How to write Amazon listings that actually rank

1. Title — 200 characters max, first 80 matter most

The product title is the single most important ranking field. Amazon's A9 algorithm extracts keywords from your title first. Mobile search results truncate at roughly 80 characters. Desktop shows more. If your most important keyword is at position 150, mobile shoppers never see it.

The formula

Example for a cutting board:

The bad version is generic. "Beautiful" and "great gift" are wasted characters — nobody searches for those. The good version front-loads "End-Grain Walnut Cutting Board" (the primary keyword) and packs in specific attributes: "18×12", "food-safe", "juice groove", "care kit". Every word is a potential search term.

What Amazon actually rejects

• Promotional language: "best-selling", "#1", "amazing", "top-rated"
• ALL CAPS (except for acronyms like "USB" or brand names that are legally all-caps)
• Price mentions: "$29.99", "on sale", "cheap", "affordable"
• Seller information: your store name, email, phone, URL
• Subjective claims without substantiation: "highest quality", "most durable"
• Special characters or emoji: ™ is OK if trademarked, © OK if copyrighted, anything else risks suppression

2. Bullet points — exactly 5, each 500 bytes max

Amazon allows 5 bullet points. Each is limited to 500 bytes, not characters. Multi-byte characters (em dashes, special quotes) eat into this faster than you'd expect. Bullets are the second-highest-weighted field for A9 and the primary conversion element — shoppers scan bullets, not descriptions.

The formula

Example:

The bad version describes. The good version sells. It starts with the benefit keyword, explains what the feature is, connects it to buyer value (knives stay sharp), and adds a specific, credible claim (3x longer between sharpenings).

Amazon's bullet rules

• No HTML — Amazon strips tags and may suppress the listing
• No promotional language (same as titles)
• No company-specific info, warranty details go in description not bullets
• Don't repeat the title word-for-word — it wastes the ranking opportunity
• Each bullet should make a distinct point. Five variations of "it's good quality" is five wasted slots

3. Product description — 2,000 characters, HTML allowed

The description is weighted lower than title and bullets for ranking, but it's where you close the sale. Buyers who read the description are comparing you against 2-3 other products. This is where you differentiate.

Amazon allows basic HTML: <p>, <b>, <br>, <ul>/<li>. No images, no links, no JavaScript, no iframes.

Structure that works

1. Usage scenario — one paragraph showing who uses this and how. Paint the scene.
2. Materials and construction — what it's made of, how it's made, why those choices matter.
3. Care instructions — how to maintain it. This signals quality and reduces returns.
4. Trust close — warranty, guarantee, or craftsmanship commitment. One sentence.

For A+ Content (Brand Registry required): modules have specific image sizes. The "Standard Company Logo" module is 600×180px. "Standard Image and Text" is 300×300px images. "Standard Comparison Chart" allows up to 6 products. A+ Content is purely visual — it doesn't index for search, but it increases conversion rate by a reported 3-10% according to Amazon's own data.

4. Backend search terms — 250 bytes total

Backend keywords are invisible to shoppers but indexed by A9. This is where you put search terms that didn't fit naturally in your title or bullets. The limit is 250 bytes — roughly 200-230 characters depending on letter frequency.

Rules that get listings suppressed if broken

• No commas — Amazon's system interprets commas as separators. Use spaces only.
• No repeats — don't include words already in your title. Amazon already indexes those.
• No brand names — yours or competitors'. "Nike" or "Adidas" in the backend keywords of a generic shoe listing will get it taken down.
• No ASINs — referencing another product's ASIN is a terms violation.
• No subjective claims — "best", "cheap", "quality" don't belong here.
• No temporary statements — "new", "on sale", "limited time" aren't allowed.
• Include common misspellings — "wallnut" for "walnut", "cuting" for "cutting". Amazon doesn't autocorrect search queries.
• Include alternate names — "butcher block", "chopping board", "charcuterie board" are all different search queries.

Good backend keywords for the walnut cutting board:

Yes, include the typos. "Cutting bord" without the 'a' is a real search on Amazon.

A9 ranking: what actually matters, in order

Source: Amazon Seller Central documentation, seller experiments, and A9 behavior observed across product categories.

TL;DR

1. Title: 200 chars. Front-load your primary keyword in the first 80. Use the formula.
2. Bullets: exactly 5, each 500 bytes. Start with ALL CAPS benefit keyword. Feature → Benefit → Proof.
3. Description: 2,000 chars. Usage scenario, materials, care, trust close. HTML allowed.
4. Backend keywords: 250 bytes. Space-separated, no commas, no brands, no repeats. Include misspellings.
5. Never use promotional language in any field. Amazon's style guide enforcement is automated and aggressive.
6. A+ Content doesn't index but boosts conversion. Worth doing if you have Brand Registry.