Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Adding or Updating Product Browse Categories on Amazon Product Detail Listings

As self-publishing authors it is to our advantage to drive our sales to Amazon where the long tail effect of all the many search tools of Amazon can help us sell our books. One of the techniques Amazon uses to help customers find books is the Amazon Browse Category.

By requesting the appropriate Browse Categories are included as part of the book's product listing, the odds of interested customers finding the book through an Amazon search increases. To make sure your book is listed in all the appropriate Browse Categories, request categories to be added to your book's Product Details. In addition to showing the categories your book is listed in, once added to the product page the ranking of the book on the specific category list will automatically be included and updated.


Amazon will allow you to request two Browse Categories to be added to a book at a time. Be patient with the process as sometimes it takes a little bit of time for Amazon to approve the additions and actually update the book's Product Details.

The first step in the process is to create an Amazon Author Central account if you have not done so already. Log-in to your account and scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on the Contact Us redirect button.

The box below will appear on your screen.


Click on the first drop box and work down the options as shown below until you reach the final option. A choice will be provided between I want Browse Categories in the Product Details section and I want to update the my book's Browse Categories. 

If you book has no Browse Categories, select the I want Browse Categories in the Product Details option. If you want to add additional Browse Categories select the second option.

To find the Browse Categories I simply look at competing books that sell well and check to see what the Browse Categories for those books are.


To send the request you may e-mail or make contact by phone. I e-mail as it allows me to have a record via my sent e-mail box of my communication with Amazon.

Be sure to include the title of your book, the book's ISBN if it is a paper book and the title. If the book is a Kindle book be sure to include the ASIN. Then list the two Browse Categories you want to have added to the books Product Details. If your book has no Browse Categories listed at all, when making your first request be sure to list the two categories most likely to be helpful in aiding potential customers finding the book. Additional categories can be requested to be added later.

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