Amazon rankings are at once a trailing indicator of your success and a leading indicator of your book or product’s ability to attract and convert buyers in the future.
Overall best sellers rank
The Amazon sales rank is based on current and historical sales trends. It is a measure of a title’s sales track in relation to the sales of other books, not of the total units sold.
A large spike in sales (as when a book is first released, or when a title is featured in popular media) can dramatically impact the overall rank, but typically only for a short period of time. A consistent and sustained sales history is necessary to remain at a high rank.
Category rankings
Books may rank in up to three categories or subcategories. Ideally, titles will rank in as wide a variety of categories as is appropriate for the content of the book.
As with the overall sales rank, a category rank is a measure of a title’s current and historical sales track in relation to the sales of other books in that category. Titles can typically rank higher in more discrete subcategories where there is less competition. However, extremely niche categories may not improve discoverability as there may be fewer potential buyers looking for content in those categories.
Resources & References
- Amazon Sales Rank: Taming the Algorithm [Alliance of Independent Authors]
Marketing Insights provides daily monitoring of your Amazon sales rank and category rankings. The most recent ranking data can be found in the Amazon Snapshot panel, and detailed overall bestseller rank history (since we began monitoring your title) can be found alongside your price data in the Amazon Price & Performance chart.
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