How To Find Crazily Profitable Kindle Keywords [Cookbook Guide Part 2]

Last Updated on August 28, 2020 by Jordan Alexo

Now things are about to get chilly hot! I’m going to explain how you can analyze the selection of Kindle keywords you should have obtained previously. In case you haven’t read the first post of this guide, then click here. In my last post, I explained the pros and cons of publishing a cookbook and how to find a vast selection of potential keywords.

So at this point, you should have 50 to 100 keywords, but should you do next? Well, it’s time you analyze their profitability and competitiveness. For this, you must follow the criteria you are about to learn here. You can also use the same analysis for another niche.

In case you go here and are wondering what the heck is happening. Well, this is part 2 of 5, where I explain everything you must learn to publish a money-making cookbook on Kindle Direct Publishing.

If you haven’t read the previous post, then make sure to check them here:

• Part 1: How To Self-Publish A Delicious Cookbook On Amazon
• Part 2: How to find crazily profitable keywords (book titles)
• Part 3: How to design a high-quality cookbook cover
• How to publish your cookbook on Kindle Direct Publishing

How To Analyze Kindle Keyword Profitability And Competitiveness [Video Guide]

 

The Profitability And Competitiveness Criteria [Keyword Research]

I will go more in detail about the criteria later on this guide. I recommend you download Kindle Spy since this software dramatically speeds the keyword analysis process. However, here are the profitability and competitiveness tests for each keyword. Just search for one of your found keywords on Amazon, then open the Kindle Spy window and see the following data:

Profitability Tests

1) Average Sales Below: the total sum of the sales rank of the books on the front page of results divided by their number. Go to a keyword, open the KDSpy, and check the avg. Sales rank.

Also, exclude non-related and free books. Otherwise, it will mess up the average. I like to have an average sales rank of 200.000 or less, up to 300.000.

2) Books With A Sales Rank Less Than or Equal To 30.000: count the number of books listed 30.000 or fewer Sales Rank on KDSpy. You should have at least two or more books.

These two tests give a good idea of whether a keyword is profitable or not.

Competitiveness Tests

1) Number of Results: using the same keyword you analyzed before, check the number of results appearing on the top left of the list. This number should be 1000 or less. The more results, usually the harder it is to overcome your competition.

However, take this with a grain of salt, sometimes this maybe 2000 or 3000.

2) Books With 100 or More Reviews: count the number of books with 100 or more reviews on KDSpy. Typically, these books belong to authors. I enjoy having about five or less, up to seven if you have many authors, then it may be challenging for you to compete with them.

Okay, now that you have a basic idea, let’s go more in detail about the whole process.

 

What Are The Tools You Need For Keyword Research?

 

1) Open a Spreadsheet

Just open a spreadsheet and add the fields shown below. You can either use Microsoft Office or WPS Office, which is a similar free alternative. Add a column for Keywords, Average BSR, Book BSR, Results, and Reviews. Afterward, copy and paste all your keywords to the spreadsheet. I explained how to get them on my previous post here.

2) Install Kindle Spy

I suggest you get this software because it will help you analyze keywords more quickly. Otherwise, you will need to open several windows to obtain the same data for each book. As you may imagine, doing this is tedious and time-consuming. Just click here to download KDSpy. I will use this app to analyze my keywords throughout this guide.

3) Analyze Each Kindle Keyword

Once you have the necessary tools, you want to analyze each keyword one by one. Just follow the mentioned advice, which will help you see keyword profitability and competitiveness.

 You must understand these factors before you decide to publish a book. Otherwise, you risk wasting time and money publishing a book either that won’t be profitable or on a too competitive keyword.

 Let’s take a closer look at each criterion in more detail. I will also share my thinking process throughout this guide.

Test #1 Profitability: Average Sales Rank

The average Sales Rank is the total sum of all the books on the front page, divided by their number. I recommend having an average sales rank of about 200.000 or lower. However, this value may go up to 300.000. Meaning if you see an average of 260.000 or something similar, then don’t immediately assume it’s a shitty keyword.

A good average means most books on the front page of results for that keyword are profitable. Therefore, by publishing a book there, then there is a good chance of making money. Just look at the examples below:

1) The avg. sales rank for, “Keto cookbook” is 71.000, that is an excellent value. In case you rank a book there, then you would probably sell it like hotcakes.

2) The avg. sales rank for the “Chinese cookbook” is 302.000. It doesn’t sound too promising, and probably publishing a cookbook here wouldn’t make much money.

