The world’s biggest internet retailer: Smart ways to sell your products successfully on Amazon

Amazon, whether we like it or not, has taken over the e-commerce landscape from food and entertainment to consumer goods in all shapes and sizes. Whether you specialize in supplements, footwear or electronics, skipping out on Amazon may cost you dearly in terms of missed sales and unfortunately, credibility. Yet, many retailers struggle with adding Amazon to their sales strategy. Between the listing guidelines and the marketing, the mega-platform can be a bit treacherous for beginners.

Here are some tips to start selling smarter on Amazon—from getting those eyeballs on the page to improving your conversion rates.

What’s in a name?

First of all, one of the most important elements in an Amazon listing is the title. Excuse us if this is extremely obvious information, but you’ll want a title that quickly tells people what they’re getting, and captures their attention during their search process. Amazon allows for 150 to 250 characters per title—which gives you plenty of room to include your brand, the name of the product, and any identifying features like the color, style or size.

Looks matter

It goes without saying that Amazon pictures should be crisp, clear and best represent your unique offerings. That being said Amazon has some particular rules you’ll need to know before slapping an iPhone shot of your product on their platform and calling it a day.

Your product should be presented against a white background, without any accessories or extraneous objects in the background and should not include any additional text. Marketers should also be sure to include multiple views of the product—front, back, and sides, as well as a photo of any product labels, if applicable.

In addition to the images you choose to represent your products, the descriptions need to be handled with some care, too. Amazon gives you five bullet points to describe the product in question, but you don’t necessarily have room for five fully-formed sentences. The first three bullets should quickly describe what the product is, and the main benefits, while the last two should address pain points or other objections consumers may have during the buying cycle.

Get your SEO in order

Just like Google, Amazon relies heavily on the use of certain keywords, aimed at helping users best find what they’re looking for. Unlike Google, Amazon primarily attracts buyers, or at least people planning on making a purchase.

Think of Amazon as a search engine. You’ll want to use your main keyword in the product title and tour other keywords in the following areas: page title, product description, editorial reviews, your image file name and Amazon’s so-called “special” keywords.

The special keywords exist in the world of Amazon’s HTML and are not relevant outside the platform. They also are not the same thing as a meta tag. The keywords are to be selected to better place your product in the right categories—and you only can choose seven.

Take advantage of tools

Sometimes we need a little help. Take advantage of the Google keyword tool to find popular long-tail search terms that you can add to your Amazon listings, as they’ll help people find you from both Google and while inside Amazon.

Tools like the Amazon Repricer are useful in that they scan Amazon for buyer data, peak traffic hours and other factors that may influence the price. This tool allows you to stay competitive with pricing during competitors’ sales and brings the price back up when the market shifts again. Automatic repricing also helps marketers win the buy box—placing your items front and center.

Get verified reviews

Okay, we all know about Amazon’s reviewing system, chances are it dictates your purchasing decision, at least to a certain extent. Naturally, products with a 4.5-star rating typically outperform a similar item with just a 3 or 4-star rating. Now, you may ask consumers to leave a review after making a purchase, but it’s important these reviews are legitimate—some marketers buy fake reviews—which consumers can usually sniff out—and from people who have tried your product.

While there’s no guarantee you’ll get a perfect 5/5 each time someone leaves a review, presenting your product as true-to-life as possible allows consumers to get a better sense of what they can expect with their purchase—upping the chances of a perfect score. Things like shipping and customer service also come into play when consumers leave a review, so make sure products ship quickly and arrive undamaged.