Voice search is changing SEO strategy, which has major implications for Amazon sellers. Amazon’s Alexa is a digital personal assistant that can help individuals look up information, play music, operate household appliances, and more! Alexa powered devices are enabling people across the world to realize the long-awaited dream of a smart home.
However, Amazon sellers may not have considered the fact that voice optimization is even more important than ever. Estimates say that Amazon will see $10 billion of sales through Alexa by 2020. Let’s dive into how Alexa is shaking up sales.
How Amazon Alexa Search Works
When individuals ask Alexa for product recommendations, Alexa considers certain metrics that may not necessarily have anything to do with how the product ranks in an organic search on Amazon. While there are be several factors, here are ones we are sure about.
You need Prime-authorized products. Alexa solely recommends products that have Prime. So if you don’t offer products via Prime, you don’t have a chance. Whether you offer FBA or Seller-Fulfilled products, you need to obtain the Prime badge.
You need the Amazon’s Choice badge to compete. Sellers who have the Amazon’s Choice badge have a better chance of being recommended by Alexa. Why? Because this badge is given to products that are available through Amazon Echo, which has Alexa.
Products with this badge must have good product ratings, raving reviews, high sales velocity, good shipping speed, and competitive pricing. While Alexa still gives recommendations based on the keywords in the search query, Amazon has confirmed that the voice search algorithm pays more attention to the Amazon’s Choice metrics.
If there is no Amazon’s Choice product option, then Alexa will resort to promoting the first Amazon Prime product in the search results.
The competition is tight. Unlike traditional search, voice-enabled searches performed through Alexa will only provide searchers with the top results. Users don’t have the ability to scroll through pages of product listings until they see what they want. Instead, Alexa recommends a few of the top products that meet the search, and that’s it.
Products that require re-ordering are doing well. Because it’s easier to ask Alexa to re-buy a product than to purchase a product you’ve never tried before, products that require refilling have the potential to make a huge profit.
You need to send customers to your Amazon page instead of a website page. If you are trying to build your brand, chances are that you have or are looking to build a website. This is fantastic, especially if you are also looking to dominate Google searches. However, it might not be so great for ranking on Amazon’s voice search.
For consumable products (like shampoo and conditioner), sellers should make an effort to entice their shoppers to make their initial purchase on Amazon. Then, Alexa will reorder the product from your Amazon store. If the initial purchase isn’t made on Amazon, then there are no such promises.
Subscribe and save products include makeup, beauty products, baby care, grocery items, personal care products, and more!
Optimizing Your Product Listing for Voice Search
Because many queries on voice searches contain questions, there are some specific changes you may want to make to your product listing to ensure help you create an optimized listing:
- Practice searching for your product out loud to get a better understanding of how people would refer to it when asking Alexa to search for it.
- Write content that answers questions that users might have. Get to the who, what, where, when, and why to provide a clear picture of what your product can do.
- Discover who is ranking on voice search. If you have Alexa nearby, go ahead and ask her about the product you are selling. Then, do some research to see what they’re doing better than everyone else.
- Use a conversational tone when writing your listings. Your language should flow naturally and be easy to understand.
- Make sure you cover all the major keywords for your product. Your listing should contain highly relevant search terms that will attract the perfect buyer.
- Maintain good product ratings. Even if customers aren’t reading your reviews online, Alexa will be!
- Include all appropriate structured data for your products. Make sure your listings have all relevant filters included (color, fabric, size, organic, etc.).
With voice search, the number 1 spot is more coveted and is more valuable than ever before. And the competition is only expected to get more fierce. For more tips on optimizing your product listings for Alexa, reach out to our experts!
About the Author: Alyssa Ball has been working in digital marketing for several years. She graduated from Brigham Young University with her degree in English linguistics and is currently pursuing an MBA. Alyssa’s position as a content writer and keyword strategist at Nozani has allowed her to master both Google and Amazon SEO.
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