Self-Publishing and the Importance of Keywords

What are Keywords on Kindle?

Keywords are what shoppers type into the Amazon search bar when they are looking for things to buy.

Finding relevant, optimised keywords for your book is crucial to getting your book found in the saturated Amazon book store. They are the essential building blocks for good online visibility. You need to find the ‘sweet spot’ keywords that people are searching for yet don’t leave you competing against the best sellers!

What are the Categories on Kindle?

Categories are like Amazon's library system. They put books into different categories on Kindle to make it easier for people to find their preferred books. When you first upload your manuscript to KDP.com they give you the choice of two categories, but you can in fact have ten. Both for your ebook and paperback. Like with keywords, we are seeking to find the categories where we have the best chance of ranking the highest.

What is the Best Way to Find Kindle Keywords and Categories?

The most helpful tool by far, I have used to carry out keyword and category marketing research is Publisher Rocket. This amazing piece of software saves you lots of time, money and headaches. It can research the U.S.A., U.K. and German Kindle stores in four key areas:

1) You can research the most targeted and optimised keywords for your book.

2) You can research the least competitive categories for your book, giving you the best chance to rank in the top ten and get organic visibility in the Amazon store.      

3) You can research who your competitors are and what their books are earning (so you can learn from them)

4)You can research the best keywords for your AMS Ads.

The software lists all of Amazon’s 11,200+ categories and subcategories, along with how many books you would need to sell in order to be the #1 bestseller. So instead of sifting through all those categories ourselves, this tool does all this for us.

And if you run sponsored ads on Amazon for your books, then this tool is absolutely indispensable, because its ads feature helps us effectively and efficiently create a comprehensive list of profitable keywords.

One of the reasons I’m such a fan of Publisher Rocket is that it is currently a one-time investment, meaning unlike so many other softwares out there, it doesn’t require a recurring, monthly subscription fee. It’s also not expensive!

I’ve been using this software for years now and can’t imagine launching a book without it. I hope you find it as helpful and indispensable as I do.

Happy Publishing!

You can check out Publisher Rocket here!

Cheers,

Nicky