An Ultimate Guide to Amazon Keyword Research - Jungle Scout

An Ultimate Guide to Amazon Keyword Research

Keywords and search terms are central to how Amazon picks which products to show shoppers. Used properly, this tactic can help sellers optimize their product listings, which improves product visibility and increases rankings in Amazon search (a kind of Amazon SEO).

But finding the best keywords for every single product you offer can be pretty time-consuming — and it sometimes feels like you’re throwing darts in the dark, never quite sure the quality of your results.

In this guide we’ll show you exactly how to conduct Amazon keyword research and start improving your keyword rankings in Amazon’s search engine.

Why is Amazon keyword research so important for sellers?

Keyword research is vital for Amazon sellers for one simple, foundational reason:

To sell a product on Amazon, you need people to see or find that product on Amazon.

If we extend that concept a bit, then to sell more products, you need more people (and the right kinds of people) to see it.

Keyword research is one of the most significant ways to increase how many right-fit shoppers see your product on page one of their Amazon search results.

Many people tend to think of Amazon as just an ecommerce website. But Amazon is just as much a search engine as it is an online store. It’s a complex algorithm that tries to match searchers with satisfying results.

You’re already selling products that those searchers want (or you will be soon). Keyword research helps you determine what those searchers are actually searching for (customer search intent) and the terms they’re using (keywords), so you can adjust your product listings accordingly.

What does this mean in terms of ROI?

Keyword research is a relatively small and inexpensive adjustment to make, building on top of your existing workflows for identifying, sourcing, and listing products. Yet this small adjustment often leads to a significantly higher return on investment (ROI).

Why? Because proper keyword research drives larger volumes of more relevant traffic to your products. And when more (and more relevant) users see your products, more of them click “add to cart” and your conversion rate climbs.

By researching and then using more targeted keywords in your Amazon listings, you’ll encourage better customer engagement and higher conversion rates — and you’ll also frequently lower your ad costs, too. By using an Amazon keyword research tool like Jungle Scout, you can identify relevant high-volume, low-competition keywords that cost less but perform well.

How does Amazon’s search algorithm work?

Amazon doesn’t share much information directly about its search algorithm, but through trial, error, and data-driven analytics, we know quite a bit about how it works.

Amazon’s latest iteration of its search algorithm is known as the A10 algorithm. It replaced the longstanding A9 product ranking algorithm back in 2021. Both versions scour nearly every element associated with a product listing to understand what products are and then match searchers (and search intent) to the best possible results.

A10 also weighs seller authority (a separate calculation involving how long a seller has been active on Amazon, how many products they offer, number of sales, and feedback and ratings) as one ranking factor.

To show you in greater detail how Amazon’s search algorithm works, let’s look at a few of the most important elements of Amazon’s search algorithm.

Amazon search box

First up is the search box itself. It’s easy to overlook this element as, well, just a box — but this little box is much more than just a box.

Yes, it’s the place where people enter their search terms. But, just like Google tries to autocomplete your searches, the Amazon search box tries to guess what a user is trying to search for.

When users search for keywords, the search box retrieves relevant product listings. By using common keywords that relate to your product, you’ll improve product visibility because over time your Amazon search rankings placements will likely improve.

Side note: This can be a low-tech way of doing basic keyword research. Imagine you sell iPhone cases, for example. Head over to that search bar and type in “iPhone ca” — don’t finish the word. Looking at the keywords and phrases that show up as possible autocompletes will show you some keywords you should probably be using on relevant listings.

Search filters

Searches for common products can get a little cluttered these days, so some searchers will use filters to narrow down their search results.

Making sure your products are appropriately listed in the right product categories will help you survive the filter purge. Keywords matter here as well: for a product type where color is an available filter, you want your blue items to show up under the “blue” filter, and so on.

Search results page

The exact way products are ranked on the search results page is opaque. No one outside of Amazon knows exactly how these are calculated. (Neither do most people inside Amazon.)

But we do know that keyword relevance, prior sales performance, and conversion rate are each major factors. Seller authority, ratings and reviews, and even off-site mentions and activity all carry some weight as well.

The important takeaway here is that only some of these elements are directly within your control. The biggest of these is keyword research and optimization. Using the right keywords the right way will improve both organic ranking and paid placements.

