So much attention has been focused on learning how to optimize sites for Google. Now is the time to learn to optimize your site and its listings for Amazon and other vertical search engines. Searchers on Amazon are typically looking for specific products or types of products, so you will need to tune your SEO specifically for your Amazon listings and the behavior of Amazon shoppers. Amazon, unlike Google, does not want unique content so much as content that converts on its marketplace. So if just the facts convert, then just the facts will do for Amazon. Because shoppers are often looking for very specific items, your keyword strategy should reflect those long-tail keywords that are specific to your individual products. If you sell branded merchandise, then you will want to emphasize the brand in your titles, because Amazon’s customers and its internal search will deliver brands. It takes a bit of rethinking to understand in a Google-centric SEO world how to optimize for vertical search, but the rewards are there. If the big retailers are scrambling to combat the threat of Amazon, now is the time to look again at how you might use vertical search for your advantage.

The purpose of this blog is to provide insights and tips for how to use search profitably. It will cut through the volumes of information that threaten to overwhelm the busy marketer and will focus on what is truly important for making search work.