Amazon’s Organic Rank Algorithm

The most important aspect of selling on Amazon is understanding how Amazon rankings work. With higher rankings, products are prioritized higher in searches, leading to more views and greater purchasing likelihood.  Amazon rankings function via a sophisticated SEO algorithm, often called A9. The algorithm and its behaviors are determined by a number of direct and indirect factors including:

Direct Factors

• Availability – Is your product in stock?   The second your item becomes out of stock, it will drop out of search rankings.  
• Price – Is your product competitively priced?   Maintaining Manufacturer Advertised Price (MAP), and enforcing those who break it, will make sure your item stays relevant.  
• Text Relevancy (Keyword Optimization) – Is your product easily searchable?   Shoppers need to be able to find your item quickly. Listings should have appropriate keywords, and utilize a “long-tail” title that maximizes upon appropriate search terms.  
• Sales Velocity – Is your product selling?   The more items you sell, the more items you will sell. As items trend, they will rank higher in searches.  

Indirect Factors

• Fulfillment Type (FBA or FBM) – Is your product fulfilled by Amazon or by Merchant?   The power of Prime is hard to ignore. Amazon force ranks items that are prime eligible, and users are more inclined to select 2-day free shipping.  
• Reviews – Is your product well received?   Poorly reviewed products are seldom purchased. Listings with higher reviews (3/5 stars and up), are more likely to be purchased, resulting in higher sales velocity.  
• Images – Is your product represented well? Images have a huge influence on a shopper’s decision to buy. Great looking, high quality images, help customers feel confident in their purchase.  
• EBC/A+ Content (Enhanced Brand Content) – Is your product listing optimized? Rich pictures, interactive information, links. and bulleted features, all become available with EBC and A+ Content. Conversion rates are shown to increase by as much as 50% with these content optimizations.  
• Advertising (Amazon Sponsored Ads) – Is your product targeting customers?   Increase sales velocity and sales rank through Amazon Sponsored Ads that help put your product in front of interested customers.  
• Promotions – Is there incentive to buy your product?   Bundles, discounts, and deals are a great way to drive sales.  

Which factors do you need help with?

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