Understanding Ranking on Amazon
When talking about Amazon and how to succeed on their platform, there are certain concepts that are important to understand, one of these is "ranking" or "to rank." If you don't know what that means, read this and you'll understand exactly within just a few minutes!
The Basics of Amazon Ranking
When a potential customer goes on Amazon hoping to find a product, let's say a kitchen scale for this example, they often start by searching in the search field. In the image below, I've searched for "Kitchen scale" to show what the search results look like.
The circled products are those that appeared at the top after the search. The products highlighted in green are sponsored products (i.e., ads).
Just like on Google, Amazon tries to find the products that best match the search and the customer. Best in this case does not mean the best product, but best as in it converts well, many other customers have bought this product, it has good ratings, etc. Not just the best products show up. No. Hundreds, thousands of products show up, page after page.
What Does it Mean to "Rank"?
It simply means appearing higher in the search results. We exclude sponsored products here. A product can rank for specific keywords, e.g., "kitchen scale" or "big kitchen scale." But one can often talk about ranking more generally. What is meant is that the product appears high in many different searches.
If the product ranks high for, e.g., "kitchen scale," the chances are good that you also rank higher for related keywords like "silver kitchen scale." Ranking means appearing at the top but also appearing relatively high up or, e.g., higher than before. It is arbitrary what is meant and determined by the context.
For those who know what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is, "ranking" is the same thing, or rather what is achieved with successful Amazon SEO.
Why is it Important to Rank Higher in Search Results?
Because then you sell more. MUCH MORE.
In the same search as the image above was taken from, I collected data on how much the different products sell for each month. The three products that rank highest (i.e., the three products that appear at the top when searching) sell for an average of $79,000 each month.
The three products that were at the bottom of the first page. Not at the very bottom overall, but still on the first page, sell for about $8,300 each month. The highest-ranked products sell almost 10 times as much as the three last on the first page. Sometimes (often) this difference is greater, sometimes (but rarely) it is smaller.
How to Rank High?
This question requires a long answer. But to summarize, there are a few things that affect it:
- Optimized product page
- Conversion and sales
- Other factors (reviews, category, shipping options, etc.)
As mentioned, this is an article in itself. But by creating a product page that converts well, with a title and product description that includes the keywords you want the product to rank for and by making customers happy with a good product and fast shipping, you have come a long way.
If you found this helpful, please share the article with some colleagues who also need to know what "ranking" on Amazon means. Thanks!
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