How to get Targeted Traffic from Amazon

Your prospects are looking for information, and Amazon is one place they turn to in order to find that information. But how do they know which books to choose?

Books, especially self-published books being sold on Amazon, need credibility the same way sales letters need testimonials. That's what reviews are: testimonials for books. Shoppers rely on these reviews to make their buying decisions.

In stores, they can see the book, flip through the pages and make a confident decision about whether or not it's worth the price. Buying a book on Amazon, however, is a little riskier if you've never heard of or seen the book anywhere else.

You can help lessen that risk by providing reviews of books in your niche.

Anybody can choose to review a book and have that review posted at the bottom of the sales page for that book. Along with that post is the reviewer's name and a link to "see all my reviews."

That's right. Book reviewers get their own home page on Amazon that lists all their reviews along with a personal profile and their Amazon ranking.

Just like with their books, Amazon has a ranking system for their reviewers. Ranks are based on the number of reviews a person posts as well as how helpful readers found the reviews to be.

How does any of this help you bring traffic to your site? Well, if you provide a good review for a book in your niche, you help targeted prospects decide whether or not to buy the book.

If your review of a good book provides a comprehensive summary and shows how the reader can benefit from buying the book, they are grateful for the advice. If your review of a bad book helps them decide not to buy, they are grateful to you for saving them both time and money.

Either way, they're grateful!

They like what you had to say, so they visit your home page to see what else you have reviewed. On that page, you get to include information about yourself and a link to your site.

Becoming an Amazon book reviewer costs you nothing and is as simple as clicking on the "Write Your Own Review" at the bottom of the page of any book. All you have to do is fill in the form, and you are officially a book reviewer.

Here are tips to making this traffic tactic work for you:

1. Read books in your niche, then write a paragraph or two about the book. The best reviews are 75-300 words and tell why you did or did not like the book and why. Focus on the book's content and context.

2. Include as much information about yourself as possible on your reviewer profile page. This helps the readers come to know, like and trust you. You're establishing rapport with them before they even reach your main site!

3. Tell why you're an expert on your profile page. Sharing about your business explains why you are qualified to review such books.

4. Be authoritative. Give specific, helpful information. The more specific you are about your reasons for liking or disliking the book, the more helpful your reviews will be. The more helpful your reviews, the more the reader of the review will like you and want to learn more about you.

5. Providing good reviews makes the reader obligated to give something back to you. He'll feel obligated to read your profile and then visit your site. It's the principle of reciprocity at work. You give freely of your expertise, and you'll get traffic.

6. Review as many books as possible. The more reviews you have on your Amazon home page, the more credible you appear as a reviewer.

7. Don't review anything you haven't read!

Increased traffic isn't the only way you benefit when you review books on Amazon. You also increase your knowledge. You need to be reading, learning and growing in your area of expertise anyway. The more you know, the more value you'll be able to deliver to your customers.

Plus writing about the book locks in the learning. When you read knowing you have to share what the basic concept of the book is, you read with a purpose and get more out of the learning process.

Finally, when you are a book reviewer, you learn who your competition is and find potential partners. You can contact the authors and possibly create Joint Ventures with them. And that can lead to a massive flow of traffic to your site.