Amazon SEO: Seller Tips and Tricks in 2026
Those three little letters, SEO, are enough to worry even technically minded online sellers. SEO is usually associated with Google, but it matters just as much on Amazon.
If you sell on Amazon, SEO on the platform decides whether your products rank in the search results for the keywords that matter to you. In simple terms, when you optimise a product listing, you make it easier for Amazon's search algorithm to find your listing and choose to show it to buyers.
Every Amazon seller wants a top position on the first page of search results. If you do not understand and apply Amazon SEO, you will get less traffic and fewer sales.
Amazon SEO works differently from Google. Almost every search on Amazon is transactional, because people are there to buy, so your strategy should be built around that. Several factors and ranking signals decide how your listings perform, and some of them, such as price and sales velocity, are not about keywords at all.
TL;DR: Amazon SEO has two halves. Keywords and listing quality make your product eligible to appear for a search. Performance, mainly conversion rate and sales velocity, decides where it ranks among eligible listings. Price influences both conversion rate and velocity, which is why a pricing strategy that keeps you competitive at a sustainable margin is part of Amazon SEO, not a separate job.
How Does Amazon SEO Work?
When a buyer searches on Amazon, they usually enter a keyword or keyphrase and wait for results. The results are a direct product of Amazon SEO.
Buyers mostly click options on the first page and rarely go on to page 2, 3 or 4. That is natural, because the first page is where they expect to find the best and most relevant results. If you want to be seen and sell more, you need to be on it. The higher you rank, the more sales you can make, and the further down you slip, the fewer you get.
To reach page 1, the most important things to get right are relevance and performance. The factors that influence your Amazon search ranking are:
Product title optimisation
Product image optimisation
Backend keywords
Pricing strategy
The Amazon search algorithm, commonly called A9 or A10
Each of these matters, and each should be applied to every listing you launch.
What is the Amazon A10 Algorithm?
"A10" is the name sellers use for Amazon's search ranking algorithm, and "A9" is the label that came before it. Neither name comes from Amazon. As Jungle Scout's A9 guide notes, sellers began calling the updated algorithm A10 around 2020, and Amazon does not use that language itself. This guide uses "A9 or A10" as shorthand for whatever Amazon's current search ranking system is.
What matters is what the algorithm is trying to do. Like Google's, it matches searches to relevant results. Unlike Google, it serves a store, so its priority is to show the products buyers are most likely to buy. Your job as a seller is to give it the data it needs: relevant keywords so you qualify for a search, and strong sales performance so you rank well once you do. The sections below cover the relevance side first, then the price and velocity side.
Amazon Product Listing Optimisation
Your listing is where all the influencing factors come together. A complete listing includes:
A keyword-relevant product title
Bullet points covering features and benefits
An accurate main description
Product images
It should hold every detail a customer would want before buying. For a deeper walkthrough, see the Amazon listing optimisation guide.
Amazon Keyword Optimisation
Keywords are the first requirement. If your listing does not contain the terms buyers search for, it will not appear. Put yourself in your ideal buyer's shoes and imagine the words they would type into the search bar. That is the best starting point.
Amazon Autocomplete
Autocomplete is a free source of keywords that real shoppers use. Start typing a keyword into the Amazon search box to see suggested searches, then follow it with A, B, C and so on to see more combinations.
View Your Competitors' Keywords
Competing listings are likely to use relevant keywords already. Enter a primary keyword and look at the top results for products similar to yours. This is another free, easy source.
Keywords Everywhere
For more exact data, a paid tool such as Keywords Everywhere adds search volume and related data for any keyword you search for, as a browser add-on that also works on Amazon.
Once you have a list of relevant keywords, you can add them across every part of your listing. Include all the relevant ones, and keep them consistent from the title through to the backend.
How to Optimise Product Titles for Amazon SEO
Your title must be highly relevant, because the algorithm uses the keywords in it to judge how well your listing matches a search. If a buyer searches for a "black shoulder bag" and you sell one, all three of those words should be in your title. Add other relevant keywords alongside them.
