Using Keywords in the Title and Subtitle of an Amazon Book
Amazon uses keywords and phrases in at least five specific places concerning books and ebooks.
The Title.
The Subtitle.
The Product Keywords at Setup.
The Product Description.
The “Look Inside”/Read Sample.
Let’s talk about two of these areas for now: the book’s title and subtitle.
The Book’s Title
It’s probably the most valuable piece of keyword real estate because Amazon wants to match against a book title directly, but it’s probably the hardest area to work in a keyword or phrase. If you could take a keyword and make it a book title, you’re optimizing for SEO in the greatest possible way, but it’s unrealistic. Few people will buy a fiction book titled “Fantasy Short Stories.”
The Book’s Subtitle
But a subtitle is nearly as good. Take a look at this example, Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldtree. When I grow up, I want to be like Travis.
It is no accident that the keyword “Novel” and phrase “High Fantasy” appears in this piece. Look at the keyword analysis.
Competition is high on the phrase “high fantasy novel” but low to medium to “novel” and “high fantasy.” It’s placed in the subtitle so it creates a good match. Let’s consult Amazon.
And look, there it is! The 5th suggestion down the list.
My Amazon Keyword Tool concurrs.
The gold score under Est. Amazon Searches/Mo indicates that the search volume is reasonable at an acceptable level of competitiveness.
This is A9 (Amazon’s algo) telling us that the phrase “high fantasy novels” is commonly searched, so, it’s got a lot of demand and is probably more expensive from a PPC point of view, but Travis here has it organically baked-in to his subtitle!
When I run the search, Legends & Lattes is the 5th book in the list. He’s at the head of the tail and doesn’t have to pay a dime for placement.
Building on SEO Principles in the Subtitle
Many factors will influence my list results, including the cookies in my browser and the history of my own searches on my account, but, even in an incognito window, I get the same result.
If you’re wondering, that’s not by some happy accident. The SEO is organic, but it’s planned.
When planning your subtitle, think about keywords, yes, but also brainstorm keywords for pain points, desired results, emotional amplifiers, and demographics.
Think about this:
How to Murder Your Husband
Not a bad title. People look for that phrase ~10,000 times a month, and it’s got low competition; few people are paying for that real estate.
But now sprinkle in a little SEO goodness.
How to Murder Your Husband:
A Woman’s Guide to Success
Yeah. You see it, right? I’m targeting married women (a demographic) who want to exit a troublesome marriage successfully. But maybe a little more:
How to Murder Your Husband:
A Smart Woman’s Guide to Financial Success
Divorce is financially painful and messy. Wouldn’t murder for a smart woman like yourself just be easier? Being poor is a pain point. And don’t you want to exit the marriage successfully? That’s ambitious! And the whole construction is rather emotionally amplifying, wouldn’t you say?
Happy April Fools.
Still, thinking about SEO when constructing your title and subtitle is an organic way of manipulating search engines to bring your titles to the head of the long tail, improve reader visibility, and, hopefully, increase unit sales.
R