Amazon sales rank

A product’s Amazon sales rank is a calculation of a product’s performance. It seems to involve both the number of units sold and conversion rate (how many people bought the product after reaching the page via the given search term).

Showing up higher in search results means greater visibility and higher levels of trust with customers. Maybe they haven’t heard of the case brand before, but if it’s #1 on Amazon, surely it’s decent — right?

Sponsored products and advertising

Sponsored products and other advertising options work differently. Sellers can bid on specific keywords to achieve higher placement.

With the bid system, some keywords are much more expensive than others. The more sellers that want to compete on a keyword, the higher the bids for that keyword will go.

Using the right keywords in Amazon PPC campaigns can help sellers appear in more searches and increase sales. But because of the bid system, there’s a lot of strategy that goes into which keywords are the right keywords for a given product listing.

Where are keywords most important on Amazon?

Choosing the right keywords is the crucial first step, but nearly as important is using those keywords in the right places.

Each of the following content areas or fields can improve a product listing in one or more of these ways:

Product title

Incorporating relevant keywords into the product title leads to better search visibility.

Here’s what we mean: If you walk into an office supply store looking for a new office chair, it’s patently obvious where to go. Not every tag or sign has to explicitly state that a chair is a “leather rolling office chair suitable for up to 300 pounds with 5 points of adjustment.” In ecommerce, you do want a number of those terms in the product title itself.

Quick tip: Keep your titles readable in natural language, and avoid keyword stuffing. A quick rule of thumb is “does this sound like how humans talk?”

Product details

Here’s where all the relevant keywords that didn’t fit into the product title should go. Use them naturally in your copy and don’t forget to include them in bullet points and descriptions!

Once that’s done, then review that content for any keyword opportunities you may have missed.

Seller Central (backend search)

You may at this point have keywords from your keyword research that you haven’t been able to work naturally into copy. Or, in certain cases, you may want to include keywords that don’t visibly appear in your listing.

In Amazon Seller Central, you can do this using backend keywords. Amazon provides five fields and indexes roughly the first 50 characters in each (250 characters in total).

Bullet points

There’s a reason you see bullet points in nearly every form of digital content:

Since readers will naturally gravitate toward your listing’s bullet points, Amazon may weigh these more heavily than other sections.

Understanding different types of Amazon keywords

Short-tail vs. long-tail keywords

Short-tail keywords are broad, general, and usually short keywords. For example:

Long-tail keywords are more specific, more targeted, and longer:

Short-tail keywords have higher search volume and heavier competition. Long-tail keywords have lower search volume and lower competition but are much more specific.

So which should you use? It depends on your selling goals. Long-tail keywords bring in less but much more targeted traffic, and they’re much cheaper for PPC.

Branded vs. non-branded keywords

Branded keywords include a branded or trademarked term, while non-branded keywords don’t. Using both types means capturing both types of searchers.

How to conduct and implement Amazon keyword research like a pro

1. Use Jungle Scout’s Keyword Scout tool

Start with Jungle Scout’s Keyword Scout tool. This powerful tool pulls from millions of data points, providing users with actionable information about any keyword imaginable.

2. Analyze competitor listings

It pays to learn what’s already working for the competition. Keyword Scout helps here, too. You can compare your item with top competitors and identify which keywords your competitors are winning.

3. Track keyword performance over time

Shoppers are constantly changing, which means there’s no resting on current or past success. Tracking keyword performance over time can alert you to improvements your competitors have made.

4. Identify niche markets for new keyword opportunities

Jungle Scout’s Opportunity Finder tool helps sellers discover high-demand, low-competition niches by analyzing keyword trends.

Common mistakes in Amazon keyword research and how to avoid them

Keyword stuffing

Keyword stuffing is discouraged by modern search engine algorithms and can annoy customers. Instead, write readable copy and place keywords naturally throughout.

Ignoring long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords don’t bring in as much traffic, but the traffic they bring in is far more targeted.

Failing to update keywords regularly

The keywords that are performing well today may not do so in six months or a year, so make sure you track keyword performance and update your listings regularly.

Master your Amazon keyword strategy with Jungle Scout

As an Amazon seller, you want to reach more shoppers, rank higher, and sell more. What’s the key skill that unlocks all three? Mastering Amazon keyword research.

With the right tools and skills in place, you’ll be better positioned to identify strategic keywords, implement them properly, and monitor their performance over time.