#keyword research #Amazon Ads #KDP #search terms #match types
Keyword Research for Books: A Practical Method
James Whitfield · July 23, 2026 · 6 min read
Keyword research for a book means finding the exact phrases readers type into Amazon when they are looking for a book like yours, then targeting those phrases in your ads. The best sources are Amazon's own search autocomplete, the titles and categories of comparable books, and the search term report from your existing campaigns. This guide gives you a practical method.
Good keywords are the difference between ads that find real readers and ads that spend money on the wrong crowd. You do not need a paid tool to start; Amazon hands you most of what you need.
The three best free sources
- Amazon autocomplete. Start typing your genre or topic into the Amazon search bar and read the suggestions. Those are real searches people make, ranked by popularity. This is the single best free keyword source.
- Comparable books. Look at the titles, subtitles, and categories of the top books like yours. The words they lead with are the words their readers search.
- Your own search term report. Once a campaign runs, Amazon shows you the actual phrases that triggered your ads and which ones converted. This is gold, because it is real behavior, not a guess.
How to organize what you find
Sort candidate keywords into three buckets:
| Bucket | Example | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Genre and theme | "cozy mystery series" | High |
| Comparable authors | "books like [author]" | High |
| Broad topic | "mystery books" | Lower, more expensive |
Lead with the specific, high-intent phrases. Broad terms bring volume but also waste, so add them carefully.
Match types in plain terms
- Exact targets the phrase exactly. Most control, least waste.
- Phrase targets the phrase with words around it. A middle ground.
- Broad targets loosely related searches. Most reach, most waste.
Start with exact and phrase for your best keywords, and use a broad or automatic campaign only to discover new terms, which you then promote to exact.
Turn research into a loop
Keyword research is not a one-time task. The strongest keywords come from your own search term report: promote the phrases that convert to exact-match keywords, and negate the ones that only cost. Feed the winners back in, cut the losers, repeat. Always judge the result by ACOS against your margin.
Once you are ready to advertise the keywords you find, follow the first campaign setup guide. Running this discovery-and-refine loop across a whole catalog is the repetitive work Essentia automates.
FAQ
Do I need a paid keyword tool? No, not to start. Amazon autocomplete, comparable books, and your own search term report cover most of what a KDP author needs. Paid tools add convenience, not magic.
How many keywords should a campaign have? Begin with 15 to 30 tightly relevant ones. Too few and you get no reach; too many and you cannot tell what is working.
What is the best keyword source of all? Your own search term report. Nothing beats the phrases that already led to sales on your own book.