Amazon’s marketplace runs on keywords. The search terms shoppers use determine which products they see, making keyword strategy a critical part of any Amazon seller’s success.
This guide shows how to identify high value Amazon keywords using real market data and how SmartScout’s tools can supercharge your research. You’ll learn the data behind keyword value, methods to find golden keywords with Amazon Search Trends, Rank Maker, and Keyword Detective, and how to apply insights to boost organic rankings and revenue.
Why Keywords Matter and What Makes One “High-Value”
Every time a customer searches on Amazon, the keywords they type create an opportunity for your product to be discovered. A high-value keyword is one that can drive significant traffic and sales to your listing. Typically, these keywords have high search volume, strong buyer intent, and are highly relevant to your product. Incorporating such keywords into your product titles, bullet points, and descriptions is key to improving visibility on Amazon.
The higher you rank for popular, relevant terms, the more shoppers will find (and hopefully buy) your product.
However, volume alone isn’t everything. A keyword is truly “high-value” only if it leads to conversions. This is where real market data becomes crucial. Amazon provides brand owners with data on popular search terms along with metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate (CVR) for those terms. In other words, sellers can see not just what customers search, but also how often those searches lead to clicks and purchases. A keyword that thousands of people search monthly is great – but if none of those searches convert to sales for your product, its value to you is low. High-value keywords tend to be those that match customer intent (so customers click and buy).
Amazon’s A9/A10 algorithm rewards relevance and performance. Products that get higher CTR (more shoppers clicking your listing) and higher conversion on a keyword will organically rise in rankings for that keyword. By focusing on keywords that shoppers actually use (real search terms) and those that drive conversions, you align your SEO strategy with Amazon’s ranking signals. In short, data-driven keyword research helps you target terms that can genuinely grow revenue, not just generate traffic.
Leveraging Real Market Data (Not Guesswork) in Keyword Research
Traditional keyword research often relied on tools like Google Keyword Planner or educated guesses, which don’t fully reflect Amazon shopper behavior. But Amazon’s ecosystem has its own search dynamics. To discover high-value Amazon keywords, you should tap into real Amazon market data – actual search queries and performance metrics from the Amazon marketplace. Fortunately, modern tools make this possible by tracking Amazon-specific keyword data at scale.
For instance, SmartScout is a toolset built around Amazon data, tracking over 2 million Amazon search terms in its database. This massive coverage is crucial: it means you’re researching among the very terms that Amazon shoppers are using, rather than arbitrary keywords. Real market data includes:
- Search volume and trend data for Amazon keywords (how many people are searching a term, and whether it’s rising or falling in popularity).
- Organic ranking data for products on those keywords (which products rank where, and how that changes over time).
- Competitive insights such as which keywords competitors are targeting or winning.
- Amazon Brand Analytics metrics like CTR and conversion share for search terms (available if you have Brand registry), which indicate how well searches translate into sales.
By leveraging these data points, you can identify keywords that have strong demand and a track record of driving sales. In the following sections, we’ll discuss a step-by-step strategy to find high-value keywords using SmartScout’s tools – all of which capitalize on real Amazon market data.
Identifying High-Value Keywords: Step-by-Step Strategy
Let’s outline a strategy to discover and capitalize on great keywords:
- Start with Broad Search Trends – Begin by looking at what’s popular on Amazon at large or in your category. This helps you spot high-volume keywords and emerging trends that could be relevant to your products.
- Dig into Niche and Competitor Keywords – Use reverse ASIN lookup and keyword tracking to see which keywords drive traffic to your own products or competing products in your niche. This reveals high-value keywords you might otherwise miss.
- Analyze Keyword Performance Metrics – Where possible, examine metrics like search volume, click-through rate, and conversion rate for the keywords on your list. Prioritize keywords that not only lots of people search, but that also tend to convert well (either for you or competitors).
- Incorporate Keywords into Your Listings – Once you identify target keywords, optimize your product listing content (titles, bullets, description, backend terms) to include these keywords naturally. This improves your indexing and relevance for those terms.
- Track Rankings and Iterate – Continuously monitor how your products rank for the targeted keywords and track changes over time. As you gain rankings (through SEO or advertising efforts), note which keywords are driving actual sales and refine your strategy. Drop or replace keywords that underperform, and double down on those that drive revenue.
Throughout these steps, SmartScout’s suite of tools can provide invaluable data and automation. Let’s explore how to execute this strategy using SmartScout’s capabilities.
