If you’re like most people, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about search engine optimization (SEO). However, if you’re an author, especially an independently published author, SEO is something you need to be aware of. Why? Because SEO can make or break your book’s visibility on platforms like Amazon and YouTube.
Fortunately, optimizing your ebook for greater visibility doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. In fact, the process can be boiled down to a single, straightforward task: keyword research. By carefully selecting the right keywords and incorporating them into your ebook’s title, description, and tags, you can ensure that your book appears in front of potential readers who are interested in what you have to offer.
Why Keyword Research Matters
Before we get into the specifics of how to do keyword research, it’s important to understand why it matters. After all, why go through the trouble of finding and incorporating the right keywords if it’s not going to make a difference?
The answer is simple: because people use keywords to find the books they want to read. Whenever somebody goes on Amazon or YouTube and searches for “books about XYZ,” they’re effectively asking the algorithm to show them a list of all the ebooks that contain those keywords.
If your book doesn’t contain those keywords—or worse, if your book does contain those keywords but they’re buried so deep in the text that Amazon’s algorithm can’t find them— then there’s a good chance your book will never appear in front of that potential reader. In other words, if you want people to find and read your book, you need to make sure it contains the right keywords.
How to Do Keyword Research?
Keyword research is relatively simple. First, come up with a list of potential keywords that are relevant to your book. To do this, think about the topics covered in your book and the words and phrases people might use when searching for a book like yours. Once you have a list of potential keywords, plug them into Amazon’s search bar and take note of which ones return results. These are the keywords you should use in your ebook’s title, description, and tags.
It’s also worth noting that you shouldn’t go overboard with keyword stuffing—that is, filling your ebook with so many keywords that it becomes difficult to read. Not only will this turn off potential readers, but it could also result in Amazon removing your ebook from its platform altogether. When selecting keywords, always err on the side of quality over quantity.
Conclusion:
In today’s digital world, SEO is more important than ever before—especially for authors who are looking to independently publish their work. By carefully selecting the right keywords and incorporating them into your ebook’s title, description, and tags, you can ensure that your book appears in front of potential readers who are interested in what you have to offer. Keep in mind that quality should always trump quantity when it comes to keyword selection; otherwise, you run the risk of turning off potential readers or getting booted off Amazon entirely.
RJ Martinez 