Amazon Search Optimization. The Usurper of Search by Daniel Saunders

Editor's Notes

• #8: Google built a search engine so they could sell ads. Amazon built a search engine so they can sell products. That creates a basic difference in how each measures success. Google is successful when you find your answer quickly because you will return, perform more searches, and click on ads. Amazon is successful when you to find a great product at a great price and buy it because you will return and buy more products. Google's search success metrics will revolve around dwell time, click-through-rate, search refinement rate, etc. Amazon can measure success by revenue or gross margin per search. If Amazon can sell more products by rearranging their search results, they will do that. Because the two search engines measure success differently, the metrics you analyze to predict rankings success change. When optimizing for Google you focus on improving user engagement metrics and building external trust factors, because those factors tell Google that the users it sends to your website will be happy. Happy users equals more money for Google. When optimizing for Amazon, focus on improving conversion rates. More conversions equals more money for Amazon.
• #21: Amazon’s A9 and A10’s algorithm uses conversion rate, relevance and customer satisfaction to rank products. …..Sounds familiar?
• #26: Amazon provides a very simple-to-use interface where sellers can populate all the data relevant to their product. Once you know what to put in these fields, it makes it very easy to implement any changes. However, because A9 is a maturing algorithm, frequent and unpredictable updates are a common point of frustration for many sellers on Amazon. In turn, I’ve done my best to include the most up-to-date recommendations and tips based on both Amazon’s documentation and our own observations after managing 1000s of Amazon listings. However, the observations and recommendations I make in this guide are subject to change as A9 evolves. Even the best SEO software and tools can’t predict the future. Therefore, I encourage you to revisit this guide frequently and check the comments section often.
• #53: Most companies fall back on a pay per click (PPC) strategy to create visibility for their store, the truth is that PPC costs continue to go up and once you stop paying for placement, your online presence disappears. You need to remember some customers have an inherent distrust of sponsored links, banners, and other online ads. We can’t cannot solely rely on a PPC strategy we need organic search too! That said, recent Google research shows that when some web sites stopped using AdWords, 89% of the paid clicks did not shift over to organic, SEO clicks. So make sure you do use pay per click in addition to SEO.
• #57: Customer reviews: The higher your reviews, the higher Amazon is going to rank you. Like Google, you need to get a few reviews before Amazon starts to rank you against the bigger competitors. No one really can agree on the magic number but from what I’ve seen you need a minimum of 50. Answered questions: These are essentially what blog posts are to your standard SEO content strategy. The best way to get these are to ask your customers what questions they have after buying your product (Also it’s a good way to try and get a review). Image size and quality: I can’t stress this enough, these must be 1000 x1000 pixels so your buyer can zoom in and you need photos from all the angles of your product. Price: Because Amazon values buyers over its sellers, it will always push the lowest price to the top, so you need to be auditing your competitors regularly to see what they are charging. Exit rates: If someone looks at your product then immediately exits the Amazon site, Amazon is not going to be happy and will knock you down. Make sure you are in no way misleading buyers to avoid this. Bounce rate: Same as the above, if someone lands on your product then leaves quickly to look at someone else’s, Amazon is going to see you as a hindrance to its buyers and penalise you.
• #59: Enable tracking of your site search. Use tools which allow you to see keywords people are searching for within your site, and calculate the revenue they generate. Count popular searches. They can mean your product is popular and can be profitable. They may also indicate that people are not finding what they came to your site for! Build dashboards containing actionable information
• #73: Social media works well. Endorsements and reviews from happy users or customers will not only enhance your SEO campaign but also boost sales conversions.
• #74: Final thoughts What to expect from Amazon’s A11: Amazon will probably link with PayPal to cut down on black hat sales and reviews. Content will probably be more precise, so stick to shorter and clearer titles. We’ll probably see improved ranking for stores that have their own eCommerce sites but still use Amazon Pay. CPC is expected to be controlled by relevance score and much more. Keep a weather eye on the horizon because Amazon is making big moves and I guarantee it won’t be long before you can do your monthly grocery shop, your banking, buy a car and book your holidays on Amazon.