Using SmartScout to Discover High-Value Amazon Keywords
SmartScout offers several features that align perfectly with the steps above, giving Amazon professionals an authoritative edge in keyword research. Here’s how to leverage them:
1. Spotting Trends with Amazon Search Trends (SmartScout’s “Popping Topics”)
Keeping a pulse on what shoppers are searching right now can unveil high-value keywords early.
SmartScout’s Amazon Search Trends (formerly known as Popping Topics) is a tool designed for this purpose. It highlights the keywords currently trending among Amazon shoppers, in near real-time. Unlike Google Trends which covers web search popularity broadly, SmartScout’s Search Trends is Amazon-specific, so you’re looking at the actual rising stars in the Amazon marketplace.
How to use it: You can scan the top trending Amazon search terms overall or filter by category to see what’s hot in your niche. For example, SmartScout’s Search Trends lets you peek at the top 100 searches across all categories (excluding media products) or drill down into the top searches within a specific category. This is incredibly useful for discovering high-volume keywords relevant to your category that you may not have considered. If you see a surge in a search term related to your product line, that’s a signal to optimize for it or ensure you have offerings to meet that demand.
Search Trends isn’t just a static list – it also charts the popularity of any keyword over time. In practice, you could enter a keyword (say, “wireless earbuds”) and instantly see its search volume trend over the past months. This historical trend data helps confirm if a keyword is steadily high-volume, seasonal, or a fleeting fad. High-value keywords for long-term revenue growth are often those with sustained or rising popularity, rather than short-lived spikes. The ability to see trend graphs means you can align your strategy with where the demand is going (much like “skating to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been,” to quote Wayne Gretzky via Steve Jobs).
Real Data Example: Trending searches often directly correlate with sales trends. For instance, “portable air conditioners” saw a spike in searches in spring 2023 and a corresponding spike in product revenues in that category. This underlines how watching search trends can literally predict surges in sales – invaluable insight for stocking the right products or updating your listings’ keywords ahead of peak demand.
Pro tip: SmartScout’s Amazon Search Trends tool is free to use, making it a no-brainer starting point for any Amazon keyword research. Even if you use other tools, checking the free trending search dashboard regularly can inspire new keyword ideas and product opportunities.
2. Reverse ASIN Lookup and Rank Tracking with Rank Maker
Once you have a sense of the broad keywords in your space, the next step is uncovering all the specific keywords that drive traffic to products like yours – especially your competitors. This is where SmartScout’s Rank Maker comes in.
Rank Maker is essentially SmartScout’s keyword tracker and reverse ASIN tool combined. It helps you find the best keywords for any product and monitor organic ranking changes over time.
Reverse ASIN Lookup: Rank Maker lets you input any ASIN to see the keywords it organically ranks for plus historical ranking data. It reveals the search terms driving a competitor’s traffic and surfaces high value opportunities, including specific long tail phrases like “noise-cancelling wireless earbuds for running” that convert well in your niche.
Not only does Rank Maker list the keywords, it also shows historic rankings for that product on each keyword. This is powerful: you can identify keywords where a competitor has been rising or falling in rank. If you see a competitor’s rank dropped for a valuable keyword, that might be an opening for you to optimize for it and capture their spot.
Tracking Organic Rank Over Time: For your own products, Rank Maker lets you track how your organic positions change, especially as you optimize your listing or run advertising. For instance, you can monitor if incorporating a new keyword in your title results in an improved rank over a few weeks. Tracking rank growth over time is extremely helpful to gauge the ROI of your SEO efforts and to understand which keywords are truly driving performance. SmartScout’s rank tracker updates regularly, providing accurate, real-time keyword ranking data so you’re never in the dark.
Rank maker is the only tool that shows how your ad spend might be influencing organic rankings in the same view. By connecting your Amazon Advertising data to SmartScout, you could see if a boost in PPC on a keyword led to an organic rank jump. While this is slightly beyond pure keyword discovery, it’s an advanced technique for holistic SEO+PPC strategy, ensuring you invest in keywords that pay off with both immediate sales (via ads) and long-term organic growth.
Use Rank Maker to compile a list of candidate keywords drawn from real products’ performance. Some practical tips:
- Do a reverse ASIN on top competitors in your category. Note which keywords appear for multiple competitors – those are likely must-have, high-value keywords for your niche.
