In installment one, we discussed the differences between Amazon and Google. During installment two, the proper way to conduct Amazon keyword research was outlined. Last, I'll show you the correct way to format the keywords in your Search Term fields in order to capitalize on the maximum amount of traffic.
The list
At the end of our last tutorial, we were left with a list of keyphrases. However, Amazon works with individual keyWORDS. They also do not require the repetition that Google requires in order to optimize a page so every duplicate word needs to be removed. The Product Name (Title) also counts as a Search Term field so we must also avoid repetition between the Title and the Search Term fields.
There are a few other fields that are also automatically searched. We do not need to include the brand name, designer, manufacturer or events in the Search Term fields.
Weeding out the unnecessary words
This is the list we ended up with after conducting our keyword research:
- chicken dog treats
- dog treats made in the USA
- natural dog treats
- white meat dog treats
- oven baked dog treats
- dog treats zip-top bag
- safe dog treats
- pure dog treats
- organic dog treats
- dog treats no additives
- dog treats no chemicals
- dog treats no preservatives
- dog treats no fillers
- breast meat dog treats
- dog treats reclosable bag
- dog treats resealable bag
- poultry dog treats
- chick dog treats
- chicken K9 treats
- chicken canine treats
- chicken puppy treats
- chicken pet treats
- chicken dog snacks
- chicken dog chews
- chicken dog jerky
- chicken dog strips
- chicken dog tenders
- chicken dog biscuits
As you can immediately see, there are a lot of repeated words on our list. Task one is to go through and remove these duplicates (and triplicates and quadruplicates…).
Our primary search term is "chicken dog treats," so that will most certainly be inserted into our Title (Product Name) field. Because the Title counts as a Search Term field, we'll remove this term from our list and not include it when we format the Search Term fields. Take out any other keywords you want to use in your title also. For the sake of example, I'll say that we are going to use the keywords "made in the USA," "natural" and "white meat" in the title. Those keywords will NOT go into our Search Term fields. We are left with these:
- oven baked
- zip-top bag
- safe
- pure
- organic
- no additives
- no chemicals
- no preservatives
- no fillers
- breast meat
- reclosable bag
- resealable bag
- poultry
- chick
- chicken K9
- chicken canine
- chicken puppy
- chicken pet
- chicken snacks
- chicken chews
- chicken jerky
- chicken strips
- chicken tenders
My personal process includes removing from the list words that will be in our Title. If you're using Microsoft Word, you can simply highlight the list and do a "Find and Replace." Enter the word you want removed into the "Find" field and leave the "Replace" field blank. Then click "Replace All."
When I did that using "dog" and "treats" (separately) on the list above, I was left with this:
- oven baked
- zip-top bag
- safe
- pure
- organic
- no additives
- no chemicals
- no preservatives
- no fillers
- breast meat
- reclosable bag
- resealable bag
- poultry
- chick
- K9
- canine
- puppy
- pet
- snacks
- chews
- jerky
- strips
- tenders
Next, I removed the word "chicken" using the same process and got:
- oven baked
- zip-top bag
- safe
- pure
- organic
- no additives
- no chemicals
- no preservatives
- no fillers
- breast
- reclosable bag
- resealable bag
- poultry
- chick
- K9
- canine
- puppy
- pet
- snacks
- chews
- jerky
- strips
- tenders
The other words in our Title are: made, USA, natural, white, and meat, so I repeated the process with each one (individually) and had this left over:
- oven baked
- zip-top bag
- safe
- pure
- organic
- no additives
- no chemicals
- no preservatives
- no fillers
- breast
- reclosable bag
- resealable bag
- poultry
- chick
- K9
- canine
- puppy
- pet
- snacks
- chews
- jerky
- strips
- tenders
From here, I can easily see any repeats (such as the word "no," which needs to be included only once) and remove them. Next, I start the process of creating five lines with no more than 50 characters each.
- oven baked zip-top bag safe pure organic additives (50 characters)
- no chemicals preservatives fillers breast bag K9 (48 characters)
- reclosable resealable poultry chick canine puppy (48 characters)
- pet snacks chews jerky strips tenders (37 characters)
Because I have space left over, I can add more keywords. A few I always try to include if at all possible are:
- best
- popular
- gift
- present
- reviews
Adding those gives us…
- oven baked zip-top bag safe pure organic additives (50 characters)
- no chemicals preservatives fillers breast bag K9 (48 characters)
- reclosable resealable poultry chick canine puppy (48 characters)
- pet snacks chews jerky strips tenders best popular (50 characters)
- gift present reviews
With the 31 remaining characters you can either do a little more keyword research to find three or four more terms or you can leave the space empty with the intent of filling them in after you see how your sales take off.
When you have your five fields of no more than 50 characters each, you simply copy and paste them into your product listing and you're all set! While keywords are not the only element that determines where your product listing will appear in the search results, they do have a big impact on the traffic you receive. I always advise that you check your keywords periodically and see if there are ones you can remove or add to help drive the specific type of shoppers you want.
Doing a better job on keyword research means more customers will see your products. And that's the first step to making more sales!
