Amazon Product Launch Checklist

Your new product has arrived in the Amazon warehouse. Now is the time to follow the Product Launch Checklist and create the perfect listing: title, images, bullet points and product description. Not to forget the back-end search terms. 

Optimise Your Listing To Convert And Rank
So your product will sell well and your ranking efforts won't be wasted

We created a Product Launch Checklist for you to quickly verify if your listing 'ticks all the boxes' and is ready to receive reviews, rank and finally sell and make money.

Watch the Webinar recording on the topic:

1. Keyword Research

Find 10 Keywords / Search terms which best fit your product and have a good amount of volume (more than 1000 searches per month). There are several tools that can help with Search Term research like:

‘Betting’ on the right Keywords is an essential strategic decision. It will determine the ranking effort and conversion of your listing. Find a good compromise between volume and relevance.

2. Your Product Listing Title

Create your title with the most relevant Search Term at the beginning. 

  • 150 - 200 characters long 
  • Most relevant search terms at the beginning
  • Include a dash (" - ") after the first 5 words
  • Find a good compromise between including Search Terms and readability
  • Do not repeat Keywords

Tip 1: Use 5 words followed by a dash, then include the rest for your Keywords. That way, your canonical URL will include the first 5 words of your title (otherwise they will be picked randomly)

Example: This seller put a dash after his five most relevant keywords.

Product Launch Checklist

If you look up his canonical URL (go to "View Source" in your browser, then search for "canonical") contains all these keywords: 

Product Launch Checklist canonical URL

Having a keyword-rich canonical URL helps you with ranking on Google.

Tip 2: Check your title on mobile view. Because titles are shortened on mobile, you might consider adjusting it so it does not cut off in an awkward spot.

Note: more that 50% of shoppers on Amazon use their mobile device!

optimize your listing

3. Product Images

Your images are the most relevant conversion elements (next to reviews and title). Here is how to make the most out of them. 

General guidelines

Make use of all 7 image slots

images for the Product Launch Checklist

Amazon allows you to show 7 images on your listing. Make use of that and upload 7 images. If you uploaded a video of your product, it will show up in the 7th place.


You can upload up to 9 images

9 listing images

Once visitors clicks on one of your images, they can see up to 9 images.


Image size

download listing image

Image size should be square format, 1300 x 1300 pixel. But formats do vary between niches. To be sure, go and check out the images of your top competitors: download them and check the resolution info.


Product Launch Checklist - Image #1

first listing image

Your first image has to be on white background and should show your product (and what is included) from an interesting perspective.


Make sure it fills the entire frame and minimize the white space around the product.


Product Launch Checklist - Image #2 - #5

checklist image 2
product launch checklist image 4
checklist image 3
product launch checklist image 5

Think in terms of a magazine: 
each of these images should bring across a message about

  • A feature / benefit of the product
  • Showing how the product is being used (Lifestyle Image)

Product Launch Checklist - Image #6

product launch checklist infographic

Show everything included with this product - the "This is what you get" image.


Image #7

amazon listing image 7

The 'Tech Specs' image.
Feed the those customers who need to see specs and numbers. Show all the dimensions, features and weight of your product. Include a shot of the packaging if you are using premium packaging.


If you uploaded a product video, this image will be replaced by the video. So you'll have to fit this one into the previous 6 slots.


Unless you are very skilled, hire a photographer / designer to create your listing images. Here are some professional photography services:

4. Bullet Points

Tell the story of your product in an emotional way. The goal is to make the customer feel: 'This product will solve my problem'.

  • Write 5 bullet points (100 - 200 characters in length each)
  • Use a structure like this: “This product has [feature], so you can [benefit]…
  • Summarise in the beginning - consider the 'skimmers'
  • Differentiate your product from the competition.
  • Include the Search-terms which are not in the title

5. Product Description

5.1 You Don't Have Brand Registry 2.0

If you don't have Brand Registry, your product description is limited to simple HTML text. No layout, no images. 

Product Launch Checklist product description

To make the best of it:

  • Describe the product in full detail
  • List down all technical facts, functions, dimensions
  • List down what's included in the box (manual? cables?...)
  • Use the following HTML tags to format:
  • <b></b> to bold your title / subtitles
  •  <br> to create line breaks and not let the text run across the entire page
  • Use a basic HTML editor like HTML Online to edit and preview your product description

FYI - with the recently launched Amazon IP Accelerator Program, there is a short cut to getting Brand Registry 2.0. Instead of waiting for months to get trademark approval, you are now eligible for Brand Registry as soon as your application is pending! For that, you need to use one of the companies listed on the IP Accelerator service providers page in seller central.

