Optimising an Amazon product listing: title, bullets, images

An Amazon product listing can lose sales in two places: when it doesn’t show up for the right searches, or when it does show up but the shopper isn’t convinced. Often it’s both. Here’s how to work on each part of the listing, what changes with the latest title rules and how to tell whether your changes are working.

Before you write: keywords and customer doubts

A good listing starts from two lists, not a blank page.

• The words people search for: main terms, synonyms, uses, sizes, materials. You get them from the Amazon search bar, from the search term reports in your ad campaigns and from the Brand Analytics tools.
• The doubts that stop people buying: you find them in reviews (yours and your competitors’), customer questions and return reasons. If three reviews in ten say the size comes up small, the listing should say so before the customer finds out.

With these two lists you decide what goes in the title, what goes in the bullets and what goes in the images. Without them, you’re writing on gut feeling.

The title: short, clear, with the right information first

Since July 2026 Amazon has applied a 75-character limit, spaces included, to titles in most categories (media products are excluded), together with a new field, Item Highlights, which adds up to 125 searchable characters for materials, uses and comparison details. Amazon may rewrite titles that go over the limit using AI-generated suggestions. Check coverage for each marketplace in Seller Central or Vendor Central, but the direction is clear: no more 200-character titles stuffed with keywords.

An effective title usually follows this order:

1. brand;
2. what the product is, using the word people actually search for;
3. the feature that sets it apart (material, format, main use);
4. size, quantity or colour, if they’re needed to choose.

Write numbers as digits and use abbreviated units (cm, ml, kg). Remove promotional adjectives like “best” or “top”, which Amazon doesn’t allow and shoppers ignore. Whatever doesn’t fit in the title goes in Item Highlights and the bullets. It isn’t lost.

Bullet points and description

Bullets are the most-read part of the listing after the images. Each one should answer a specific customer question. A structure that works in many categories:

1. the main benefit, in other words why buy it;
2. how it’s used or in which situations;
3. materials, ingredients or technical specifications;
4. dimensions, compatibility or what’s in the box;
5. the most common doubt answered (washing, lifespan, warranty, what it doesn’t do).

Open each bullet with two or three highlighted words that sum up the point, then explain in one or two sentences. Work the keywords in where they belong, naturally. A bullet written for the algorithm and unreadable for people loses more than it gains.

The description is less visible, especially if the product has A+ content, which replaces it on the page. Fill it in carefully all the same: it’s indexed text and Amazon’s AI assistants read it too.

Hidden search terms and attributes

The backend search terms field takes the words that don’t fit in the visible text: synonyms, alternative spellings, terms in other languages used in the country, secondary uses. The limit is in bytes (Amazon states around 250 bytes), so no repetition, no unnecessary commas and no competitor brand names, which are not allowed.

Attributes are often overlooked: material, colour, size, age range, recommended use, certifications. They feed the search filters on the left and the answers given by AI assistants. A product without the “gluten-free” attribute filled in disappears when the shopper filters by that feature, even if the bullets say it. We go into this in more depth in the guide on optimising for Rufus and AI search.

Images and video

On mobile, shoppers see the images first and only later, maybe, the text. Plan the images as a sequence that tells the product’s story.

A short video of the product in use clears up doubts that photos can’t, such as the texture of a cream or how a piece of furniture goes together. It doesn’t need an expensive production, it needs clarity. If you’d like a sense of how we approach this work, you’ll find examples in our Creative Studio for listings and content.

Variations

Variations group sizes, colours or formats under a single page. Done well, they concentrate reviews and sales history. Done badly, they cause confusion or get split up by Amazon.

• Only group products that differ by the variation themes the category allows.
• Don’t merge different products just to pool reviews: it’s against the rules and risky.
• Check that each child’s images and title match its variation.
• Check regularly that the family hasn’t broken apart after catalogue changes.

How to test your changes

Optimising a listing isn’t a one-off job. You need a method to see what works.

1. Take a snapshot of the before: sessions, conversion rate and ranking on the main keywords over the previous four weeks.
2. Change one thing at a time: main image, title or bullets. If you change everything, you won’t know what worked.
3. Use Amazon’s experiments when the brand is registered: the Manage Your Experiments tool lets you A/B test title, main image, bullets and A+ content, if the product has enough traffic.
4. Compare similar periods, allowing for promotions, seasonality and price changes.

Example: if conversion goes from 10% to 12% after changing the main image, with price and traffic unchanged, on 1,000 sessions a month that’s 20 extra orders without a penny of extra advertising. That’s why the listing needs work before you push the budget.

Where to start

Take your three highest-revenue products. Check that their titles meet the new limit and write their Item Highlights before Amazon does it for you. Then open each listing on your phone and look only at the first three images: if you can’t tell within five seconds what you’re buying and why, that’s where the work is.

Frequently asked questions