A9 / A10 in practice.
The assessment factors in relevance (do the keywords in the title, bullets and Backend match the search?) and performance (click rate, conversion rate, sales velocity, reviews, availability). That's why it's never enough just to add keywords – a listing has to sell too in order to rank.
We'll explain it to you over the phone – no jargon and no sales pressure.
How the algorithm actually calculates.
Amazon pursues a single goal: to maximise revenue per search query. That's why the algorithm assesses every product across two dimensions – Relevance (does the product fit the search at all?) and Performance (is it bought when it's shown?). Only the combination of the two decides the position.
Amazon draws relevance almost entirely from text: title, bullet points, description, Backend keywords and partly questions and answers. A search term that appears nowhere in the listing generally can't rank either – no matter how good the product is.
The performance side is far more complex: click rate in the search results, conversion rate on the product page, sales velocity relative to competitors, review count and average, return rate, availability and delivery time. Each of these metrics is both a cause and a consequence of your ranking – a cycle you have to set in motion deliberately.
The most important ranking factors at a glance.
Every relevant search term has to appear somewhere in the listing – preferably in the title, and additionally in the bullets and Backend.
The strongest performance factor. Images, price, reviews and Prime availability all feed into it.
It's not the absolute number that counts, but sales relative to the category average.
The main image and title decide whether there's any click at all – no click, no conversion.
Count and average affect both CTR and conversion.
Out of stock means a loss of ranking – and rebuilding takes considerably longer than the drop.
Common mistakes.
Keyword stuffing in the title. Titles made up of strung-together search terms lower the click rate – and thereby, indirectly, the ranking.
Optimising only for keywords. A perfectly stocked listing without convincing images still won't rank.
Checking rankings daily. The algorithm works with a delay; assessments over just a few days are pure noise.
Forgetting about stock. Anyone who sells out during a ranking phase loses the position they worked so hard to build.
Frequently asked questions about A9 / A10.
What's the difference between A9 and A10?
How long does it take for changes to take effect?
Can you outsmart the algorithm?
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