Many authors aren’t keeping up with keyword and category research, and I can certainly understand why. It takes a lot of time, and we only have so many hours in a day. So many other tasks take priority!

Keyword and Category Research

should happen frequently to keep search results relevant

However, as the internet evolves, search engines become more complex, requiring frequent efforts to adjust and improve keywords. When it comes to books, categories and keywords, and even sometimes descriptions need optimization and adjustment as well.

Here are the two most important rules of search engine optimization:

1. Most books are bought by shoppers who don’t know the author personally, who find the books that they want by searching using keywords.
2. If no one can find what you’re selling, then it isn’t going to sell.

More great rules:

• Refresh your search optimization on a regular basis. The keywords that shoppers are using today won’t be the same that they’re searching for tomorrow, or six months or a year from now. It is very helpful to doublecheck your books’ SEO at least once a year and as often as quarterly (once every three months).
• Keep your keywords, categories, titles, and descriptions relevant. I.e., use words to describe your book that accurately reflect the content.

I am now using Publisher Rocket to optimize keywords and categories for my clients’ books as well as for my own.

Can you purchase your own version of Publisher Rocket and learn to use it? Yes! Definitely. If you’re able to commit the time to learning and using it, then I highly recommend doing so. However, if you can’t, but would still like to have the benefits of quality SEO for your books, I would be more than happy to assist you.

An initial research session takes three to four hours depending on the list of words and phrases that you give me to start with. If you need me to take a look at your writing and compile that list, that first session could take even longer. Follow-up research sessions will be shorter as long as no major search engine changes occur.

Pricing:

Initial research: You pay me $100 for 3 hours of research and send me a list of 7-14 words and phrases that accurately describe the content in your book. I use your list as a starting point to create an Excel spreadsheet for with categories and keywords research, and a short list of the best options where shoppers are spending their money.

Follow up: For additional research based on that Excel spreadsheet, I charge $33/hr.

I’m also happy to assist you in crafting a good description of your book.  Contact me to discuss your SEO needs and we can discuss it.