Archive for the ‘Keyword Research’ Category

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I recently saw an ad for a new keyword tool called WordButler. Rarely do I ever click on ads, but I’m always on the prowl for tools that are missing from the other tools we use.

So I signed up for a seven day free trial for WordButler and gave it a test run.

How WordButler Works

I have to say that I really like the simplicity of the WordButler interface. There are some drawbacks to this which I’ll explain later, but those can be overcome without overly complicating the functionality of WordButler.

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In somewhat of a follow up to my post last week Adding Pizazz to Your Ad Creative, you may recall I was organizing my binder. While going through my binder last week, I came across a couple of duplicate topics. This post from Redfly Marketing See How Easily You Can Increase Your Paid Search CTR, and Increasing Conversion Rates with Ad Copy from Searchanyway.com They are essentially the same news, SearchAnyway linking credit back to RedFly.

Thinking I’d go surfing and find more information on the same subject, I searched call to action words and was a little disappointed that the other posts I found also linking back to the original:

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What you might not know can hurt you!

At the risk of wearing egg on my face, I am going to admit something I didn’t know. Something that kicked my butt. But I learned. The hard way. Wish someone had told me. Wish someone had blogged about this. If someone did blog about it, I wish I had read it! (how’s that for emphasis?) Hopefully someone else learns from my mistake.

Did you know — and here I am hoping there are at least a few people that, like myself did not know — that the Google Website Optimizer will display alternate landing pages and track conversions for you? Well of course you did. Even *I* knew that much. But what I didn’t realize was what kicked me in the butt.

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Trudging through what seems like an endless amounts of keywords can take an extreme amount of patience. As I’ve experienced my first few opportunities of researching keywords, I’ve noticed some similarities amongst typical search terms.

As Katie pointed out so eloquently in a previous blog, one of the first words I attempt to knock out is free. I’ve scoured the web at times searching for cheap or deeply discounted products in the past but have never had any luck finding free diamond rings or free Dell Computers. Consumers dig themselves into a deep trap when they click on a site supposedly offering a free product. These customers could have visited your site which you’ve spend hours working on and fine-tuning. But because of man’s inherit need to be cheap, you’ve just lost another customer.

As an SEO, this makes my life difficult. I’m coming to realize that it appears to be a bit easier to understand the way search engines work. Attempting to discover the human mind is my biggest struggle.

I am the aforementioned “Apprentice”. As one of the newest crew members of this team, I found it quite exciting to dive head first into the world of search engine optimization. Being a baby SEO, I’ve noticed an underlying theme towards my approach to learning: self-motivation.

I’ve spent the majority of my first few weeks exploring the area of keyword research and have had to scour the web for resources in learning how to compile a list. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that with some patience and ingenuity, teaching oneself the ways of SEO is possible.

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Targeted search phrases or Keywords are search queries that have been submitted to search engines by one or more people at various intervals and across varying time-lines. The individuals who submit a particular query represent a targeted audience. They are targeted by virtue of the fact that they have been identified as needing specific information. If a particular query possesses regularity and frequency across diverse submission points; that query represents a demand. The strength of this demand is measurable by comparing its query frequency with the query frequency of other queries. The greater the demand the greater the potential benefit of attempting to satisfy that demand by providing the desired information.

Ideally individual keywords are symbols which represent a coherent, sustained informational need

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No, I’m not going to give you a list of most searched or most clicked keywords or whatever. Instead I’m going to talk about how to determine which keywords will be the best for you.

There are a number of measurements that can be used when determining how good a keyword might be:

• Search volume (high or low)
• KEI
• Number of search results for a keyword phrase
• Number of search results that use the phrase in the title
• Whether a competitor uses a particular phrase
• etc.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, keyword research is the #1 most important part of any SEO campaign. After all, you can get your on-page optimization near perfect, build quality keyword-rich back links, invest in PPC ads and other forms of marketing, but if your keywords are wrong, its all money thrown away!

Over the years I’ve written quite a bit on the subject of keyword research. I’m not sure what gave me the bug to put together what I would call the definitive keyword research manual, but late last year I decided to make a go of it. And I’m quite happy with the results.

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About a month ago Stoney came to me to discuss a writing project he was working on. The project was to develop a keyword research handbook that was truly definitive. He asked me to organize the material he had and possibly contribute some of my own. At first I figured that we would be putting together an SEO tutorial on basic keyword research. Introductory level information is generally the norm within the industry, especially for publicly available works.

As I was working my way through a first read-through I quickly realized that Stoney was doing something different here. This was not another seo intro or cursory treatment. Stoney was discussing the real-deal nuts-n-bolts of advanced keyword research. The systems that he has perfected over the years and uses himself. Real SEO info!

I began editing the rough document and adding my own contributions and notes to Stoney’s very practical and functional approach to keyword research. Generally I tend towards the technical aspects of SEO: underlying mathematics, IR, library science, etc. This often works out to be a nice fit as Stoney’s practical approach to SEO very much compliments my own and vice-versa. The Keyword Research Guide was no exception and I am fortunate to have been able to contribute some of my own best practices and personal keyword research techniques to this great treatment of the subject.

The final product is a completely original and uniquely functional guide to professional keyword research as only a seasoned search optimization professional could produce.

Whether you are an SEO novice; still wet behind the ears, or a decorated veteran of the search wars:
Read this Keyword Research Guide…
Because its time to upgrade your skills.

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Nov. 16th - Wednesday morning I was able to sleep in a bit (thanks to a very agreeable boss). My first session of the day was Keyword Selection: Top of Search, moderated by Joe Laratro. Each speaker had something to offer from a unique perspective. Noteworthy lessons include:

• Evaluating keywords by: Brand, Conversion, Relevancy, Competition and Query Volume
• The importance of determining your client’s measures of success.
• The value (and prohibitive cost) of high level competitive keyword data from Hitwise.
• Using PPC data as a reference for converting keywords.
• Looking at offline keyword influences.
• Using Google Trends to understand search activity

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