Last year Amazon accounted for 13.7% of the worldwide online retail market sales. The company controlled over 50% of the US eCommerce market. If it’s not obvious, Amazon is not going anywhere. More importantly, of the categories that are seeing consistent growth the beauty space remains consistent.

The beauty category is one of the most popular category when it comes to frequency of being shopped especially among Amazon Prime shoppers.

To quote directly from the Feedvisor’s 2019 Consumer Survey;

Overall, the Amazon product categories that are purchased most frequently are Electronics (44%), Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry (43%), Home & Kitchen (39%), and Beauty & Personal Care (36%). These same top four categories apply for current Prime members. For those between ages 18-26, Cell Phones & Accessories is the most popular product category on Amazon. For those who shop online daily, the most popular product category is Beauty & Personal Care.

You can see by the data above, it’s important to have a presence in the marketplace to allow for a consistent brand experience and availability to customers who prefer to leverage Prime. You may be wondering how do I differentiate my product? How do I foster discoverability in the world’s largest marketplace? Is the Beauty Category over saturated?

Having relevant keywords sprinkled into the title, bullets, description, backend search terms and inside the structured data will help with Amazon’s search algorithm in indexing your product correctly. In this article I will show you how to best position your beauty products to standout in the jungle we know as Amazon.

Step 1: Creating the Perfect Title

A well-written product title that packages high volume keywords/search terms in a reader-friendly format is a crucial step in expanding the number of visits to the page. Ideally, the composition of the titles includes high volume search terms/keywords applicable to the listings (the top one (1) to three (3) keywords for a particular product.)

Additional Title Tips:

• Capitalize the first letter of each word minus conjunctions like and, or for, etc.
• Use numerals (2 instead of two).
• State the number of items in a bundled product (pack of 10) or volume of product (7 oz).
• Keep it under 200 characters, but make sure to include critical information.
• Mobile view is limited to about 70 characters, key features should be upfront.

*Amazon will take into considerations plurals and misspellings

Pro Tip: Use a title formula for consistency across your catalog

Example Structure:
Brand + Sub Brand + Model + Product Type + Benefits + Variants

Let’s look at a listing and see how we can improve it. We searched the keyword Hyaluronic Acid and chose The Ordinary Brand. This brand has a ton of reviews, a competitive price point, great images and A+ Content. What could really help this brand take their sales to the next level is to be indexed for more relevant keywords and enticing shoppers to click.

Let’s take a look at The Ordinary, a beauty brand that can use some help optimizing the title on their listing.

Following our formula a better title would look something like this;

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% with Vitamin B5 for Intense Hydration – Anti-aging Serum that Boosts Firmness – Prevents Fine Lines & Wrinkles – 30ml

The total character count is 151 characters. We were able to briefly explain the benefit of Vitamin B5 and some basic benefits of using Hyaluronic Acid like the anti-aging properties and wrinkle prevention. The first 70 characters, which would be the mobile view would look like this;

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% with Vitamin B5 for Intense Hydration

It’s short, complete statement and calls out the most valuable information to allow for a smooth mobile experience. Keep in mind that at least 50% of Amazon shoppers are accessing the website via mobile. Ensuring your listings are optimized for mobile is imperative. From a infrastructure standpoint, Amazon has you covered with page speed and the user experience. It’s our job to ensure the language we use complies with Amazon’s Terms of Service (TOS) and provides customers with the most accurate and compelling information.

Step 2: The Devil is in the Details – Product Detail Page Bullets

Product bullets are highly important as they summarize the key features and selling points of your product. These are often sought out by shoppers as they provide key information to quickly determine whether a product would meet their requirements and whether they should investigate further/make a purchase.

Additional Bullet Tips:

• Begin each bullet with a capital letter.
• Separate phrases in one bullet with semicolons.
• Do not use hyphens, symbols, period or exclamation points.
• Do not write vague statements; be as specific as possible with product features and attributes.
• Do not including pricing or promotional information.
• People skim read, put easy to digest facts up front.

Pro Tip: Use capitalization of  key callouts to make the selling points easy to digest for skim readers

Let’s take a look at OSEA, a non-toxic beauty brand that can use some help optimizing the bullets on their listing.

You can see from above that they are not doing a good job of selling their product. The information here is relatively generic and provides no branded messaging. What we like to do is include 2 bullets about their brand and any guarantees and the rest talk to the essence of the product. A better way to use those bullets would looking something like this;

• FIRM & TONE YOUR SKIN: Our seaweed-infused aromatherapy body oil helps lock moisture into your skin for hours. It provides a protective barrier and helps maintain a radiant glow through out the day.
• LIGHTWEIGHT ANTIOXIDANT: The body oil goes on smooth and non-greasy leaving your skin feeling radiant for hours. Our formula contains OMEGA 3-6 fatty acids for ultimate hydration.
• REDUCES STRETCH MARKS: By applying a firming body oil daily can reduce the appearance of stretch marks. Great if you are looking for a safe body oil to use during pregnancy.
• 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED: We are confident in the quality of our product that we offer an unconditional money-back guarantee. For any reason, if our product is not right for you, let us know and we’ll refund your purchase with no questions asked.
• OSEA SKINCARE POWERED BY THE SEA: We use certified organic seaweed as the cornerstone of our formulation. As one of earth’s most bioavailable sources of vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants and essential fatty acids, it has the power to transform your skin.

