Amazon Keyword Research: The Complete Guide to Finding Profitable Keywords (2026)

Amazon keyword research is where most sellers think they have it figured out — and where most sellers are dead wrong. They run a competitor through Helium 10, grab the top 50 keywords by volume, dump them into a campaign, and wonder why their ACoS is 60%. That's not keyword research. That's copying homework without understanding the assignment.

Real keyword research is a systematic process of finding the keywords that drive profitable sales for your specific product — not your competitor's product, not the category leader, yours. After doing this across 50+ brands and $205M+ in Amazon revenue, here's the complete framework.

Why Does Amazon Keyword Research Matter?

Amazon is a search engine that happens to sell products. Over 70% of Amazon shoppers never scroll past the first page of results. If your product isn't indexed and ranking for the terms your customers actually search, it effectively doesn't exist.

Keywords control three things:

• Which searches your product appears in — Both organic and paid visibility depend on keyword relevance

• How Amazon categorizes your product — The algorithm uses your keywords to understand what your product is and who to show it to

• Your PPC campaign efficiency — Targeting the wrong keywords burns budget on shoppers who were never going to buy your product

Bad keyword research is the root cause of most PPC problems I diagnose. High ACoS? Often bad keyword targeting. Low impressions? Missing high-volume relevant terms. Poor conversion rate? Attracting the wrong shoppers through mismatched keywords.

What Are the Different Types of Amazon Keywords?

Not all keywords are created equal. Understanding the hierarchy matters for prioritization.

Head Terms (1-2 words)

Examples: "protein powder," "yoga mat," "dog leash"

• Highest search volume (10,000-500,000+ searches/month)

• Highest competition

• Lowest conversion rate (broad intent — the shopper is still browsing)

• Most expensive CPC

Mid-Tail Keywords (2-3 words)

Examples: "organic protein powder," "thick yoga mat," "retractable dog leash"

• Moderate search volume (1,000-10,000 searches/month)

• Moderate competition

• Better conversion rate (more specific intent)

• More manageable CPC

Long-Tail Keywords (4+ words)

Examples: "organic whey protein powder for women," "extra thick yoga mat for bad knees," "retractable dog leash for large dogs"

• Lower search volume (100-1,000 searches/month)

• Lower competition

• Highest conversion rate (very specific intent — buyer knows what they want)

• Lowest CPC

The money is in mid-tail and long-tail keywords. Head terms drive awareness but bleed cash. Long-tail terms drive profitable sales. The brands in our portfolio that scale most efficiently are aggressive on long-tail and strategic on head terms — not the other way around.

How Do You Start Amazon Keyword Research?

Here's the step-by-step process we run for every brand.

Step 1: Seed Keyword Brainstorm

Before touching any tool, write down every term a customer might search to find your product. Think about:

• What is the product? (product name, category)

• What does it do? (use case, function)

• Who is it for? (demographic, situation)

• What problem does it solve? (pain point, need)

• What are the key features? (material, size, color, style)

For a stainless steel water bottle, your seed list might include: water bottle, stainless steel water bottle, insulated water bottle, thermos, travel mug, gym water bottle, BPA-free water bottle, cold water bottle, and so on.

This brainstorm gives you the seeds to feed into research tools.

Step 2: Reverse ASIN Lookup

This is where tools earn their keep. Take 5-10 competitors — the top sellers in your niche — and run each one through a reverse ASIN tool (Helium 10 Cerebro is what we use).

This shows you every keyword each competitor ranks for, along with estimated search volume, rank position, and ad presence. Export everything.

What to look for:

• Keywords where multiple competitors rank (validates demand)

• Keywords where competitors rank but you don't (gaps to fill)

• Keywords with high search volume and relatively low competition (opportunities)

• Long-tail keywords with strong conversion potential

Step 3: Amazon Autocomplete Mining

Type your seed keywords into Amazon's search bar and note the autocomplete suggestions. These are high-frequency real searches. Amazon only suggests terms that shoppers actually use.

Go deeper: type each suggestion back in and see what Amazon suggests next. This cascading approach uncovers long-tail gems that tools sometimes miss because they're too new or too specific to appear in third-party databases.

Step 4: Search Query Performance Report

If you have Brand Registry, this is your most valuable data source. The Search Query Performance Report shows the actual search terms where your product received impressions, clicks, and purchases — directly from Amazon.

This report tells you:

• Which keywords are driving your organic sales

• Your impression share (what % of total impressions you're capturing)

• Your click-through rate by keyword

• Your conversion rate by keyword

This is first-party data. No estimation. No sampling. Use it as ground truth to validate everything from third-party tools.

Step 5: Competitor Listing Analysis

Read the top 10 listings in your niche. Every word in their titles, bullets, and backend keywords is there for a reason. Note:

• Keywords in their titles (highest priority keywords)

• Phrases repeated across multiple competitors (category standard terms)

• Keywords in their A+ Content (newer indexing opportunity)

• Brand names (for potential conquest campaigns)

How Do You Prioritize Amazon Keywords?

