[Seller News] Amazon Doubles SEO Field, 2x Generic Keyword Juice, Here's What to Know

Summary

In this video, Step Pope, founder of My Amazon Guy, discusses Amazon's recent SEO update increasing the search term field from 250 bytes to 500 characters in Seller Central. He explains the implications for Amazon brands and how sellers can optimize their listings with additional keywords. Step outlines a multi-phase SEO strategy, including competitor analysis, keyword optimization, and performance tracking to enhance visibility and sales on Amazon.

Takeaways

• 📈 Amazon has increased the character count for the search term field in Seller Central from 250 bytes to 500 characters.
• 🛠️ The change from bytes to characters aims to simplify keyword optimization by eliminating confusion around byte counting which didn't include spaces.
• 🔍 The update appears to be applicable across various categories, indicating a broad impact on Amazon SEO strategies.
• 📝 Sellers are encouraged to take advantage of the increased character limit by adding more relevant keywords to their listings.
• 🔑 Utilizing tools like Helium 10 can help identify top competitors and gather thousands of organic keywords for SEO optimization.
• 📊 Sorting keywords by the number of competitors and analyzing their average rank can provide insights into effective keyword usage.
• 📝 Creating a relevancy score for keywords can help prioritize which terms to include in the expanded search term field.
• 🔄 Rotating keywords and optimizing various phases of SEO, including master keyword lists and strike zone keywords, is crucial for gaining market share.
• 🎯 Focusing on 'strike zone' keywords (ranked 20-50) can help push products onto the first page of search results, increasing visibility and traffic.
• 📈 The use of the Search Performance Report, or IAP funnel, in phase 4 of SEO can identify areas of weakness in the sales funnel, such as click-through rates, to further optimize listings.
• 📚 Step Hope, the founder of My Amazon Guy, offers a comprehensive guide and tutorial for mastering Amazon SEO, including handling the new character limit in search terms.

Q & A

What is the recent change in Amazon Seller Central regarding the search term field?

Amazon Seller Central has increased the character count in the search term field from 250 bytes to 500 characters.

Why was the character count previously confusing for users?

The previous character count of 250 bytes did not include spaces, which made it difficult for users to understand how many characters they could actually use.

What does the change in character count mean for Amazon sellers?

The increase to 500 characters allows sellers to include more keywords in their search terms, potentially improving their product's SEO and visibility on Amazon.

How does the change in character count affect the generic keyword section?

The generic keyword section, which has been rebranded multiple times, now allows for a longer string of keywords, enhancing the opportunity for better search engine optimization.

What is the significance of the character count change for SEO strategies on Amazon?

The increase provides more room for sellers to include relevant keywords, which can lead to better search rankings and increased organic traffic.

How can sellers take advantage of the new character limit in the search term field?

Sellers can add additional relevant keywords to the search term field to improve their product's visibility and SEO performance.

What is the process of creating a master keyword list for Amazon SEO?

It involves researching top competitors, using tools like Helium 10 to find organic keywords, and sorting them by the number of competitors and average rank.

What is the purpose of the 'strike zone' keywords in Amazon SEO?

The 'strike zone' keywords are those ranked between 20 and 50, which are in a position to generate significant organic traffic but require optimization to move up in rankings.

How can sellers use the search performance report for SEO optimization?

Sellers can analyze the Impressions, Clicks, Add to Carts, and Purchases data to identify areas of weakness in their SEO strategy, such as improving the main image to increase Click Through Rate (CTR).

What are the different phases of SEO that Step Pope discusses in the video?

The phases include creating a master keyword list, indexing for as many keywords in phase one and two, focusing on 'strike zone' keywords in phase three, and using the search performance report in phase four to refine the strategy.

How can sellers find additional help with Amazon SEO?

Sellers can refer to Step Pope's Amazon guide, watch the 70-minute master tutorial, or visit Amazonguy.com for comprehensive SEO resources and services.

