As in any online discipline, Kindle publishing is best approached with the competition in mind.  What this means practically is that your title and description must be carefully thought out and selected with the competition in mind.

And as in search engine optimization, it is important to do some keyword research using the new Google Adwords Planner tool.  Ariel Sanders has developed a methodology for selecting keywords and crafting an effective listing description.  He recently presented his system on a Webinar Swaps online session.

You may have to watch his session a couple times to fully get the methodology down pat, but it will be worth the effort, since he described it very explicitly.  One of the key factors to consider is the number of reviews for competitive books in your niche, e.g., the fewer reviews, the less the competition.  Another factor is the number of free books available, e.g., the fewer the better.  Additional factors to consider include:

• More than 40 but less than 700 books with your keyword
• Less than 12 books with your keyword in the title
• Less than 12 books with your keyword in the description
• Rank less than 20,000 for the top ranked book in the niche
• 3 books ranking more than 100,000 in the niche
• Less than 14 books with reviews in the niche
• Less than 3 books with $0 price
• 2 books published within the last 3 months
• Number of pages vs. book price

Additionally Ariel demonstrated his Kindle Samurai software that automates this process and including the detailed keyword research and ranking/rating vs. the critical selection criteria.  This should be a required tool in the bag of every serious Kindle publisher.  Although the tool won’t produce “magic” results, rather will greatly facilitate the sales process.

Related articles

• 5 Things You Need to Know About AdWords’ New Keyword Planner | SEJ
• Kindle Samural Seo Software Review
• Keyword Research: Why Important?
• How to Choose Keywords for SEO