Looking for new strategies to drive more traffic to your Amazon list? Have you tried optimizing for search terms in the backend?
As a reseller, you always want more options for the Amazon product details page. After all, the more people you land on your list, the higher your conversions.
So, you do your best to make it happen. From creating a compelling headline to using high-quality images to incorporating customer reviews into your product description, you try to cover all fronts.
But all these efforts can soon become useless if a customer enters a relevant query and does not see your product in the search results.
Here comes the importance of keywords.
The Amazon A10 algorithm identifies the exact lists of the right keywords and serves the right ones for customers shopping for a product. Strategically, you place keywords at the bottom of your list – title, points and product description – in the hopes that they will be picked up by Amazon, increasing your chances of appearing in search.
But did you know that you can also include keywords in the search terms in the backend on your list?
What are Amazon search terms?
Amazon search terms are keywords that provide additional context for your Amazon list. They increase the visibility of your product in the search for a wider range of keywords, drive more traffic to it, and ultimately increase your conversions.
Many sellers try to cram keywords at the front of their list to establish greater visibility. The problem with this approach is that it makes the list readable unnaturally. This reduces the level of trust among buyers and they bounce off your page.
You can address this issue with impressions and conversions using backend search terms. The search box inside Seller Central offers a fantastic opportunity for sellers to use different keywords for their ad without making it look all too forced. Unlike previous keywords, Amazon search terms are not visible to users and can only be indexed by Amazon robots.
Sellers can use synonyms and variations of their main target keywords that do not reach the title, points, or description to optimize for search terms.
How do you add Amazon search terms?
To add search terms to your Amazon list, follow these steps:
1. Log in to Amazon Seller Central and hold the mouse cursor over the Inventory tab. This will bring up a list. Select Inventory Management from the options.
2. Select the SKU to which you want to add search terms, and click ‘editing“.
3. On the next page, find and select the Keywords tab. This should expand many blank fields. Find the search box and enter the appropriate keywords.
4. Click ‘Save and Finish’ to add the search terms to your Amazon list.
In addition to search terms, there are five other types of backend keywords available to sellers. These include subject, other attributes, purpose, target audience, and non-promotional Platinum keywords.
Keywords from Amazon Platinum vs. Search Terms
Amazon Platinum keywords are for platinum sellers. Like other keywords, they help increase product visibility but are non-promotional. Over the years, Amazon has diminished in importance, and many experts now consider them redundant. On the other hand, search terms continue to become increasingly important and are seen as an integral part of Amazon SEO.
This brings us to an important question, how do you find search terms for your Amazon list anyway?
How to find search terms for your Amazon list
There are different strategies for finding search terms for your Amazon list. You can use keyword research tools like ZonGuru, Helium 10, Jungle Scout and Viral Launch to find winning keywords. These tools work really well for this purpose.
You can also use Amazon’s AutoFill method to get keyword ideas for your backend search terms. Finally, we have an Amazon Search Terms report available to registered retailers that shows keywords that generate the highest sales and conversions on Amazon.
Tips for starting keyword research for your backend search terms
Still struggling to figure out where to start with the Amazon keyword search keyword process? Check out these tips:
- Contact an engineer of at least 5 of your competitors and see what keywords they use. Try to reproduce them. You can also use Google Trends and Keyword Planner to challenge your research
- Read customer reviews and testimonials. They can be a gold mine when it comes to finding keywords. Expand your list with keyword research tools.
- Translating your main keyword into other languages such as Spanish or French can also become a forage for your search terms.
Guidelines for Amazon search terms
Here are some guidelines on how to use search terms effectively for your Amazon list:
1. Stay below the limit
The Amazon search terms limit is 249 bytes (for Amazon US). You should not exceed this. If you do, Amazon will show you a warning message and will not accept your recordings.
2. Avoid repetition
Do not repeat keywords already used at the front of your ad. Look for synonyms and other options.
3. Leave the product identifiers, filling words, punctuation, etc.
The use of ASIN, trademarks (including yours), adjectives, superlatives, spelling, and misleading and offensive words is strictly prohibited. Also avoid words to stop or fill in such as “an”, “the”, “by”, “for”, etc. Separate search words using a space, not a comma, colon, or semicolon.
4. Be careful when using singular and plural
If you’ve already used the singular form of a keyword, don’t use the plural form, and vice versa. Amazon treats them the same. The A10 algorithm works actively to provide the most relevant results to buyers, while eliminating any platform disruptions that the system is trying to play. Remember to follow all the above guidelines to stay in the good books of Amazon. See this page for more details.
Examples of Amazon search terms
| Wrong use | Why is it wrong? | Proper use |
| “Pearl” “Bright” “Pain” | The use of quotation marks is not necessary. | Pearly bright pain |
| Toothpaste for whitening | Includes a full word | Whitening toothpaste |
| Toothpaste, pearl, white, bright, smile, shine, sensitivity | Using a comma | Toothpaste pearl white bright smile glitter sensitivity |
| Tooth teeth | Uses a singular and plural word variant | Teeth or teeth |
| Toothpaste for a bright smile toothpaste for sensitive teeth | Unnecessary repetition | Toothpaste bright smile sensitive teeth |
Amazon Search Terms Frequently Asked Questions
1. What’s the difference between bytes and characters on Amazon?
Symbols refer to the letters, numbers, and symbols in a piece of text. Bytes, on the other hand, are used to measure the size of a character. Usually one character is equal to one byte on Amazon, except for Unicode characters and foreign language characters, which are often more than one byte.
2. Can you upload bulk search terms for multiple listings on Amazon?
Yes, you can upload bulk search terms for your product lists using the flat file available in the “Inventory” section of your central reseller.
3. What is the Amazon Search Terms Report?
The Amazon Search Terms Report provides the most popular search terms on Amazon, along with the frequency range of each term, the first three products they clicked on after that search, and how many times those clicks became sales.
4. How do I know if Amazon has indexed your search terms?
You can use paid tools and extensions to find out if Amazon has indexed your target search terms or not. Alternatively, you can run a manual check.
- Go to Amazon and select “All Departments.”
- Enter the ASIN of your product and target the keyword. Hit search.
- If your product is indexed for that particular keyword, it will appear in the results.
Conclusion
Amazon is a highly competitive market. You can’t just set up a store and expect customers to buy from you. Instead, you need to do in-depth market research, optimize both the front and the back of your list, and advertise and promote your product effectively if you want to have any chance of succeeding.
We hope you’ve figured out the meaning of Amazon’s backend search terms and selected some useful optimization techniques. We hope this knowledge will help you on your sales journey.