I have a prospect who has asked me to look into a strategy that required me to learn how to get higher ranking on Amazon.com. So I did some research and here’s my X-Point Plan:
Possible Amazon Ranking Factors
- The calculation is based on sales and is updated each hour to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold.
- Hypothetically, a book that held a ranking of 2,000 at 2pm and 3,000 at 3pm, might hold a 4,000 ranking at 4pm, even if it actually sold MORE books between 3-4 than it did between 2-3. (Brent Sampson)
- Defect rate and a record of in-stock fulfillment are our primary metrics
- According to Morris Rosenthal, You have to get an average rank for at least a week on stronger sellers for it to have any meaning at all
- Rosenthal also claims that, “You have to get an average rank for at least a week on stronger sellers for it to have any meaning at all
- According to Timothy Fish, rankings are published on an hourly basis, but the actual rankings are updated with each sale.
- The folks at BKP Extranet say you should get at least 10 customer reviews of your book posted on Amazon as soon as your book is available,
- Take advantage of Author Central and Author Pages,
- Use Listmania, “So You’d Like to” Guides,
- Use tags
Amazon Ranking Tracker Software
Yes, I’m serious, there are tools to track your progress, but don’t necessarily help you get higher ranking on Amazon.com. Here’s the list I picked up from an Amazon Rank Guru (Aaron Shepard) and Rosenthal mentioned above:
Estimations from Brent Sampson
It is difficult to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense. But it sure is interesting, and now, perhaps, even slightly helpful. If the book’s average ranking is:
- 2,000,000+ Perhaps a single inventory/consignment copy has been ordered
- 1,000,000+ Current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 40
- 100,000+ Current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 200
- 10,000+ Estimate between 1 – 10 copies being sold per week
- 1,000+ Estimate between 10 – 100 copies being sold per week
- 100+ Estimate between 100 – 200 copies being sold per week
- 10+ Estimate between 200 – 1000 copies being sold per week
- Under 10 Estimate over 1,000 copies per week
Amazon Ranking Might Be Rocket Science
Based on the above info from all the great folks who’ve already done the research for us, here’s a possible way to conquer your higher ranking goal:
- Sell your soul to a publisher
- Plan a “Launch Date” with 3-6 months of Fast-Follow events
- Have your publisher list your book on Amazon.com the DAY OF your launch
- Get on TV or radio the day of the launch (Est. $15k)
- Fast-follow with a 1-month campaign of buyers who you’ve given Amazon Gift Cards to and a “preferred purchase date & time” to (Est. $5k)
- Fast-follow the first month with a month of getting 500 of bloggers who write on your topic to become Amazon Associates and sell your book, offering a $20 Amazon Gift Card to them as well (Est. $10k)
- Fast-follow the second month with a press release blast through PR.com (pay the $60) about the popularity of the book and asking for book reviews from 4 major critics. Point the link under the About section of your press release with your Amazon link (Est. $4k, $1k per critic bribe)
- Beyond that point, always tell people in your blog, on your website, in articles, on TV, on radio, in speeches and lectures, on business cards, on CraigsList.org, and on flyers to visit Amazon.com to get the book and to leave comments on Amazon.com after they’ve read the book.
After paying for all the above and giving up your soul to a publishing company, you’re likely to be in some serious debt for awhile. If you’re lucky, after about a year if you go through a POQ Publisher you might actually make some money.
My advice: Do some SEO and enjoy the free organic traffic from the search engines, and don’t worry so much about Amazon.com ranking.