Outlines

00:00

🛒 Amazon SEO Update: Expanded Search Term Character Limit

Step Pope, founder of My Amazon Guide, discusses a significant change in Amazon's Seller Central SEO strategy. Amazon has increased the character count for the search term field from 250 bytes to 500 characters. This change is not just a simple update; it's a doubling of the space available for sellers to optimize their listings. The generic keyword section, which has seen various names like 'Search terms' and 'generic keyword,' now allows for more extensive keyword input, potentially affecting SEO rankings. The update appears to be universal across categories, with sellers encouraged to take advantage of the expanded character limit by adding more relevant keywords. Step suggests using tools like Helium 10 to identify top competitors and compile a master keyword list, which is essential for optimizing product listings in the new SEO landscape.

05:03

📈 Advanced Amazon SEO Techniques: Keyword Optimization and Analysis

In the second paragraph, Step Pope delves deeper into advanced Amazon SEO strategies. He explains how sellers can utilize the increased character limit to refine their keyword optimization. The process involves identifying 'strike zone' keywords, which are terms ranking between positions 20 and 50 that have the potential to generate significant organic traffic. Step advises integrating these keywords into various aspects of the product listing, such as the title, bullet points, image alt texts, and A+ content, to enhance visibility and click-through rates. He also introduces the concept of the 'IAP funnel,' which stands for Impressions, Clicks, Add to Carts, and Purchases, as a method to analyze search performance and identify areas for improvement. Step offers resources and tutorials on his website to guide sellers through these SEO phases, aiming to boost their product rankings on Amazon.

Keywords

💡SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a product listing in a search engine's unpaid results. In the context of the video, it refers to optimizing an Amazon product listing to rank higher in Amazon's search results. The script mentions various phases of SEO that the founder of 'My Amazon Guy' discusses in his video to improve product visibility and sales on Amazon.

💡Seller Central

Amazon Seller Central is a portal provided by Amazon for sellers to manage their businesses on the platform. It includes functionalities for listing products, managing orders, and accessing various tools for business growth. The script mentions a change in Seller Central regarding the character count for the search term field, indicating an update that could impact SEO strategies for sellers.

💡Character Count

The character count refers to the maximum number of characters allowed in a specific field of a form or input area. In the video script, it is mentioned that Amazon has increased the character limit for the search term field from 250 bytes to 500 characters, which is significant for sellers as it allows for more keywords to be included in their product listings for better SEO.

💡Search Terms

Search terms are the keywords that customers use when searching for products on Amazon. They are critical for SEO as they help Amazon's algorithm match product listings with customer searches. The script discusses how Amazon has rebranded and changed the character limit for the field where sellers input these search terms.

💡Generic Keyword

A generic keyword is a broad term that describes a product category rather than a specific product. In the script, it is mentioned that Amazon has rebranded the 'Search terms' field to 'Generic keyword,' reflecting a change in how sellers should think about the keywords they use for their product listings.

💡Alt Text

Alt text is the alternative text used for images on a webpage, which helps search engines understand the content of the image. In the context of the video, alt text is used for product images on Amazon listings to include relevant keywords, thus improving SEO by making the images searchable by Amazon's algorithm.

💡A+ Content

A+ Content, also known as Enhanced Brand Content, is a feature on Amazon that allows brand-registered sellers to create more engaging and informative product descriptions using rich media. The script mentions A+ content as part of the SEO strategy, suggesting that sellers should include keywords in this content to enhance product visibility.

💡Impressions

Impressions in the context of SEO and online marketing refer to the number of times a product listing is displayed in search results. The script discusses using the Impressions metric to analyze the performance of a product listing and understand customer engagement with it.

💡CTR (Click-Through Rate)

CTR stands for Click-Through Rate, which is the ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page, email, or advertisement. In the script, CTR is mentioned as a key metric to focus on when optimizing a product listing's main image to increase clicks and improve SEO.

