Amazon SEO vs. Search Engine SEO
What are the differences and why should you do it?
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a common practice found in the web development and marketing industry. It is an important part of getting your brand discovered and trusted on search engines. Google is a leading force and trend setter in the industry and has been since the beginning.
With the rise of web applications in recent years, services like Amazon have become dominant players on the internet. Amazon is the largest retailer in the world as well as being one of the most wealthy companies in the world.
Amazon’s SEO Algorithm
Amazon has become so important in recent years that in order to even compete in the retail industry you need to be selling your products on Amazon. When customers search for products they are most likely going straight to Amazon to do a search and that is where Amazon SEO comes into play.
Amazon has its own built in algorithm that is separate from the Google search engine. It is used to control the massive database that Amazon has on record. If you are selling your product on Amazon it is important to follow the guidelines that Amazon has set up to increase the chances that your product will show up toward the top of search results.
This is similar to how SEO on search engines like Google work. Google also has a set of guidelines and “best practices” that need to be followed and regularly maintained in order to get your website found on the first page of a Google search for a specific keyword or set of keywords. The biggest difference is that Google searches are typically refined to local audiences, especially since the majority of searches on Google are for services.
Since Amazon sells world wide the relevance of a product being local isn’t as important and requires a different strategy. One of the biggest driving factors for Amazon is the review system. Reviews are just as important on Google, however, having just half a star higher on Amazon can mean the difference between a sale or no sale. It is extremely competitive and has led to controversies over the years with fake reviews.
The differences between Amazon SEO & Google SEO
Another big difference between search engines and Amazon is the time spent browsing for products/websites. A customer is more likely to shop around on Amazon until the find the best deal rather than spend time searching on Google. Most Google users don’t look past the first page, and often times don’t event scroll down past the fold of the first page. Amazon shows results and relevant products at almost every step of interaction on the site similar to walking around in a store. Amazon is designed to sell products whereas Google is designed to get you to click as fast as possible.
Both Amazon and search engines like Google offer free methods and paid methods for getting your product/websites discovered. Typically this is through the use of paid Ads. You can set up Pay to click ads through Google Adwords to increase the chances of your website showing up at the top of a search result. This comes at the cost of having to pay every time a customer clicks on your link. If these clicks don’t convert into a transaction it can cost a fortune and makes it a risky option.
