Over the weekend I was looking for a book on Amazon and I could not find what I was looking for. I was searching for a newly released title, so I expected that the Amazon Search may not pull it right up at the top of my inquiry however, I was more concerned for the long-term search results for this book as the author had not associated any keyword “tags” for his title. I don’t want to name names, but I will tell you this. The title I was looking for is one of the only books on the subject matter that covers an historic event that no one else has written about. Huge marketing opportunity for this book and the author did not include the name of the historic event in his marketing copy or in his Amazon keyword tags. It got me fired up.
Every book that is sold on Amazon can be “tagged” with specific key words that will improve the search-ability of that product. This does tie into setting up a Listmainia! list on Amazon. Both tools are keyword driven. Listmania! focuses on grouping books together by title…a list of favorites and yes, it is tied to key words. What I want to focus on today is getting your books properly tagged so that potential readers can find your title during their search for content.
- Identify your keywords. What is your top 10 list of keywords that you want people to associate with your book. When they go to Google or Amazon and type in specific words, will they find your work. Keep it simple. You want to always have in your keywords list, the author name and book title. You can knock two of the keywords off your list of top 10. Now think logically about what you would search for, to find your book. Think somewhere between general and specifics. I know I use cookbooks as an example time and again, but since everyone has different tastes in food, makes sense. Think about what type of cookbook you would search for, if you had to buy one book to make your perfect meal. That is how you should be thinking about coming up with your keywords.
- Use your keywords in all of your marketing. Not only will you add your keyword tags to your book on Amazon. You will do this on your website, in your Goodreads account, in your online and offline media kit. Your book synopsis and your press release should all include your target keywords. You don’t need to use your entire list all of the time, just make sure you’re using them consistently in all marketing and promotion that you’re doing.
- Check out your competitors keywords. Do the research to find out what words your competing authors are using and jump on the bandwagon. You may want to use a word that they use and also use a similar word, to carve out your own niche. If a competing title in your genre is using the words “rock climbing” you may want to use those words but also add in “hiking” and “mountaineering” as your additional keywords.
Have you updated your Amazon keyword tags? Tell us about it below…
