Contents

• How to add and update keywords
• Best practices
  
• Useful keyword types
  
• Keywords to avoid
• Other metadata and keyword tips

How to add and update keywords

1. Sign in to KDP.
2. Go to your Bookshelf and click the ellipsis button ("…") under the KINDLE EBOOK ACTIONS, PAPERBACK ACTIONS, or HARDCOVER ACTIONS menu next to your book.
3. Select Edit Details for your book format.
4. Under the Keywords section, add/edit your keywords.
5. Go to the bottom of the page, and click Save and Continue.
6. Once you reach the book Pricing page, click the Publish button at the bottom of the page.

Best practices

• Combine keywords in the most logical order. Customers search for "military science fiction" but probably not for "fiction science military"
• Use up to seven keywords or short phrases. Keep an eye on the character limit in the text field
• Before publishing, search using keywords you’re considering on Amazon. If you get irrelevant or unsatisfying results, make some changes. When searching, look at the suggestions that appear in the "Search" field drop down
• Think like a reader. Imagine how you'd search if you were a customer

Useful keyword types

• Setting (Colonial America)
• Character types (single dad, veteran)
• Character roles (strong female lead)
• Plot themes (coming of age, forgiveness)
• Story tone (dystopian, feel-good)

Keywords to avoid

• Information covered elsewhere in your book's metadata (title, contributors, etc.)
• Words already mentioned in your book categories (e.g. 19th Century History)
• Subjective claims about quality (e.g. "best novel ever")
• Time-sensitive statements ("new," "on sale," "available now")
• Information common to most items in the category ("book")
• Spelling errors
• Variants of spacing, punctuation, capitalization, and pluralization ("80GB" and "80 GB," "computer" and "computers", etc.). Exception: Words translated in more than one way (e.g. "Mao Zedong" or "Mao Tse-tung," "Hanukkah" or "Chanukah"
• Anything misrepresentative like the name of an author not associated with your book. This kind of information can create a confusing customer experience. Kindle Direct Publishing has a zero tolerance policy for metadata that is meant to advertise, promote, or mislead
• Brands that you do not own or that you are unauthorized to use
• Quotation marks in search terms. Single words work better than phrases, and specific words work better than general ones. If you enter "complex suspenseful whodunit," only people who type all of those words will find your book. For better results, enter this: complex suspenseful whodunit. Customers can search for any of those words and find your book
• Amazon program names like as "Kindle Unlimited" or "KDP Select"
• HTML tags

Other metadata and keyword tips

• Customers are more likely to skim past long titles (over 60 characters)
• Focus your book's description on the book's content
• Make sure your book's metadata adhere to KDP's guidelines
• Your keywords can capture useful, relevant information that won't fit in your title and description (setting, character, plot, theme, etc.)
• You can change keywords and descriptions as often as you like
• If your book is available in different formats (physical, audio), keep your keywords and description consistent across formats