Take your time planning the title. It is one of the most important parts of your listing, and you may need to test and adjust it.
Important points:
Include your brand, but do not rely on it for optimisation.
Do not make the title too long or too short. Amazon's title limit varies by category, with around 200 characters as a common ceiling, so check your category's limit in Seller Central.
For mobile, put the key terms in roughly the first 80 characters.
Avoid keyword stuffing. It works against you.
How to Optimise Bullet Points for Amazon SEO
Shoppers rely heavily on bullet points because they are quick to scan, and they are the part of your listing that does most of the selling. Do not overlook them for SEO either.
Cover the five key features and benefits of your product, such as size, colour and ingredients. Work your primary and secondary keywords naturally so each point reads well. Keep each bullet to about 200 characters, so the most important terms come early and the bullet stays readable.
Important points:
Choose five key features and benefits.
Weave primary and secondary keywords naturally.
Keep each bullet to about 200 characters.
Use descriptive words and phrases.
How to Optimise the Main Description for Amazon SEO
The main description is easy to overlook. It sits near the bottom of the product page, and few customers scroll that far, which is why your bullet points matter so much. Add it anyway, because it all helps your Amazon SEO.
A few short paragraphs are enough. Describe the main features and benefits, add any technical detail, and include warranty or care information where it applies. Use the same searched-for keywords you used in the title and bullets, so your keywords stay consistent across the whole listing. The text can also be relevant to Google searches.
Important points:
Include your target keywords naturally.
Write short paragraphs.
Cover features and benefits.
How to Optimise Backend Keywords for Amazon SEO
Backend keywords are often overlooked. They are not visible on your product page and are added in Seller Central, but they can still affect how discoverable your product is.
Use them for alternative spellings, related search terms and long-tail phrases. Make sure the phrases make sense, for example "red dog lead" rather than "dog lead red". Amazon limits the space available, around 250 characters including spaces and punctuation, so check the current limit in Seller Central and use it wisely.
Important points:
Do not repeat keywords already in your title.
Add alternative spellings.
Use either the singular or the plural. One is enough.
Add long-tail keywords as phrases.
How to Optimise Product Images for Amazon SEO
Images do not directly change your search ranking, but they matter for Amazon SEO because listings with high-quality images tend to convert better. Conversion rate is one of the performance signals discussed below, so images feed ranking indirectly.
Make your images sharp, pleasing and accurate.
Important points:
Use a white background for the main image.
Follow Amazon's image guidelines. Images of at least 1,000 pixels on the longest side allow zoom, so check the current requirements.
Use square images that accurately represent the product.
How to Optimise Your Pricing Strategy for SEO
Keep an eye on your competition, because you should not price yourself out of the market. What many sellers do not realise is that your price can affect your Amazon SEO. If you charge noticeably more than comparable listings, your conversion rate is likely to suffer. If you then sell fewer units than your competitors, your ranking can follow, and the listing optimisation you did may count for less.
Important points:
Monitor your competitors' prices.
Price competitively, while keeping a profitable floor.
The next section explains the mechanism in full.
How price and velocity affect your ranking
Amazon is a store, not a search engine. Google ranks pages on relevance and infers purchase intent. Amazon ranks products by how likely they are to sell, and uses relevance as a filter first. That makes price more than a Buy Box variable. It is a ranking input. A competitive price supports conversion rate. Conversion rate supports sales velocity. Sales velocity supports organic rank. Organic rank decides which buyers see your listing without you paying for the placement.
Relevance gets you in, performance decides where you rank
Amazon does not publish its ranking formula or the weight of each factor. What follows is the working model sellers and analysts use, so treat the detail as a guide, not a specification.