💡IAP Funnel

The IAP Funnel, as mentioned in the script, stands for Impressions, Clicks, Add to Carts, Purchases. It is a sales funnel that tracks the customer journey from seeing a product listing to making a purchase. The script suggests using this funnel to identify areas of weakness in the customer journey and optimize the product listing accordingly.

💡Master Keyword List

A master keyword list is a comprehensive collection of keywords relevant to a product or brand. In the video, the founder of 'My Amazon Guy' discusses creating a master keyword list as part of the SEO process, which involves researching and identifying the most effective keywords to include in a product listing for optimal search visibility.

Highlights

Amazon Seller Central has increased the character count for the search term field from 250 bytes to 500 characters.

The change from 250 bytes to 500 characters provides more space for keywords without counting spaces.

The generic keyword section, previously known as 'Search terms', has been rebranded and now allows for more characters.

The update to 500 characters is a significant change from the previous limit of 250 bytes, which was roughly equivalent to 275 characters.

Amazon has a history of adjusting the character limit for search terms, previously going from 1000 characters down to 250.

Savvy sellers are advised to take advantage of the increased character limit for better SEO gains.

The character count increase appears to be a widespread change across various product categories.

To optimize SEO, sellers should add additional relevant keywords to the expanded character field.

The process of creating a master keyword list involves analyzing top competitors and utilizing tools like Helium 10.

Sellers should export keyword data into an Excel file and sort it by the number of competitors for better analysis.

Using filters in keyword analysis tools can help determine the average rank of products and their relative positions.

Creating a relevancy score for keywords is crucial for optimizing product listings in Amazon's search results.

Keyword rotation strategies involve multiple phases of SEO, including indexing for as many keywords as possible.

In SEO phase 3, focus on 'strike zone' keywords that rank between 20 and 50 to organically generate more traffic.

Optimizing product listings involves placing keywords in the title, bullets, description, A+ content, and image alt texts.

The final phase of SEO involves using the search performance report to analyze the IAP funnel and identify areas for improvement.

Step Hope provides a 70-minute master tutorial for a more detailed breakdown of the SEO process on Amazon.

For comprehensive SEO guidance, sellers can visit Step Hope's website, myamazonguy.com.