- Find gaps: keywords that one or two competitors rank for, but others (including you) do not. These could be untapped opportunities. SmartScout’s interface even encourages leveraging competitors’ search term data to improve your own listing.
- Monitor your progress: Add your own ASINs to the tracker and watch your rank change as you optimize content or run campaigns. Seeing a keyword climb from page 3 to page 1 can directly translate to revenue growth, validating that keyword’s value.
3. Discovering Keyword Opportunities with the Keyword Detective (Shared Keyword Analysis)
Another unique approach SmartScout offers is analyzing keywords at the category or competitive set level. The Keyword Detective tool includes a Keyword Relevancy visualization – essentially a Venn diagram of shared and unique keywords among a set of products.
Why is this useful? Because it helps you pinpoint which keywords are truly universal (and thus critical) in your niche and which could be opportunities that only certain sellers are leveraging. For example, imagine you compare your product’s keywords with the top 2 competing products: - If there are important high-volume keywords present in both competitors’ listings but not in yours, that’s a glaring gap to fix – you’re likely missing out on traffic. - If you find a high-volume keyword only one competitor is using (and doing well with) while you and others aren’t, that might be an opportunity to differentiate and capture a new traffic source.
SmartScout’s relevancy comparison is cutting-edge: no other Amazon SEO tool provides a direct way to compare keyword overlap between multiple products simultaneously. This multi-product view is incredibly valuable for product development and opportunity finding. It can reveal customer search terms that are well-known to insiders but not obvious to newcomers. For instance, the overlap might show that all top sellers in your category rank for a set of 5 core keywords – if you’re missing any, you now have a to-do list for optimization. Or it might show a niche keyword that only one brand has spotted – giving you inspiration for a new product feature or a targeted marketing campaign.
Category-Level Keywords
SmartScout also leverages its database to show keywords relevant to specific categories and subcategories. By analyzing which search terms drive traffic in, say, “Home Office Furniture” versus “Gaming Furniture,” the tool can surface category-relevant keywords. This helps you align content with what shoppers in that category commonly search. It’s another form of real market data: rather than guessing what terms might be relevant to a category, you see actual shared shopper searches in that category.
Using Keyword Detective or the relevancy grid can also guide your PPC strategy. Those shared high-value keywords are the ones you likely want to bid on in Sponsored Products, since all your competitors are competing there. Conversely, unique keywords that you find could be cheaper to bid on and still drive sales if they’re underutilized.
SmartScout’s tool essentially shines a light on the “keyword battlefield” of your category – showing you where the fights are fiercest (shared high-value terms) and where there are hidden gaps.
4. Considering Click-Through and Conversion Data (Quality of Traffic)
Beyond search volume and relevancy, judge keyword quality by how well traffic converts. Amazon Brand Analytics shows CTR and conversion for queries, typically limited to your own brand’s performance.
SmartScout continues to innovate by integrating analytics and visualizations that factor in performance metrics.
Traffic Flow and Brand Analytics integration can show conversion rates at each step of how customers search and choose products. If you have access to Brand Analytics, SmartScout’s platform can help make sense of it – showing which keywords have high conversion for you or even identifying competitor products with superior conversion on certain terms (by analyzing share of voice and conversion share data).
When deciding which keywords to prioritize in your SEO and advertising, consider these metrics:
- CTR (Click-Through Rate): A high CTR on a keyword means your product listing (title, image, price, reviews) is appealing to shoppers for that query. If you have low CTR, maybe the keyword isn’t perfectly relevant or your listing isn’t enticing enough for that audience. SmartScout’s tools allow you to track and improve CTR by making listing optimizations and seeing how it impacts clicks.
- Conversion Rate: A keyword that consistently converts (shoppers buy after clicking) is gold. Some keywords are “browser” terms (lots of window-shoppers) while others are “buyer intent” terms. For example, “best wireless earbuds” might have lots of clicks but lower conversion (people comparing options), whereas “Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds” (a specific model) likely has higher conversion. Use data to distinguish these. If SmartScout shows that for certain search terms your conversion rate is high, those are high-value keywords to feature prominently (and possibly bid on more in ads). If a competitor has a much higher conversion rate for a keyword, study their listing – they might have a better fit for what customers want, which is actionable insight for product improvement or listing enhancement.
While gathering CTR/CVR data might require Brand Analytics or feedback from your ad campaigns, the key point is to bring these real performance metrics into your keyword strategy.
