Keyword research is the part of Amazon SEO that most sellers rush through or skip entirely. It's also the part that separates listings that get found from listings that don't. Here's how to do it well.

Most sellers approach keyword research one of two ways. They either skip it entirely and just describe their product the way they would naturally talk about it, or they spend fifteen minutes typing a few phrases into a search tool, add whatever pops up, and call it done. Neither approach is going to give you the results you're capable of getting.

Real keyword research for Amazon takes time and intentionality — but it doesn't have to be complicated. Once you understand the methods and work through them systematically for each product, it becomes part of how you think about listing any new item. This post walks you through four approaches I've used and taught for years, starting with the most important one.

From Dana's Story: When I was scaling my handmade business on Amazon, keyword research was something I took seriously from early on — not because I loved the process, but because I could see directly in my Business Reports which keywords were driving traffic and sales. When I spent time researching and optimizing a listing's keywords, traffic improved. When I got lazy about it, listings plateaued. The data made the correlation hard to ignore. Over time I got faster at the research because I understood the patterns, but I never stopped doing it. It's too directly connected to results to skip.

Why You Can't Just Go With Your Gut

Before we get into the methods, here's the thing that trips up so many sellers, especially those who make their products by hand: you know your product too well to describe it the way a buyer would search for it.

You know the technical name for the stitch you used. You know the specific type of wood. You know the proper term for the hardware finish. Your buyers often don't — and more importantly, they're not searching for those terms. They're searching for "rustic wood wall sign for living room" or "personalized wedding gift for couple" or "boho macrame wall hanging." The gap between how you describe your product and how buyers search for it is exactly where keyword research lives.

Your job in keyword research is to get out of your own head as the maker and get into the mind of the buyer. Think about who they are, what they need, what occasion they're shopping for, and what words they'd actually type into a search bar at 10pm when they're trying to find a gift for their best friend's birthday.

Method 1: The Amazon Search Bar (Start Here, Always)

This is the single most valuable keyword research tool available to you, and it costs nothing. The Amazon search bar shows you real search data — actual queries that Amazon buyers are typing — which makes it more relevant to your business than any third-party tool that estimates search volume.

Here's how to work it properly:

Step 1: Start with your core term.
Type your most basic product description into the Amazon search bar. Don't hit enter — just watch what the autocomplete suggestions show you. Those suggestions are Amazon telling you what buyers are actually searching for. Write down every suggestion that could apply to your product.

Step 2: Work through the alphabet.
After your core term, add a space and then type the letter A. Watch the new autocomplete suggestions appear and capture anything relevant. Then delete the A, type B, repeat. Work through every letter of the alphabet. Yes, all 26. This sounds tedious, but you will find keywords you never would have thought of on your own — and those unexpected keywords are often the ones with less competition and strong buyer intent.

For example, if your core term is "amethyst necklace," you'd search "amethyst necklace a," then "amethyst necklace b," through "amethyst necklace z." You might find terms like "amethyst necklace adjustable," "amethyst necklace boho," "amethyst necklace for girlfriend," "amethyst necklace healing," "amethyst necklace layered," and so on. Every one of those is a real search query from real buyers.

Step 3: Run the same process with alternate terms.
Once you've worked through the alphabet with your first core term, repeat the process with alternate ways to describe your product. "Purple amethyst necklace." "Amethyst gemstone necklace." "Amethyst jewelry." Each alternate starting point will surface different autocomplete suggestions and expand your keyword list significantly.

This method is time-intensive. It's also the most accurate keyword research you can do for Amazon because the data comes directly from Amazon's own search behavior — not estimated search volume from a third-party tool that may or may not have current data.

A Practical Note: I recommend doing this research in a separate browser tab from the one you're logged into as a seller. Amazon's autocomplete can sometimes behave differently depending on your browsing history or account status. Using a fresh browser session or incognito mode gives you cleaner, more neutral results that better reflect what the average buyer sees.

Method 2: The Pen-and-Paper Brain Dump

Before you open any tool or type anything into a search bar, sit down and do a brain dump. Write down every word and phrase related to your product without filtering or second-guessing. This becomes the raw material that feeds every other research method.

Work through these categories deliberately:

What is it? Every way to describe your product. Both the technical term and the common name. If it has multiple names, list them all.

What color is it? Don't just write "blue." Write "navy blue," "dark blue," "royal blue," "cobalt," "ocean blue." Color specificity matters enormously in categories like jewelry, home decor, apparel, and accessories. Buyers often search with very specific color terms, and matching that specificity puts you in front of a narrower but more qualified audience.

What is it made from? Materials, finishes, textures, construction methods. Cedar wood, reclaimed wood, distressed wood. Sterling silver, gold-filled, 14k gold. Hand-dyed, hand-stamped, hand-stitched. These words matter both for relevance and for buyers who are specifically looking for certain materials.

What is it used for? Function, purpose, practical application. Wall decor, desk organizer, coffee station accessory. Both the obvious use and the non-obvious ones.

