70% of Amazon shoppers never click past the first page, making it even more important to rank on page 1. If you’re looking to rank there, it’s important to understand the A9 algorithm. Understanding this search engine is the key to Amazon success.
To get you up to speed, here’s an overview of everything you need to know about Amazon’s A9 algorithm.
What is the A9 Algorithm?
The A9 Algorithm is Amazon’s secret formula that determines how you rank in their search engine. The algorithm has a unique name, but it’s surprisingly not that creative. It gets its name simply from the number of letters in algorithms. 9 letters after the letter A results in A9.
The algorithm determines not only what gets shown on page one, but also what product recommendations show up in the search box as users are typing a query.
If you are familiar with Google’s algorithms (like RankBrain, for example), then you have a baseline of what A9 is like. However, there are some major differences that we will discuss next.
Amazon vs Google SEO
Google is the king of all search engines, but Amazon isn’t far behind. The main difference between Amazon’s and Google’s algorithms is that they are essentially built for different purposes. Google delivers the most relevant information to searchers; Amazon delivers the most relevant products to searchers. This main difference is what drives just about every other difference between the algorithms.
Here are just a few of the differences:
| Amazon | |
| Focus on short-tail keywords | Focus on long-tail keywords |
| Word proximity isn’t key; all words are indexed | Word proximity is important since Google considers relevancy and value |
| Images are the driving force behind conversions | Images are good for breaking up large blocks of text and providing visual cues |
| Paid traffic counts as organic traffic | Paid traffic is excluded from organic traffic |
| Does not consider SEO off-page factors | Considers off-page SEO factors |
Lucky for you, Amazon’s algorithm is easier to crack than Google’s.
What Factors A9 Considers
A9 considers different factors to determine your ranking. By focusing on optimizing each factor, you can (hopefully) boost your rank and get those sales!
- Sales velocity: The more you sell, the higher you will rank. It’s that simple.
- Price: The price you charge for your product impacts where you rank. And it just so happens to be the only factor that you can completely control. Amazon rewards the best-priced products, meaning the ones that match your customer’s price points. You might rank better if you are priced slightly lower than competitors because your sales increase.
- Text matching (keywords): Because Amazon is a search engine, it’s obviously important to include quality content. Identify keywords that your potential customers would search for and incorporate those into your content. You should also input backend keywords.
- Conversion Rate: Conversion rate is the number of units you sell divided by the total sessions. If you have a high conversion rate, you signal to A9 that your product is relevant for buyers.
- Inventory: Because Amazon cares about products selling, it makes sense that you would get penalized for running out of inventory and rewarded for always staying stocked.
- Reviews: This is an indirect factor, but it’s still important to mention. Reviews strongly influence buyers to purchase a product. A product with a lot of positive reviews will generally get more sales than a product with negative reviews.
For more information about how to crack the A9 Algorithm, just contact us! We have experts who know the ins and outs of the algorithm and can help you reach the coveted #1 spot on Amazon.
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