The Secret Behind Amazon Bullet Points That Are "Just Right"

You remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, right? Little girl takes a walk in the forest, discovers a cottage, goes inside. She eats bowls of porridge left on the table, and one is too hot, one is too cold, and one is just right. After testing chairs and discovering the same predicament – only one is just right – she falls asleep in Baby Bear’s bed.

What does this story have to do with creating effective Amazon bullet points? 

When it comes to Amazon listing optimization, each section of your product listing has its own job.

Basic Front End Text Fields for an Amazon Listing

• Product Title
• Bullet Points
• Product Description

Today, we'll be discussing your Amazon bullet points and how you can maximize this piece of valuable Amazon listing real estate.

At Marketing by Emma, we know words hold power. And like all powerful things, they require parameters.

These parameters in the world of feature bullet points are also known as character limits. Every product category has its own Amazon bullet points character limit. But just because Amazon lets you write big blocks of text doesn't mean that you should go wild and write big blocks of text.

Feature bullet points with too few characters, like the too hard bed, leave potential buyers dissatisfied. At the same time, feature bullets with too many characters, like the too-soft bed, turn potential buyers away. So when writing your Amazon product listings, how can you find the happy medium (the baby bear bed, if you will) that makes your buyers lie down, pull up the covers, and stay a while?

Unlock your Amazon product listings’ bullet point potential and boost your Amazon conversion rate by channeling your bullet points to your customers’ wants and needs.

The What and Where of Amazon Feature Bullets

Always check your category’s style guide in Seller Central before you begin to optimize Amazon listings. Most categories allow five feature bullets, and the majority are permitted up to 500 characters per bullet point. However, just because you're allowed up to 500 characters per bullet doesn't mean you SHOULD maximize that space.

It’s important to consider where your bullet points will appear and when customers will see them. When it comes to Amazon, the browser’s device dictates their placement. If shoppers are on desktops or laptops, the feature bullets are right beneath the title. However, if you’re on mobile (which more and more customers are), the bullet points appear below the product description. For example:

Desktop View:

Mobile View:

Why does placement matter? Many Amazon sellers used to assume that the bullet points were the only text most customers would see. And as a result, they’d shove as much information as possible into the bullet points. But with this mobile role reversal, that’s simply not the case. So make sure your strategy stacks up.

No matter their placement, feature bullets are integral to your Amazon success. Why? Not only do bullets present information about your product in pleasing chunks (this is what buyers are looking for!), they are also essential for keyword indexing. Indexing in your feature bullets is key (pun intended) to your listing’s visibility within Amazon and boosting traffic. The more pertinent keywords you include in your listing, including in your feature bullets, the more likely your product listings will get in front of eager customers.

What's the perfect length for expertly optimized bullet points?

Long Feature Bullets: 226-500 Characters

Old school “how to be a successful Amazon seller” tradition would have you maxing out every feature bullet’s character limit.

The thought was that by maximizing the character allowance, you also maximize the amount of information and the number of keywords. It’s true. Pertinent information about your product has the power to persuade, and keywords are your listing’s spotlight. So having 2,500 characters of information and keywords between the five bullet points sound like a great strategy, yes?

Not so much.

Imagine a page that’s composed of one long paragraph. Now imagine a page with three shorter paragraphs. Which page would you be more likely to read? For most people, text broken into shorter chunks is more appealing and less intimidating than large ones. This phenomenon becomes amplified in the e-commerce sphere, where potential buyers are more likely to skim than take time to read. In fact, many customers make their decisions in mere seconds.

That’s crazy, right? But there’s something even more damning standing against long bullets. In 2019, Amazon narrowed the scope of keyword indexing in feature bullets, limiting the number of indexed keywords to 200 bytes (equivalent to approximately 200 characters) per bullet point and 1000 bytes across all bullets. That means that any keywords that appear after approximately 200 characters are throw-aways. Useless. Dead. 

In other words, a general rule is to keep all 5 bullet points under 1000 characters.

So if long feature bullets, the Papa Bears of the Amazon listing optimization world, aren’t the answer, what about short ones?

Short Feature Bullets: Less than 100 Characters

Short feature bullets are perfect for skimmers. But when they get too short, you’re likely missing essential info AND important indexing opportunities. Super short bullets would require you to completely ignore keyword optimization, which isn't a strategy anyone should be aiming for.

Including all information, incorporating keywords (and incorporating them naturally, without “keyword stuffing”) is nearly impossible in super short bullets. Both of these factors cripple your Amazon conversions.

So if short feature bullets, the Mama Bears, aren’t the answer, what about medium bullet points?

Medium Feature Bullets: 100-225 Characters

You’ve guessed it, we’ve found our Baby Bear! Medium-length feature bullets allow you to succinctly and creatively present information and organically weave in a host of keywords. Together, these components create well-rounded, effective bullet points that pack a punch and maximize your listing’s visibility.

Goal: Keep every single bullet point within the 200 character range for maximum skimmability and search term indexing.

NextStep: Optimized Amazon Bullet Points

Now that you know the ideal bullet point length, it's time to optimize the content of your bullet points for maximum Amazon SEO and conversion potential.

Bullet Point Building Blocks:

• Relevant keywords
• Key product features
• Customer-centric, benefit-forward copywriting

Just like determining the ideal length for your bullet points, how you choose to combine these elements together can have a significant impact on whether or not your Amazon listing will appear in the search results and convert customers.

Amazon Bullet Points Guidelines in 2023:

• Aim for a happy medium within the medium range (100-225 characters).
• Keep all five bullets under 1,000 character count to ensure that Amazon indexes all your keywords. 
• Include a catchy, informative header following standard title capitalization guidelines before your bullet content (Capitalize My Title can help if you're not sure about the rules). When writing bullet points with headers and medium-length content, your feature bullets cater to instant judgers and careful researchers alike.
• Set them up for skimmability. Help customers navigate your bullet points to find what they need quickly and easily.
• Organize each bullet point around one of your products most important key features.
• Grab customers' attention with your first bullet point. Use this to communicate your unique selling proposition (USP) - what sets you apart, what problem do you solve, and why should customers choose your product over your competitors?
• As always, pay attention to your writing. For great bullet points, make your text catchy but also focused. And be sure to check for distracting spelling and grammar errors.

Before We Say THE END

So there you have it: Our effective bullet points recipe that we've used to help over 1500 businesses create five-star listings!

Want to Know if You Have Great Amazon Bullet Points?

Get an extra eye on your product listing before sharing your bullet points with the world! Request your free Amazon listing analysis today.

Plus, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions about tips for selling on Amazon and secrets to an expertly optimized Amazon listing. And of course, we're happy to help you write Amazon bullet points that send your product detail page conversion rates soaring.

No matter how you choose to craft your product detail page, we at the Marketing by Emma team want your Amazon listings to live happily ever after.