Keyword research is cool.
It allows you to gaze directly into people’s minds.
Being able to take a look at the words and phrases people use when looking for things online is invaluable. Rather than listening to people say what they think they might do, you get to observe what they actually did. And when aggregated, you get a nice view of the words people most often use when thinking about and searching for a certain topic.
Once armed with keyword intelligence that’s relevant to your niche, you have the unique ability to create highly-relevant content that aids your site visitors and enhances your credibility. You’re speaking the language of the audience after all, and satisfying their needs.
And if you get it right, you’ll likely rank well in the search engines too, after promoting the content in a strategic way. It may seem strange to view search traffic as a secondary benefit in a Google-driven world, but that’s exactly how you should view it. Google won’t treat you as relevant until someone else does first.
The counterintuitive rule of search engine keyword research is to try to forget that search engines can send you traffic. View the data as free or low-cost market research and you’ll have the proper mindset to formulate a content strategy that has a shot at ranking well. People need to like your content before Google will.
Here are the five essential things to cover when it comes to keyword research:
1. Research Tools
Some will tell you that Google’s Keyword Tool is all you need for research. Another free option is Aaron Wall’s SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool, which incorporates Yahoo! Search data and other useful metrics. Paid tools may be superior choices to those provided by search engines since the proprietors are not motivated to sell you search advertising, and include Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.
2. Get Specific
“Keyword” is the term that gets tossed around, but what you’re really after in most cases are keyword phrases. For example, a real estate attorney in Austin, Texas would gain very little actual benefit from ranking highly for the single word “attorney” (and good luck anyway), but specific keyword phrases based on geography and specialty would yield highly targeted traffic (“Austin real estate lawyer”). And don’t forget synonyms.
3. Strength in Numbers
Don’t take as gospel truth the reported number of monthly searches provided by any particular tool. But do pay attention to relative popularity among search terms. You want to make sure enough people use that phrase when thinking of your niche to make it worth your while, especially if this is one of the primary search terms you want to target for your site overall. At the same time, be realistic. If you are trying to rank in a very competitive sector, aim for something attainable first, or make sure that a certain keyword combination can rank for an easier phrase if the more competitive term ends up out of reach.
4. Highly Relevant
Make sure that the search terms you are considering are highly relevant to your ultimate goal. If you are a service provider or selling specific products, keyword relevancy may be easier to determine—you ultimately want someone to purchase the product or service. Other goals may require more careful consideration, such as subscriptions to content publications and contributions to charities, for example.
5. Develop a Resource
Here’s the key element. Can a particular keyword phrase support the development of content that is a valuable resource to readers? Something that:
- Satisfies the preliminary needs of the site visitor
- Acts as the first step in your sales or action cycle
- Is worth linking to
Steps 1-4 are basic operating procedure, at least in webmaster circles.
Step 5 is what makes the difference, and that’s what the next installment in the SEO Copywriting 2.0 series will explore.
Previously in the series:
How to Create Content That Ranks Well In Search Engines.
38 comments... add one
#1 Dave → 01.07.07 at 10:21 pm
Good post. I found when looking for search terms (low hanging fruit) I try and find 4 to 6 related terms. If they only under 10 searches per day each that is still up to 40 or 60 a day. Target an article towards those terms.
You will also be surprised at what other terms will start to bring in traffic.
#2 Ted Demopoulos → 01.07.07 at 10:34 pm
It amazes me what useless terms I rank well for — “bald people” anyone? Getting lot of traffic from that one.
Yes, some relevant terms bring good traffic too.
So Brian, what % of your traffic is organic SE traffic?
#3 Perth Computer Repair guy - Paul → 01.07.07 at 10:41 pm
Great post.
I have found the overture keyword research tool really useful in past, however in recent times I havent been able to access it properly.
For me, I am only interested in people specifically searching for computer help in my home-town (Perth). Google gives plenty of suggestions but most of them are not Perth related - I found the overture tool easier in this regard, the specific numbers were great too.
