HOW TO PROCEED WITH PICKING THE RIGHT KEYWORDS FOR YOUR NOVEL

The Keywords Issue

Several new authors will query – why is picking the right keywords so important when publishing an ebook? In plainer words, potential customers type in keywords on Amazon regarding what product they want into the search box. For example, for one of my books, ‘The Fall of the House of James’, customers may type in slavery love novel in order to search for books under that category. Once you’ve reached the glorious moment of starting to publish your soon-to-be bestseller on Amazon, you will be asked for keywords so your ebook can be found rapidly by customers.

Experiment With Your Keywords

Your first notion may be – this will be mega easy! Unfortunately, finding the correct keywords for your book is a tricky procedure. The frustrating element is deducing what keywords are a subtle fit for your book as you will have to tackle this yourself. For example, if I were to use the keyword slavery novels, thousands of books will appear and my book would probably disappear with no hope of it appearing on the front page. I’ve made this error of not researching the keywords before placing my first book on Amazon and then I wondered why there were hardly any book sales at all. Undertake to do your research before your book is published, not afterwards. Putting an ample amount of time and effort into researching the keywords does not always elicit success. Be fully prepared – it can take a lengthy period before the right keywords are discovered for your books. A large dollop of diligence with a mammoth amount of endeavour is required.

Short or Long Keywords

I try to change my keywords every 2-3 months as it is imperative that the books remain on the first page of Amazon. The algebra is fairly simple – if your book is visible, there’s more likelihood it will be purchased. A span of a keyword is a vital component when deciding which keywords to pick. I can only speak from experience when I say that shorter keywords tend to elicit far more results than longer ones.

For example, Romance saga 19th century would garner a huge amount of results. On the other hand, Romance saga 19th century rich family reduces these results considerably.

Try to aim between four-six words for each keyword. Use your creative nous – be unafraid to shorten or lengthen your keywords.

Always pick keywords which relate to the novel you have written. Don’t pick keywords that are too obscure and are unlikely to be used as a search term.

Further Tools to Assist You

Although I am hopeful this blog post will be invaluable to all, there are several tools available. There are keyword tools available for authors, some of which are completely free to use. If you want to research further, then YouTube is a brilliant source for gathering valuable additional information about keywords.