In an increasingly crowded Amazon marketplace, keyword research has become an essential component of a successful PPC campaign. Whether you’re new to e-commerce or a veteran seller, you’ve probably heard of the term–though you may only have a vague idea of what it is or how to make it work for you. But the payoffs of adding Amazon keyword research to your digital marketing toolbox are substantial, so it’s worth taking the time to understand the nuts and bolts of how it works and what it can do for your business.
In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into Amazon keyword research and explain how you can use it to boost sales and create winning PPC campaigns for your products.
Why is Amazon Keyword Research Important?
Keyword research is crucial for sellers on Amazon for several reasons. By carefully selecting relevant and high-performing keywords, sellers can improve their product listings, increase sales, and grow their businesses on the platform. Here are some of the many ways it can help boost your bottom line:
- Product visibility: On Amazon, customers primarily discover products through search results. By incorporating relevant keywords in product titles, descriptions, and backend search terms, sellers can improve their product listings’ search engine optimization (SEO), ensuring that your products appear in relevant search results. This increases the likelihood of customers finding and purchasing your products.
- Driving organic traffic: Organic traffic refers to users who visit a product listing without being directed by an advertisement. Effective keyword research helps you identify search terms that customers frequently use, allowing you to optimize your listings to rank higher in search results. This not only drives more organic traffic to your product pages but also reduces your reliance on advertising.
- Understanding customer needs: Keyword research gives you insight into what customers are looking for, the language they use, and the problems they face. By analyzing popular search queries, you can tailor your product offerings and marketing messages to better address customer needs and preferences, ultimately increasing conversions and customer satisfaction.
- Staying competitive: The Amazon marketplace is highly competitive, with numerous sellers offering similar products. By conducting thorough keyword research and optimizing your product listings accordingly, you can stay ahead of your competitors and maintain a strong market presence. Identifying and targeting long-tail keywords with lower competition can also help you establish a niche and differentiate your offerings.
- Optimizing advertising campaigns: Amazon offers various advertising solutions, such as Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads. To maximize the return on investment (ROI) from these campaigns, sellers need to target the most relevant and high-performing keywords. Keyword research helps you identify these keywords and allocate your advertising budget more effectively, leading to better results and increased sales.
- Tracking performance and making improvements: Continuous keyword research allows sellers to monitor trends and changes in customer search behavior, ensuring that their product listings remain optimized and up-to-date. You can also use keyword research tools to track your listings’ performance and identify areas for improvement, such as targeting new keywords or refining existing ones.
How Amazon Keyword Research Differs for PPC and SEO
While Amazon keyword research for PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) share some similarities, there are notable differences in their goals, focus, and implementation.
Here’s an overview of the distinctions between keyword research for Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO:
Goals:
- Amazon PPC: The primary goal of keyword research for PPC is to identify high-performing and relevant keywords that maximize ad visibility, drive clicks, and result in conversions. PPC campaigns are focused on driving immediate sales and improving product rankings through paid advertising.
- Amazon SEO: The goal of keyword research for SEO is to optimize organic product listings to improve search rankings and visibility, driving organic traffic and sales. Amazon SEO is focused on long-term growth and sustained visibility through organic search results.
Focus:
- Amazon PPC: PPC keyword research prioritizes keywords that are likely to generate conversions and have a strong return on investment. It may involve bidding on both high-volume and long-tail keywords, as well as competitor brand names, to maximize reach and sales.
- Amazon SEO: SEO keyword research targets keywords that are relevant, have high search volume, and low competition. The focus is on finding a balance between high-volume keywords and long-tail keywords that cater to a niche audience, optimizing product titles, descriptions, bullet points, and backend search terms for organic search rankings.
Implementation:
- Amazon PPC: In PPC campaigns, the researched keywords are used to create targeted ad groups and bidding strategies. Advertisers continuously monitor keyword performance, adjusting bids, and adding or removing keywords based on data from Amazon Advertising reports.
- Amazon SEO: For SEO, the researched keywords are strategically incorporated into product listings, including the title, description, bullet points, and backend search terms. Sellers monitor product ranking and organic performance, making adjustments to keywords and listing content as needed.
