When it comes time to select a title and subtitle for your book, it’s essential to conduct research to see which keywords and keyword phrases people are searching for on Amazon in relation to your topic. This will help with organic book sales—the sales you make via online retailers when you’re not actively marketing your book. You’re going to use these keywords and phrases in your book’s metadata, and here’s why...

Amazon is the world’s largest search engine for e-commerce. If you want your book to appear in more searches, then it’s imperative that you set up your book’s product listing optimized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The way we do that is to put valuable keywords and phrases where we can, in this order of hierarchy:

Title
Subtitle
Book Description
Hidden Keyword Tags

However, we don’t always include keywords in our titles and instead rely on the subtitle to help our book with searchability.

I like to think of titles and subtitles like this...

Titles grab attention.
Subtitles call out to our target audience and let them know what the book is about and their benefit for reading it.

While it’s most helpful when we can put our main keyword in the title, sometimes that’s just not an option. In fact, some of the best titles don’t say much about the book at all. They are intriguing and attention-grabbing but they don’t have a keyword, and that’s okay, as long as they have a strong subtitle that does include those keywords and explains what the book is about.

Here are a few examples of catchy titles of bestselling books (without keywords):

Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

The E-Myth by Michael Gerber

As you’ll notice, those all have intriguing titles that grab your attention but then rely on the subtitle to deliver the book’s bold promise:

Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

That said, if you are able to create a title with keywords, your book will likely show up in more searches. Ultimately, only you can decide whether you want to go with a catchy title to grab attention or one that includes your main keyword.

Take the title of my book, for example. I placed my main keyword, “self-publishing,” right in the title: Self-Publishing Success. So if someone types self-publishing into the Amazon search bar, my book will likely show up in that search (with a few other variables to consider, such as search volume, sales ranking, and such).

However, I could have gone with an intriguing title that may have grabbed attention, but it wouldn’t have appeared in as many searches for books on self-publishing. In that case, I would have made sure to utilize the keyword “self-publishing” in the subtitle.

Even if your title does include your main keyword, you can still include other helpful keywords in your subtitle as well. For example, though I used my main keyword—“self-publishing”—in my title, I also worked in other strong keyword phrases—“write a book”; “how to write a book”; “non-fiction book” and “publish”—into the subtitle. In doing this, I made sure it called out to my target audience: aspiring authors looking to write a non-fiction book and self-publish.

Self-Publishing Success: How to Write a Non-Fiction Book That Makes an Impact and Publish it Like a Pro

Since I have three of my strongest keywords/keyword phrases in my title and subtitle (I’ve put them in bold for you), now my book will show up in plenty of searches, depending on what my ideal reader types into the Amazon search bar. This is a great way to keep your book in front of your target audience organically. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still need to ignite Amazon’s algorithm through a strategic book launch and continue to market your book, but this will help with organic sales that happen while you sleep, and what’s better than that?

Tips for creating a title and subtitle that sells:

Choose a title that’s either catchy or includes your main keyword. I prefer the latter.
The best titles are short (1 to 3 words). Save the details for the subtitle.
Your subtitle should call out to your ideal reader, and they should be able to read the subtitle and know exactly what your book is about and what benefit they will receive by reading it. This is especially important if you don’t put your main keyword in your title.
Add a keyword/phrase or two, but be mindful not to “keyword stuff” as that’s frowned upon by Amazon.
Do not use the same keyword twice, as it’s against Amazon’s terms of service. For instance, if I had Self-Publishing Success: How to Write a Non-Fiction Book that Makes an Impact and Self-Publish it Like a Pro, Amazon may have flagged my book and removed it from sale. I’ve seen it happen on day one of an author’s launch, which caused a world of trouble and embarrassment for that author, so do not make that mistake.

Take some time and do your market research on Amazon to see what your target audience is searching for, and then craft a title and subtitle that best fits your book’s topic and calls out to your ideal reader.

***This blog post is an excerpt from Chapter 8 (Preparing to Publishing) of Self-Publishing Success.