• #75: Our proposition in two words. We’ve joined acquisition media and CRM to find and keep the right customers for our clients.
• #76: This slide (and the following one) will hopefully not be needed in 6-12 months time once the Edit brand is more well known.
• #83: Integrated marketing technology solutions up to the enterprise level Leading data compliance and security practices Our technology team enables over a billion consumer interactions
• #85: Brands need to recognise their customers and drive more relevant engagement. The challenge is complex journeys with multiple brand-consumer touchpoints The Edit response: One consumer… a clear understanding of them, fuelled by data… what will resonate and what wont? One conversation… a seamless, relevant experience that is delivered anywhere and everywhere they interact. Technology enables this. Customer Data Platform – collecting the data breadcrumbs, unifying this through a single consumer identity and making this data easily available for marketing analysis and execution… whilst ensuring it is managed in a secure and compliant fashion. The secret sauce? Clear auditability for data lineage (where, when, what, why) and sophisticated matching routines to link people across their interactions. Customer Experience Platform – co-ordinating the delivery of personalised experiences across all connected channels, fuelled by data and connected to relevant content… The secret sauce, multiple technologies from leading vendors, integrated to execute across channels, joined through the customer data platform.
• #95: This slide (and the following one) will hopefully not be needed in 6-12 months time once the Edit brand is more well known.
• #96: High level overview of services – the point to get across is the authentic depth of specialisms we have within Edit. We do a lot of things and we do them well because we are the coming together of 4 businesses that had their own focus. The thin red-line that joins the disciplines is data – we use it in everything we do.
• #97: The notion of “connectivity” is important and should be a key part of the tone of voice and language we use when presenting. We connect disciplines through data and planning, we create a whole much greater than the sum of the parts. We connect brands with consumers. We connect our team with the client, aligning expertise and creating peer to peer relationships that help everyone to thrive.
• #98: HBR article – essentially this slide highlights the need to be personal and creative in the output we deliver. This means it is all the more important for a marketing director to have confidence that the key pieces of the puzzle are all aligned. Why have multiple marketing agencies – increasing complexity and risk of knowledge slipping through the gaps, when you could have Edit. Connectivity is important in a marketing world that must deliver relevance to consumers wherever they engage with brands. This is a difficult thing to do. It requires databases, planners, analysts, creatives, technologists, systems and KPIs to be working in concert, aligned and connected by a common purpose. But it can’t feel ‘robotic’ – personality and creative thought needs to shine through.
• #99: We are a connective of specialists who swarm around a problem, quickly creating teams shaped around the client need. You don’t need to brief multiple agencies. You don’t need to worry about knowledge gaps. You don’t need to worry about your data residing with multiple external third parties.
• #100: One consumer = personalisation. We understand your customer like no one else. One conversation = relevance and simplicity. We connect the experiences a consumer has with your brand to create a clear and easily measurable brand/consumer conversation. One agency = we have this under one roof.
• #101: 1 & 2 = broadly speaking is our media offering 3 = is CRO work from B3 and consultancy (particularly in data science) around things such as price point, offer/promotion, site location, messaging and tone of voice 4 & 5 = broadly speaking our CRM and social media offering 4 = Brand or product experiences, social activity, PR experiences. Also the planning and activation that goes in to a successful loyalty program 5 = Identifying advocates, treating them differently, using their profiles to improve media activity
• #103: This slide is about making the client feel special. The important point to make is that we want to work with courageous leaders because we know the biggest changes we can make come with the need to drive change in an organization. We can make the client famous, but they need to be ready and able to help influence the business.
• #105: Only radio transmitted DM pack in the UK
• #107: Taking segmented CRM data and differentiated offers and delivering