Competition and Costs:
- Amazon PPC: Keyword competition in PPC directly affects advertising costs, as higher competition often results in higher cost-per-click (CPC) rates. Keyword research for PPC campaigns involves finding a balance between competitive high-volume keywords and cost-effective long-tail keywords.
- Amazon SEO: In SEO keyword research, competition affects ranking difficulty. Targeting low-competition keywords can improve organic ranking chances, but there is no direct cost associated with keyword competition in SEO, as there is in PPC.
In summary, the main differences between Amazon keyword research for PPC and SEO lie in their goals, focus, implementation, and the impact of competition. While both strategies aim to improve product visibility and sales, PPC focuses on immediate results through paid advertising, and SEO emphasizes long-term organic growth. Understanding these differences can help sellers and marketers optimize their Amazon keyword research efforts for both PPC and SEO, leading to overall business growth on the platform.
What are the Best Ways to Perform Amazon Keyword Research
There are several ways to conduct Amazon keyword research, which can help you identify relevant and high-performing keywords for your product listings. These methods include using Amazon’s auto-suggest feature, competitor analysis, keyword research tools, customer reviews, and long-tail keyword exploration.
- Amazon auto-suggest: The Amazon search bar auto-suggests popular search queries as users type in their keywords. This feature provides valuable insights into customer search behavior and commonly used search terms. To use this method, simply start typing a relevant keyword in the Amazon search bar and take note of the suggested phrases. Repeat the process with different keyword variations to build a comprehensive list of potential keywords.
- Competitor analysis: Analyzing top-performing competitor listings can help you identify keywords that drive sales in your product category. To perform competitor analysis, search for products similar to yours and examine their titles, descriptions, bullet points, and backend keywords (if possible). Look for recurring phrases and terms, as well as unique keywords that could help differentiate your product from the competition.
- Keyword research tools: Several third-party tools are available to help sellers conduct Amazon keyword research. These tools offer various features, such as search volume estimates, keyword difficulty scores, and long-tail keyword suggestions. Some popular Amazon keyword research tools include Helium 10, Jungle Scout, Viral Launch, AMZScout, and Keyword Tool Dominator.
- Customer reviews: Analyzing customer reviews can help you gain insights into the language used by your target audience, in addition to the features and concerns that are most important to them. By reviewing customer feedback, you can identify common themes and keywords that can be incorporated into your product listings.
- Long-tail keyword exploration: Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases that usually have lower search volume but less competition. They can be valuable for sellers looking to establish a niche or differentiate their product offerings. To find long-tail keywords, use a combination of the methods mentioned above, focusing on more specific and descriptive phrases that relate to your product.
To conduct effective Amazon keyword research, sellers should use a combination of these methods and continuously monitor keyword performance and trends. By staying informed and adapting your keyword strategy, you can improve your product listings, drive more organic traffic, and increase sales on the Amazon platform.
How to Research Keywords for Amazon PPC Campaigns
Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns are an essential part of promoting your products and increasing visibility on the platform. To optimize your campaigns and maximize your return on investment, you need to research and select the most relevant and high-performing keywords. Here’s a step-by-step guide on researching keywords for Amazon PPC campaigns:
Start with your product listing: Analyze your product title, bullet points, description, and backend search terms to identify the main keywords that represent your product. Make sure these keywords accurately describe your product and are relevant to potential customers.
- Use Amazon auto-suggest: As mentioned earlier, Amazon’s auto-suggest feature provides valuable insights into popular search queries related to your product. Type your main keywords into the Amazon search bar and take note of the suggested phrases. These suggestions often represent high-traffic keywords and can be a good starting point for your PPC campaigns.
- Analyze competitors: Research the top-performing competitor listings in your product category to discover the keywords they’re targeting. Pay attention to their titles, bullet points, and descriptions. Look for both common keywords and unique terms that could help you differentiate your product and reach untapped customer segments.
- Use keyword research tools: Third-party keyword research tools, such as Helium 10, Jungle Scout, and Viral Launch, can be helpful in identifying high-performing keywords for your PPC campaigns. These tools provide valuable data like search volume, competition level, and long-tail keyword suggestions. Utilize this data to refine your keyword list and prioritize the most relevant and high-traffic keywords.Perform manual searches: Conduct manual searches on Amazon using your target keywords and analyze the search results. Look for sponsored products to identify keywords that other sellers are targeting with their PPC campaigns. This can help you understand the competitive landscape and select keywords that are more likely to drive conversions.
