One of the most hotly discussed topics regarding Amazon listing optimization and ranking is the product description area. Since the beginning of selling on Amazon people have speculated on whether or not this is an important section to devote time and effort to. Some people claim it actually is crucial to conversion rates. Others say it is negligible. Some explain it holds importance in search engine indexing, both Google’s and Amazon’s.

We decided to dig up some data to see what the numbers supported. Since our primary concern is what works in optimization, we always focus on the top ranking listings for a given set of keywords. These listings, being highly ranked for competitive search terms, are the example of what is being done correctly. When we aggregate their constituent parts, we can draw conclusions from their similarities.

So for this data set, we studied 230 popular key phrases and analyzed 2300 listings.

The Apparent Effect of EBC and A+ Content

After analyzing the listings we found that, despite high rankings for relevant key terms, the VAST majority of these listings still only employ standard descriptions. By vast majority I mean over 75%. Only 16% of top ranking listings had A+ descriptions and only 8% had Enhanced Brand Content (EBC).

There is still plenty of debate about whether these enhancements do anything significant for conversions, but the data here points to that answer being NO. Judging by the fact that most high ranking products don’t have any enhancements to their product description at all, this would at least confirm that no significant conversion changes are taking place.

What This Means For Your Business

This isn’t by any means an endorsement that you should ignore your product description area. There is still some truth to the fact that keywords within it are indexed by Amazon as well as Google, and this undoubtedly helps in ranking for obscure long-tails if nothing else.

However, regarding enhancements, there doesn’t appear to be any need to rush into major changes. Since the apparent effect is so minor (or perhaps nonexistent) you are likely better off prioritizing other things. We still believe that enhanced content is important for overall branding, but if your listing is struggling, that part may be of negligible concern.

What still remains important are ranking, conversions and sales velocity. These three aspects, all helped by various services of SixLeaf, go hand in hand with launching Amazon sellers to success.