Authors, are you adapting to the power of the Amazon-centric world? Of all the social media tools available to authors, Amazon leaves a lot of control to their sellers if they can learn how to wield the current algorithms. Put our 3 best tips into action & share with other readers which tips are working to help you sell the most books.
1. Are you search-engine optimized for current Amazon algorithms?
- Update keywords: keywords are always worth mentioning because as more books are added to the marketplace, the ones you've already assigned could begin getting watered down. Check in every month to see how your keywords rank and which ones you'll want to add to continually increase exposure:
- which keyword phrases would the likely fan/target audience use to search your topic?
- look for keywords with low competition:
2. Get positively reviewed, a lot!
- One aspect of Amazon that has remained consistent is the power of book reviews. The simple equation is: increased positive reviews = ever-climbing Amazon search engine ranking. After reviewing hundreds of Amazon author accounts, it appears that 50 is the magic number where Amazon starts paying attention to the reviews and gets you ranking higher. The takeaway? Don't be afraid to ask people for reviews- especially friends, family, and colleagues. When you send your book out to be reviewed or featured on a blog, ask that they copy & paste their review up to Amazon too!
3. Piggyback sales on a highly ranking/high-selling book:
- Along with all of the control you have over your book at Amazon Central, did you know you can control that box that says "customers who bought this item also purchased this/these items"? You can link your book with another high ranking book and enjoy the benefits of their high exposure!
Other tools compatible with Amazon
Does your book have an Amapedia entry?
- This is a wiki page for your book where you'll enter blurbs that contain factual information on your book. Doing this will reinforce the effects of optimized keywords.
Have you checked out Leafmarks.com?
- Leafmarks is the new book promoting "librarian tool" said to replace Goodreads. They claim they'll keep from being too similar so they can stay alive and help authors link back to their Amazon pages further increasing SEO potential.
Check out more ways to use Amazon to promote your book here and see how rank affects how you'll be found.
Keep the Faith and May the Force be with You!