Two stages apply to every search. First, a listing has to be eligible: its content must contain the relevant keywords. Second, among eligible listings, performance decides the order. Jungle Scout's A9 guide lists keyword relevance, sales velocity and conversion rate as core factors. Sellers also commonly cite these:
Conversion rate. The share of visitors to your listing who buy. A listing that gets plenty of views but few sales looks like a poor match for the search.
Sales velocity. Units sold over a period. Sustained, growing sales are generally rewarded. A decline generally costs you position.
Click-through rate. How often buyers click your listing when it appears in results, which depends on your title, main image, price and star rating.
Keyword relevance. Mostly an eligibility factor. It decides whether you appear for a search more than where you appear.
Seller performance and stock. Poor account health can cost you Buy Box eligibility, which affects conversion. A listing you cannot fulfil cannot sell, so velocity falls.
The practical consequence: for a new listing with no sales history, keywords come first, because they decide whether you appear at all. For an established listing with sales history, pricing and velocity usually offer larger ranking gains than further keyword tweaks. Relevance opens the door. Performance decides where you stand.
How sales velocity affects organic ranking
Sales velocity works like a ranking score. More units sold in a period strengthens the signal, and the listing tends to rise for the queries it targets. Best Sellers Rank is the public proxy sellers watch. It is category-wide, while organic rank is specific to each search query, but both respond to the same underlying signal: units sold.
Position matters because of where buyers look. According to the WebFX Amazon statistics roundup, 56% of online consumers begin their product searches on Amazon (citing Jungle Scout), and more than two-thirds of clicks happen on the first page of results (citing WebProNews). A listing that holds a strong position gets the traffic. One that slips loses it.
The loop works in both directions:
Rising velocity: more sales, better ranking, more organic traffic, more sales.
Falling velocity: fewer sales, weaker ranking, less organic traffic, fewer sales. Left alone, this compounds.
Price is one of the fastest levers you can pull to shift velocity either way.
The price, conversion, velocity and rank chain
The connection from price to organic rank runs through four links.
Price affects conversion rate. Where several sellers compete, a competitive price influences how many buyers buy instead of clicking away to compare. As an illustration, a listing at $24.99 where alternatives range from $22 to $28 will convert better than the same listing at $29.99. The same WebFX roundup reports that 90% of Amazon shoppers compare prices (citing Analyzify), so price is the signal buyers act on first.
Conversion rate drives sales velocity. For a given amount of traffic, a higher conversion rate means more sales per period.
Sales velocity influences organic ranking. Listings that sell more tend to rank above those that sell less for the same query.
Organic ranking determines unpaid traffic. A higher position brings more clicks, more chances to convert and higher velocity, and the loop closes.
Each link can be measured: price against the Buy Box, conversion rate in Business Reports, units per day, and position for your target keywords.
How repricing improves your Amazon SEO
Repricing does not send a signal to the search algorithm directly. It works through conversion rate and velocity, which makes the effect indirect but real.
A repricer that keeps your price competitive against the Buy Box helps hold your conversion rate. When a competitor drops their price and your rules do not respond, buyers see a gap, and some choose the cheaper offer. Each lost sale is a lost velocity signal. A repricer that responds correctly keeps you near the competitive range, and with it the conversion rate and velocity that support your rank.
Three points on configuration:
Match, do not undercut. A rule that holds your price at the competitive level avoids the downward spiral that undercutting can start. Stable pricing supports stable conversion and velocity, and stable velocity supports stable rank.
Get the floor right. A floor set below your real break-even produces sales at a loss. They also produce velocity, which is why some sellers deliberately price low during a launch to build ranking. If you do that, make it a short, planned decision with a known cost, not an accident of a stale floor. A floor set too high, above the competitive range, suppresses conversion and velocity, and the ranking declines with them.
Test rules that hold a higher price. Rules that alternate between price points, such as oscillation repricing, can help margin, but their effect on conversion and ranking should be tested, not assumed to be neutral.
