Amazon backend keywords are an important part of Amazon product listings. By including the correct keywords in your Amazon listing, you can maximize the visibility of your product.
Amazon backend keywords in particular play a specific and powerful purpose within an Amazon seller’s overall keyword strategy.
So, in this article, we’ll discuss how Amazon sellers can find and use the best Amazon backend search terms to get their products seen by more buyers.
What is the importance of keywords on Amazon?
Keywords are the words and phrases that Amazon uses to match products with customer search queries.
When a customer searches for a product on Amazon, its algorithmic engine scans all of the products in its catalog and ranks them based on relevancy.
Amazon considers many factors when determining relevancy, but one of the most important is the presence of relevant keywords in your Amazon listing.
Amazon uses these keywords to match products with customer searches, so it’s important to include them in your listing if you want your product to be visible to potential buyers.
Why are backend keywords important?
“Backend keywords” is the terminology many sellers use to describe the keywords entered into the search terms field in an Amazon listing.
They attract the name backend keywords as the content in this field is hidden from the user, or in other words, they don’t appear on the “front end”.
This presents a unique opportunity to use keywords that you may otherwise be unable to, allowing you to write readable copy that flows – and converts – well on the front end, whilst still including as many relevant keywords as possible on the back end.
What should I include in the backend? (Do’s & Don’ts)
With a limited capacity of just 250 bytes (ie. characters – but note some special characters will count as more than one byte), you need to choose your backend search terms carefully.
Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you choose.
Do’s
- Use all 250 bytes to maximize your coverage.
- Include popular misspellings of high-traffic keywords that you couldn’t otherwise include in the front end of your listing.
- Include synonyms and alternative spellings of words.
- Use all lower case – search terms are not case-sensitive.
Don’ts
- DON’T include brand names. Yours (a waste of characters as it will already be in your listing), and other brand names (a risk of trademark issues).
- DON’T repeat keywords. If it’s already in your listing, it doesn’t need to go in here again.
- DON’T include punctuation. It’s not needed and is a waste of precious bytes!
- DON’T go over the character/byte limit.
- DON’T include ASINs.
- DON’T write for legibility, write for maximum keyword coverage (eg hand foot lotion not hand and foot lotion).
- DON’T include content that goes against Amazon’s policies – for example, temporary language like “new”, subjective comments like “best” and offensive words and phrases.
How can Amazon sellers find the best Amazon backend keywords?
There are a few different ways Amazon sellers can find the best backend keywords for their products, ranging from free, manual methods to paid research tools.
Manual research
Sellers on a budget may look to carry out manual research to find the best backend terms with high search volume to include in their listing.
To do this, you can search sources like your Amazon search term report.
Simply download your PPC search term report for the previous 30 days and find the search terms customers are using that don’t yet appear in your listing.
If you are running auto or broad match campaigns, these can be a goldmine for unusual ways of describing your product and common misspellings too – perfect opportunities for backend keywords.
Amazon tools
Amazon continues to develop valuable tools within the Seller Central ecosystem allowing sellers to mine first-party data to improve their on-platform performance.
One such example is the Brand Analytics dashboard.
Brand registered sellers can use the tools within Brand Analytics to find real data on what keywords are being used the most. This data can then be used to inform decisions on what keywords to put in what positions.
Keyword research tools
Another way to find Amazon backend keywords is to use a third-party keyword research tool.
There are many different keyword research tools available, and they can all be used to find relevant keywords to add in both the front-end and back-end keywords.
Whilst these tools will come at a cost, they will usually save a significant amount of time, allowing you to spend more of your time on growth activities.
Once you have a list of Amazon backend keywords, you can use them in your Amazon listing to improve your product’s visibility.
How do I add backend keywords on Amazon?
The process of adding backend keywords is very similar to updating a product title, bullet points and description.
Inside your Seller Central account, head to the Manage Inventory section and click Edit next to the product you want to update.
Next, navigate to the Keywords tab and enter your backend keywords into the Search Terms field.
Note: the layout in Seller Central may vary between marketplaces and accounts, but the Search Terms field is the key to navigate to.
How do I know if a backend keyword is indexed?
When a keyword is indexed, it means Amazon is now showing your product for that term.
To check if a keyword is indexed, simply head to Amazon and enter the product ASIN, followed by the keyword into Amazon’s search bar.
If your product appears in the search results, then Amazon has indexed the keyword and is showing your product for that term.
This is particularly helpful to test backend terms that are somewhat unique such as misspellings.
Indexing vs ranking
It should be noted that just because your product is indexed for a certain keyword doesn’t mean it is ranking highly for that keyword.
Once a product is indexed for the right keywords, it’s then important to carry out a launch campaign in order to increase organic ranking for target keywords and ensure your products are found frequently in search results.
Conclusion: The benefits of backend keywords on Amazon
Backend keywords are an essential element of one of the keys to success on Amazon: a well-optimized product listing.
They give room to include keywords that you aren’t otherwise able to fit into the front end of your listing, whilst also giving the opportunity to include keywords you wouldn’t be comfortable putting in the front end of your listing such as misspellings.
Amazon sellers should consider best practices when adding backend search terms in order to maximize the opportunity they provide to create more visibility in Amazon search results and grow sales.