The seobook tool doesnt seem to function for me, I tried it just then and got 0 results. Is it still working for you guys over there? perhaps they are blocking access to Australian domains.
#4 Brian → 01.07.07 at 10:44 pm Copyblogger
Ted, I don’t pay a lot of attention to overall search traffic, because as you mention, a lot of it is silly. I use metaphor and analogy quite a bit, and search engines are not smart enough to figure that out.
For example, it amazes me how many people search for “kids eat free” without regard for geography, and land on this post.
I do watch targeted search traffic though, and since I’m currently #3 for “copywriting” and #1 for “writing headlines” in Google, I’m pretty happy.
Perth Guy, I usually have to hit “search” twice to get results with the SEO Book tool. Not sure why that is.
#5 Mike → 01.08.07 at 12:18 am
The tool of Aaron’s would take a bit of education for me to understand it.
I’m looking forward to the next installment !
#6 Dave → 01.08.07 at 12:26 am
I have noticed the overture tool has been flaky for a couple months now. I will try the search twice thing.
Since I have started to use the Google adword tool for general research but when I really want to dig deep and gather over 1000 phrases I use Wordtracker
#7 Almost, Not Yet - » Blog Archives » links for 2007-01-08 → 01.08.07 at 1:14 am
[…] The 5 Essential Elements of Search Engine Keyword Research | Copyblogger (tags: blogging seo) […]
#8 Yuri → 01.08.07 at 1:40 am
How about finding related topics, not just the niche targeting you need? If you find your customers want not only copywriting, but also HTML template formatting (or SEO, for that matter), entering this niche might be very much helpful.
Or is it just the basic guide to keyword research or something?
#9 Brian → 01.08.07 at 8:17 am Copyblogger
Yuri, I’m going to touch on related keyword topics in the next post, but for the sake of clarity, I’m taking it one keyword phrase/content resource at a time. I think it will make a bit more sense after the next post.
#10 Yoav → 01.08.07 at 10:18 am
Lately I read about a couple of tools that are supposed to help you with blog related keyword research
http://103bees.com
and
http://www.hittail.com
They claim to have a different approach to keyword research, but I did not have the time to check them out yet.
#11 Brian → 01.08.07 at 10:26 am Copyblogger
I’ve been meaning to check out 103bees for months. I’ve heard good things, but just haven’t had the time.
#12 Ted Demopoulos → 01.08.07 at 10:27 am
I just started playing with 103bees.com a few hours ago. Not enough data yet, but I like it so far.
Worth trying — took maybe 5 minutes to sign up and implement.
#13 markus941 → 01.08.07 at 12:09 pm
I’ve been playing with Wordze.com a bit - different data than the rest, but has been pretty useful for more general terms. I haven’t even explored the extra functionality yet.
It’s interesting to note how different the results are b/w Wordtracker, Yahoo (Overture), Wordze, and Google Keyword Tool.
#14 Yoav → 01.08.07 at 3:06 pm
Another thing that is useful when doing keyword research is checking the supply and not just the demand.
If you look for the term “designer sunglasses” in the overture tool you see that there is massive demand. However, you will probably not rank for it because there are a lot of sites competing for the term (a lot of supply).
The way to check this is to use the google allinanchor and allintitle queries.
try comparing the following
allintitle:designer sunglasses
allintitle:chinese tattoos
and you will understand the concept
#15 Brian → 01.08.07 at 3:10 pm Copyblogger
Yoav, that’s a good point. I should probably add to this post and reiterate the “be realistic” aspect of trying to rank for certain terms. I personally take that a bit for granted, so I should have spelled it out.
#16 Ben Yoskovitz → 01.08.07 at 5:33 pm
I’ve just tried 103bees.com myself. Not enough data yet but it provides reports that I think most bloggers would find interesting. The part that intrigued me was from Darren Rowse’s post about it - in terms of 103bees.com figuring out what questions people are asking in search engines that result in traffic to your site…
#17 Brad Isaac → 01.09.07 at 1:27 pm
I’ve been thinking about that tool Keyword elite. What’s everyone’s take on that software? worth it?
