The Amazon marketplace gets more competitive every year. With over 3,700 new sellers joining the platform every day and an average conversion rate that far outperforms traditional e‑commerce, simply buying more traffic is no longer a sustainable growth strategy. Amazon’s algorithm rewards listings that convert well, prioritising them in search results. In other words, conversion rate optimisation (CRO) isn’t a nice‑to‑have; it’s the engine that powers discoverability, ad efficiency and profitability.
In an episode of the Marketplace Masters webinar, Tim McKenzie—Chief Growth Hacker at Dynamix Digital—and host Paul Sonneveld of CEO, Co-Founder at MerchantSpring, dug into the data, tools and tactics that agency professionals need to improve conversion rates for their clients. This article synthesises their insights and expands on them with additional research to create a practical playbook for agencies. Whether you manage a portfolio of brands or oversee a single ASIN, the principles below will help you squeeze more value out of every click.
“It’s so easy for brands and agencies to just look at increasing ad spend, but we really have to take the listing setup more seriously than ever before.” – Tim McKenzie
Conversion rate optimisation begins long before a shopper lands on your product detail page. It starts with creating a listing that matches search intent. McKenzie uses the metaphor of an old‑fashioned shoe shop: customers arrive with money in hand and a specific need in mind. If they walk into a store labelled “shoe shop” only to find handbags, backpacks and unrelated goods, they will leave disappointed. The same logic applies online. When someone searches for “mineral sun cream for acne scarring,” your listing must immediately communicate that it solves that exact problem.
To achieve this, McKenzie advocates a bullseye approach. Imagine a target with concentric circles. The innermost ring (the bullseye) contains your hero keywords—the specific terms that describe what the product is and the primary problem it solves. Subsequent rings widen the scope with secondary attributes such as ingredients, use cases or form factors. Only after these core needs are addressed should you consider adding broader, high‑volume search terms. This method prevents keyword stuffing and ensures that you attract the right shoppers instead of inflating impressions with irrelevant traffic.
Example: Suppose you sell a mineral sun cream that helps with rosacea and acne scarring. Your title might begin: “Mineral Sun Cream for Rosacea & Acne Scarring – Organic Moisturiser with Vitamin E.” Those terms belong in the bullseye. Only later in the title or bullets should you mention broader descriptors like “anti‑aging” or “daily sunscreen.” This structure reinforces relevancy while still capturing additional search volume.
Why this works: Amazon’s algorithm heavily favours conversion rate and relevancy when ranking products. By aligning your listing with the shopper’s intent, you increase the likelihood of a click converting into a purchase. Conversely, stuffing titles with high‑volume but unrelated keywords may inflate impressions but harm your conversion rate, signalling to Amazon that your product isn’t meeting customer needs.
“Start with the needs—the problems your product solves—because you’ll have a much higher conversion rate when your listing aligns with the shopper’s intent.” – Tim McKenzie
Most agencies manage multiple ASINs for each client, and resources are limited. McKenzie recommends using both advertising conversion rates and organic conversion rates to decide where to focus. Here’s a structured process:
Once you’ve prioritised the ASINs with the biggest impact potential, you can dive into optimisation for those listings.
Your title is the first thing shoppers see in search results, so it must succinctly describe what the product is, whom it’s for and key differentiators. Amazon’s algorithm also treats keywords in titles as highly relevant. Follow these guidelines:
On mobile, images appear before bullet points, making them critical for conveying value. Use a mix of lifestyle shots and informational graphics to educate shoppers on how the product works. For example, show a close‑up of your sun cream being applied to sensitive skin, and include infographics that highlight key ingredients or benefits. A/B test different image sequences to determine which combinations produce the highest click‑through and conversion rates.
The bullet section is where you articulate features and benefits. Keep each bullet focused on one key benefit and call out details that influence purchase decisions: skin types, ingredients, dimensions, certifications, warranties or usage instructions. Avoid burying key terms in a wall of text. If your product has regulatory claims (e.g., “reef safe” or “dermatologist tested”), mention them here and back them up with credible certifications.
