Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz
| @randfish | rand@moz.com Applying SEO & Startup Tactics to Book Marketing

Slides online at
bit.ly/mozbookmarketing

Why Does Search Matter to
Authors?

More recent data is hard
to come by, but it’s probable that 50%+ of book sales happen online, and many offline purchases are influenced by online exposure. Via DBW/Bowker

Via a Survey I Conducted
On Twitter

Via SimilarWeb

Via SimilarWeb In ecommerce, search
is the traffic referral leader

The
Startup Marketing Model

Identify Right Customers

Right Customer Via Sarah C.
Andersen

Who are they?

What social networks do they
use?

Where do they go on
the web? Via Followerwonk

Who are their influencers?

Not Into Tools? Can’t Find
YourAudience on Social? Have Conversations! So… What kinda sites do you dogs visit?

Target the Right Audience in
the Right Places

YourAudience isAlready Spending Time at
These Places: Via SimilarWeb’s Top Sites

You Can Leverage that Attention
by Contributing to…

Massive Networks Like Facebook Via
TheFinancialBrand Via SearchEngineLand Althoughwe’ve seenorganicreachdippingfor years,there’sbeena resurgencethanksto audienceoptimization

Influencer Networks Like Twitter Via
Analytics.Twitter.com

Visual Networks Like Instagram Via
Iconosquare

Professional Networks Like LinkedIn We’ve
seen a recent rise in engagement and CTR on LinkedIn for the right kinds of content

AnImportantNoteonSocialNetworks-- Signal:Noise Ratio is Critical
to Reach Because this post didn’t do well, Facebook won’t show my next few posts to as many users 

Video Sites Like YouTube Via
Moz’s YouTube Channel

Online Communities Like Reddit Via
Reddit.com/r/books

Q+ASites Like Quora Via Quora’s
Mystery Novels Topic

Niche Communities Like Inbound.org Via
Inbound.org

Comment Sections LikeAVC
Via AVC

Book-Centric Sites Like GoodReads Via
Norwegian by Night on Goodreads

Publishers thatAccept Guest Contributions Like
Good Housekeeping Via Good Housekeeping

Targeting Your Audience with Paid
Advertising

Ad Click-Through-RatesAreAbominable
Via SearchEngineLand

Half ofAll MobileAd Clicks areAccidental
Via SearchEngineLand

But,Ads are Getting Far More
Sophisticated Via Sovrn

And even though we don’t
think they influence us, they do Via Harvard Business Review

The Key toAd Buying is
ROI $0.25 / Click X 200 Visits $50 TotalAd Spend= 200 Visits X 5 Sales = 2.5% Conversion Rate $50 ÷ 5 Sales = $10 Cost ofAcquiring a Customer (CAC) You want this figure to be less than you make per sale

FacebookAds

GoogleAdWords

Google ShoppingAds

Retargeting (Google,AdRoll) More on Whiteboard
Friday e.g. I visited Squarespace while building this slide deck, and now their ads follow me around the web like a lost puppy dog

TwitterAds
Via NYTimes

InstagramAds Good Guide to Instagram
Ads from AdEspresso

PinterestAds

Google DisplayAds

Custom/SmallAd Publishers Via Hark! A
Vagrant

Sponsored Content (Outbrain, Taboola)

If You Have Email Addresses,
You Can Also Use:

Facebook Custom
Audiences
Via Facebook

GoogleAdWords’Customer Match
Via SearchEngineLand

Newsletters & BookAnnouncements Via Dan
Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational)

Good, Free Mailing List Options:
Mailchimp: Freeto2,000 subscribersor12,000 emails/month,great deliverability NewsletterforWP: Requiresabitofinstallation, butfreetounlimited numbersofsubscribers BenchmarkEmail: Freeto2,000subscribers or14,000emails/month, easyUI

Attract an Audience to Your
Platform

Is your publishing platform holding
you back? Sometimes, content isn’t the problem.

SEO-friendly access for crawlers and
searchers Great user experience on every device Compelling reasons to subscribe, share, & return Freedom from features that would annoy or dissuade visitors Content that’s consistently interesting, useful, and/or engaging to a distinct audience Does My Publishing Platform Provide:

Platforms to Consider Include: Wordpress:
Free,extensible, powerful,haslotsof plugins&developers Wix: Easytemplates,good support,strongdesigns, inexpensive Squarespace: Solidtemplates,easyto manage,inexpensive,

Good Comparison of Options: Via
ArtBizBlog

I’m a Big Fan of
Jane Friedman’sAdvice onAuthor Websites: Via JaneFriedman

How do you build a
platform that consistently attracts your audience?

Publish web content Amplify Grow
network Increase ability to rank in search engines Increase brand recognition Learn & iterate on amplification tactics Earn ongoing search traffic

Content Can Mean Many Things

Photos
Via Maptia

Animations
Via BusinessInsider

Data Via Our World in
Data

Tools
Via NomadList

Comics
Via LawComic.net

Communities
Via Inbound.org

For Most Writers, It Means
Written Content

Blog Posts
Via WorldsBestDetective.com

Guides Via Moz’s Beginner’s Guide
to SEO

Opinion Pieces Via The New
Yorker

Whitepapers
Via PricewaterhouseCoopers

Stories Via Radio Times

Maybe a Little Bit of
Promotion Via Neil Gaiman

But (if you want to
build a marketing flywheel) that can’t be your entire platform Via Rachael King I loved Rachael’s site, but there’s no flywheel happening, just promotion of her books and events.

