How to Pick a Keyword Friendly eBook Title

One of the hardest parts of an ebook, after writing it, is figuring out how to pick a title for it. In this post, I’ll tell you how to pick a keyword friendly eBook title.

When it comes to your title, especially of your first book, don’t try to be creative with it. No one is forcing you not to be, but I’ve found that a clear title is easier to sell than a creative one. It lets the reader know exactly what they’re getting into before they even click on your book.

Which one of these gives a better picture for the reader, assuming they contain the same content?

101 Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids or Laugh Your Butt Off

The first gives the reader a clear idea of what the book contains, which is 101 knock-knock jokes aimed at children. There is no mystery involved, it’s in your face. What you see is what you get. A kid would get a kick out of it while an adult would probably be better off getting their laughs somewhere else.

The second is clearly a joke book, but the contents are unknown. You might laugh your butt off reading it, but it doesn’t say who it’s targeted to or what its contents are. It’s a gamble even to click on it, especially if the writer is an unknown author. Now if it was written by someone with a track record for laughs, say a comedian, then you’re not looking at the title, but more of the author.

What you want to also include is a strong subtitle. Your subtitle is everything your wish you could have in your title, but don’t want to make it long-winded. You could go with (title) Laugh Your Butt Off: (subtitle) 101 Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids because that is essentially the best of both worlds. The title could be better, but the subtitle is a strong description of the book. A better title would be Children’s Joke Book. Not only are you hitting more keywords with you titles, but still including the description.

Things to include in your titles: keyword-driven problems or topics

Things to include in your subtitles: keyword-driven solutions, a time frame, buzzwords, how to

A more realistic example would be if I had a problem doing pushups. I would search for “how to do more pushups”. Say a title/subtitle pops up saying “The Ultimate Pushup Guide: How to do 100 Pushups in 30 Days”. Let’s dissect this a bit from my point of view.

  • The Ultimate: Oh man, this must be the only book I’ll need to get my pushup count up.
  • Pushup Guide: Pushups is what I need to do, and this will help me out.
  • How to do 100 Pushups: That’s a lot more than I can do now, this will help me get there.
  • In 30 Days: In a month I’ll be doing 100 pushups? That’s exactly how much time I want to spend to reach my goals. Sign me up!

This helps the reader know exactly what they’re getting into before they read you description, which will convince them to go through with the purchase.