KDP keyword research: how to find the phrases buyers type

What a good keyword looks like

• It is a phrase a buyer would type, not a single broad word. "Gratitude journal for men" is a keyword; "journal" is a department.
• It describes your book honestly. A phrase that brings the wrong reader brings returns and poor reviews.
• The books that show up for it are ones you could sit next to: not every result is a long-established best seller.

Collect phrases for free

1. Open Amazon, choose the Books department and start typing your topic slowly. The suggestions that drop down are phrases shoppers really use.
2. Add one letter after your topic ("sudoku a", "sudoku b"...) to pull out more suggestions.
3. Add words that describe a reader or a use: "for kids", "for seniors", "large print", "for beginners", "gift".
4. Open the top books for your topic and read their titles and subtitles: note the phrases that keep coming back.
5. Write everything down in one list. Twenty to forty phrases is a good start.

Judge each phrase

1. Search the phrase and look at the first page only.
2. Check the Best Sellers Rank of the top books. If several have a low BSR (a smaller number is better), the phrase sells.
3. Check the ratings. If every book has thousands, keep the phrase for later and look for a more specific one.
4. Ask whether your book is truly what this shopper wants. If not, drop the phrase however good it looks.

Where to use what you found

Amazon's guidance tells you to avoid brand names, other authors' names, claims like "best seller" and anything misleading. KDP's help pages have the current list.

• Title and subtitle: your one or two most important phrases, written the way a person would say them.
• The seven backend keyword boxes: the phrases that did not fit in the title, without repeating words already used.
• The description: natural sentences that use the reader's own words.

Do the collecting and checking faster

BookIntel's Keyword Research shows Amazon's own related searches for a topic and the books on the first page for each, so you can tell a crowded phrase from an open one without opening dozens of tabs.