5.2 You Have Brand Registry 2.0

amazon A+ content

If you have Brand Registry, you have access to Enhanced Brand Content or A+ Content. This gives you a whole different set of options co create a website-like product description with several sections, images, links and more.

  • Start with a short brand-story: introduce your brand
  • Bring on your best image full screen (900 x 600 pixel)
  • Continue with showing features and benefits in a image/text combo
  • Close with a comparison module: the perfect way to feature your other products
  • Make use of the 100 characters of Keywords you can include with every single image
  • If it's too much work - hire a professional designer. We can help

Close with a comparison table - the perfect way to feature your other products:

amazon A+ comparison

6. Backend Search Terms

amazon backend-keywords

Keep track of the Keywords you have included in your title and bullet points. Those which you could not fit in - add them to your backend search terms in the listing editor. Maximum 200 bytes (simple characters) are allowed. To make sure you don't exceed the maximum byte allowance, use a tool like Byte Counter 

If you implemented all the previous steps - of the Product Launch Checklist - congratulations! Your listing is now ready to rank and get reviews!

Here are the next steps you need to take in order to generate profitable sales:

7. Getting Initial Reviews

As soon as your listing is in perfect shape, the next step is to get reviews. Which is a tricky part since the average review rate is around 5%, which means you need to get 400 sales to get to 20 reviews. And selling 400 units with no reviews and no ranking is no easy feat. Here is what you can do:

  • Apply for the Early Reviewer Program in Amazon Seller Central. It will give you 6 reviews by rewarding buyers with a Gift Card. You pay $60 for this program and it only works when you manage to generate sales. And it will take weeks or even months to get you these 6 reviews.
  • You can use our RankingBot - a service designed to get initial reviews fast. You decide how fast you want to move. Just make sure to keep your review rate under 20% of the total sales.

8. Getting Initial Sales

With no reviews and no ranking, getting sales is not easy - the hen and egg problem. Here are some strategies to get initial sales:

  • Run PPC campaigns. They will obviously be expensive and not profitable, but that's ok in the launch phase.
  • Create discount codes. The Social Media Discount code will be shared in the Amazon influencer network and you can get quite some sales from them.
  • Reach out to influencers and get them to feature your product on their channels. Include a coupon code and an additional commission to sweeten the pie.
  • Use our RankingBot to generate initial sales. 

9. Ranking

Ranking depends on sales and conversion. And conversion rates will only be decent after you reached a minimum number (this number depends on your niche and competition) of (positive) reviews. So as soon as you have reached the critical amount of reviews, you can engage in ranking strategies like:

  • Run PPC campaigns. Instead of bidding on automatic campaigns and everything that could produce a sale in the early stage, you can now set up campaigns that use phrase match or exact match to push rankings for those search terms. Done right, this can be enough to push your product to page one.
  • Use super-URLs: if you know how to create them, you can include them in your FaceBook and Google Ads together with discount codes (no more that 25%) to push rankings for specific search terms.
  • As soon as your product ranks at least on page 2/3/4, you can use the 'Search-Find-Buy' approach: message your email list or messenger subscribers and ask them to use a specific search term to find and buy your product. This is the most effective way to tell Amazon that your product is relevant for this search term and should rank higher.
  • Use our RankingBot. I know I am repeating myself but our RankingBot can do both: SuperURLs and Search-Find-Buy instructions. 

10. Get Exposure

Amazon loves external traffic. They are one of the biggest spenders on Google Ads. And if you send buyers from outside of Amazon to your listing, the A9 algorithm will take notice and boost your rankings. That's why it makes sense to think outside the 'Amazon box' and consider ways to rank on Google and send traffic from social media and other websites. Here are some ways to do that:

  • Run Google Ads. Some people think this is  outdated but Google still is the biggest source of traffic. So spending some time on tweaking your ads can very well pay off.
  • Run FaceBook Ads. If you find the right creative, maybe include a video, they can pay for them selves and you still get the ranking benefit.
  • Keep on reaching out to deal sites and influencers on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. If you don't want to start from scratch (Google search), you can use tools like Intellifluence or Famebit to make your outreach efforts more worth while.
  • Keep on creating and publishing videos on your listing. You can use a tool like Adobe Spark , one of the Spark alternatives, or Animoto to create videos using photos and text. Published on your listing using a smart, Keyword-rich description, they will rank in Google and other search engines, giving you a nice evergreen-stream of external traffic. 
  • Publish a Press Release - a method often under-utilised by Amazon sellers. Submitting an article about your product launch to a network of several hundred news sites requires very little time and can have a significant impact on your publicity. That's why we offer a Press Release Service For Amazon Sellers - making it easy and effective to use as a part of your launch strategy. 

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