I recently tried to bring down what is needed to rank on Number 1 on Amazon to the most important points. Find the results in the following presentation and discover the major Amazon Bestseller Secrets.
The 5 Amazon Bestseller Secrets
Amazon Bestseller Secret #1: Sell as many books as possible in a short period of time.
First of all it is important to know how the Amazon Bestseller Ranking works, and the main secrets behind creating an Amazon Bestseller.
Let’s start with how the Amazon Ranking works. Amazon describes the Amazon Best Sellers calculation as follows:
“The Amazon Best Sellers calculation is based on Amazon.com sales and is updated hourly to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold on Amazon.com.
While the Amazon Best Sellers list is a good indicator of how well a product is selling overall, it doesn’t always indicate how well an item is selling among other similar items. Category and subcategory best seller lists were created to highlight an item’s rank in the categories or subcategories where it really stands out.
We choose a few of the most popular subcategories in which the item has a high ranking in relation to other items in that subcategory, and showcase the item’s rank on the product page. As with the main Amazon Best Sellers list, these category rankings are based on Amazon.com sales and are updated hourly.
Note: For the Kindle Store, Amazon Best Sellers lists are divided into Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free. Items in the paid bestsellers list have a value greater than $0.00. Items in the free list have a value equal to $0.00. Both lists are updated hourly.”
Get the latest information directly on Amazon
The truth is that Amazon does not reveal their exact formula for picking the top books. However, it is clear that it weighs heavily on how many books you can sell in a short period of time.
Tim Grahl, founder of “Outthink Author Marketing”, describes it this way:
“In fact, a recent campaign by Seth Godin for his book We Are All Weird was able to hit the #2 spot on Amazon by selling less than 2000 copies of his hardcover in a day.
Another author I worked with was able to generate 500 sales of his book in a single day, putting him in the top 100 on Amazon.
Contrast this to another author friend of mine who has sold thousands of copies of his book but never broke into the top 100 because they were spread out over several months.
It is important to focus all of your marketing efforts into selling as many books as possible on a single day. Fewer sales in a single day will drive you higher on the list than more sales spread out over time.Get the latest information: http://goo.gl/NZ6sY2″
When combining data with field reports, it becomes clear that it’s critical to focus marketing efforts into one selling day in order to climb the Bestseller Lists.
Amazon Bestseller Secret #2: Choose smart keywords and categories.
This is critical, in order to get as much visibility on Amazon as possible, to get to the top of Amazon’s Search Engine results, and to raise your chances of appearing on an Amazon Bestseller List.
First of all, let’s take a look at the five ways to get to get to the top of Amazon’s Search Engine Results:
1. Searching Keywords.
For example, a person looking for a cure to “writer’s block” goes to Amazon and types it in the search bar.
2. Recommendations by Amazon.
When you are browsing on Amazon, you will see, “People who purchased this book, also bought this book __________.”
3. Category Listing.
When doing a search on Amazon and looking at another book, the visitor can click on the “category” listings, which appear on the left sidebar, and choose their desired category. There are many categories and subcategories on Amazon.
4. Direct Search Results.
A person types in the title of your book, your name, OR a similar title and your book comes up. For example, let’s say your book is titled “The Little Prince in New Clothes.” So when someone searches for the original Saint Exupery book, “The Little Prince,” your book will also appear because it has those exact words in it. Some authors use popular book titles in their own titles to leverage results.
5. Browsing Kindle’s Lists.
Obviously the “Best Sellers” list is a big one. It’s a myth that there is only ONE or THE list – instead, Amazon has hundreds of Bestseller Lists that you can appear on. Your chances to become an Amazon Bestselling Author just increased dramatically!
In the end, the Amazon search engine does not work much differently from the Google engine. That’s why it is so important to target the right keywords and categories in order to get ranked highly. You will learn how to optimize your title, subtitle, categories and book descriptions soon.
Amazon Bestseller Secret #3: Start your promotion with at least 10 great reviews
No one has doubts anymore that having favorable book reviews is one of the most important purchase factors for products sold online. This is not different for books. I recommend that you start your book promotion with at least 10 great reviews, in order to show prospective readers that your book is a hit and can be trusted.
Amazon Bestseller Secret #4: Try to get featured in specific high-traffic Amazon sections
As Amazon is a gigantic marketplace, being featured in a high-trafficked section can bring the visibility of your book a great boost. Amazon regularly experiments with new sections and gives featured books a lot visibility. So try to get into sections such as “Books of the month”, “Award Winners”, “Editor’s Picks” and “Top Lists in general” (categories, bestseller lists, etc.) in order to land an Amazon bestseller.
Amazon Bestseller Secret #5: Have a great book and marketing.
‘The next secret is universal of successful book publishing. The more you focus on creating a great book and amazing marketing, the less money you need to invest and the less effort you have to put into optimizing your book data. This is especially important in the long-run and a foundation for building a successful author career.