Last updated on April 30th, 2024 at 03:56 pm
Setting up an Amazon product listing can be really intimidating.
That’s exactly how I felt when creating my first Amazon product listing. And it’s how our clients feel when they ask us for help creating their first product listing.
But here’s the thing―creating an Amazon product listing is perhaps the most fundamental thing you need to know how to do to be successful on Amazon.
As an Amazon seller, your listing essentially acts as both your storefront and your product packaging if you were to sell a physical product.
Just like how an attractive storefront and packaging help attract customers, so too does your listing entice customers to click. Buyers usually make up their mind about your product within 20 secs of clicking onto your listing.
Listings provide everything the customer needs to know for them to decide whether to purchase your product or not. That’s why as a seller, knowing how to effectively construct your listing is paramount to your success on Amazon.
That’s why we’ve created this step-by-step guide for new sellers, detailing how to set up your first Amazon listing as well as identifying key areas on your product page that help draw buyers in and make a purchase.
Content Checklist
Before you get started, it’s helpful to have all the info you will need compiled together and ready to go.
Refer to our list below for everything you need beforehand to make the process as smooth as possible.
Alright, now let’s get down to business!
The Listing Creation Process
The entire listing creation process isn’t difficult, but it can be quite unintuitive. You need to know where to go and what to click on.
So let’s take it one step at a time!
1. Getting Started
First off, log into Seller Central, then head over to Inventory > Add a Product.
On the Add New Products page, you have three options. You can:
- Add a new product already sold on Amazon by searching for the product ID or name.
- Add a new product not already sold on Amazon.
- Upload multiple products at once via the bulk uploads method.
Most people are going to sell their own product (i.e. a product not already on Amazon), so for the purposes of this guide we will show you how to create a product listing with option number two.
2. Determine Category
It simply requires one minute and can greatly benefit your company in lots of ways, for example by increasing sales or climbing the search engine rankings.
To help people find your goods, put them in the right category. When people go to Amazon, they usually start by putting in a question. Next, the results are often sorted by name, material, or location.
Consider the choices that show up when you type “pool safety fence.” Your target audience can easily remove your product from their search results with just one click, for example, if your pool fencing is in the “Agricultural Fencing” area. Therefore, you should check the groups your things are in.
3. Fill Out Vital Info
Now for the fun part―actually fleshing out your listing.
The first tab you’ll need to work on is Vital Info.
Let’s walk through each of the major fields in the tab.
Product Name
Your product name or title will be visible in the search results before people decide to click on your listing, so keep that in mind as it will play a big part in your clickthrough rate (CTR).
Moreover, Amazon’s algorithm uses it to help rank your listing, so it should contain as many relevant keywords as possible. Ideally, you want to strike a balance between satisfying the customer while also satisfying the algorithm.
For more information about optimizing your title, check out our title guide and template here.
Manufacturer & Brand Name
If you’re selling your own private-label product, just fill out your brand name for both of these.
Product ID
This is where you’ll input your product’s unique barcode number. Don’t have one? You may be entitled to an exemption—read our section here to see if you qualify.
Other Product Information
Depending on the category, there may be additional fields for you to fill out not visible in the example image above. The rest of these fields, like colour, shape, etc. is optional but highly recommended. It’ll help give Amazon more information about your product which could potentially boost its organic ranking.
If you’re ever unsure about what Amazon is asking from you, you can hover over the info icon to read an explanation.
4. Add Variations
If you’re selling different types of the same product, like different sizes, quantities, or colour, you’ll need to specify that here.
First, open the drop down menu and indicate what type of variation you’re offering.
After you’ve chosen this, more fields will open up for you to specify the name of each variation you’re offering.
Once you’ve finished the variations, they’ll appear below. Now you just need to fill out the appropriate info for each one, and you’re all set.
Note that you will need a unique UPC/GTIN barcode for each variation you have. So for example, if you’re selling 6 different colours, you’ll need 6 different barcodes. However, if you have a GTIN exemption, you do not need to provide additional barcodes. More info on this below.
5. Fill Out Offer Tab
Next up is the Offer Tab.
Your Price
Pricing is another important aspect of making your Amazon service work better. Price your item fairly if you want it to show up on the first page of search results for “pool safety fences.”
You can work on getting the “Buy Box” once you’ve gotten your Amazon item’s price just right. You can “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” something from an Amazon product page by clicking on the “Buy Box” on the right.
Your products will be picked for you when people click “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now.” People who want to buy from other sellers won’t be able to easily, which will be very good for your business.
Once you’ve hit Save and finish and created your listing, you can come back to this tab and you’ll see a few more fields you can fill in.
- Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: this is not the price your customer will pay. In theory, it’s supposed to be the highest price that theoretically you could sell your product for if you weren’t so generous. On your actual listing, it’ll appear as the List Price. In the end, it essentially acts as an “anchor price”, giving your customer a sense of comparison. If you play it right, your customer will feel like they’re getting a good deal.
