredient lists, safety information, or other information not directly related to the main features of the product. This type of information should be included in the Important Information section that appears below the product description further down the page.

Product Keywords

Product keywords, along with product titles and product features, are the main variable that affects your product’s paid and organic ranking on Amazon. Product keywords can be added to product descriptions in the “Search Terms” field on the last tab of the build/edit product listing page. These keywords do not appear on your product listing page and are not viewable to potential customers.

Product Keywords Best Practices

• Optimize your product for organic ranking by including not only your top keywords in your product title and features list, but also include additional related keywords that users may search for.
• Utilize brand competitor keywords by reviewing their product pages and identify any keywords they are including that may also apply to your product.
• Include common misspellings, abbreviations, or alternate terms of your product or brand.
• Include long-tailed keywords that may not fit into product titles or feature lists, which are effective in expanding the reach of your advertising campaigns.

Conclusion

Optimizing your product listing ensures your product will rank higher on Amazon search result pages. Product listings provide plenty of room for creativity, so while Amazon provides a framework of best practices, it’s best to see what other successful sellers are including in their product listings to spark new ideas around images, titles, descriptions, features, and keywords.

For more information about selling & advertising on Amazon, contact Anvil.