Content Forms the Backbone of
What Gets Distributed on the Web Via Buzzsumo

It’s What Gets Shared on
Facebook Via Rand’s Facebook Page

What Ranks in Google

What Makes for Conversations on
Twitter Via Medium

What’s Shared Over Email Via
A Smart Bear

What’s Posted on LinkedIn, Google+,
Snapchat, and Instagram

But, Content Only Matters If
It’s Seen Via Buzzsumo

It’s Often the Same Effort
to Make Content No One Sees, As Content Thousands Do

Who will help amplify this
and why? Start With a GreatAnswer to the Question:

This is not a right
answer: Museum goers will love this. And maybe museum curators, too. Via MattKelm

This is a right answer:
I did an analysis of all the recent major museum thefts Carolyn & Shelley have already expressed interest in seeing the finished piece

SEO Best Practices Earn Ongoing
Traffic by Leveraging

Accessibility is Critical Via the
YouMoz Blog

Wordpress is a Great Shortcut
Via Wordpress

Google Search Console Can Highlight
Many Problems Via Google Search Console

Moz, ScreamingFrog, or OnPage.org CanAlso
Be Useful for Crawl Issues Via Moz Pro, Screaming Frog Crawler, and OnPage.org

Keywords
Still Matter

And Google is SmartAbout Matching
Concepts & Topics to Keywords

Titles and Headlines? Still Important.
Page titles come from the HTMLcode, and (usually) appear as the headline of the piece.

The Search Snippet? Still Important.
Does the title match what searchers want? Does the URLseem compelling? Does your site sound trustworthy or sketchy? Is your result fresh? Do searchers want a newer result? Does the description create curiosity & entice a click? Do you get the brand dropdown?

Meta Keywords? Useless. Via Google’s
Webmaster Central Blog

Keyword Stuffing? Will Only Hurt
You. No one wants to click on a page like that (and Google penalizes these types of pages)

Links Still Matter Via Moz’s
2015 Ranking Factors Link-based ranking factors

Ask: Who Will Link to
Me & Why? All these websites (and ~450 others) link to StopYoureKillingMe.com

Stumped? Check Out 100s of
Techniques on the Moz Blog Via Link Building on Moz

User Satisfaction Matters If Google
observes many searchers clicking this result, visiting the page, then bouncing back to the search results and, instead… Clicking this page, and seeming satisfied with those results… It’s very likely that, over time, KirkusReviews will outrank WaPo here.

Google Calls This Pogo-Sticking Via
Bill Slawski on Moz

Make the Back Button Your
Enemy NPR’s clean design, well-respected brand, options for listening or reading, solid visuals, and quality writing compel me to want to stay. If only they’d used good keywords in their title, they’d probably be on page 1

DO NOT Split Up Your
Content & Promotional Sites Tragically, Rachael is likely costing herself valuable branding and lots of lost search traffic by having two separate sites. Via Rachael-King.com and SoundofButterflies.Blogspot.com

Consider Which Page You Want
Ranking for Your Book IMO, Kate Beaton has this right. Get your own site ranking at the top, rather than Amazon, because then you control the user experience (and can use anAmazon affiliate link to get greater revenue from your sales)

You Control Much of This
Through How You/Your Publisher Choose to Link in Press & Bios

MoreAbout SEO: Prefer text +
visuals? See Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO Prefer video? See Skillshare’s SEO that Matters class

Use Data to Learn What
Works vs. Doesn’t

GoogleAnalytics Looking at “site content”
(under “behavior”) can show you which pages are attracting and engaging visitors, and which ones aren’t.

Jetpack Apopular alternative to GoogleAnalytics,
many site owners appreciate the simpler, more intuitive reports despite fewer bells & whistles. Via Jetpack Stats

Bit.ly I track all my
content that I share to get a sense of what works, and where it performs best

ANeat Hack You Can Do
with Bit.ly Just add a + to the end of any bitly URL: http://responsivecitypress+

Buzzsumo Buzzsumo is invaluable for
seeing content on any topic or from any site that’s performed well on social networks Via Buzzsumo Pro

Converting
Visitors to Buyers

We need to identify the
traits that separate customers who’ll buy, love, and amplify our books from those who won’t.

My Favorite Process: From Conversion
Rate Experts’ case study Boom. And Shakalaka.

Haven’t heard of the book
Heard of it, but didn’t buy Bought, read, & loved the book What do you think the book is about? How’d you hear about the book? What first made you interested? What would make you more likely to check it out? What are your biggest objections to purchase? What objections did you have to buying? What would have made you change your mind? What objections did you have and how did you overcome them? What did you love most about it? Can we share your story as a testimonial?

Create Messages and Sales Pages
that Overcome Your TargetAudience’s Objections Benefits that speak to Nir’s audience Authorities that Nir’s audience knows, likes, and trusts Multiple ways to get the book, even for non-readers Via Nir Eyal

Use These Messages on YourAmazon
and Publisher Pages, Too! Via Hooked on Amazon The same messages and editorial reviews work here, too

Retain, Delight, & Grow
Amplification

How do you know what
to create? Or where to invest?

What do you hate doing?
Via Tech Noir

What do you love to
do? Via Dsgnblog

What skill, talent, or creation
can set you apart from the crowd? Via Rand’s Blog One of my strengths is an ability to be contrarian, and to create homemade graphics that convey those opinions 

Improving the flywheel is an
iterative learning process No one starts out great at this.

This is Geraldine’s Blog:
Everywhereist.com

Geraldine started the website in
2009

For 2 years, she rarely
broke 100 visits/day

She had a few successes

But traffic fell back down
after these viral spikes

In Jan. 2012, she was
featured on Time’s “Best Blogs” list. Readers came by the thousands, and many stuck.

These days, she consistently breaks
100K visits/month (even when she took time off to write her book).

Thanks to the audience she
built and the flywheel of her blog’s content & distribution channels, Geraldine’s got a great opportunity to publish and market her work.

Failure + Learning x Time
= Success

Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz
| @randfish | rand@moz.com Bit.ly/mozbookmarketing