- Sale price: this is the actual price your customer will pay.
This will create a struck out price with your sale price listed next to it, like so.
Note that for some categories, it will not show up like this.
For more info on how to find that sweet spot for price, check out our article here.
Seller SKU
This is where you input your seller SKU. If you don’t have one, Amazon will automatically generate one for you.
Condition
This is where you input the selling condition of your product. If you’re private label, you click “new”.
Fulfillment
Lastly, you will input the fulfillment method of your inventory―FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) or FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant).
6. Enter Compliance Data
This next section is where you provide any battery information about your product (if applicable), as well as upload any Safety Data sheets or note warnings like Prop 65.
Note that this section will not be visible for some categories (since it’s not relevant).
7. Upload Images
This section is where you want to upload your product images.
Most categories allow you to upload up to ten images. If you’re uploading photos that’s a variant of a Parent-Child relationship, you’ll want to look for the image slot titled “SWATCH”. This will be the image that displays in the variation preview in your listing.
The pictures of your products are an important part of optimizing your Amazon page. That’s the reason it’s so vital to give shoppers a bunch of high-quality pictures that show off your product and explain what it can do for them.
Some of the technical needs for images on Amazon are:
- JPEG, TIFF, GIF, or PNG format.
- CMYK or RGB color mode
- 1000 pixels or more in height or width
For more info about creating killer product images that convert, check out our in-depth article here.
8. Description
Now once you’ve created your listing, you’re gonna want to come back and fill this tab out (it only appears after you create it). The Description tab is contains the meat of your listing. It’s divided into two sections:
- Key product features.
- Product Description.
Key Product Features
The Key Product Features are basically the bullet points that appear at the top of your listing like this one:
Here are some general pointers to keep in mind:
- The algorithm checks your this section for keywords to help determine your listing’s ranking, so make sure to shove as many relevant keywords in here as possible. That said, don’t turn it into a keyword-salad―your customers will just click away.
- Amazon says they limit you to 100 characters per field, but they don’t actually limit this when you write them. I haven’t really heard of Amazon cracking down on this. But my advice is to keep the bullet points short and sweet, since your customers pretty much have the attention span of a goldfish.
Product Description
The product descriptions you use are also an important part of optimizing your Amazon ad. They can be up to 2000 characters long. If these show up lower on the product page, it means that shoppers who are reading them want to know more about your product, like the pool fence.
- If you want to move up in the search results, make sure your product details follow these best practices:
- Include details on the main features and uses of the product
- Write down information about the warranty, how to care for it, the size, and anything else that might be useful.
- Correct your grammar and punctuation and use full words.
For more information about writing compelling copy for these fields, check out our article here.
Now, if you’re brand registered, you can choose to upload A+ Content instead which will replace the standard product description. We’d highly recommend to do this if you have access to it, since it is proven to skyrocket your conversion rate. Check out our article here for more info about A+ Content.
9. Keywords
The Keywords tab is for you to input additional keywords that won’t appear on your listing, but will help the algorithm identify and rank your product.
You want to save your main, high-volume high-relevancy keywords for your title and description. Any other keywords that don’t make it to your main listing, you’ll want to add those in here. Fill all these out and simply stuff as many additional keywords as you can into this section. Don’t worry, no one will see them, so you don’t need it to be pretty.
The good news is, only one more tab left!
10. Encourage Verified Amazon Reviews
Amazon uses reviews and scores of products in its search algorithm to give shoppers the best results. Amazon knows that your product is great if it has 200 reviews and a rate of five stars.
Users will also get a strong message from it. Even better, customer reviews can boost your sales by 18%. 80% of people who read online reviews have changed their minds about a buy. Amazon doesn’t let sellers ask for reviews so that the ratings are honest.
To get people to review your product and share their experience with other buyers, you should instead come up with a plan.
11. More Details
The last tab, woohoo! This tab simply is for the nitty-gritty details of your product. As such, what it looks like will depend on what your product is, so we won’t be able break it down here.
That said, it is very self-explanatory. You simply walk through each field and fill it out as best you can. Some fields won’t be relevant to your product, but that’s perfectly fine as you don’t need to fill them all out.
How to Get a GTIN Exemption
Most products need a GTIN (Global Trade Identifier Number) which is usually something like a UPC (Universal Product Code) or ISBN (for books).
However, you may be able to qualify for an exemption depending on your product category.
If you’re wanting to pursue this, check out Amazon’s policy regarding exemptions to see if you could qualify:
I’d recommend asking, because you could save some decent money. The worst is they say no.
Let’s Get Selling!
Once you’re finished, just click Save and finish.
And there you have it! Your first listing is done.
Amazon will assign your listing its own unique ASIN, and you will be able to almost immediately view your listing.
As you can see, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. Once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s a piece of cake actually!
If you need any help with the content of your listing, such as product images or listing copywriting, please check out our Amazon listing services here.
Good luck Sellers!
