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This is where you get your problem fixed. Save your team 12 months of guesswork.
Seasonal Trends
Visibility Vs Authority
Link Acquisition
Content Performance
✅ Free Booksellers Industry Report.
Used by over 9,000 book marketers to benchmark performance, spot trends, and guide their SEO strategy.
10 minutes
Reading time
100+
Brands ranked
Updated July 2025
"I am massively grateful for this report and there aren't many other useful ones I have found for online flower services."
- Arena Flowers, Data Scientist, Aaron Grove
"The report it was very interesting as has been the case in previous years."
- BOX, Marketing Manager, Mike Hart
"Really impressed with the work done behind the research, really well done to the team and Salience"
- Funding Options, Head of Organic, Sonia Morrison
Turn the pages of our Bookseller Market Report to find out which brands have the most inspiring marketing strategies. We have collected everything you need to know about the book industry, one page at a time. We’ve pursued the leading brands, from booksellers to book publishers, to find out who’s doing well and why. We look at various metrics, including visibility, brand reach, page speed and social score. You’ll also discover where your brand sits in the stack, so you can see what you can do to take your digital marketing strategy to bestseller status.
Take a novel approach and download the Salience Bookseller Market Report today to get the full lowdown on your competition and identify the best keywords to target. To begin your next chapter, fill in your details here to download the free 69-page PDF. If you want a sneak peek at what’s included, keep reading.
We’ve also conducted a brand spotlight on one of the highest performers this year, World of Books. World of Books’ have increased their monthly organic traffic by 161% YoY. It’s a playbook for marketing leaders who still believe search, UX and conversion rate optimisation (i.e. the fundamentals of SEO) are still important. Read our full tear-down of their strategy here.
Who are the winners in the bookseller industry?
In the last 12 months, the bookseller industry has seen 5% growth in visibility. Waterstones and WHSmith have remained in the top five for the third year running, despite YOY losses in visibility. The Works have managed to move from the margins to the spotlight in second place, an improvement from third place last year. However, World of Books has secured a plot twist with a whopping growth of 161% - truly a bestseller in the making!
If you'd like to see where your brand ranks in our Visibility League Table, get your free copy of our Bookseller Market Report now by clicking the button below.
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Which booksellers are the ones to watch?
With the overall market showing visibility growth this year, you can expect some brands to turn the page and enter a new chapter. Here are the top five booksellers who have grown the most in 2025:
1. World of Books (+161%)
2. The Works (+19%)
3. Bookshop.org (+49%)
4. Times Bookshop (+907%)
5. Wonderbly (+62%)
Which brands have seen the biggest visibility losses?
Even though the market has grown overall - plot twist - there are still brands that have seen their visibility drop over the last year. But not to worry! With a little attention to detail and reading between the lines, these brands could rewrite their stories. Here are the booksellers that have lost the most visibility this year:
1. WHSmith (-13%)
2. Waterstones (-5%)
3. Abe Books (-18%)
4. Books 4 People (-23%)
5. Bert's Books (-70%)
Which booksellers are the most trusted?
With Google placing so much importance on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust), good reviews are essential for brands and demonstrate reliability. Our Trust League Table shows the top five most trusted booksellers.
1. Thrift Books
2. World of Books
3. Wonderbly
4. Folio Society
5. Blackwells
If you want to make sure you’re reading the signs correctly when it comes to reviews, download our Bookseller Market Report to see where you rank next to the competition.
What keywords have the best opportunity within the bookseller market?
When it comes to keywords, finding gaps in the market and trending topics can help you create a smarter marketing strategy. Bookmark these opportunity keywords and achieve headline results!
Within our Bookseller Market Report, we've identified keywords with high search volume but low competition, perfect for you to target to improve your online presence—‘best sci fi books’ (SV 2.7k) and ‘book nook’ (SV 12k) are interesting opportunities.
In the bookseller industry, the most competitive keywords are ‘harry potter books’, ‘the witcher books’ and ‘harlan coben books’. If you want to discover more high-competition keywords, get your free copy of our Bookseller Market Report now.
How much does the Salience Bookseller report cost?
Nope – it costs nothing to download the full report! Just click the button below to download a copy.
Why can't I see my brand in the Booksellers Market report?
Quite simply, we can't fit every bookseller and publisher in the report, so we only analyse the top 100. But don't worry! We can create a personalised report for your brand to help you see where you stand against the competition and where you should best direct your marketing efforts. Just get in touch, and we'll write you the perfect report.
If you want to know more about the report, have any questions or want to chat more in-depth about these insights and how we can create a bespoke SEO strategy for your brand, get in touch today.