Removing Outliers

I guess now you have a good idea about how to find the average sales rank. However, you should always remove outliers, such as:

1. Free Kindle book: Often, these books may appear with a high sales rank like “2000 to 5000 BSR.” However, this value isn’t related to the book’s selling rate, but instead, its total number of daily free downloads.
2. Non-relevant books: Sometimes, books get misplaced by Amazon, such as novels ranking for “Italian recipes.” Or, a Yoga book showing up for “Paleo Diet.” These books aren’t listed appropriately and may ruin your average sales rank. Therefore, you should exclude them.

Make sure to analyze the book titles and sales rank of the listed Kindle books. In case you see an outlier, then click on the small checkbox and uncheck them. As a result, you should get a more accurate average sales rank.

Exercise:

Just analyze one of your listed keywords and check its average sales rank, then write it on your spreadsheet. Note, make sure to exclude any outlier. Example:

You only need to write the first digits before the comma on your spreadsheet.

 

Test #2 Profitability: Books With The Sales Rank Lower or Equal to 30.000 or Less

You should count the number of books with the sales rank lower or equal to 30.000. I suggest at least three or more books with this rank. This value indicates you have a chance of hitting a home run with your cookbook.

I count eight books with the sales rank lower or equal to 30.000. Now I go back to my spreadsheet and write this number.

My Thought Process About, “Carnivore Cookbook” Profitability?

Based on these two tests, this Kindle keyword is profitable. But I’m not going to get too excited without first checking its competition difficulty. In case you see a keyword isn’t profitable, then don’t waste time analyzing the rest. All the rest doesn’t matter if you can’t make money publishing books there.

Exercise:

Go back to the previous keyword, the one you analyzed on “test #1 profitability”, search for it on Amazon. Afterward, count the number of Kindle books with the ranking 30.000 or less, and write it on your spreadsheet. Use the same thought process as mine, is this keyword profitability or not? If not, then pass to the next and rinse and repeat the same tests. Otherwise, check its competitiveness.

Test #1 Competition: Number of Results

You want to count the number of results for your keyword. The more results a keyword has, the harder it is for you to overcome your competition. A good rule of thumb is to keep this number about 1000 or lower; however, take this with a grain of salt, sometimes you can go up to 2000 or more. Just go to your keyword and check the number of results.

For the “carnivore cookbook” keyword, I have 311 results. I write down this value on my spreadsheet.

Exercise:

If your keyword was proven to be profitable, then make this first competitiveness test. Is the number of results 1000 or below, or higher? In case it’s higher, don’t give up yet without making the last test. Also, write down this value on your spreadsheet.

Test #2 Competition: Books With Equal Or More Than 100 Reviews

In the last competitiveness test, you want to count the number of books with 100 or more reviews for your keyword. Often Kindle books with this number of reviews belong to authors; because they already have a broad audience of people ready to purchase their books and leave feedback. Most publishers don’t have the same advantage, and usually, they obtain lesser reviews.

You want to have a maximum of 5 to 7 authors. More than this, then it’s too competitive. Also, try to find books published by publishers, you can easily see this by the number of reviews and checking their author page. Hint often, these books have between 20 to 40 reviews. Once again, I am going to use KDSpy.

I count about 12 Kindle books with 100 or more reviews. I write this number on my spreadsheet.

Exercise:

Count the number of books with 100 or more reviews for your keyword. Afterward, write this number on your spreadsheet.

Last Thoughts About, “Carnivore Cookbook”

Well, the keyword is profitability, but the competition at first glance is stiff. But taking a closer look, there are few things I’ve noticed:

• Some books belong to publishers.
• The last book results aren’t relevant to the search. In other words, there aren’t enough Carnivore cookbooks, and Amazon fills the gap with other ones.
• Many of the book covers, titles don’t look great.

So despite these tests, always make a more in-depth analysis. The fact is Amazon wants to provide its customers with relevant book results. Otherwise, customers would search for Yoga books and instead, get novels, martial art books, and other nonsense. Meaning, their system prioritizes relevant books by giving them a better rank for their main keyword.

Now going back to the “Carnivore cookbook” keyword, I feel there is still a chance to beat the competition. How may I do this?

• Providing a cookbook optimized for “carnivore cookbook.”
• Getting more reviews than other publishers
• Having a better cover design and enticing subtitle

And of course, by having higher-quality content than my competitors. For this, I need to research my competitors’ books and see their flaws. So I may produce a cookbook superior to theirs.

Anyway, do these tests to analyze your keyword but also make sure to ask, is there a way to beat my competition? Afterward, explore all the little details as I did here. Sometimes, you may find a few cracks where you can get in and dominate.