Our first few bullets talk about the benefit of the product we are listing here. We call out what it does for your skin, now it’s applied and other benefits of using body oil. After that, we try to sweeten the deal by making some type of guarantee followed by a bit about us. Keep in mind, your brand experience should be consistent through all of your online marketplaces. This should be showcased through imagery, product details and enhanced content on Amazon. Amazon is an extension of your brand experience, be sure to take aspects from your website and apply it on the platform.

Step 3: For Customers on the Edge – Product Descriptions

Product descriptions ultimately sell the product to highly critical buyers, and Amazon provides an opportunity to sellers to describe, and more importantly differentiate, products from hundreds or thousands of other similar products. We aim to accurately describe the particular product (including its uses and features) in a way that maximizes the listing’s find-ability (that is, the listing is Amazon SEO friendly) as well as its sales conversion.

Additional Bullet Tips:

• Avoid duplicating your bullets.
• Describe the major product features, such as size, style and what the product can be used for.
• Include accurate dimensions, care instructions and warranty information.
• Use correct grammar, punctuation and complete sentences.
• Do not include:
  • Seller Name, Email Address, Website, or promotional information.

Pro Tip: Use bold text, call outs and features not mentioned in the bullets

Let’s take a look at Indie Lee, a beauty brand that can use some help optimizing the description on their listing.

You can see above that the description is lacking any real information that might persuade a customer into making a purchase or calling out any unique qualities about the product. A better way to write the description would look like this;

Improve the appearance of skin elasticity, texture and tone with this readily absorbed, 100% pure, Olive derived Squalane. Non-pore clogging, this oil leaves the complexion soft, nourished and never greasy.

What it is: A noncomedogenic, lightweight face oil made of 100 percent pure, olive-derived squalane.

Skin Type: Normal, Dry, Combination, and Oily

Skincare Concerns: Dryness, Dullness and uneven texture

Formulation: Oil

Suggested Usage:
– Apply to freshly cleansed skin after toning, morning and evening.
– Ideally use with Brightening Cleanser and CoQ-10 Toner.
– For external use only.

Highlighted Ingredients:
Squalane Oil: Helps provide hydration, balance excess oil, soothe, and promote a plump, firm appearance.

Ingredient Callouts: This product is Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, and printed on FSC certified paper.

What Else You Need to Know: Improve the appearance of texture, tone, and elasticity with this readily absorbed squalane oil. Light and moisturizing, it simultaneously helps with oil control and hydration for a soft, nurtured complexion.: Normal, Dry, Combination, and Oily

Indie Lee: Indie Lee skincare is dedicated to inspiring and empowering others to be mindful about what they put on their skin as well as into their body. Formulated with the finest ingredients from around the world, Indie Lee blends nature and science to bring high-performance products to market without sacrificing safety.

The bullets above are calling out aspects about the product and brand that we were unable to mention in the bullets or titles. Keywords in this section will be indexed for SEO, but won’t hold the same weight as keywords in the titles and bullets. It’s good to be more focused on what customers need to know about your products prior to making a purchase.

Lastly, I’d like to call out if you are a registered brand you should consider using A+ content for a more branded user experience. Generally, this enhanced brand content will improve the suer experience, improve conversion rate and lead to more sales. Plus it’s a lot more of a visually friendly way to display information. Check out a great example of A+ content by BS-MALL a makeup brush manufacturer.

Step 4: Structured Data – Backend Search Terms

Backend search terms are not physically visible to those viewing your page but allow Amazon to index terms to help with indexing and organic ranking. Backend search terms should not exceed the 250 character limit. That is 50 characters per line, 5 lines available. With limited real estate it’s important to follow Amazon’s strict guidelines which is to not include keywords that are descriptive, branded, duplicate sections or repeat keywords. Best practice is to use synonyms, hypernyms and spelling variations on relevant keywords.

Additional Bullet Tips:

• Include synonyms.
• Include spelling variations, no need to include misspellings.
• Include abbreviations.
• Don’t include punctuation.
• Separate words with a space.
• Don’t include ASINs.
• Don’t include stop words such as a, an, and, by, for, of, the, with, etc.

Pro Tip: Use synonyms and spelling variations on relevant keywords

Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to check anyone’s backend search terms without having access to the account. The backend search terms can be found under Manage Inventory from the top menu and edit the specific ASIN you’d like to update. The information should be added to the Search Term section of the Keyword menu.

A quick hack to see which keywords a particular ASIN is ranking for is to search that ASIN in search following the keyword you’d like to see if you are being indexed for.

Conclusion

The beauty space is very competitive. With sourcing options like Onoxa becoming mainstream and the amount of beauty sellers on Amazon. Gone are the days where you could be first to market for any type of skincare product on Amazon. No matter the culture or beauty secret some version exist on Amazon. The key to ranking and increasing sales is being able to clearly state your unique selling proposition through an optimized listing. Following the steps laid out in this article will provide guidance on how to create listing that stands out.

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