Insight’s Book Keyword Tool helps you see what real readers are searching for on Amazon and optimize your book’s visibility to reach the right audience online.
- Reflects real reader search behavior: Instead of just guessing what readers are searching for, you get real-world search terms related to your book.
- Uncovers hidden opportunities: Sometimes, readers use language or phrases you wouldn’t have predicted. This process helps you discover those.
- Optimizes for discoverability: By using keywords that real shoppers use, you increase the chances your book will appear in relevant Amazon searches.
How does this tool work?
This tool is designed to help you align your book metadata with real-world reader searches on Amazon. Here’s how:
- Insight identifies 10 keywords that best describe your book. This list includes genres, themes, settings, tropes, and reader interests.
- For each keyword, the tool identifies related search phrases that real shoppers have used on Amazon. Read more about interpreting the results here.
- The tool returns these search terms as a list, along with important data like monthly search volume, competition, and trends.
- Insight loads the full dataset into AI Chat, and displays the top 10 related search terms.
- Chat with this dataset to narrow down the results, analyze the terms, and optimize your book metadata.
How to perform a keyword search
Basic keyword search
- Start an AI Chat conversation with one of your books (either click the “AI Chat” button from the book in Insight, or start a new chat conversation and add your book under “Manage sources”).
- Enter a prompt asking for keywords related to your book: “Search for keywords for my book” or “Help me identify Amazon keywords for this book”
- The results are added to your chat conversation, so you can continue chatting with the data or download the CSV file.
Customize your search
In your initial prompt, you can add more details and custom instructions to the keyword search.
Specify an Amazon marketplace: Ask the tool to search Amazon UK or Amazon France, for example, to get localized results.
- Currently supported markets include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, UK, US.
Ask for a focus on a topic, theme, or concept: Provide broad areas of interest (e.g. memoir, textbooks, female characters, stories set in Latin America).
Research specific keywords: Provide a specific list of keywords for the tool to research, which will replace the initial 10 keywords Insight automatically identifies for your book.
- Note: It’s possible that the tool may return zero related results for some specific keyword searches.
Example prompts:
- “Search Amazon UK for keywords related to my book. Focus on topics like female detectives, British mystery, and cozy mystery.”
- “Search Amazon US for the following keywords: [enter your list of keywords here]”
Follow-up prompts to refine the results
Use Insight’s pre-defined follow-up questions to narrow down the results, based on how you want to use these terms.
Low competition keywords
- Prompt: “Identify keywords with high monthly searches but low competition, avoid author and book names.”
- Why: These are easier to rank for and can bring targeted traffic.
Trending keywords
- Prompt: “Show me keywords with positive monthly and quarterly trends that indicate growing interest.”
- Why: Tap into rising reader interests and trends.
Authors & titles
- Prompt: “Extract the most suitable author names and book titles from this data that I could reference in my book description.”
- Why: Mentioning comparable authors/titles can help readers find your book.
New keyword ideas
- Prompt: “Based on this data, suggest 10 new keyword variations I should research next.”
- Why: Expand your keyword pool and discover niches you might have missed.
Understand the results
When you use the Insight keyword tool, the data you get back is based on real reader searches on Amazon—not just a list of book-related terms or genres. This means:
- Some keywords will be directly relevant to your book’s plot, setting, or themes
- Others may seem unexpected or unrelated at first glance (e.g., author names, book titles, or even broader topics)
- Some results may be very broad (“emotional intelligence”), while others are highly specific (“female protagonist curse”)
Why results may not look like traditional book keywords
Reader search behavior: Real readers often search by author, title, or even by a theme or problem (“books about grief,” “healing from trauma”) rather than by a textbook genre label.
Marketplace trends: Some high-volume keywords may be trending because of a viral book, a popular author, or a current event—even if they don’t seem to match your book exactly.
Competitive landscape: The tool shows you what’s actually being searched and what’s getting attention, not just what you think should be relevant.
How to interpret the data
Spot reader language: Use keywords that reflect how readers talk about their needs (“trauma healing books,” “angel of death novel”)—even if these aren’t the phrases you’d use in a pitch.
Leverage author/title searches: If you see author names or book titles (e.g., “cs lewis,” “the alchemist book”), these can be useful for:
- Positioning your book as “for fans of [author/title]” in your description
- Targeting readers of similar books in ads
Broader terms have value: Keywords like “emotional intelligence” or “resilience book” may not be genre-specific, but they attract readers interested in those themes. Use them in your description or backend keywords if your book genuinely fits.
Niche and trendy terms: Don’t ignore low-volume but highly relevant keywords (“Istanbul fantasy book,” “female protagonist curse”). These can help you stand out in a crowded market.
Ignore irrelevant results: Not every keyword will fit your book. Focus on those that match your content, audience, or comparable titles.
Data columns explained
Keyword: The actual phrase readers are typing into Amazon
Monthly Searches (Exact): The number of times this specific keyword is searched in a month
Monthly Searches (Broad): The number of times this keyword and related terms (like phrases and synonyms) are searched in a month
Monthly and Quarterly Trend: Percentage of change in search volume for this term. Is this keyword becoming more or less popular?
Relevancy Score: How closely the keyword matches your search intent or book topic (higher is better)
Organic and Sponsored Products: How many products are targeting this keyword (lower can be better for discoverability)
PPC Bid: Approximate per-click cost of sponsored ads for this keyword
Put this data to work for your books
Select 7–10 keywords that best match your book’s themes, tropes, and reader interests.
Incorporate relevant phrases into your book descriptions, social media posts, and ad copy.
Monitor trends: If a search term is rising in popularity, consider featuring it more prominently in your book description.
Position your book using author/title keywords for comp marketing (“Perfect for fans of…”, “If you loved [title], try…”).
Test and refine: Use different combinations in descriptions and metadata, and track what drives sales and visibility.