Transcripts

some breaking SEO news out of Amazon

Seller Central they've moved the

character count on the search term field

from 250 bytes to 500 characters my name

is Step Pope I'm the founder of my

Amazon guide in this video I will break

down what this could mean for your

Amazon brand so if you go into the edit

page of pretty much any listing right

now and go to the generic keyword

section they've rebranded this a few

times they've called it Search terms

generic keyword and a few other

variations

well if you just type out whatever some

goobly G here and try and max out the

character count you'll notice it's

changed it's now 500 characters it

previously was 250 bytes 250 bytes is

somewhere around 275 characters just to

give you some uh understanding bytes

didn't count spaces it was pretty

confusing it's probably why they're

changing it they're also doubling it in

essence uh so now you've got over 500

characters to work with here uh still a

single field this used to to be multiple

fields in the past they've done all

kinds of things over the years it used

to be like a thousand characters then it

went down to 250 now it's at 500 so

Amazon does keep playing with this from

time to time and the more sophisticated

sellers out there are paying attention

and taking advantage of this and that's

how you're going to get your best SEO

gains now I have items in various

categories and the first thing that I

wanted to know was would this affect

everybody and so far every subcategory

we've checked from supplements to um

tumblers and everything in between it's

been there it's been available so this

does appear to be a wide sweeping change

available to pretty much every category

I'm sure you'll find some exceptions as

they roll it out uh but this is brand

new this didn't exist previously we

didn't see this in there yesterday so

it's really brand spanking new here so

in here uh what you could do is take

advantage of the character count field

by adding additional keywords right so I

have in this field ashwana gummies

bottle women vitamin supplement men

female Extra Strength all kinds of

things that are in here there are going

to be things that are going to be better

than others so if we went over to

amazon.com and we typed in Ash Wanda

gummies and let's say we're going to try

and recreate this we do this we do this

in several phases of SEO and this is

like getting started with the master

keyword list so you go find 10 top

competitors and you're going to have to

do this again if you've done it before

because a the data changes and B there's

now twice as much room to work with so

you're going to need that extra space so

I'm going to click my little helium 10

button load in the keywords and take a

look at the number one SEO organic rank

for a term of my choosing so for me it's

ashwana gummies for you it could be

anything and you're going to find 10

competitors you'll put them all into

cerebral like this and you're going to

be able to get thousands of organic

keywords that are going to come up

you'll eventually want to export this

data into an Excel file in the Excel

file you're going to want to sort it by

the number of competitors and you're

you're going to notice once you add in

um multiple asence here and then go over

to this competing products filter you

can then um see how many items are in

that rank so if we go back to this and

grab let's grab a second one in here

we're going to grab a second as and put

that into cerebra

here uh and we're going to load from

history because it's the same data and

in here you're going to get that filter

to see okay what's the average rank

between all of these different products

right so the average position rank and

where all of these products stack up

against each other so you'll notice that

some of these filters change once we add

the second product in there so for

example on the relative rank if two

competitors are ranked better than the

main as the relative rank would be three

and so you'll see some additional

filters that show up so when you export

that in you can then get a gander on how

many of the competitor ranks and the

relative ranks will factor in once

you've done that you can then sort the

data and then create what's called a

relevancy score and so essentially now

that you've got twice as much room to

work with twice as much relevancy to

consult you'll take twice as much space

on that Master keyword list you'll come

back to the generic keyword section and

place it in there and after that you're

going to rotate your keywords and we

like to run multiple phases of SEO so

after we've done the master keyword list

we then try and index for as many

keywords in phase one and two uh when we

get to phase seo3 we're looking at the

strike zone keywords so these are

keywords that are in rank 20 through 50

so if we go into our filter here and

look look for rank 20 through 50 and hit

apply you would then do that on your own

as and then it come back with X number

of keywords so 225 keywords are in the

strike zone that means they're in

position to organically generate a bunch

of traffic but they're really at the

bottom of page one not a whole lot of

people are clicking them so a little bit

of effort showing them in the search

term showing them in the title the

bullets the description as well as the

A+ content so even all of the product

description all that good stuff so let's

go to one my listings since that one's

not optimized in the wild so this title

here you're going to put keywords in

there you're going to put keywords in

the bullets you're going to put keywords

in the alt text I'm going to use a

little alt text Chrome image alt text

viewer on the Chrome Store here and in

here you can put keywords in like that

you can put alt text in the A+ content

each photo can have alt text so you'll

notice there's multiple alt text and

photos here each one of these photos in

the product grid can also have alt texts

and have benefits you'll notice that

sometimes the red error will show up

like where image alt text needs to be

input there's no image there so that

one's kind of a misnomer uh but you'll

fill all that in and then you'll also

fill in the generic keywords on the back

so that would that's how you rotate your

keyword strategies and go through that

finally SEO phase 4 this is when you're

going to use the search Cy performance

report I like to call it the IAP funnel

uh and I have a bunch of information

over at my amazong guy.com IAP

because it's Impressions clicks add to

carts purchases and we have a few use

case studies and we go through like how

to do this and basically you're looking

at reports like this figuring out where

you have a change between Impressions

clicks add to cards and purchases so you

might have uh a tornado you might have a

pyramid you might have a black widow um

hourglass and whatever your shape of

your funnel you then can figure out okay

well if I'm really weak on clicks I need

to update my main image and really focus

on CTR so these are all things and we do

that in SEO phase 4 to go gain market

share obviously there's a lot of stuff

to go through and I give you kind of

like a high level view of this for my

full Master guide you going to want to

click on this video next I have

70-minute Master tutorial where I break

this down into greater detail you can

also go to my Amazon guy.com

SEO and learn everything we've ever done

on SEO in one place my name is step hope

I'm the founder of my Amazon guy and you

can always hire us at my amazong guy.com

to help boost your own rankings on

Amazon