- Categorize keywords: Organize your keywords into different categories based on their relevance and potential impact on your campaign. Some common categories include brand-related keywords, product features, benefits, and use cases. This categorization can help you create more targeted ad groups and optimize your PPC campaigns.
- Continuously optimize your keywords: After launching your PPC campaigns, monitor their performance using Amazon Advertising reports. Track key metrics like impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost-per-click (CPC) to identify high-performing and underperforming keywords. Refine your keyword list by removing low-performing keywords and adding new ones based on your ongoing research.
How Amazon Search Differs from Google Search
Amazon and Google are both powerful search engines, but they serve different purposes and operate based on distinct algorithms. While Google is a general-purpose search engine designed to provide users with information, Amazon is a product-focused search engine built to facilitate e-commerce transactions. Here are some key differences between the two search engines:
- Purpose: Google’s primary objective is to provide users with the most relevant and useful information based on their search queries. Amazon, on the other hand, aims to help users discover and purchase products. Consequently, Google search results often include a mix of websites, news articles, videos, images, and other content, while Amazon search results primarily consist of product listings.
- Ranking factors: Google’s ranking algorithm considers a wide range of factors, including relevance, website authority, backlinks, content quality, user experience, and technical SEO aspects. Amazon’s algorithm, known as A9, focuses on factors such as product relevance, price, availability, sales history, customer reviews, and fulfillment method. While both algorithms consider relevance, the specific ranking factors and their weights differ significantly.
- Search intent: Google handles various search intents, including informational, navigational, and transactional searches. Users may be looking for answers, directions, or products to purchase. Amazon’s search engine is primarily transactional, as users visit the platform intending to find and buy products. This difference in search intent directly impacts the types of keywords and content that perform well on each platform.
- Advertising: Both Amazon and Google offer advertising solutions, but their approaches and offerings differ. Google Ads allows advertisers to bid on keywords and display ads across Google’s search results, partner websites, and the Google Display Network. Amazon Advertising offers ad formats such as Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display, which primarily appear within Amazon’s ecosystem, targeting users with a higher purchase intent.
- Indexing: Google crawls and indexes a vast number of websites and content types, including text, images, and videos. Amazon indexes product listings, focusing on elements like titles, descriptions, bullet points, and backend search terms. As a result, the strategies for optimizing content for each platform differ, with Amazon SEO focusing on product-specific keywords and listing optimization, while Google SEO involves a broader range of on-page and off-page factors.
In short, the main differences between Amazon and Google search engines lie in their purpose, ranking factors, search intent, advertising approaches, and indexing. Understanding these differences is crucial for businesses and marketers who want to optimize their online presence and succeed on both platforms.
High Volume Keywords vs. Long Tail Keywords in Amazon PPC
When it comes to Amazon PPC, both high-volume keywords and long-tail keywords play essential roles in a successful advertising strategy. Deciding which type of keyword to target depends on your campaign goals, budget, product niche, and competition level.
Here’s a brief overview of the advantages and considerations of targeting high-volume keywords and long-tail keywords in Amazon PPC:
High-Volume Keywords:
Advantages:
- Higher traffic: High-volume keywords have a larger search volume, which can drive more impressions, clicks, and potential sales to your product listing.
- Broader reach: Targeting high-volume keywords can help you reach a wider audience, increasing your product’s visibility and brand awareness.
Considerations:
- Higher competition: High-volume keywords tend to be more competitive, as multiple sellers are targeting these keywords, which can result in higher bid costs and lower ad positions.
- Lower conversion rates: Since high-volume keywords are more generic, they may attract a broader audience, including users who are not necessarily interested in your specific product, leading to lower conversion rates.
Long-Tail Keywords:
Advantages:
- Lower competition: Long-tail keywords are usually less competitive, as fewer sellers target these specific phrases. This can lead to lower bid costs and better ad positions.
- Higher conversion rates: Long-tail keywords are more specific and targeted, attracting users with a clear purchase intent. As a result, they often generate higher conversion rates.
