If you ask any Amazon seller what makes a product listing a best-selling item, not many will be able to give you a satisfying answer. Now most sellers will ideally credit Amazon’s product ranking algorithm but what you don’t know is that there’s a whole system at play behind the algorithm’s success. A product’s ranking is influenced by a range of units, or as we like to call them, organic factors, that maintain a product’s visibility and ranking in the Amazon marketplace.
Contents
Amazon Super URLS- what’s the influence and is it still a useful method to improve product ranking?
Sellers have been using a ton of strategies to manoeuvre Amazon’s A9 algorithm and here’s what you need to know. Don’t OVERKILL your product listing with practices that lead to immediate suspension. We’re talking about reviews that you obtain from buyer accounts with little to no history. If you think buying ads through Amazon’s promos will help improve rankings, you’ve got it all wrong. In fact, Amazon PPC is a method you employ to test the waters. Here’s the gist for all Amazon sellers out there who’re still in the midst of playing with their listings – Intimate a stable sales velocity that involves timely practices (super URLs + rebates + SFB + add to carts + reviews [on full-priced purchases] + diverse traffic) to ensure a growing sales history that improves your ranking over time.
What is Amazon Super URL?
Good question for any Amazon seller out there who’s still keeping his listing intact despite the many changes the A9 algorithm has undergone since 2014. Initially, it was very easy to rank your product but off late, some practices are no longer substantial. We are constantly thinking about what works and what doesn’t. Do super URLs have a good effect on those search bots crawling all over Amazon’s backend or do we just stick to a simple organic marketing funnel? Now as you all know, Amazon URL is an alpha-numerical link, which if you click on it, will take you to a different page altogether. Ideally, the Amazon Super URL takes potential buyers to your Amazon page from an external source. The external source will primarily be social media channels – also the best means to get diverse traffic OR an affiliate marketing site which has proven to be a great method in the past for boosting click-through rates, NOT sales.
Many sellers believe that a super URL can help your product rank high, especially for valuable keywords, but there are still many questions in terms of how effective these can be. The A9 algorithm has identified this practice as a glitch. Well, here’s the truth. Amazon super URLs still work but you need to be very careful as to how and when you wish to implement these. There’s also that annoying factor wherein it’s necessary to update content with new super URLs but then sellers get lazy and this is where your listing no longer proves to be effective. Pay-per-click campaigns are also ideal external sources however we again ask sellers to be diverse in their methods, strategic in their objectives, and time each campaign in such a manner that you actually obtain some organic traffic for all your listings.
Understanding Amazon Super URL
Keep note that you cannot entirely rely on super URLs to get a high search ranking or sales conversion because the A9 algorithm now focuses primarily on relevance. If you’re working with an experienced Amazon virtual assistance agency that understands Amazon A9 algorithm, they’ll tell you that a large percentage of buyers on Amazon don’t actually end up purchasing a product through keyword search, but the more a buyer engages with your listing, the higher chance you have for a successful sale. Your product might show up owing to a keyword’s high search volume but based on buyer psychology, your product needs to showcase more to actually hold on to an engaged audience. This means that while it’s necessary to optimize your product listing with the right keywords, it’s even more important to generate sporadic sales velocity, get relevant reviews, and have your listing regularly show up in add to cart. Don’t confuse this with the Amazon wish list since that no longer holds importance in the A9 algorithm.
How Does it Work?
Coming back to super URLs, it makes Amazon think your product page was found through a normal organic search rather than a customer clicking on the link directly. It’s like serving your product on a silver platter to customers while Amazon thinks the buyer found it after browsing repeatedly on Amazon. But even if you’re tampering with the click-through rate, it still doesn’t guarantee a sale. In fact, if you’re using super URLs extensively, your product’s ranking will most likely come down. Your organic listing gets a portion of the traffic but that doesn’t mean it’ll result in a lot of sales. So what is the use of Amazon super URLs?
What’s the main purpose of using Amazon super URLs?
A super URL might take away Amazon’s control and hand it over to a seller. Remember, this tactic won’t relay benefits for too long. It’s better to use super URLs as a KPI or guiding factor to understand which products in your store attract buyers and which products don’t. So, don’t tamper with Amazon’s click path. Instead, understand the click path of each product in your store. For e.g., if product AB is only getting 20% of traffic as compared to another product (in this instance you’ve generated super URLs for both products), then you can focus your in-house advertising more on such listings that aren’t getting enough traffic. External advertising can then prove to be a method applied to test which products gather more visibility and which need more attention for stable sales velocity.
Another purpose Amazon super URLs serve is by telling Amazon which keywords rank high. In this case, best seller ranking becomes dependent on keywords of your choice. But you need to be very careful because the real factors that actually affect sales will not change. Manipulating super URLs for your benefit can often trigger alarm bells on Amazon’s A9 algorithm so it’s important you use super URLs only for a specific objective in a speculated period. For e.g., pre-holiday season campaigns on social media channels help you to point out which products are already on the popularity list with a higher chance of a sale and which products still need more attention.
Discounts and rebates are still popular assets for the Amazon A9 algorithm, but to understand which products you need to focus on, super URLs act as an indicator, giving you enough data to work on every product listing in a specific manner. Offering a rebate during Black Friday usually packs in buyers, convincing them enough to at least “add the product to their carts”. It’s how one marketing element affects the other – also known as the ripple effect while you’re trying to improve your product ranking on Amazon. If you understand Amazon, you’ll notice that its first priority is to improve a buyer’s experience and hence it recommends products under “frequently bought with” or “customers also considered”.
How To Use Keywords in Amazon Super URLs?
Undoubtedly, Amazon super URLs are useful for lead generation, especially when you have a generous number of buyers clicking your link, making Amazon think your product grabs a high search volume for that particular keyword. This can improve your SERPs only for a limited period. To keep things more organic, a safe way of using super URLs is by using specific keywords that are long tail keywords and not singular terms. It is not possible for a single product to obtain massive traffic within a specific time frame for a keyword that’s already serving a high search volume. In such a case, using long-tail keywords that have very low search volume is a safer bet to avoid sudden comparison especially when there’s nothing wrong about getting diverse traffic (social media) onto your page.
At BIE, we offer Amazon virtual assistance for all your needs. Stay tuned for updates if you’re eager to learn more about selling on Amazon efficiently.
Do contact us if you need professional help with your Amazon store management.
BIE is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based agency providing human resources to manage all things Amazon.
