Using SEO and Social Media to Boost Amazon Sales

Jodi Gaines Pereira, co-founder of ReplyManager which was acquired by XSellco early in 2015, is at The PROSPER Show and exclusively reporting back on some of the sessions for Tamebay:

Today Jodi reports on a panel discussion with representatives from BigLeap, ColderICE, Rumor Advertising and SEO National moderated by Joseph Hansen at The PROSPER Show, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Using SEO and Social Media to Boost Amazon Sales

70% of purchases on Amazon come from the search tool bar and 35% of all product related searches are done on Amazon. SEO for Amazon is a serious necessity. During the PROSPER Show, a panel of marketing experts gave some savvy tips on Amazon SEO as well as how to properly use social media to drive traffic without adversely affecting Amazon rankings. Here are three of the biggest takeaways:

Key Factors That Affect Amazon SEO

• Relevancy: Amazon looks at keywords in the title and in a special keyword field they provide to sellers. Product description is better used to convert the buyer.
• Conversion: Are your products selling after click-through? If not, Amazon is less likely to rank your product.
• Customer Satisfaction and Feedback: Although having good seller feedback doesn’t affect rankings, negative feedback can have a significant impact.
• Returns: Products that are returned can also affect your Amazon ranking.

Social Media and SEO: Quality Better Than Quantity

Turns out that all that traffic you’ve been sending directly to your Amazon product listing from your social media campaign could hurt your Amazon rankings if they didn’t convert. All the panelists agree that quality is better than quantity.

The fix? Pre-screen your Amazon traffic. Instead of sending traffic from social media (or any paid campaign) directly to your Amazon listing, funnel it to a stand alone landing page and then use a Call to Action button to send them to your Amazon listing.

Leverage Amazon for Your Own Website

Testimonials and feedback are important, but on your own website they may carry less weight than those on Amazon. In addition to publishing customer testimonials, use a widget to stream reviews directly from your Amazon Seller account.

Price anchoring is another clever way to make your website and Amazon listings work together. Put a “Now Available on Amazon” link on your website that points to your product listing or seller account. Be sure the Amazon price is a bit cheaper. Doing this establishes a value for your product by giving users something to measure against. Panelists agreed that customer case studies showed this method helped boost both Amazon and website sales.

Tamebay Take

Sending traffic to your products on Amazon generally only makes sense if you have unique inventory, otherwise you would be fuelling someone else’s sales if they’ve won the buy box. You’re paying Amazon fees, let them find the traffic for your products.

Different price points on your website and Amazon is always a contentious one. You can make best use of this by having a fuller range with more customisation options on your website where people pay a premium for exactly what they want. On Amazon it’s a one shot package deal (whether it’s a single product or a bundle of products) but you’re competing against others. Let the customer choose which buying experience they prefer.