The Search Terms field in Seller Central is your secret weapon. It’s invisible to shoppers but highly influential to the algorithm. Use this space to add alternate names, singular and plural forms, abbreviations and even competitor brand names. Avoid commas-just separate phrases with spaces-and never repeat words from your title or bullets.
Keep it factual and avoid subjective terms like ‘best’ or ‘quality’; these don’t help ranking and may violate policy. Stay under the byte limit (around 249 bytes) so your entire field indexes. Refresh your Search Terms regularly by mining Search Query Performance and Brand Analytics reports for new phrases your customers use.
Think of the Search Terms field as a safety net capturing variations you haven’t placed in your visible copy. Include synonyms, regional spellings (e.g., 'color' and 'colour'), abbreviations and even competitor brand names. If you sell a power bank, use 'portable charger', 'battery pack', 'power bank 20000 mAh' and competitor models like 'Anker powercore'.
Stay within the byte limit by using single spaces between words and avoiding punctuation. Avoid filler or prohibited terms like 'best', 'cheap', 'free', 'sale', or temporary phrases like 'holiday gift'. Amazon’s algorithm ignores punctuation and special characters, so including them wastes space. Use numbers when relevant (e.g., '20 oz').
Monitor indexing. Use search tools to confirm whether Amazon indexes your backend keywords. If not, remove them and replace with new terms. Refresh your backend keywords at least every quarter or when launching new variations or accessories. Because backend fields aren’t visible to shoppers, you have flexibility to experiment with terms that might not read well in your copy.
Refresh your backend terms regularly. Monitor search trends with tools like Search Query Performance and update the field to reflect emerging terms. If you see a spike in ‘zero sugar energy drink’ searches, consider adding that phrase to your search terms. Always ensure compliance with Amazon’s policies: don’t include temporary deals (like ‘black friday’), subjective claims (‘best’) or prohibited content.
Stay within the 249‑byte limit by removing punctuation, filler words and trademarks you don’t own. Amazon will ignore any content beyond the limit, so maximise efficiency. You don’t need to capitalise; Amazon treats terms case‑insensitively. Focus on relevance over quantity-irrelevant keywords can hurt your ranking by lowering conversion rate when your product appears for mismatched searches.
Amazon’s Search Terms field is your hidden indexing engine. Use it to include relevant phrases you can’t fit into your title or bullets. Combine broad and specific terms, but avoid repeated words. For example, for a rechargeable headlamp you might include ‘led head light’, ‘USB camping flashlight’, ‘rechargeable head torch’ and competitor brands. Don’t include plurals and singulars separately unless both are common searches; Amazon stems many words automatically.
Include ‘Amazon search terms guidelines’, ‘search terms byte limit’ and ‘backend keyword strategy’ to reinforce how to use this hidden field effectively. Remind sellers to avoid commas and stop words to maximise space.
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