316 Q&A Tuesday: Amazon Ranking

Today we have a Q&A Tuesday. Every so often we get some questions from the Facebook group that I think would be good to share with you. Today I'm answering a question about Amazon ranking.

If you’d like to join us, just head over to the Facebook group.

Amazon Ranking Differently for the Same Keyword on the App Versus the Website
This question comes from Rob, and is about ranking for the same keyword differently on the app than the mobile website:

"Hi - I've managed to get my 1st Amazon product to a rank of 5th for the best keyword so on page 1 which I'm happy with. But oddly on the Amazon app I appear about 15th for the same keyword. Mobile web I'm 5th. Any idea why the app seems to rank me differently (lower) and if there's anything I can do about it? thanks"
A Couple Factors May Affect This
The Algorithm Ranks Results Differently
It’s important to recognize that Amazon tracks your web surfing, and it tries to give you relevant results based on what you’ve searched for.

You may find it helpful to look up your product on a friends phone, or a private browser, and take screenshots, as those results may be very different from your own.

It's also possible that the algorithm ranks things differently in all 3 places (the Amazon app, mobile browser, and on a laptop) because consumer behaviour in all 3 places is going to differ quite a lot.
In-House Keyword Testing Should Help
By doing some in house testing of keywords based on previous suggestions I’ve given, you should track ranking for specific keywords for specific products. This will help determine if any patterns emerge.

It also helps to have a friend do the searching for you to help with tracking keyword performance.
Limitations of Data for New Amazon Sellers
This question comes from Dave, and he wants to know how a buyer came across his product:

Afternoon all. I've sold my first self developed product today. I'd really like to know how the buyer found my product, i.e. what search term was used to find it. I have sponsored ads on but so far I haven't spent any money so I guess it was found somewhere way down in the rankings. Is there any way to find out what my buyer searched for?
The Problem of Generalising on Small Amounts of Data
Sadly, if it was an organic sale, you will not be able to find the answer as Amazon generally keeps this information to itself.

This is something you’re going to have to guess at by running Amazon ads

Don't worry about individual sales in terms of data. While your first sale is a special moment for a business and the owner, generalising in any way at all on the basis of tiny data sets is a recipe for a distorted view of your business.

So don't worry about such questions until you've sold a statistically meaningful set of units.

You probably need a couple of weeks worth of products sold at least to begin to see some stable patterns emerging.

To Determine the Important Keywords that Are Driving Sales
Make sure you bid enough on your clicks for sponsored ads and high enough daily budget to at least get some clicks. Then over time, you can start to build a picture of what gets clicks and what are the important keywords.
Making Changes on Listings to Improve Amazon Ranking
Don’t change anything significant on the basis of small data sets, such as one sale.

Some mentoring clients come to me and change the price of the listing every three minutes or so, thinking it’s like driving a car and making corrections, but it is not smart to run an Amazon business this way.

Think of your business like driving a big boat: You need to anticipate things, and you need to hold a steady course for a much longer time and see things coming as well.

I don’t think you should change your price point more than once per week. And any changes you make should be gradual.
Data is Just as Important as Sales
One of the major reasons for running ads isn’t getting sales, even though that is important.