Enhanced content is no longer optional. According to Amazon, basic A+ pages can boost sales by up to 8%, and Premium A+ may deliver increases of up to 20%. A+ content allows you to add branded modules, comparison charts, ingredient call‑outs and videos that cement trust and clarify value. Premium A+ unlocks interactive features like carousels and hotspots that further engage shoppers. McKenzie emphasised that any brand with Brand Registry should implement Brand Story and Premium A+ right away; failing to do so is leaving revenue on the table.
When creating A+ content:
Seller Central now offers up to five backend keyword fields for generic search terms. Use these fields to capture long‑tail phrases and synonyms that you didn’t include in the front‑end copy. Additionally, complete all relevant attributes—colour, material, target audience. As McKenzie noted in the webinar, populating the colour attribute with “red” for a red wine glass dramatically improved its ranking for searches like “red wine glasses.” This is because Amazon treated the colour attribute as highly relevant to the query.
Shopping behaviour differs greatly between devices. On mobile, images and A+ content typically appear before bullet points, while on desktop, the bullet points are visible immediately below the title. Leverage Amazon’s capability to create separate mobile‑optimised A+ layouts. Here are some tips:
Because more than half of Amazon traffic comes from mobile devices, neglecting mobile optimisation can severely impact conversion rates. Always preview your listing on different devices and adjust accordingly.
Data‑driven CRO means moving beyond gut instinct and third‑party tools. Amazon has rolled out powerful analytics features—Category Insights and Product Opportunity Explorer—that deliver official marketplace data. McKenzie demonstrated how to use these tools during the webinar. Here’s a recap:
Category Insights surfaces demand trends, search volume, and sales data for specific product types across regions. For instance, when analysing “sunscreen for kids,” the data might show that unit sales in February 2024 were nearly 180,000 higher than in February 2023, indicating strong year‑over‑year growth. Such insights help you:
This tool provides keyword‑level intelligence, showing search volume, sales, click share and growth rates for specific queries. It also reveals which competitors dominate certain keywords and how their performance changes seasonally. In the webinar, McKenzie used it to evaluate “kids' sun cream” and discovered that travel‑size sunscreens had less negative seasonality compared to full‑size options. Key benefits include:
Such data helps agencies make informed decisions about which keywords to target and how to position new products. It also supports strategic planning by revealing where the market is headed.
“Test and test and test. There’s always something to test, and you’ll only learn from it.” – Tim McKenzie
The final theme from the webinar is relentless experimentation. Amazon now offers built‑in A/B testing for titles, images and A+ content, allowing you to pit two versions against each other and see which drives higher conversion rates. McKenzie cautioned that results can vary across variations and price points: a simplified title may appeal to budget‑conscious shoppers buying a small size, while a longer, more technical title may resonate with experienced buyers of a larger size. The key is to test systematically rather than guess.
Tips for effective testing:
Beyond listing elements, experiment with pricing, promotions and ad copy. Amazon Advertising offers creative A/B testing for Sponsored Brand video ads, giving you insights into which messaging resonates. Continual testing is crucial because shopper expectations and Amazon’s ranking factors evolve. As DataHawk notes, the algorithm now relies on machine learning to interpret complex search intent; what worked last year may not work tomorrow.
While the listing itself is central, several external factors can also make or break your conversion rate:
Optimising conversion rates on Amazon requires a blend of art and science. The art lies in understanding your audience’s needs and telling a compelling brand story; the science is found in data, testing and continuous improvement. By adopting the bullseye approach to relevancy, investing in high‑quality images and A+ content, leveraging Amazon’s analytics tools and committing to perpetual experimentation, agencies can help clients achieve sustainable growth without blindly increasing ad spend.
Want to delve deeper into these strategies? Watch the full webinar on MerchantSpring’s on‑demand video library and connect with the speakers:
Interested in elevating your agency’s analytics? Contact MerchantSpring to book a demo and see how multi‑account analytics can transform your clients’ performance. And if this article sparked ideas or questions, share them with us—we’d love to cover them in future Marketplace Masters episodes.