SEO is the tool that can be used to insure that your eBook is listed as close as possible to the top of the relevant search results on Amazon, Apple, Google, Kobo, and any number of other online retailers and e-libraries. This eBook will show you how to *Optimise Metadata for Online Search *Increase discoverability on retail channels *Use Keywords to market your eBook Internationally *Set goals and measure results Should SEO be important to you? You can bank on it.

1. Using SEO in
Metadata
Marketing
ePubDirectGlobaleBookDistribution
AWARD-WINNING GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION

2. EPUBDIRECT | GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION
AUTHOR
Patrick Crowley
Digital Marketing Manager
With seven years experience in publishing and a track
record of achievement in business development,
strategic planning and online marketing, Patrick is
responsible for managing the relationships between
eBook retailers and ePubDirect’s client publishers.
An expert in metadata, discoverability and inbound
marketing, he collaborates with strategic partners to
maximise commercial opportunities in the digital world.
pcrowley@epubdirect.com
Follow him on Twitter @patrickpcrowley
2 www.epubdirect.com

3. Metadata = Sales
CONTENT
Why SEO is important 4
SEO Case Study 6
Keyword Research 7
Tracking Your eBook’s Success 9
We were anxious to grow eBook sales and
were able to achieve this through the fantastic
support, help, advice and expertise delivered by
ePubDirect. This has been a super exercise and
we have learned so much.
Paul Neilan, Sales Manager, Gill and Macmillan
We are delighted to be working with ePubDirect.
They are in touch with the changing retail
landscape and are flexible and responsive. The
distribution portal is excellent—easy to use and
understand, with comprehensive live sales data
and flexible billing reports.
Rebecca Smart, CEO, Osprey
“
“
”
”
3
ePubDirectGlobaleBookDistribution

4. Chapter 1
Why SEO is important to you
EPUBDIRECT | GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION
SEO is the process of structuring your metadata
or eBook so that it is found, read, and indexed by
retailers/search engines in the most effective manner
possible.
This makes your eBook and its content attractive,
relevant and visible to retailer, search engines and
customers.
SEO IN METADATA MARKETING
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes your eBook
easy for both users and retailer/search engines to
understand. Amazon and Google still can’t see and
understand your information the same way a human
does. SEO helps the retailers/engines figure out what
each eBook is about, and how it may be useful for
users.
WHAT IS SEO?
MAKE IT EASY!
4 www.epubdirect.com

5. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Online eBook consumer behaviour is very different to
traditional ‘Bricks and Mortar’ book buying behaviour.
With an eBook, you don’t have a tangible product so
all the potential customers makes their decision on is
the information you give them. You might have a great
eBook but if people cannot easily locate it they can’t
purchase it. Potentially valuable customers never even
know you are there.
SEO is the tool that can be used to insure that your
eBook is listed as close as possible to the top of the
relevant search results on Amazon, Apple, Google,
Kobo, and any number of other online retailers and
e-libraries.
Without SEO it will be as if those customers walk right
past your book on the shelf without even knowing
that its there. Should SEO be important to you? You
can bank on it.
MAXIMISE
It is a tremendous responsibility for us
to have all the eyes focused on what we
do and give people exactly what they
need when they ask for it.
Larry Page - Google
“
”

6. Chapter 2
SEO Case Study
EPUBDIRECT | GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION
CHALLENGE:
ePubDirect’s client publisher had a great mass market
title which was enjoying good physical sales. But this
had not translated into good eBook sales and the title
was deemed to be underperforming.
SOLUTION:
ePubDirect worked with the client publisher to
improve sales. Adjustments were made to the title
SEO in the areas of
• Title
• Subtitle
• Descriptive Metadata
• Author Description
These changes were monitored for impact on sales
and supported by in-house marketing support.
EVALUATION:
Within 8 weeks the quantity of the titles sales
increased by 75% and revenue increased by 66%.
MONITOR YOUR DATA
OPTIMISE
75%
INCREASE
IN TITLE SALES
66%
INCREASE
IN REVENUE
6 www.epubdirect.com

7. Chapter 3
Keyword Research
Keyword research is one of the most important,
valuable, and high return activities in the search
marketing field. Ranking for the “right” keywords can
make or break your eBook.
Through the detective work of puzzling out your
market’s keyword demand, you not only learn which
terms and phrases to target with SEO, but also learn
more about your customers as a whole.
USE DATA NOT GUT INSTINCT
You can find out what search terms people are
actually looking for around your title/subject area so
don’t guess! Analyse your subject area and see what
the most popular search terms are, check to see
what terms are high competition and which have low
competition.
BUILD A KEYWORD LIST FOR
EACH GENRE OR SERIES
Pick a list of words relevant to your
list. Then create separate lists of these
keywords for title or series. Focus on “long-
tail keywords” – keywords that are very
specific to your title and the topic it covers.
For example: fiction is a broad keyword
that will be hard to get traffic for, and
fiction fantasy romance is a long-tail key term with
less competition that will be easier to get traffic for.
LEARN ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS

8. EPUBDIRECT | GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION
DO INTERNATIONAL KEYWORD
RESEARCH
See what keywords are most popular in each country
you’re targeting, and optimise the metadata accordingly.
Also, remember that even a correct and accurate
translation of a keyword or term may not be what people
actually use to search for a product or service locally.
USE CORRECT SPELLING VARIATIONS
American and British folks may speak the same language,
but there are nuances that are important to address
(color vs. colour, optimization vs. optimisation, etc.) To
all you U.S. readers: you thought we were misspelling
“optimise,” didn’t you?
KEYWORD RESEARCH IS FREE AND
EFFECTIVE!
Keyword research will inspire and educate. Discover the
long tail of keyword research. Find the best keywords
for your eBook list. Discover keywords, search engines
- and how to get more visitors to your eBook. The most
popular tool is the Google Keyword Planner, but there
are many others like SEOBOOK and FREEPPCSPY.
THINK GLOBAL
8 www.epubdirect.com

9. Chapter 4
Tracking Your eBook’s Success
Ensure that you have eBook analytics in place to
measure the success of your eBook strategy. Visibility
on eBook performance has become crucial for
publishers to enable them make decisions around
pricing, sales channels, return on investment and
future resource allocation.
You can use eBook Insights from ePubDirect to
track your performance, both internally and against
industry specific benchmarks.
You can also measure the effect of marketing
campaigns and react to daily sales information. In this
way you are able to measure your eBook’s success!
TRACK YOUR SUCCESS
Flash reportsPublisher Sales TimelineOverview
Period Summary Year To Date Average Selling Prices
Titles Sold: Titles Sold: Your Average:
353 1360 8.56
Earnings: Earnings: ePubDirect Average:
1511.03 6851.25 5.54
Unit Difference on Comparison Period: Average Revenue per Title Sold: Difference:
7.2% 5.04 54.4%
more expensive
Top Five Selling Countries Country Sales Breakdown
No. Country Code Count
1 USA 102
2 UK 85
3 Australia 77
4 Ireland 56
5 Canada 44
Top Sellers Retailer Quantity Breakdown
No. Title Revenue
0
100
USA IRE GB AU CA
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
90
9

10. EPUBDIRECT | GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION
When everyone is playing the same
game, your execution is crucial!“
”
3 Australia 77
4 Ireland 56
5 Canada 44
Top Sellers Retailer Quantity Breakdown
No. Title Revenue
1 Jane Eyre 120.33
2 Wuthering Heights 113.02
3 Portrait of the Art-
ist as a Young Man
78.14
4 Heart of Darkness 98.14
5 Hamlet 54.88
0
USA IRE GB AU CA
50
40
30
20
10
10 www.epubdirect.com
Our analytics platform captures all available sales information, from monthly
reports to daily flash reports, and combines it with marketing information to build
a picture of the variations in performance of your list.
WHEN EVERYONE IS PLAYING THE SAME
GAME, YOUR EXECUTION IS CRITICAL.
T: +44 870 8200049 | T: +353 21 7304650
E: info@epubdirect.com | www.epubdirect.co
• Analyse and review key performance
indicators (KPIs) to show key variances
and period-on-period trends
• Track the performance of multiple marketing
campaigns against current sales data
• Measure marketing ROI against
sales volumes and revenues
• Accurate and timely business
intelligence across your entire list
allowing you to maximize productivity
and identify key issues
Flash reportsPublisher Sales TimelineOverview
Flash reportsPublisher Sales TimelineOverview
Highlight an area of the graph with your cursor to zoom. Double click to zoom out.
Flash Report
Marketing Spend
Campaign A
€75
Campaign B
€100
Campaign C
€150
Units Sold
ePubDirectGlobaleBookDistribution
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
31-Jul-12 3-Aug-12 6-Aug-12 9-Aug-12 12-Aug-12 15-Aug-12 18-Aug-12 21-Aug-12 24-Aug-12 27-Aug-12

11. 11
Contact us now
for a free demo of
our analytics package
Contact us now
for a free Metadata evaluation
ePubDirectGlobaleBookDistribution
AWARD-WINNING GLOBAL EBOOK DISTRIBUTION