Who is buying it? Who is the buyer, and who is the recipient if it's a gift? Mom, daughter, sister, wife, best friend, coworker, teacher. New homeowner, bride, graduate, new mom. Think about every type of person who might give or receive this.

What occasion is it for? Christmas, birthday, anniversary, wedding, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, graduation, housewarming, baby shower. Think broadly — something that seems like home decor to you might be a birthday gift, a hostess gift, and a wedding shower gift to three different buyers.

What style does it fit? Farmhouse, rustic, boho, minimalist, modern, cottagecore, coastal, traditional. Style search terms are heavily used in home decor and jewelry categories especially.

What problem does it solve or need does it fill? Unique gift for the person who has everything. Personalized gift last minute. Custom wedding favor bulk. Think about the buyer's actual situation, not just the product's features.

When your brain dump is done, use those terms as the starting points for your Amazon search bar research. Each term on your list becomes a new search thread to pull.

Method 3: Your Amazon Advertising Reports

If you're running Amazon Sponsored Products ads — even just an automatic campaign — you have access to one of the most valuable keyword research sources available: real search query data from buyers who found and clicked your ad.

Amazon's advertising reports show you exactly what search terms triggered impressions and clicks on your sponsored listings. This data is gold because it's not estimated or inferred — it's actual buyer behavior. You can see which queries lead to clicks, which lead to purchases, and which generate clicks without purchases (meaning buyers found you but didn't buy, which is worth investigating separately).

If you're not running ads yet, this is one of the best reasons to start with a basic automatic campaign. Set a modest daily budget, let it run for two to four weeks, then pull the Search Term Report from your advertising dashboard. Use what you find there to:

• Add high-performing search terms to your listing's backend keywords if they aren't already there
• Build a manual advertising campaign targeting the specific terms that are actually converting
• Add non-converting terms as negative keywords in your campaigns so you stop paying for clicks that don't lead to sales

Over time, this becomes a feedback loop that continuously improves both your organic listings and your paid campaigns. Your ads teach you what converts, and you use that data to strengthen your SEO.

Method 4: Third-Party Keyword Tools

There are several tools designed to help with Amazon keyword research. A few worth knowing about:

KeywordTool.io — Has a free Amazon-specific option that generates keyword suggestions based on Amazon's autocomplete without requiring you to connect your Seller Central account. Useful for expanding your keyword list quickly, though the free version has limitations on data depth.

Keywords Everywhere — A browser extension that shows estimated monthly search volume for keywords directly in your browser as you research. It's a paid tool, but for sellers who want to prioritize keywords by search volume rather than just relevance, it adds useful context.

Helium 10 and Jungle Scout — More comprehensive Amazon seller tools that include keyword research features. Both have free tiers with limited functionality and paid plans with deeper data. These are more commonly used by marketplace sellers at scale, but handmade sellers with larger catalogs do find value in them.

Etsy-specific tools like Marmalead or eRank — These are built for Etsy, but the keyword suggestions they generate can still be useful for brainstorming purposes. Just remember that Etsy buyer search behavior and Amazon buyer search behavior are different — use Etsy tools to generate ideas, then validate those ideas using the Amazon search bar before you commit to them in your listings.

One important note on all third-party tools: they provide estimates and suggestions. None of them have direct access to Amazon's internal search data. The Amazon search bar itself — using real autocomplete behavior — is always more accurate than any tool's estimated search volume for Amazon-specific research. Use tools to expand your thinking, but validate what matters using Amazon directly.

What To Do With All These Keywords

Once you've worked through your research, you'll have a list that's probably longer than you expected. Now you need to prioritize and place them.

Your most important, high-relevance keywords go in your title — written naturally, no repeating words, in a way a buyer can actually read and understand. Your title is the highest-weighted field in Amazon's algorithm, so your best keywords belong there.

Everything else — synonyms, alternate terms, occasion keywords, style keywords, recipient keywords — goes in your search terms field. You have 249 characters. Use all of them. No punctuation, no repeating words from your title. Just space-separated keywords, packed as tightly as you can while staying relevant.

Relevant keywords also belong naturally in your bullet points and description — not stuffed in awkwardly, but woven into copy that speaks to the buyer. Those fields contribute to relevance and, more importantly, they drive the conversion that feeds your rankings over time.

This is not a one-time exercise. Keyword research is something you revisit when a listing's traffic drops, when you update a product, when you enter a new season, or when your advertising reports show you're getting found for unexpected terms you should be leaning into more. The sellers who build the strongest presence on Amazon treat it as an ongoing practice, not a launch-day checklist item.

Ready to Go Deeper?

Keyword research is foundational, but it's one piece of the full listing optimization picture. Inside The Growth Thread, the Amazon SEO lessons go step by step through keyword research, title writing, search terms best practices, and how to use your Business Reports to improve your listings based on real performance data rather than guesswork.

Enrollment isn't always open, but you can get on the waitlist and be first to know when doors open:

Join the Waitlist at TheGrowthThread.com

Not ready for that yet? The next post worth reading covers the best SEO and keyword research tools for handmade businesses — including which ones are actually worth your time and money, and which ones you can skip.