Which factors influence the ranking of your product?
If customers can’t find your product on Amazon because you don’t know which factors influence the ranking, you could have the best product on the market – and you wouldn’t sell it successfully. The A9 (former) / A10 (new) algorithm is responsible for whether your product appears at the top or bottom of the search results on Amazon. After reading this article, you will understand exactly how it works – and above all, what you need to bear in mind to ensure that your listing appears as high up in the search results as possible.
How does the Amazon A9 / A10 algorithm work?
The Amazon algorithm decides where and when your products are displayed to customers on Amazon. Imagine you enter a search term on Amazon. The algorithm now has the goal of the most relevant products for the respective search query with the highest purchase probability to be displayed first. The principle behind this is easy to understand: Amazon as a company wants to generate sales and grow. They achieve this by making their customers happy (Customer Obsession = Maximum Customer Satisfaction). Customers are happy when they have found exactly what they were looking for on the platform. Therefore, the most relevant products for each search query are always displayed at the top.
It is important to understand that the algorithm is not a unique code that is controlled by programmers. The entire system optimizes itself daily by Machine Learning.
What is the difference between A9 and A10?
The name A9 algorithm comes from the company that developed it. Officially, Amazon did not switch from A9 to A10. However, many minor changes to the algorithm have been observed, as a result of which the term A10 algorithm has recently become established. It is said that the A10 algorithm focuses even more on relevance for customers. In addition, the weighting of the factors influencing the ranking has changed somewhat. For example, the number of organic sales from A10 is now weighted more heavily than PPC sales.
What exactly are the factors that influence the algorithm and therefore the ranking of your products? It is not known exactly how many and which ones there are. However, based on empirical values, it has now been possible to derive clear patterns and determine the most important parameters.
The factors influencing the ranking
The name A9 algorithm comes from the company that developed it. Officially, Amazon did not switch from A9 to A10. However, many minor changes to the algorithm have been observed, as a result of which the term A10 algorithm has recently become established. It is said that the A10 algorithm focuses even more on relevance for customers. In addition, the weighting of the factors influencing the ranking has changed somewhat. For example, the number of organic sales from A10 is now weighted more heavily than PPC sales.
What exactly are the factors that influence the algorithm and therefore the ranking of your products? It is not known exactly how many and which ones there are. However, based on empirical values, it has now been possible to derive clear patterns and determine the most important parameters.
Sales under keyword (strongest influence)
The sales performance of your product has by far the greatest influence on the ranking and the algorithm. Therefore, this is where you should focus most of your energy. Simply explained: The more sales you achieve under a keyword and generate turnover, the more relevant your product becomes for this search term. The click-through rate (CTR) and the conversion rate (CR) are easily taken into account.
Example:
If a customer enters the word “air mattress” and buys a product from a specific brand, this product is classified as more relevant under this keyword. In addition, the product is also rated as more relevant under many long-tail keywords, such as “air mattress blue”, “air mattress 2 people”, etc. The more frequently a product sells, the better it will also rank under other keywords.
Keywords and listing (strong influence)
Using the keywords from the texts in your listing, the algorithm can assign relevance to your product for the respective search query.
Pay attention to the following things:
– Place the most important and relevant keywords in your listing in this order: Title, BackEnd Keywords, Bullet Points, Description
– Create content in all necessary fields so that your listing is completely filled out
– Make sure the product images are of high quality so that the zoom function can be used
– Use EBC content
– Adhere to all Amazon style guides (e.g. maximum number of characters and bytes, no price in the title, etc.)
Ratings are not directly included in the ranking! New and better products would otherwise have little chance of visibility. However, reviews still have an indirect influence on the algorithm (conversion rate).
Customer service (slight influence)
Poor customer service has a negative impact on the algorithm because – as we have already analyzed – maximum customer satisfaction is a top priority for Amazon. Anything that harms the customer is therefore rated negatively.
Pay attention to the following things:
– Fast response time for questions on the product listing
– Fast response time to customer messages
– Option for gift wrapping activated
– Use of FBA shipping (speed)
– Lowest possible return rate
– Stock of your product (high availability)
Seller account (very light influence)
The algorithm also easily incorporates general factors relating to your seller account into the ranking.
These include:
– No payment problems
– Seller ratings of your seller account
– Number of your active product listings
– Sales history (trust)
– Existence of a brand store
Conclusion – BLACK BOX & relevance for the customer
The Amazon algorithm is a BLACK BOX: a complex machine consisting of many interconnected parts. To be able to control them, you must first understand them. In this article, you got an overview of how it works and learned that the main criterion for ranking is relevance to the customer. That’s why it’s important to always keep your customers in mind – and not just the algorithm! Satisfy your customers! With a really good product, customer service and the knowledge from this article, you can manage to position your product high up in the search results and sell successfully.
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