Optimized Amazon Book Listing to Boost Your Sales

Years of working with self-publishing companies means knowing exactly how to make your title easy to find—which means more book sales.

Amazon product listing optimization is one of the only proven ways to boost book sales. We have in-depth knowledge of exactly how to craft product sales listings that bump your book up in the search rankings. For example, we know what search terms customers use when they’re looking for books just like yours, and we can help you craft a product description that uses those search terms.

How can I make sure my book isn’t lost in the crowd?

You can make sure your book isn’t lost in the crowd by creating an optimized Amazon product listing and description. There are tens of thousands of new titles published every year, and about three-quarters of those are by indie authors. Despite the proven benefits, relatively few authors attempt to navigate Amazon listing optimization techniques, and even fewer manage to successfully juggle all the diverse elements that go into creating a successful Amazon product listing. That’s where we come in.


Are keywords the only way to increase product sales?

Keywords are not the only way to increase your Amazon book sales. Keywords and long-tail keywords are important, true, because they’re one way to hook readers searching for books like yours. However, it’s equally important that those keywords are naturally integrated into beautifully written product copy that seizes readers’ imaginations. Elite Authors has expert writers who can produce optimized copy for both your listing and the back of your book.







    With our Amazon listing optimization service, you get:

    Expertly designed genre-specific keywords and metadata descriptions

    Benefits of our proprietary process and software based on Amazon’s search algorithm

    Increased book rankings

    A customized product description that will help you sell more books

    More traffic to your Amazon product page

    More book sales

    How important is using the right product category?

    Using the right product category (or categories!) is crucial. Our Amazon listing optimization service provides you with two carefully chosen categories that satisfy our main criteria: (1) the books in that category sell well, and (2) there’s room among the bestsellers in that category for a fresh voice. These product categories often overlap with popular search terms, which gives readers yet another chance to find your book.

    How does metadata drive sales?

    The secret superhero of book sales is metadata. Well-crafted metadata is concise and targeted. It ensures your book is in the right BISAC categories and that your book description hits all the right notes. Great metadata keeps your book on top of the latest trends so that readers searching for the hottest new releases also find your book. The better your metadata, the better your sales—so make sure your metadata is crafted by experts.

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    Optimized Amazon Book Listings Questions

    What is an algorithm on Amazon?

    When you type something into the search box on Amazon (like on Google or any other search engine), you get pages of results. What items show up on those pages—and in what order—is determined by an algorithm (a set of problem-solving rules). A proprietary algorithm on Amazon, like the ones on Google, decides how prominently to feature certain search results. Google bases its results on links, while Amazon’s A9 algorithm responds to the number of product sales. Basically, the more books you sell on Amazon, the more likely your book is to show up in lists of recommended titles.


    What is Amazon SEO?

    SEO stands for "search engine optimization." Amazon SEO is all about making sure that interested readers—readers specifically searching for products or books just like yours—actually find your book. The Amazon search engine is quite a complex labyrinth of connections, but we figure out how to optimize your book description to make it easy for Amazon’s algorithm to index your title.


    What are keywords?

    Keywords are words—or, more often, phrases—that are part of a web page’s metadata (see the question on metadata for a definition of the term). Search engines use them as a quick way to identify what a particular web page is about, and they’re also the best way to ensure that those searching for books like yours find your book. You can incorporate keywords into product listings, book descriptions, bullet points, titles, subtitles—even your chosen BISAC categories include keywords.


    What do you mean, keyword phrases?

    Keyword phrases are exactly that: phrases in a product page’s metadata that allow that page to be indexed by a search engine. People searching for books on Amazon are typically not typing in just one word; they’re using whole phrases, sometimes called keyword strings or long-tail keywords. Amazon recognizes vast numbers of keyword strings, as you can tell whenever you start typing something into the search box:

    keyword phrases on Amazon

    Each of these different phrases would bring up slightly different search results, which would lead to a slightly different selection of products. We help you incorporate not just single words but also relevant keyword phrases into your product description and metadata, which will make your book much easier to find.

    What is metadata?

    Metadata (when we’re talking about SEO) is information added to a product’s web page that is not visible to readers but is easy for computers and search engines to scan. Book metadata typically falls into certain defined product categories: title, subtitle, series title, author, book description, categories, and keywords. This is one reason subtitles are so useful when you’re marketing a book—and why choosing the perfect categories and keywords helps increase your book’s ranking on Amazon.


    What do rankings mean on Amazon?

    About halfway down a product’s page on Amazon are usually two or three little lines that let you know how well a particular product is selling within a specific category. A product’s sales ranking on Amazon is a reflection of the number of times it has sold—and in particular how well it has sold recently. That is, recent sales are weighted slightly more heavily than older sales. Here’s a screenshot of one product’s sales rank:

    Amazon rankings

    Notice how this book has different sales rankings in different categories, something that illustrates the importance of choosing great BISAC categories and relevant keywords. Elite Authors has years of experience at perfectly positioning new titles so that they show up in search results and rise in sales rankings.


    How do you increase book sales on Amazon?

    You can increase book sales on Amazon in a number of ways, some of which are more efficient than others. Giveaways and other promotions can give your book a short-term spike in sales, but for long-term sales growth, you want to make sure your product’s Amazon page is optimized to work with Amazon’s search terms and algorithm. We want to make it easy for readers to find your book, because every time your book shows up in a set of search results, its ranking creeps up just a little bit—and every little bit helps! We also offer something that will help way more than “a little bit”: a consultation with our book marketing experts will show you how to home in on exactly what might be holding you back—and what will help you leap forward.


    How can I improve my Amazon product listing?

    You can improve your Amazon product listing for your book by making sure your main title is powerful, catchy, and descriptive and that your subtitle gives Amazon’s search engine great phrases to latch on to. You should make sure you’re using Amazon keywords and that you’ve included brief but descriptive bullet points (where appropriate). Choosing the best categories for your book will also help a great deal. This is exactly where Elite Authors can help. Give us a call to discuss the many ways we can make your Amazon book listing a better and more powerful sales tool.


    What other tools can I use to improve sales?

    There are many other powerful tools at your disposal, including strong bullet points, catchy titles, and keyword-optimized subtitles. Something as simple as changing the main color in your cover design or tweaking your title (or adding a subtitle) can make a huge difference. Using all these elements of product sales placement will make your title show up in more searches, and that will give your ranking a real lift. A book marketing plan consultation with Elite Authors can help you decide which tools will make the greatest difference to your sales—and how best to deploy the various tactics you choose.

    Get ready to publish everywhere.

    Don’t disappoint your future fans: make your book easy to find!