"Optimizing Your Books for Amazon Keyword Search" article

[Quantum]

Another eminently practical article from Jane Friedman's website.

How do you use keywords for your book on Amazon? Did the article give you some new techniques?

Here are some highlights:

There are approximately one billion ebook titles and three million print books on Amazon, and, yes, you can still be on page one or claim the number-one title. 
Why? Because most people aren’t aware that Amazon is its own search engine.
...
A book ranking #88,453 means that 88,452 books are selling better than it. A great high-sales rank is normally #10,000 or less.

But this also depends to some degree on the genre, niche, or subject matter. For example, a sales rank of #13,000 may not seem great. But for some of my own nonfiction, it means they’re selling pretty well. In some cases I’m doing $500-plus in book sales per month at that sales rank. However, when I look at that #13,000 rank in fiction, the sales are often lower. Anything you’ve heard about how sales rank works should be taken with a grain of salt, because the numbers can vary depending on the category (genre, niche, or subject matter).
...
Fiction authors, particularly romantic fiction authors: take a page from the Hallmark Channel and make sure to incorporate the search term “Romance and Christmas.” All you have to do is flip through the TV listings to see that, starting at Thanksgiving, Hallmark goes all romance-and-Christmas all the time. It’s big business for them, and it should be for you too.
...
If you decide to change your keywords, be sure to add them to your book description and maybe even incorporate them in your title if your book’s not on the shelves yet. And be sure people are actually buying the books in the search results using the keywords you’re considering.

(https://www.janefriedman.com/optimizi...)

[Vince]

Wow! Thanks for posting that article. I just changed all of my novel's search words thanks to you and Jane. I'll let you know what happens!

[Quantum]

Cool! (it was actually a guest who wrote that article.)

Definitely let us know if you see an uptick in sales!

[Quantum]

Note: I redacted the highlight about adding keywords to your title as I just heard from a friend of mine that "keyword-stuffing titles" has resulted in warnings being issued by Amazon.

[Justin]

The main sales rank number is usually high for most authors on average. My keyword numbers are low but yet they don't reflect my sales at all. In fact my keyword numbers are the exact opposite of my sales. I suppose I could try and insert more keywords in my descriptions but I feel it wouldn't change a thing.

[Marie Silk]

Thank you for the info, Alex. I have been mystified by keywords for so long, to the point that I've left some of those fields blank because I didn't know what to put in them, but this helped me understand the concept. I've just republished with new keywords so we will see how that goes. I think it's safe to say I wasn't getting any exposure based on the vague 1-word keywords I was using before....

[Justin]

I think I've actually read the article before but after going over it again it just makes me realize it's going to be a fun project testing new keywords.

[Tinthia]

Hello, I'm still lost how to incorporate keywords into a description without being obvious.

[Graeme]

Hi Tinthia, here is an example from my own experience.

My 7 Keywords/phrases for each of my books on Kindle.

superheroes
vampire thriller
supervillain novel
new adult vampire adventure
dark fantasy book series
action adventure thriller
contemporary fantasy fiction.

New Blurb,

[SUMMARY OF CONFLICT] Super heroes and vampires are fighting a secret war for control of the fabric of reality. Whoever acquires mastery of the reality shifting powers of the Metaframe will become the new gods of the universe.

[TAGLINE]"Imagine if you could change the rules of the game, what rules would you choose?"

[BLURB CONTENT]Witness to a brutal murder, eighteen year old Anton Slayne is inducted by the mysterious Mr Wu into the secret society of vampire hunters, the Order of Thoth. He soon discovers that vicious local gangsters, determined Boston Police Detectives, and relentless Shadowstone operatives pale into insignificance as he is drawn into the machinations of the enigmatic supervillain, vampire General Chloe Armitage.

Heir to a legacy of super powers, Anton joins a team of superheroes, but that is no guarantee of survival against the most powerful supervillains in the world, especially when they're equipped with the latest available technology and super weapons.

[2ND TAGLINE] "When mastery over your soul is at stake, survival is the least of your problems."

[SOCIAL VALIDATION]"Like Underworld on speed, it's got all the adrenaline and action-packing shots of entertainment you could want, wrapped up in a no-nonsense narrative." - Adam Smith, Cultured Vultures

[SUMMARY OF KEYWORDS] Be prepared to be blown away by a high-octane, dark fantasy, superhero action adventure thriller, that would be at home in a summer movie blockbuster.

[CALL TO ACTION] Join the heroes of the Metaframe War, buy A Subtle Agency now.

[Graeme]

In terms of my AMS adverts, key words like super powers, underworld, which are used in my blurb are also getting clicks, and converting to sales.