High search volume terms that also bring a high ROI are your tier-1 keywords; high volume but low conversion may need different tactics (like listing optimization or could be deemphasized if they just don’t convert for you). Low volume but very high conversion terms (long-tail gems) shouldn’t be ignored either – they can collectively contribute a lot of revenue with less competition.
Optimizing Your Amazon Listings with Target Keywords
Finding great keywords is only half the battle – you need to implement them effectively to reap the benefits. Amazon’s search algorithm indexes your listing content, so placement and context of keywords matter. Here are optimization best practices, assuming you’ve identified a set of high-value keywords:
- Title Optimization: Your product title is the most influential for SEO. Try to include your top one or two keywords in the title, while keeping it readable. For example, if “wireless noise cancelling earbuds” is a high-value term, a title could be “Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds, Bluetooth 5.0 Headphones with Charging Case…”. SmartScout’s AI Listing Architect or similar tools can help craft titles that blend keywords and marketing copy.
- Bullet Points & Description: Sprinkle other relevant keywords naturally throughout bullets and the description. Don’t keyword-stuff – Amazon may penalize or simply ignore repetitive terms. Instead, ensure all your important keywords appear at least once somewhere in the listing. If a term is high-value but awkward to fit in prose, use phrases in a bullet list or description where it makes sense.
- Backend Search Terms: Amazon allows hidden search terms (backend keywords). Use this space for any high-value keywords that you couldn’t fit in the public-facing text, including common misspellings or variations. SmartScout’s listing optimization features (and competitor keyword data) can guide what you might include here.
- Content Relevancy: SmartScout’s keyword relevancy comparisons can guide you on which keywords absolutely need to be in your content. If the relevancy Venn diagram shows a keyword appearing across all top competitors, ensure it’s prominently included in your listing – that’s likely a core term Amazon expects for products like yours. This can improve your digital shelf relevancy, signaling to Amazon that your product is strongly related to that keyword.
- Maintain Readability and Conversion Appeal: Remember that the goal is not just to rank, but to sell. Optimize for keywords and for human appeal. Higher CTR and conversion will, in turn, boost your organic rankings. For instance, incorporate keywords in a way that highlights a benefit. Instead of a bullet saying “portable air conditioner bedroom” (which is just keyword spam), say “Quiet Portable Air Conditioner – Perfect for Bedrooms, with 300 sq ft Cooling”. You’ve included the keyword while also pitching a benefit, likely increasing conversion when shoppers click.
Finally, consider doing periodic audits of your listings. Markets evolve, new keywords emerge, and consumer language can shift. A term that was popular last year might be replaced by a new buzzword this year.
By using SmartScout’s real-time data, you can update your content strategy.
For example, if SmartScout’s Search Trends shows a new synonym or related search rising quickly (say, “work-from-home desk” trending over “office desk”), you can incorporate that phrasing sooner than your competition and capture that traffic.
Continuous Keyword Tracking and Strategy Refinement
SEO on Amazon isn’t a one-and-done task. The most successful sellers treat it as an ongoing process of monitoring, learning, and adjusting. Here’s how you can maintain an authoritative, data-driven keyword strategy over time:
- Regularly Check Keyword Rankings: Use SmartScout’s Rank Tracker to watch your positions. Set up alerts or periodically note if any important keyword’s rank drops significantly – that could indicate new competition or a listing issue (e.g., a change in Amazon’s algorithm or a loss of relevance if a competitor out-optimized you).
- Monitor Trends Ongoing: SmartScout’s Search Trends Tool is updated frequently. Keep an eye on your category’s trending terms at least monthly. Seasonal shifts or sudden surges can open up opportunities. For example, if “pumpkin spice syrup” starts trending in late August, a seller of coffee flavorings should jump on optimizing for that term early each year.
- Adjust PPC Campaigns Based on Organic Data: If you gain a top organic rank for a keyword, you might reduce ad spend on it and reallocate budget to other terms – or vice versa, if a keyword is driving good sales but you can’t crack page 1 organically, support it with ads. SmartScout’s insight into which brands hold the most real estate for key search terms (share of voice) can guide your competitive ad strategy. If a competitor is dominating a keyword’s results, you might need both SEO and PPC efforts to compete.
- Expand to New Keywords Carefully: Through reverse ASIN and trend tools, you’ll occasionally find new keywords that look promising. Test them. Add one or two new keywords to your listing or launch a trial PPC campaign. See if they gain traction (impressions, clicks, sales). If they do, great – you’ve found a new revenue driver. If not, you haven’t risked much and you can pivot. The data you collect (via tracking and Amazon’s reports) will increasingly tell you what the best keywords are for your product.
