With 44% of product searches starting on Amazon, Amazon SEO should be high priority on any book marketer’s to-do list. When it comes to promoting your next title or key backlist titles, it is essential to understand how it works just as well as Google SEO for driving book sales – especially as Amazon is already the leading online platform to tap into.

Nearly all Amazon searches are transactional and its algorithm therefore comes down to two ranking factors: Relevance and Performance. If you follow our top three tips below – and you optimise your book listings for Relevance and Performance – you can convert more visitors and sell more books.

1. Metadata, metadata, metadata

Metadata is what the Amazon SEO algorithm looks at when ranking your product. Metadata includes previous sales, page traffic, click-through rates, sales conversion rates but – most importantly – keywords. You should place your focus on making sure that your product page has comprehensive and relevant keywords in fully indexed fields such as: Book title, subtitle, series title, author name and, perhaps most crucially, backend keywords.

If you need help researching keywords you can use Publisher Rocket or Helium 10, specifically designed for Amazon. 

2. Clicks-to-sales 

Books that are underperforming are bumped down the list in Amazon rankings, whereas books that are driving sales are pushed up which shows the importance of conversion optimised content. The product page should include an exciting product description, product images, ‘search inside’ feature and hopefully some fantastic reviews to help boost the clicks-to-sales ratio. Amazon also says zoomable images enhance sales in product listings.

3. Boost your rankings using Amazon Ads

Based on targeted keywords, you can ensure your product appears on Page 1 of the search results if your rankings are lagging behind. The level of detail of Amazon Ads means you can advertise to shoppers who are browsing your competitors or certain genres shared by your book which can definitely help boost sales. Moreover, the use of Amazon ads means you could gain some useful data insights. 

If you need help with your Amazon SEO, BookMachine Creative Agency can assist you with all aspects to boost your book sales. Contact us to find out more.