You'll end up with hundreds or thousands of keywords. You can't target them all equally. Here's how to prioritize.

The Keyword Scoring Framework

Score each keyword on three dimensions:

Relevance (1-5): How closely does this keyword describe your specific product? A keyword can have massive volume but if it attracts shoppers looking for something slightly different, it's a waste. Volume (1-5): How many people search this term monthly? Higher volume means more potential traffic. Competition (1-5, inverted): How many strong competitors are aggressively targeting this keyword? Lower competition means easier wins.

Multiply the three scores. Keywords scoring 75+ (5×5×3 or better) are your primary targets. Keywords scoring 50-74 are secondary. Below 50, they go in backend keywords or get deprioritized.

Segment by Intent

Group your prioritized keywords into intent categories:

• Purchase intent — Shopper is ready to buy ("buy organic protein powder," "best protein powder for weight loss")

• Research intent — Shopper is comparing options ("protein powder vs meal replacement," "whey vs plant protein")

• Brand intent — Shopper is looking for a specific brand (your brand terms and competitor brand terms)

Purchase intent keywords get exact match campaigns with aggressive bids. Research intent keywords get broad/phrase match campaigns. Brand intent keywords get defensive and conquest campaigns.

Where Do Amazon Keywords Actually Go?

Amazon indexes keywords from multiple places in your listing. Each has different rules and impact.

Product Title (Highest Weight)

Your title carries the most indexing weight. Front-load your primary keyword. Include your top 2-3 keywords naturally. Don't stuff — Amazon truncates titles on mobile at ~80 characters, and keyword-stuffed titles kill click-through rate.

Bullet Points (High Weight)

Include mid-priority keywords naturally in your bullets. Don't sacrifice readability for keyword inclusion. Bullets that read like spam hurt conversion rate, which hurts ranking — negating the keyword benefit.

Backend Search Terms (Moderate Weight)

250 bytes of hidden keywords. Use this for:

• Synonyms and alternate spellings

• Spanish translations (if selling in the US)

• Common misspellings

• Keywords that don't fit naturally in visible copy

Don't repeat keywords already in your title or bullets. Don't use commas — spaces work as delimiters. Don't include your brand name (it's already indexed).

A+ Content (Lower Weight, Increasing)

Amazon has started indexing A+ Content for organic search in recent years. Include relevant keywords in your A+ Content headers and body text. It's not a primary indexing source, but it contributes.

Subject Matter & Other Attributes

Fill out every attribute field Amazon gives you in the backend. Category, material, style, target audience — each field is an indexing opportunity. Sellers who leave these blank are giving up free visibility.

How Often Should You Update Your Keyword Strategy?

Keyword research isn't a one-time activity. The Amazon marketplace shifts constantly — new competitors launch, search behavior changes with seasons, and Amazon's algorithm evolves.

Monthly: Review your Search Query Performance Report. Identify new keywords gaining traction and keywords losing share. Adjust PPC bids accordingly. Quarterly: Run fresh reverse ASIN lookups on your top competitors. See what new keywords they're targeting. Look for emerging trends in your category. Seasonally: Adjust keyword targeting for seasonal trends. If you sell outdoor products, "camping gear" surges in spring and "winter camping equipment" surges in fall. Plan keyword shifts 4-6 weeks before demand peaks. On any major change: New competitor enters the market? New product variation launched? Review your keyword strategy.

Common Amazon Keyword Research Mistakes

Chasing volume without checking relevance. A 50,000-volume keyword means nothing if the shoppers searching it aren't looking for your product. I've seen brands blow $20K targeting a high-volume term where fewer than 1% of searches had purchase intent for their category. Ignoring long-tail keywords. Yes, "protein powder" has 100x the volume of "organic pea protein powder for smoothies." But the long-tail converts 5-10x better and costs a fraction per click. The math often favors long-tail. Using the same keywords as everyone else. If you only do reverse ASIN on competitors and copy their keywords, you're entering a bidding war with no differentiation. Find keywords they're missing through autocomplete mining, customer language analysis, and creative brainstorming. Setting it and forgetting it. Keywords decay. Competitors shift. Search behavior evolves. A keyword strategy from 6 months ago is already stale. Trusting search volume estimates as fact. No third-party tool has accurate Amazon search volumes. They're estimates — often within 30-50% of reality. Use them for directional prioritization, not precise planning.

What To Do Next

Keyword research is the foundation everything else sits on — your listing copy, your PPC campaigns, your organic ranking strategy. Get it wrong and everything downstream suffers. Get it right and you have a compounding advantage that grows over time.

If you've been running the same keyword strategy for months and your organic rank is stagnant or your PPC costs are climbing, the root cause is usually here.

Book a free strategy call — We'll look at your keyword coverage, your search term data, and your competitive positioning. You'll leave knowing exactly which keyword opportunities you're missing and how to capture them.

Hunter Harris is the founder of GigaBrands, an AI-assisted Amazon growth agency managing 50+ brands with over $205M in total Amazon sales.