Book a Demo to see how velocity-based repricing keeps the conversion rate and sales volume that feed your Amazon ranking.
The click-through rate factor
On a search results page, the card for each product shows a title, image, star rating, review count and price. Price is the one number visible at a glance that signals value against the alternatives.
As an illustration, a buyer searching for a kitchen knife set sees most listings between $28 and $35 and one at $19.99. The cheaper listing draws attention because the buyer is actively comparing. Whether they click still depends on the whole card, including image quality and review count, but a clearly lower price raises the chance of a click, and click-through rate is one of the signals sellers associate with ranking.
It cuts both ways. A price far below the market can raise doubts about quality, and a low price with few reviews does not overcome them. A price at or slightly below the category average does well without looking like distress pricing. That is the range repricing rules should target for click-through rate, not marginal gains from extreme undercutting.
Using velocity-based repricing to improve organic rank
Velocity-based repricing uses your own sales rate as the trigger instead of competitor prices. When velocity falls below a target, the rule lowers the price to recover it. When velocity is strong, the rule holds or raises the price. Standard competitive repricing watches competitors. Velocity-based rules watch your own performance.
An illustrative configuration. Suppose an ASIN averages 8 units a day. You could set a rule like this:
If units sold in the last 24 hours fall below 6 (about 30% under target), lower the price by $0.50, never below the floor.
If units sold rise above 12 (50% over target), raise the price by $0.50, never above the maximum price.
Between 6 and 12, hold the current price.
These numbers are examples, not recommendations. Base yours on your own sales history and stock position, and confirm in Safe Mode, which simulates repricing without publishing live price changes, before going live.
Why it helps rank. When a competitor restocks and holds a lower Buy Box price, your sales slip. The velocity rule notices and lowers your price to recover, which helps stop a sales dip turning into a ranking dip. When a competitor runs out of stock and your sales surge, the rule raises the price in steps, recovering margin while sales are still strong.
Why the floor matters. A velocity rule that wins sales back by dropping below break-even buys ranking at the cost of margin. Calculate the floor from your actual costs, and the rule will recover velocity inside the profitable range. The Amazon seller fees guide covers every cost component in that calculation, and the sell-through rate guide shows how to use inventory velocity as a repricing signal.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does my price affect my Amazon ranking?
Price affects ranking through conversion rate and sales velocity. A competitive price helps more of the buyers who see your listing complete a purchase. More purchases per period means higher sales velocity, which is one of the main performance signals sellers associate with organic rank. A sustained rise in velocity tends to help ranking, and a sustained fall tends to hurt it. Price is one of the fastest levers for moving velocity either way, although Amazon does not publish how much weight each signal carries.
2. Does repricing improve my Amazon organic search position?
Indirectly, yes. Repricing does not send a signal to the search algorithm itself. It keeps your price competitive relative to the Buy Box, which helps hold the conversion rate and velocity that support your ranking. A velocity-based rule can also respond to a drop in your sales before it becomes a drop in position. The result depends on your competitors, your listing and your floor, and no repricing setup guarantees a ranking.
3. Does lowering my price always improve my ranking?
No. Lowering your price can lift conversion and velocity, but only up to a point. A price far below the market can make buyers doubt quality, particularly on a listing with few reviews. Pricing below your floor produces sales at a loss: ranking may improve while margin disappears. For ranking, the best price is usually at or slightly below the competitive Buy Box price, with a floor built from your actual costs. Velocity-based rules adjust within that range based on your own sales instead of competitor moves.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to consider in a successful Amazon SEO strategy, and Amazon can change its algorithm at any time. What stays consistent is the shape of the problem. Keywords decide whether you appear, and performance decides where you rank. Price sits between the two, because it shapes the conversion rate and velocity that performance is made of. For more on growing sales across the platform, see these Amazon selling tips.
Repricer.com is a member of Amazon's Marketplace Developer Council and works across Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Shopify. Book a Demo or start the 14-day free trial.
