Quick Question

For indie writers and authors: how many of you use SEO as part of your online marketing strategy?

I ask because I’ve read a lot of posts lately about how draining it is for many of you when it comes time to market your books. And I get it! The so-called “best practices” change. All. The. Time. How to keep up with it?

The current formula has been around for a while so maybe it’s here to stay… maybe not.

Promoting your book is one thing. Marketing it is another.

The definition of marketing is pretty broad: it’s the entire strategy of identifying customers and their needs, setting proper pricing, choosing how to distribute and deciding whether your writing can be repurposed to create additional products or enter other genres and platforms.

The definition of promoting is narrower: it’s a specific focus on how you wish to communicate with your target audiences in a way that increases awareness of your book and, thereby, increases sales. This is also a great way to organically gain fans and followers.

Organic is ALWAYS better than sponsored. Always.

WHY is SEO so important for marketing and promoting you and your book?

The importance of SEO cannot be emphasized enough in today’s environment.

It’s the difference between your book being sold and read or not.

It’s the difference between you being recognized as an author or not.

There is a huge difference between sharing your news about the release of your new book with your peers and sharing it with your audience. And, optimizing for each platform is critical to your sales goals.

The demographics make a big difference in how – and where – you interact with your audience. Facebook’s largest audience age group is 25-34, with millennials up to age 45 being responsible for over half of all users on Facebook.

Adults under the age of 34 make up about 60% of Instagram users, and over half of Tiktok’s user base is between 18-34 years old.

Booktok has the youngest, mostly female, readers ranging in ages from 16-35, and Bookstagram is nearly the same with 70% of their audience being ages 20-35.

Older readers tend to use Amazon for convenience, though most Gen X and older adults gravitate to online book sellers who also support local independent book stores such as Bookshop.org, Powell’s Books, and Thriftbooks.

And here’s something really interesting… according to a 2025 article by you.gov, 22% of all adults read books every day. Of that 22%, nearly two-thirds are aged 55 or over and 63% of them are women.

This is a really strong argument for making SEO an integral part of your marketing plan.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the basics you need to know about the current SEO best practices:

Keywords should include long-tail and mid-tail phrases that your targeted audiences may use to find you. Think about your genre, characters, setting and plot.

Website optimization consists of meta descriptions, titles and headings, your bio and alt text for images.

Content marketing is the strategy you use to engage with your audiences. Blogs, social media pages and podcasts are perfect examples.

Off-page SEO is not just about building backlinks to your website. It’s also about building trust and proving your value to customers and other websites alike.

Metadata optimization is the process of optimizing your keywords, categories and descriptions on the platforms where you sell your book.

I know this all seems overwhelming when you’re first starting out. When I started doing it many years ago, keywords were enough to get you going in the right direction. SEO has expanded and become very nuanced based on industry.

To that end, I’m working on a post about the specific types of metadata that fall into book marketing and promotion. It’s really very fascinating! Or maybe that’s just me…

I would love to hear your thoughts on this or any topic you’re facing on your journey as a creative entrepreneur! Drop a comment or visit www.alchemyedits.com to contact me directly.