3 Things You Should Consider When Selecting Amazon Keywords

Deciding to publish your book is a milestone in any author’s career, says Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur. And for many self-publishers that is achieved through Amazon KDP. Amazon’s marketplace is the largest available outlet on Earth for all book sales — from eBook to print and traditionally published to self-published.

This is why it is all the more vital that you really consider how to market your book there. It’s a competitive battleground that, when leveraged properly, can yield great results. And this all starts with choosing the right keywords for your book.

But what exactly are Amazon keywords?

Well, when people go shopping for their next book on Amazon, they type a descriptive phrase into the search bar in order to find what they want. You can think of these phrases as Amazon or Kindle keywords. By selecting the right keywords, you can get in front of targeted readers who are likely to resonate with your book.

Now, these phrases will almost always be something other than your book title. Unless you’re a worldwide author megastar, readers are going to be unlikely to know exactly what your book is named. So, the question that remains is this:

How will readers find my book through keywords?

Choosing Amazon keywords is a unique balancing act. So, let’s go over three different strategic points to help you find the right keywords to help you sell more books.

Think Like a Reader

In order to reach out to new readers, we must first think like a new reader. And that should be pretty simple right?

Well, you’d be surprised at how many people overthink this. Even the most seasoned of authors tend to overdo it here. But that doesn’t mean basic, one word keywords are the best. Just that simple concepts work better.

For instance, let’s say I’m searching for a new science fiction book. For those not in the know, I just love SciFi books–especially Ready, Player One. Now, I’ve read Ready, Player One so many times I’m looking for a book with similar qualities. I can try typing into the search bar “dystopian cyberpunk science fiction game adventure story” to produce a result. Will I get a viable result? Maybe. But the real question is… Are readers actually typing that into the search bar at all? Not really.

But what about “books like Ready, Player One”?

Now this is a more likely search phrase. It completely covers exactly what a reader is looking for and does so simply.

When choosing your keywords, think as if you were a reader searching for a book — not as an author describing one.

Know Your Niche

Just because you should keep things simple does not mean you should ignore your niche. Sometimes, you may target too wide of an audience.

Broad term searches may seem like a great idea at first. But that’s only at first glance. If you haven’t established yourself or your book within a particular community, your book may get buried among the thousands already out there.

But there’s a good trick to avoiding that situation. Niching down.

Let’s put this into perspective. Say you wrote an instant pot cookbook. It would make perfect sense for one of your keywords to be “cookbook.” Right? But have you ever done an Amazon search on how many cookbooks there are?

Over 90,000! That’s a lot of competition you need to overcome. However, that’s unnecessary competition.

By simply changing your keyword to “instant pot cookbook,” you can whittle the competition down to around 3,000.

But… I think we can do better than that. 3,000 is still a lot of instant pot cookbooks. Let’s change the keyword to “instant pot cookbook for beginners.”

As you can see, the competition is now at 1,000! That’s a whole heck of a lot less than 3,000, let alone 90,000. If you’re not exploring your niche, you really are missing out on a huge advantage. Just remember, try not to get too specific though. You’re still looking for something readers are actually searching for.

Which leads me to my final tactic….

Utilize Amazon Keyword Software

There are some tried and true methods for manually finding the best keywords for your book. But if I’m being honest here, they take some serious time and effort. So, what if I told you there was an easier way?

This can be achieved by utilizing Amazon keyword software.   

Why waste hours of your time trying to find the best keywords when you can do it in seconds? It seems like a no-brainer. Those hours of saved time can always be repurposed into something more useful or important– such as furthering your marketing campaign via other means or spending more time with the family.

Call me biased, but in my opinion, the best Amazon keyword software available on the market is Publisher Rocket. It pulls real data from Amazon’s API to give you a perspective as to what keywords readers are actually searching for. This allows you to make the best choice for your keyword selection. Along with keyword suggestions, Publisher Rocket also helps you place your book in the right categories and build your AMS campaigns.

But don’t just take my word for it. Many major authors use it including Joanna Penn, Jeff Goins, and Orson Scott Card! For more info, check out this awesome Publisher Rocket review by Sam Howard at Nerdy Book Girl.

In Conclusion

These are just a few things you should consider when choosing your keywords. And I don’t mean just pick one and ignore the rest. By using all of these tactics simultaneously, you further increase your book’s chances of success.

That doesn’t mean you should just stop there, however. In order to truly get the most out of your keywords, you should track them against the success of your book. Keywords aren’t just a “set and forget” thing. Amazon keywords can be fluid and change from month to month or depending on the season. (Another reason keyword software comes in handy…)

Remember, choosing keywords doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Just be sure to take these factors into consideration, and make your life easier.

Cheers!