We look at the most popular writing & publishing keywords for SEO.
This post is about writing and publishing keywords that are popular and those that make the most money – according to Google and Bing
This was meant to be a definitive list, but it turns out that that is almost impossible to find with any accuracy. So, it is now an interesting compilation of what is ‘hot’ in online writing keywords.
For the purposes of this post, I have focused on writing and publishing. However, this article will also be of interest to people who want to know more about blogging, writing for online audiences, and people who just want to know what the most searched-for terms in writing are.
I will tell you what the most used keywords are. You should know this for good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). I will also tell you which ones make the most money.
About The Money
The figures below are how much people pay Google or Bing to promote these words.
For example when we say ’Ghost Writing’ is worth $13.95/click it means that the ghost writer is paying Google around that much to advertise. These figures are only related to the keywords we are using and do not tell the full picture or either the publishing or writing industry.
Miscellaneous
We will also look at, what I hope are, fun facts about writing.
I have used the stats for the United States, because they are easier to find and verify. I have used Wordstream and Google Trends.
I take no responsibility for the way people have spelt or spelled these words. I am copying them exactly.
The Most Popular Writing & Publishing Keywords for SEO
1. Writing Keywords
Most Popular Words
These are the words or search terms related to the searches ‘Writing’ and ‘Creative Writing’.
- Reading
- Writing
- Writing Prompts
- How To Write A Book
- Essay/Letter
- Writing Styles
- Ghost Writer
- Topics To Write About
- Online Writing Jobs
- Writing Workshops
However, the topic/term ‘books’ dwarfs all these terms coming in at over 600,000+ searches monthly. That is more than all the rest combined.
‘Reading’/’Writing’ gets 160,000+ a month. ‘Essay Writing’ gets 40,000+ and ‘Writing Workshops’ dips below 10,000.
Most Profitable Words
These are the words and search terms that make the most money per click on Google and Bing.
This is the amount that Google and Bing charge an advertiser to direct a click to a website. This is roughly what Google and Bing are making from advertisers. Assume advertisers are making a profit above these numbers.
(Google Price Per Click/Bing Price Per Click)
- ‘Ghost Writer’ $13.95/$4.95
- ‘Creative Writing Classes’ $10.95/0.75
- ‘Writing Helper’ $7.18/$0.05
- ‘Writing Classes’ $5.96/$1.25
- ‘Freelance Writing’ $5.62/$0.05
‘Writing Prompts’, ‘Writing Styles’, and ‘Journal Writing’ are the least likely to make a sale on a click.
On Google, ‘Writing’ makes about $270,000/month and the ‘Reading’ topic makes $300,300/month.
Ghost writing makes $378,045/month.
Unfortunately, “essay writing”, the predatory industry that writes fraudulent essays, also makes a large amount of money at $258,940/month on Google alone.
Fun Facts
- 70% of people who looked at writing-related topics searched for ‘Free Online Creative Writing Course’.
- The state where most people want to ‘learn how to write a book’ is Maine but the state where the most people learn to write creatively is Vermont.
- The city where most people want to go on a writing course is New York.
- 2900 people searched for “Book Writing Software” this month. It makes you despair at the state of the human race.
- People who searched for ‘Writing’ also looked for:
- Writing Contests
- Creative Writing Wiki
- Pro Essay Writer
2. Publishing Keywords
Most Popular Words
These are the words or search terms related to the searches ‘Publishing’ and ‘How To Get Published’.
- Book
- How To Write A Book
- Publisher
- Book Printing
- How To Publish A Book
- Amazon Self-Publishing
- Literary Agents
‘How To Get A Book Published’, ‘Self-Publishing‘, ‘Publishing Companies‘, and ‘Children’s Book Publishers’ all received around 5,000-9,000 searches this month.
On any given month it seems 9,000+ people in the US are looking for an agent while 12,000-15,000 people are looking for help writing a book or printing a book by themselves.
Apparently, more than 500,000 people just search for ‘Book’. I don’t know how much help this is to them or what they hope to find.
Most Profitable Words
These are the words that make the most money per click on Google and Bing:
(Google Price Per Click/Bing Price Per Click)
- Book Printing $9.20/$1.01
- Book Publishing Companies $8.30/$0.89
- Self-Publishing Companies $8.30/$0.89
- Publishing A Book $5.92/$1.74
- How To Get a Book Published $4.47/$2.87
- Children’s Book Publishers $5.61/$3.50
Traffic in this segment is below 40,000 searches a month per term. Self-publishing companies spend around $400,000/month on advertising while traditional publishers spend around $80,000/month.
This shows the clear trend of people wanting to publish their work even without the support of an agent or publishing house.
Fun Facts
- Alabama is the state most interested in getting published while California is only the 27th.
- More people want to publish a poem than a book by 40%.
- 90% of people who want to be published also want to know how much it costs. This is probably related to rejection rates, but I could not establish the ratio.
- About 40% of people want to be published on kindle (I assume they mean Amazon).
- Penguin, Amazon, and Harper Collins are the only publishing companies that show up in the listed related topics.
- People who want to be published all search for the topic ‘J K Rowling’ at a rate of 200% the interest in the publishing topic.
- People are most interested in being published in January and least in June. Interest picks up in September again. This probably corresponds to New Year’s resolutions and to the end of summer vacation in the US.
Titles Of Books & Online Articles
You can use the data from Wordstream and Google Trends to help you with other things, such as how book titles work with SEO.
Tying your desired topic into these tools will show you what is popular and it may suggest better words so that you can reach more people.
It works better for shorter titles. By doing this, your website or book stands a better chance of reaching a larger audience. However, for The Lord of the Rings, an optimised title using the most popular keywords could be “Online Game Goblin Extended Peter Jackson Movie”. So don’t use it without thinking.
I hope this was a fun look into writing keywords and how they are used. Tell me what you think are the most useful keywords in the online writing space.
TOP TIP: If you want to learn how to blog, join us for The Complete Blogging Course in Johannesburg or sign up for the online version.
by Christopher Luke Dean (According to this data he makes guitars and won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics)
Christopher writes and facilitates for Writers Write. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisLukeDean
If you enjoyed this post, read:
- A Complete Glossary Of Terms For Science Fiction Writers
- 101 Fantasy Tropes For Writers
- 3 Dastardly Different Villains & Why We Love To Hate Them
- Where 9 Famous Authors Got Their Ideas
- How To Edit Your Podcast
- 11 Things You May Or May Not Need For Podcasting
- 3 Things To Know About Podcasts When You Know Nothing