#18 Brian → 01.09.07 at 1:35 pm Copyblogger
Keyword Elite is very powerful, but I use it more for PPC stuff.
Here’s the Tubetorial:
http://www.tubetorial.com/keyword-elite/
#19 heapseo → 01.09.07 at 3:17 pm
Another thing to remember is that the Overture tool (or any derivation of) does not split between singular and plural phrases, does not differentiate between word order and often misses ‘and’ ‘in’ ‘for’ type operators from its results.
I generally use overture to get an idea and then look at all different permutations in comparison to each other using google trends. Sure it doesn’t give you volumes but if you are comparing say ‘homeowner loans’, ‘homeowner loan’, ‘loans for homeowners’ etc etc you can find out which of the search volume for each permutation of a phrase relative to each other.
Great comment by Yoav also, this sort of extra research can be a gem in finding a relatively low competition, high volume niche.
#20 Home Biz Blogger » Blog Archive » Search Engine Keywords → 01.11.07 at 7:49 pm
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#21 How to Create Cornerstone Content That Google Loves | Copyblogger → 01.12.07 at 11:42 am
[…] Taking into account the above, and what we know about keyword research, choose the most appropriate keyword phrase for your content. In other words, what is the relevant question that searchers are asking that your content and business will answer? […]
#22 Cessna Aircraft → 01.15.07 at 4:53 pm
Yea… I totally agree with that and more specifically #5. People don’t realize it, but google knows how long visitors stay at your site. The longer they stay, the more google likes it…
#23 Jason Van Orden → 01.17.07 at 11:50 am
If I want to get really qualitative about the competition or current supply for a given phrase, I take a look at the top ten results in Google to get an idea of how those sites are using the keywords (filename, titles, etc.).
If it doesn’t look like they’ve deliberately done much to target the phrase, then that is a good sign that my chances are good for grabbing a good ranking for it.
It also gives me ideas of things I may need to do (or do better than them) with the phrase or content.
#24 Brian → 01.17.07 at 11:53 am Copyblogger
Yep, I do that too. Plus, when the content is not that good that ranks ahead of you, you can pull in the people who hit the “back” button with a nice compelling title that still displays the keywords.
#25 Link Building Strategies That Work | Copyblogger → 01.19.07 at 2:42 pm
[…] The 5 Essential Elements of Search Engine Keyword Research […]
#26 Pete → 02.03.07 at 12:33 pm
HitTail is by far the easiest way to get into the heads of your users. It literally turns your entire website into a writing topic suggestion box, with the best suggestions automatically getting sorted by HitTail.
#27 Brad Isaac → 02.03.07 at 1:21 pm
I just installed the javascript to Hittail. Look forward to seeing the results.
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[…] Original post by Brian […]
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[…] The 5 Essential Elements of Search Engine Keyword Research | Copyblogger Keyword research is cool. It allows you to gaze directly into people’s minds. … The Peril of Free Keyword Research Tools. How to Create Cornerstone Content … […]
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#34 Keyword Research Strategy: farsi trovare dagli utenti della rete → 09.07.07 at 8:59 am
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[…] in a Google search, they must meet strict criteria. Your content MUST be relevant to the search; by researching different keywords companies have a better chance in having their result in the first three pages. The top three pages […]
#36 Angela Brooks → 10.28.07 at 2:56 pm
Keywords are a very tricky thing to have to pull out and use. To think how would someone type in a word(s) to find my site is a challange but possible with some of the tools mentioned. I will be looking at the
103bees.com to see if that is a tool I can use to refer my team too for thier sites. Great information. I also have a number counter on my site that collects where people come from and what words they used to click in so I can change keywords around if I need too.
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#38 You Would Read Every Post If I… | The Marketing Technology Blog → 01.23.08 at 12:46 pm
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