Software for Authors: Best Free Book Keyword Tools – If you’ve just released your new book, or are struggling to get sales with an older book, then this article is for you. With the sheer number of books available to purchase online, you need to make sure that you’re targeting the right niche audience. You can do this by using hyper-focused keywords that will help you reach your target audience and increase sales.
Whether you’re uploading on KDP or Ingramspark – you will need to have keywords on hand. They become even more important when you start using Amazon Advertising to increase your book sales. These are the best free KDP keyword research tools to get you started.
Best Free KDP Keyword Research Tools
1. AMZ Suggestion Expander
AMZ Suggestion Expander is a Chrome extension that will help you to find keywords directly from the Amazon Search Bar. After installing the extension, simply type the ‘genre you are targeting’ into Amazon’s search bar. You would usually be given a small list of phrases that have been searched for recently. However, with this tool installed, you’ll now get a huge list of potential words that have been searched for. This will make a handy list of keywords to get you started. You can then repeat this process by typing in your new list of keywords and checking what other similar phrases are being searched for.
2. Google Keyword Planner
As the name suggests, this tool is used to find keywords from Google – not from Amazon. However, there may be some overlap in keywords. There are many people that don’t jump straight to Amazon to search for their favorite books, and instead start off in Google. We can capitalize on this and get free keyword suggestions through Google’s Keyword Planner.
You’ll need a Google Ads account to log in, but you don’t need to run any ad campaigns to use this tool – it’s just a part of the Google Ads toolset. Once you’re logged in, choose Google Keyword Planner from the main menu, choose which part of the world you want to focus on, and then put in an initial keyword/search term/genre. You’ll be gifted with a long list of words and phrases that people are searching for on Google each month. This tool will also give you the estimated number of searches that are made for this term, so you can gauge how popular it really is. Remember, even a keyword with very few searches per month can be profitable if that niche isn’t saturated.
Best Paid KDP Keyword Research Tools
Publisher Rocket
If you’re like me and have tried both of these free tools, as well as the trials of other tools – you’ll probably be worn out from keyword research. Yes, free tools will help you to find keywords, but it may take a lot of time – time that not everyone has available.
As soon as I could afford it, I bought Publisher Rocket to assist me with finding keywords. You can switch between US, UK, and German markets to find the best keywords for each country. You also get your keywords separated into paperback and ebook lists. Most importantly though, is the ability to see every category (including the hidden ones) on KDP and see how many books you would need to sell to reach the Number 1 Spot. You could potentially have your book sitting in the number 1 spot by simply adding it to a similar category that was initially hidden from you.
Remember, although KDP only lets you choose 3 categories for your book, you are allowed to have your book added to up to 10 categories. You simply need to email the Amazon KDP Support team and inform them of the categories that you’d like your book added to.
Make Better Book Covers with AI
If you’re looking for an easier way to write your next novel then we have you covered with this useful article: Software for Authors: 3 Best Free Writing Tools
And, if you want to make completely unique and interesting covers for your novel – then AI could be the answer. All 3 main AI tools – Stable Diffusion, Dall-E and Midjourney give you free credits to start off with, so there’s a decent chance you’ll be able to create some usable images without having to pay anything. We’ve created a short video/article to show exactly how to do it yourself.
You can find out more here: Create KDP Covers Using AI Tools
