2024 Amazon Search Terms Guide: The Backend KWs Explained!

In the US, more than 4000 people purchase a product on Amazon every minute. 99.9% of the time, they get to the exact item they are looking for with a single search query. How does Amazon connect these shoppers with the right sellers? The answer lies in its robust and powerful A10 algorithm. 

As sellers, we try our best to include as many relevant keywords in our listings as possible. We naturally incorporate them in the product title, bullet points, and description to increase our product’s visibility in the search. In the Amazon SEO world, we call this practice front-end optimization.

But sometimes, overuse of keywords can make our product detail pages look forced and unnatural, affecting conversions.

To avoid this, Amazon provides an alternative in the form of search terms. These terms are available on the backend of Amazon listings, not visible to users. However, they can be crawled by Amazon bots and help boost SEO efforts. 

Their sole purpose is to optimize an Amazon listing by increasing its discoverability against a broader range of keywords without compromising the readability.

This 2024 Amazon search terms guide intends to explain everything you need to know about these backend KWs.  

The Need to Know: There are five other types of backend keywords available for use, namely i) Intended use keywords, ii) Other Attributes, iii) Target Audience keywords, iv) Subject Matter keywords, and v) Platinum keywords.   

What are Amazon search terms? 

Amazon search terms are backend keywords hidden from Amazon users. They can only be indexed by Amazon’s search crawlers and play a meaningful role in ranking your product by diverting relevant traffic your way.

Sometimes, while writing a product listing, we are unable to add some keywords. They can be colloquial or awkward to use in daily conversation. For example, “oil for bald men” is not the most pleasing word to put in the title of an argan oil listing. However, you can use it as a backend search term and try to rank for it.

Since Amazon search terms form part of the backend keywords, sellers often forget to add them to their listings, missing the opportunity to rank and convert for more keywords. 

Is your product listing optimized for relevant backend search terms?

How to add search terms on Amazon?

To add Amazon search terms, log into your Seller Central account and follow these steps:

1. On the main page, go to the Inventory tab and click ‘Manage Inventory’. This will take you to a page displaying your active and inactive SKUs.

2. Choose the SKU you want to optimize. Navigate to its right and click on the corresponding Edit button.

3. Next, select the Keywords tab and find the Search Terms field. Make sure the Advanced View is switched on.

4. Provide the keywords you want to use as search terms for your listing.

5. Once done, click ‘Save and Finish’ to confirm the changes.

What should I put for Amazon search terms?

Any keyword that describes your product can be used for Amazon search terms. The key is to provide additional context to A10 about what you are selling. Here are some ideas to help you get started:

• Use synonyms.
• Include words that explain your product’s features.
• Incorporate attributes.
• Mention keywords that describe your target audience.
• Include abbreviations.
• Use relevant keywords in other languages.
• Avoid misspellings or competitor names.
• Stay away from filler words like “a,” “the,” “an,” “by,” “for”, etc.
• Do not use superlative or comparative adjectives like best, top, etc.

Pro Tip: Listen to your buyers; look what they are talking about. What are their concerns regarding products in your niche? Try to extract keywords from their reviews.

How do I find search terms for Amazon?

Finding relevant search terms for your Amazon listing is easy. You can use free options like Amazon PPC report and Brand Analytics to identify and extract appropriate keywords. Alternatively, you can go for third-party paid tools such as ZonGuru, Helium10, Jungle Scout, and Viral Launch.

How do you optimize backend search terms?

It’s important to use backend search terms effectively to drive maximum results. If you want Amazon to index your search terms properly, you need to take care of the following things:

• Your search terms should be under 250 bytes.
• Use lowercase letters.
• Avoid repeating keywords already used in the front end of your listing.
• Do not use ASINs, UPCs, or your brand name.
• Use either the singular or plural form of a keyword; no need to add both.
• Avoid punctuation or double quotes.
• Use keywords that match the search behaviour.

The Need to Know: Many sellers think that 1 character equals 1 byte on Amazon. This is not always true. Foreign language characters or letters with accents are often 2 bytes long.

How to separate Amazon search terms?

Search terms on Amazon should always be separated by white spaces. You can’t use commas, colons, semi-colons, or double quotes to separate them. That’s against Amazon’s guidelines.

Amazon search terms example

Suppose you are selling door draft stoppers and have gathered a list of keywords to use as search terms. These keywords include door draft guard, door draft stopper, sound blocker, weatherstrip, smart home products, window seal, gap sealers, under-door draft strip, and sound-blocker.

Let’s discuss how you can add these keywords to your search terms.

Amazon search terms done wrong:

The application of the keywords in the above screenshot is wrong because of the following reasons:

• The words “door” and “draft” have been repeated even though they are parts of different key phrases.
• The search terms are separated by commas.
• There are two different variations for anti-ageing, with and without the hyphen. You don’t need to do that.
• Weatherstrip has a filler word in it.

Amazon search terms done right:

This above example represents the correct use of the backend search terms because:

• There are no repetitions
• The search terms are separated by white spaces
• All lowercase letters
• No filler words
• Sound blocker and sound-blocker used only once
• All relevant keywords 

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Amazon search terms work?

Customers use keywords to search for products on Amazon. When you include these search terms in the backend of your listing, Amazon’s algorithm (A10) views your product as relevant to the search query and shows your listing in the search.

What is the Amazon Search Terms report?

The Amazon Search Terms report contains information about the most popular searches on Amazon during a given period. You can use this report to find backend search terms for your listing. The report also shows click and conversion shares for the top 3 products for a particular search term.

How to know if my search terms are being indexed by the Amazon Algorithm?

To determine if Amazon is indexing your search terms, put them in the search bar (along with your product ASIN) and check if your listing shows up in the search results. If it does, it means the search terms have been indexed.

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