For many ISVs, the Microsoft Marketplace feels like a black box. You publish a listing, tick the required boxes, and hope buyers find it. In reality, the Marketplace behaves much more like a search engine than people expect.
How you structure and write your listing has a direct impact on whether it gets seen, clicked and taken seriously. What follows is practical guidance based on how we see Microsoft partners succeed when taking solutions to market. Some of this is informed by our experience helping partners sharpen their positioning and content. Some of it is simply common sense applied with more discipline. Where something is our opinion rather than a documented Microsoft rule, we call that out clearly.
Start with clarity, not keywords
The biggest SEO mistake we see in Marketplace listings is cramming in every keyword imaginable. Long lists of features. Repeated product names. Vague claims about transformation. It looks busy, but it doesn’t help buyers or search visibility in a meaningful way. Strong listings start with a clear proposition. Our work with Microsoft partners and ISVs shows that when the message is too broad or generic, marketing has to work twice as hard to get attention. The same applies inside the Marketplace.
Before you think about keywords, get clear on what your solution actually does and who it’s for. Are you solving a specific problem? If you can’t explain that simply, no amount of SEO will save the listing. Once the proposition is clear, keywords tend to follow naturally. Buyers search using the language of their problems, not your internal feature list.
Write titles and summaries for humans first
Marketplace titles and short descriptions carry a lot of weight. They often show up first in search results, both inside the Marketplace and externally. A good title says what the solution is and who it’s for. It doesn’t try to be clever. For example, an Azure solution aimed at regulated industries should make that clear. The same goes for a Dynamics 365 add-on built for finance teams, or a solution focused on frontline workers. This aligns with a broader principle we use when helping partners and ISVs take solutions to market. How you deliver outcomes is what matters. Your title should reflect that delivery angle, not just the product name.
Use the long description to earn trust
The long description is where most Microsoft Marketplace listings fall down. It’s either far too technical or painfully vague. Neither helps SEO nor conversion, and from an SEO perspective, this is where you can naturally include the terms buyers search for. The key is to use keywords in context. From a buyer's perspective, this is where you show you understand the problem. Content works best when it leads with outcomes, not features. Instead of listing everything your solution includes, explain what changes for the customer once it’s in place.
This approach also helps search engines, because it creates richer, more relevant content rather than repetitive keyword stuffing.
Be specific about use cases
Marketplace buyers often filter by workload or solution area. If your listing is vague, it’s easier to miss those filters entirely. Make sure you are explicit about where your solution sits. Does it support Azure infrastructure, Business Applications such as Dynamics 365 Sales or Business Central, Modern Work with Microsoft 365 and Teams, or Security across Entra, Sentinel, and Purview? We see better-performing listings when ISVs clearly anchor their solutions to one or two core use cases rather than trying to cover everything. This mirrors what we see in broader go-to-market work. Partners who try to sound relevant to everyone usually end up blending into the background.
Treat images and media as part of SEO
Images, diagrams and videos aren’t just decoration; they affect engagement, and engagement signals matter. Screenshots showing the product in action, diagrams explaining how it fits into Azure or Microsoft 365, and short videos that walk through a real scenario all help buyers spend more time on your listing. That’s good for confidence and, in our opinion, helps visibility over time. Avoid generic stock images. They add nothing and make the listing feel interchangeable with dozens of others. Again, this ties back to differentiation. If your visuals could belong to any Microsoft partner, they probably aren’t helping.
Use customer proof properly
Case studies and testimonials are often treated as an afterthought, but they absolutely shouldn’t be. When we help ISVs develop content, we push hard on showing real business impact, not just technical success. The same applies in the Marketplace. A short example of how a customer improved adoption of Dynamics 365, reduced risk using Microsoft Sentinel, or simplified governance in Microsoft 365 is far more powerful than generic praise.
From an SEO perspective, this also introduces natural language that reflects how customers talk about problems and outcomes. That’s exactly the kind of language search engines look for.
Keep listings fresh and aligned to Microsoft priorities
Listings that never change tend to drift out of relevance. The Microsoft landscape evolves quickly, and your listing should reflect that. Regular updates signal that the solution is active and maintained, and also give you a reason to refine wording, sharpen focus, or add new scenarios as Microsoft releases new capabilities. Our experience working across Microsoft partner marketing shows that alignment with Microsoft’s direction matters, but sounding like everyone else doesn’t help. Update your listing to reflect new capabilities, but keep your own voice and angle.
Think beyond the listing itself
Finally, remember that Marketplace SEO doesn’t stop at the Marketplace. Many buyers arrive via search engines, partner sites, or other Microsoft content. Linking to your listing from relevant pages on your own site helps reinforce relevance. Consistent language across your website, blogs and Marketplace listing makes it easier for buyers to connect the dots. This joined-up thinking is something we see missing in many partner go-to-market efforts. Activity happens, but it isn’t always properly connected.
Bringing it all together
Good SEO on the Microsoft Marketplace isn’t about tricks or shortcuts, it's about clarity, relevance and consistency. Clear positioning. Honest, useful content based around specific use cases and a listing that feels like it was written for real buyers, not an algorithm. If you get those foundations right, visibility follows. And more importantly, when people do find your listing, they’re far more likely to understand why it’s worth their time.