5 Mistakes to Avoid with Amazon Keywords

Alessandra Torre, Inkers Con co-founder and contributor

How can you improve the likelihood that a reader will discover your book on Amazon? We hosted expert Dale L. Roberts at the 2022 Inkers Con conference, discussing this very topic. Dale gave a presentation that broke down the nuances of book discoverability and keywords and gave a tons of tips.

Here’s a peek into a portion of his presentation where he listed his top mistakes that authors make when choosing keywords for their books.

Mistakes to avoid when choosing keywords for your books:

1. Never blindly guess at keywords. Do your research!
2. Don’t use other author’s names or competitors’ book titles.
3. Don’t use “Free” as a keyword – even if your book is!
4. Stay away from keywords like KDP, Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, or anything Kindle. Those will be deleted by Amazon.
5. Don’t put anything in your keyword that is also in your title or description. That’s redundant and a waste of a keyword.

Have you ever done any of these? Don’t worry if you have! We’ve been guilty of every single one of these. Watching Dale’s presentation was an eye-opener – in both what to do, and what not to do, to maximize your discoverability on Amazon.

We hope this list helps! If you’d like to watch Dale’s presentation (plus unlock 26 others!), check out our 2022 Inkers Con access. Dale also has a fantastic YouTube channel and several books, so be sure to look him up!

Update: The Inkers Con 2022 is still available to watch. Plus, the upcoming Inkers Con 2024 conference offers dozens of brand new classes, Q&As, author discussions and more! Join us in Dallas or online!