What You Need to Know About Creating Content for Amazon
Aside from price and availability, customers will decide whether or not to buy a product based on what they see on the page — images, copy, some graphics, maybe a video. These pieces of content work together to tell a story. To appeal to the emotional part of decision making and show a shopper how a product will fit their needs and their life.
Great Amazon listing content will do three crucial things:
Increase visibility
Educate customers
Convert
Ok, so what do I need to do?
When it comes to creating content for the Amazon marketplace, there are two key things to do:
1. Make sure your shopper sees your product. The A9 algorithm (Amazon’s sales rank and search algorithm) ranks your product based on a set list of factors such as availability, reviews, price, and, yes, content. The more boxes you check, the better visibility your product will have. Additionally, putting in the effort to research your target audience and tailor your keywords to it will ensure your product is reaching the right people. We’ll dig more into that later.
Here’s the content A9 checks for:
Images
Video
Title
Feature points
Description
A+ content
Backend keywords
In addition to appeasing the algorithm, using all the space that’s available (and using it wisely) allows you to tell your brand’s story and provide all the info a customer could possibly need on any given product.
2. Put the right information in the right place. Each area of content listed above should be used to its greatest potential. What does a customer need to see first? What should be front and center and what can be further down the page? Let’s break it down.
Images
What’s the first thing a customer sees? The pictures. Show the shopper enough of your product that they feel like they can make the decision to purchase. Depending on the product and category, you’ll need to include relevant information about the product. If it’s a dog harness, there should be a size guide and probably a photo of what it looks like on a dog. If it’s an immune support spray, there should be supplement facts and dosing information.
The first six images are guaranteed to be displayed regardless of platform and should be prioritized. The number of images displayed varies depending on whether you’re viewing on desktop or mobile and what category the product is in. Stick to a strategy and make sure to fill all the spots to appeal to A9.
Video
At the end of your image stack is a slot for a video. Shoppers who watch videos are 3.6x more likely to purchase than shoppers who don’t so make it count. How you should use the space really depends on your product and what message you’re trying to get across. You might need to show a customer how to measure their dog. Or what kind of lifestyle they can achieve with your supplement.
Our research shows that videos should be 30-45 seconds long and show the product within the first 5 seconds.
Titles
Shoppers look to the title to find out what your product is and to decide if they want to find out more. First and foremost, the title should be short and easy to read. It should include the brand name, the product name, what the product is (which generally includes 1-2 of the most relevant keywords), and any variation information at the end.
The first 50 characters should contain the most pertinent information since titles are cut at that length on mobile. Titles should not be stuffed with keywords in an attempt to rank higher — all copy on the listing (including backend SEO) is weighed equally by A9.
Feature points
At this point, customers wanting for more information will look to the feature points. Your feature points should be relatively short (under 200 characters), highly skimmable, contain high-ranking keywords, and deliver your product’s details to the shopper without making them do a lot of reading. We like to keep it simple, dedicating each feature point to one main idea about the product.
Depending on the category and platform, customers may only see the first three feature points — the last two are sometimes hidden behind a “read more” button. Prioritize the most important information in your first three.
Description
Now we’re moving into content “below the fold.” By now, a customer has already seen everything at the top of the listing and is scrolling down for more information. The description should summarize what the product is, what it does, and how it fits into a customer’s life (and use more keywords!). It should also contain any pertinent information about the product that didn’t find a place in the feature points, such as dimensions or weight.
It should be noted that, if A+ content is uploaded, the listing description will be replaced by the A+ product description. However, the listing description will still be indexed and should be uploaded with the rest of the copy for SEO purposes. To keep it simple, we upload the same description in both places.
A+ content
Last but not least is A+. If a shopper is looking here, they want to know more about your brand, your mission, other products you might offer, or the product itself. Use this space to further educate customers, compare products within your catalog, or show off your products in lifestyle images.
The first module generally needs to include an image of your product and its name, but the rest is up to you. There’s no recommended length or approach — just make sure you use it and tailor it to what makes sense for your product and your brand.
Backend keywords
Finally, you’ll need to make sure your shopper can find you. The backend keywords, or search terms, are invisible to the customer but are indexed for the A9 algorithm. They should include words related to your product and they should not repeat any words already used in your title, feature points, or description.
We recommend doing some keyword research for your product, category, and target audience. Find out why they’re searching, what they’re looking for, and how they’re trying to find what they need. Include a balance of the high-ranking keywords with more niche keywords.
Final Takeaway: The Complete Listing is A Thriving Ecosystem
Making a successful listing is about bringing all the parts together. Each piece of a listing should work to satisfy Amazon’s A9 algorithm while also educating and persuading shoppers. Balancing those efforts is a fine line between making a product visible and showing it in its best light, and at the end of the day, getting it right could mean the difference between winning and losing customers.
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