Considerations:
- Lower traffic: Long-tail keywords have lower search volumes, which means fewer impressions and potential clicks. However, this can be mitigated by targeting a larger number of relevant long-tail keywords.
- More research required: Identifying relevant and high-performing long-tail keywords requires more in-depth research and continuous optimization.
Final Thoughts
Both high-volume keywords and long-tail keywords have their advantages and considerations. A balanced approach that includes both types of keywords can help you maximize the reach and efficiency of your Amazon PPC campaigns. High-volume keywords can increase visibility and brand awareness, while long-tail keywords can improve conversion rates and lower advertising costs. Experiment with different keyword combinations, monitor campaign performance, and continuously optimize your keywords to achieve the best results for your Amazon PPC campaigns.
Amazon Keyword Research FAQs
Amazon sellers can track the performance of their keywords by using tools such as Amazon Advertising Tools. This gives information about how their keywords are performing, what keywords are getting more clicks, and more. Amazon sellers can use the Amazon search bar to search for keywords and related phrases that are relevant to their products. This helps them discover which words are successful and what customers are looking for when they search Amazon. You can research keywords for free on the Amazon website by looking for the automated search suggestions that pop up when you search for an item, or you can use a free AI keyword research tool that can find keywords for you to use. While you are allowed to have 1000 keywords in your listing, the usual recommended amount is much lower: only about 50. Try keeping it between 35-60. A listing that is stuffed with keywords might do well on the search results page but probably won’t look appealing to customers. Amazon sellers should optimize their keyword strategies by thoroughly researching words and phrases that are related to their products and have high search volume. They should also create a list of target keywords that can be used for their Amazon product listing. Sellers can identify and target long-tail keywords by researching and analyzing customer reviews, competitor listings, and related words and phrases. They should also use keyword research tools such as Amazon Keyword Research Tools and other similar tools. Amazon sellers should update their keyword research on a regular basis, since trends and customers’ preferences change over time. As a result, sellers should continuously be monitoring and optimizing their keyword strategies. Keyword Research leads to SEO, but is not in itself SEO. Keyword research lets you understand which keywords your target audience are likely to be searching for. Once this is known, including volume, how competitive the search terms are etc, you can then decide for which keywords to “SEO” for. Golden keywords are normal keywords that are underrated and underserved. This means that there are things that people search for, but these particular phrases are used as keywords less compared to other phrases – which is what makes it ‘golden.’ To identify golden keywords, you should find keywords with a low monthly search volume and have only a few listings. Rich keywords have a high volume that will add a high value to your listing and help it rank on top. Do not confuse rich keywords with keyword-rich content because the latter just means any type of content with many keywords. The four types of keywords are long-tailed, short-tailed, questions, and intent-targeting. They’re pretty easy to understand: short-tailed keywords only consist of a couple of words, usually between 1 to 3. An example would be ‘bed sheets.’ Keyword research is the process of discovering words and phrases that customers type into search engines – like Amazon – when they are looking for products like yours. Analyzing competitors’ listings can be helpful for Amazon sellers as it gives insightful information about the keywords and phrases that are successful for other brands. It also helps to ensure that their products do not have the same keywords. Match types are important to Amazon sellers because they help determine which keywords are being used in searches and how Amazon’s algorithms will rank listings in search results. Sellers should use different match types to target different kinds of customers. Amazon sellers can use various methods to do keyword research such as manually researching popular keywords, using Amazon’s search bar, analyzing competitors, and using keyword research tools. You can research Amazon keywords in multiple places, including the Amazon website. You can use the suggested keywords that show when you search for an item on Amazon or one of the many keyword tools available on the internet. These tools are easier to use than manually finding keywords, but the results may need to be refined a bit before you can use the keywords. Keyword research is important for Amazon sellers because having the right keywords in your listing enables users to find your products easily. This helps you to attract more customers and increase sales.
Mina Elias, “The Egyptian Prescription,” is the CEO of Trivium Group. A chemical engineer turned Amazon seller, he mastered Amazon PPC advertising, investing personally. His insights, shared via YouTube and podcasts, led to Trivium’s global recognition. Today, Mina is a leading figure in the Amazon PPC space.