- Use Category & Market Insights: High-value keywords also can inform product development and sourcing decisions. If you notice a lot of searches for a product feature you don’t have, that might be your next product variation. For instance, if you sell backpacks and suddenly “backpack with USB charging port” is trending, and your backpack lacks that, you’ve identified a feature to consider adding to capture that demand. SmartScout’s category-level data (like identifying gaps in subcategory coverage or rising niches) paired with keyword insight gives you a full picture of market opportunity. Essentially, keyword demand data is a proxy for customer demand – follow the customers.
SmartScout vs. Other Keyword Research Tools: A Note on Innovation
It’s worth acknowledging that there are other Amazon keyword research tools out there, such as Helium 10’s Magnet/Cerebro and Jungle Scout’s keyword tools. These platforms have helped sellers for years by providing search volume estimates and keyword suggestions.
However, SmartScout has emerged as a leader by innovating beyond the basics and focusing on robust Amazon data integration.
In fact, while Helium 10 and Jungle Scout have been around longer, they haven’t significantly updated their core keyword features in some time, whereas SmartScout has introduced new capabilities that set it apart.
Key differentiators of SmartScout’s approach include:
- Amazon-Exclusive Data Focus: SmartScout uses actual Amazon search data (like the top 2 million search terms and real-time trends) to drive its tools, rather than solely third-party search volume estimates. This means higher accuracy and relevancy.
- Integrated Tool Ecosystem: The way SmartScout links keyword tracking with competitor analysis, ads (Ad Spy), and market trends (Scope) gives sellers a more comprehensive view in one place. For example, SmartScout can show you what search terms a brand is “winning” on – a visibility no other tool currently offers.
- Unique Visualizations: Features like the relevancy Venn diagram and share-of-voice maps are unique to SmartScout. These advanced visuals turn complex data into actionable insights, allowing even technically-minded sellers to quickly grasp where the keyword opportunities lie.
- Continuous Improvement: SmartScout frequently rolls out new features. As Amazon’s landscape changes, SmartScout adapts fast – be it incorporating new Brand Analytics data points or adding tools like an AI Listing Architect for optimization. This agility benefits users who stay ahead of the curve.
Of course, every tool has its strengths. Helium 10, for instance, offers a suite for listing optimization (Scribbles, Frankenstein, etc.) which some sellers find useful.
SmartScout, however, is quickly closing those gaps while providing more strategic intelligence. The authoritative stance for an Amazon professional is often to use the best aspects of multiple tools, but if you’re looking for cutting-edge keyword strategy underpinned by real data, SmartScout offers an edge that competitors are hard-pressed to match.
Conclusion
To grow your Amazon revenue, you need to win the battle of search visibility, and that battle is fought with the right keywords. By discovering high-value keywords through real market data, you take the guesswork out of Amazon SEO. Let’s recap the key steps in this data-driven approach:
- Leverage real Amazon data to understand what customers are actually searching (SmartScout’s 2M+ keyword database and Search Trends tool gives you this power).
- Identify high-value keywords by looking at search volume, trends, and performance metrics like CTR/CVR. High-value terms attract traffic and convert shoppers to buyers.
- Use advanced tools like SmartScout’s Rank Tracker for reverse ASIN and rank tracking to steal competitor insights and watch your progress over time. Use Keyword Detective to find shared keywords and gaps that signal opportunity.
- Optimize your listings with those keywords – in titles, content, and backend – to improve indexing and relevance. Realize that content optimization and keyword placement directly influence your discoverability.
- Continuously track and refine, responding to new data. If the market shifts or competitors change strategy, your keyword strategy should adapt in tandem. With tools providing real-time updates, you can remain agile and proactive.
By following this strategy, you position your products in front of more interested shoppers and improve the likelihood that those shoppers click and purchase. It’s a virtuous cycle: the more data-backed and customer-centric your keyword choices, the more sales you’ll earn; and the more sales you earn, the higher Amazon will rank you for those keywords.
On Amazon, a technical, data driven SEO approach separates top sellers. Use SmartScout’s real market data to uncover high value keywords and apply best practices to grow revenue with confidence.
Now, it’s your turn: implement these insights, monitor the results, and watch your Amazon business climb the ranks. Happy selling!
