Basically, SEO is about making your website easy to find on the internet. It's like putting up big signs and maps so that people (and search engines) can easily see what you offer and where to find it. 

SEO is done in several ways:

1. Keywords: Choosing the right words and phrases that people often search for. This helps search engines match your website with what users are looking for.

2. Content: Creating high-quality and relevant content that includes your chosen keywords. This can be articles, blogs, videos, or any information that your audience finds valuable.

3. Meta Tags: Adding meta titles and descriptions to your web pages. These are like short summaries that appear in search results, encouraging people to click on your website.

4. Website Structure: Organizing your website so that it's easy to navigate. This includes clear menus, fast loading times, mobile-friendly design, and secure connections (HTTPS).

5. Backlinks: Getting other reputable websites to link to your site. This shows search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable.

6. Regular Updates: Keeping your website updated with fresh content and optimizing it based on changes in search engine algorithms.

By doing these things effectively, you can improve your website's visibility in search engine results and attract more visitors who are interested in what you offer.

Typically when people talk about SEO, they are talking about meta tags and keywords. There is a little of that which you can do on the backend during setup. Search engines rank your site compared to others to see which site will offer the most relevant results to someone searching for a specific topic.

This is where things can be a little tricky. As an author, you will rank likely highest for your author name because it's typically somewhat unique. However, it's much harder to rank for genres or categories of books because there is so much competition. If you wanted to rank high in google search results for just "romance books" or "erotica," you'd be competing with websites that have a ton more "authority" than you. These include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. (The bigger and more establish the website, the more authority they have.)

If you aim for more specific search engine keywords like "Black love romance," you're likely to do a bit better because the keyword phrase is more unique and will pull up less competition. However, there are still a lot of people/companies who would be competing for those keywords.

Basically, this is why the keyword and meta tag aspect of SEO is only one part. Especially when you are starting out, the more important aspects are to make sure that the content of your website is really on target for your audience.

These are some key elements I always look at:

1. How long to visitors stay on your website? If they click away within 3-10 seconds, Google knows that they determined this wasn't what they are looking for. You want them to spend a little time there. That shows search engines that visitors are finding your content to be valuable to them.
2. Do other sites link to your site? These are backlinks. The more your site is linked to by other websites, the more it appears to be useful and have authority. It also helps if those websites are more established. e.g. better to be linked to from Writers Digest than Milly's Random Blog. But all links are helpful.

At least 30% of authors come to us with questions about SEO. It's discussed a lot on writer's blogs. In our experience as developers, it's just not as important as so many other things you can do. There's a little you can do in the beginning, but otherwise, it's something to dive into more when you're a bit more established.