KDP keyword selection advice

[A.M.]

KDP Rocket is a software that supposedly works wonders. I just recently purchased and played around with it once, tried seven new keywords and none of them did a thing! But...this was only my first go at it, and I intend to try a number of options before admitting to myself that my $97 was for naught. Good info on this thread, thank you everyone.

[Kristopher]

I’ve used KDP Rocket and I must say it is a great tool. However you have to have a general idea of a few key words ready before it will be of much use.

[Lori-Ann]

Don't forget to pick good categories as well. Although 3 categories are entered in KDP, there can be 10 categories. There's a link to contact Amazon to add more 7 categories.

I use Keywords Everywhere which provides an estimated volume (number of times) a keyword is searched. Not necessarily in Amazon but in general. The key is to find keywords that are often searched but where there is little competition. As I type a string in the Amazon search box, it shows the 10 most common strings that begin with what I'm typing and Keywords Everywhere provides how often a month each of the 10 suggestions are searched.

As someone pointed out above, when searching incognito, pay attention to the 10 or so suggestions that automatically come up when typing a keyword (like an auto-complete). It normally gives the 10 most often searched strings that begin with what's being typed.

[Frank]

I second Lori-Ann's suggestion to add up to 7 category strings. I look at top selling books in my genre, and then create a new string for my book(s). If Amazon allows this, it must work for them. I believe KDP Rocket has a YouTube video to show you how to find the relevant strings and link to email Amazon.

[Mallory]

As a follow-up, is there any way to see what people have searched before they buy your book?

For example, my Wordpress website sometimes tells me what the search terms were when someone found my site.

My Amazon book is doing okay. It'd be nice to know which keywords are the ones working for me.

[Elizabeth]

I get stuck changing keywords then following my ABS for a few days than change them again the closer I get to 1000 the better j feel I'm doing but my kindle is alright my paper back using same words is lagging far behind not sure why yet but may change keywords in it again in a few days