Amazon Marketing: Keyword Research vs. Keyword Stuffing

Developing an effective Amazon content strategy has many steps, and many people fail to see the big picture of how all the layers work together to execute one cohesive, successful strategy.

For example, a solid implementation of keywords is a critical step for your brand’s positioning on Amazon. While strong keywords are the centerpiece of any SEO strategy, Amazon consumers search differently than they would on any other platform. Amazon’s algorithm is unique and constantly evolving, so research, strategy, tracking, and optimizing content are the only ways to drive your brand to the top of Amazon search results pages.

But what does that look like in practice? How can you research, strategize, track, and optimize your content to create meaningful Amazon marketing content? Fortunately, at Intero Digital, our Amazon marketing experts know the ins and outs of creating an effective marketing strategy that gets your brand to the top page and generates replicable results.

Before you start researching keywords for your Amazon content, you need to research what high-quality content on Amazon looks like. Listings that don’t follow the expected format and style will lose conversions when and if they receive clicks.

On Amazon, blending in gives a sense of credibility for your brand that consumers can trust. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t be creative, but it does mean your creativity should, ideally, still follow the format users expect. When browsing on Amazon, the format usually goes as follows:

• Brand name first in the title.
• Clearly written copy.
• At least six image variations.
• High-quality product videos.

Trustworthy, positive reviews are also extremely important and necessary for success. Your product could have the best photos and videos, but if it also has a low star rating with tons of negative reviews, any other media content won’t do you any good. As such, you must consider how to boost your number of positive reviews when outlining a content creation strategy.

Once a basic content creation layout is complete, it’s time to research keywords. The biggest mistake marketers make is at this step, and they lose conversions because of it. What is that mistake?

Assumptions.

Researching keywords must be done without making assumptions of what you think is relevant for your brand. When you allow assumptions to lead the way in the research process, the process naturally becomes about finding the keywords to match what you think your target audience is searching for rather than researching what keywords will actually convert. Sometimes those two things align, but we usually see that a client’s list of 20 keywords only has 10 that are relevant, for example.

It’s important to remember that your audience doesn’t know, see, or understand your brand the same way you do, and they will more than likely discover your brand differently than you would assume. That is the key thing to keep in mind: You don’t determine your keywords; your audience does.

Although Amazon has many rules and algorithms you must remember when marketing on the platform, you can still rest easy knowing there are ways to generate an effective Amazon content strategy. By utilizing keywords in your marketing content creation, you can boost your brand recognition and ultimately land on the first page of results. The following tips can help you get started:

1. Utilize keyword mining and research.

Look for software to help narrow down your niche, analyze trends, and further your research process. Remember that the stronger your keywords are, the higher your position will climb on Amazon’s pages. Researching how your target audience is navigating Amazon will provide you with relevant keywords, and how you implement them into your content will make them strong keywords.

2. Avoid keyword stuffing.

Take time to type in your chosen keywords as if you’re a consumer to see what comes up and determine whether it matches your goals. Including keywords serves its purpose for SEO indexing — the more keywords, the better in terms of Amazon’s algorithm. But that isn’t what leads to conversions. Amazon has certain limitations that have pushed users to learn how to avoid keyword stuffing.

For example, there is now a character limit for titles, and equal weight, if not more, has been placed on bullet points and other content throughout the page. These changes further incentivize users to use clean copy rather than stuffing keywords into Amazon titles. With that in mind, it’s important to remember you can add more keywords on the backend to account for common misspellings or other languages.

3. Take the time to optimize content for your target audience.

This is the most important step. You should allow enough time to write compelling copy that incorporates your chosen keywords and reads well to a general audience. Finding an effective balance between keyword stuffing and readability is the best practice for making conversions.

Consumers convert when they clearly understand a product and are confident it applies to their needs. Fortunately, you can accomplish this by choosing proper keywords and blending them appropriately.

With Amazon, not everything works every time. A new title doesn’t necessarily mean it will differentiate you from the competition and be effective. Ultimately, frequent follow-ups on listings, continued research, and stronger optimization over time create an effective marketing strategy.

At Intero Digital, we’re here to help. If you’re struggling to reach your Amazon marketing goals or want to see what we can do for your business, contact us. We’d love to help you meet your Amazon marketing strategy needs.