How to Leverage Amazon Customer Reviews for Listing Optimization

Customer reviews are very telling of a product’s quality. That’s why Amazon’s search algorithm considers them such a large factor in your product’s search ranking.

But customer reviews go much farther than that. They can give you insight that you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. You could do target audience research and snoop on the competition, but there’s nothing like feedback on your own product.

Today, I’m going to go over different ways to leverage Amazon customer reviews for listing optimization. 

1. Highlight the Positives

Amazon reviewers usually leave a review because they love your product so much that they want to show some thanks. There’s a reason why they love your product. And that reason is likely brought up in their review, so it’s a good idea to actually read reviews.

Take a look at your four star and five star reviews to see what people loved about your product. There will usually be a few things that are consistently brought up in reviews. A specific feature might have won everyone over or the quality control was simply excellent.

Take note of what those positive things are.

Use this new insight to review your content. Highlight beloved features in images and copy. Let’s look at an example.

This wireless keyboard is pretty well-received. We can see that they do a healthy amount of sales, so they know what they’re doing. Let’s look at their positive reviews and see what we can learn.

This review brings up two very great benefits that seem to get mentioned often. The shortcut keys and the ergonomics of the keyboard.

So now what?

Well, now the seller would remember that these are the keyboard’s strong suits. This is what makes the keyboard better than the competition. It would be smart for the seller to be loud and proud about these benefits.

They dedicate a whole infographic to pointing out the shortcut keys. There are 22 shortcuts on the machine dedicated to improving workflow and efficiency.

They dedicate another infographic to highlighting the ergonomic design.

Now, future customers will know what makes the keyboard special. They’ll also be having high expectations for their order. If they get their order and love it as much as they thought they would, then it’s likely that they’ll leave a review of their own. It’s like a snowball effect.

But, the opposite is also true…

2. Hide the Negatives

Earlier I said that people leave reviews because they love the product. But as we all know, they also write a review if they absolutely despise the product. This doesn’t have to be a horrible thing, though.

While you should be striving for perfection with quality control, sometimes things are just out of your hands. Negative reviews let you know what’s going on.

All of the one-star reviews are strikingly similar to these. The mouse doesn’t seem to be the best. A lot of positive reviews mentioned that the mouse was fine, but it wasn’t always a constant mention. A lack of quality control with the mouse seems to be the common thread between every single negative review. So now what?

It would be smart to contact your manufacturer and solve the problem. Sometimes, that just can’t happen, though.

When there are common complaints about an aspect of your product, try tweaking your listing a bit. Don’t build up high expectations for the aspect of your product that isn’t being well-received.

3. Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

Customer reviews are great for your product’s performance. Positive reviews lead to more traffic, which will result in more sales and ultimately even more reviews.

Reviews build trust with your customers as well. They serve as essential social proof.

You can encourage customers to leave reviews via emails, a pamphlet in your packaging, or with Amazon Vine.

Conclusion

Reviews can be the best research tool for your products. Look into leveraging them however possible.

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