Okay, you have a website and you would like to rank with it. But rank for what?
Tool Sources
- Google Trends
- This will show you which keyword phrases are gaining in popularity or losing popularity over time.
- Thesaurus
- Nothing like using a Thesaurus to get other words that mean the same thing!
- Google AdWords Keyword Planner
- This is a good free source for getting keyword ideas but I wouldn’t trust the number of searches or competition numbers.
- Microsoft Ad Planner
- This new one from Bing is off to a good start and is very helpful.
- SEOBook
- A long-time favorite of mine where I get a large list of keyword phrases.
- Google Search
- Use Google Search and look at the info box, related searches, snippet answers, and other information they display there.
- Ask.com
- Ask also has related phrases searched for you can use and like Google are linked to even more related searches based on the link you just clicked on.
- Yoast Suggested Phrases
- This tool will give you related keyword phrases for every letter of the alphabet.
- Answer The Public
- This tool is an excellent source that returns all of the questions it can find on the topic that you enter into it.
- SEO Software
- There is a lot of software to do just about anything you need and all of them give you keyword research capabilities.
“There are many more examples that I provide in the paid version of this course.”
Michael Rock
Customer Sources
- Ask your customers.
- Ask them what they look for when they do searches online.
- Comment Cards
- Have your customers fill out a comment card asking them what they would like to see.
- Product Reviews
- Look up what customers are saying about what you sell on review websites and see if you can get some ideas there.
“The paid version of this course gives you more ideas and details for you to use.”
Michael Rock
Competition Sources
- Their Websites
- Right-Click on their website and select ‘view source code’ and see if they are foolish enough to use a meta keyword tag listing what they want their website to rank for. I say foolish because the search engines ignore the meta keyword tag for years now.
- SpyFu
- This is a pay tool that tells you what ads your competitor uses and which of those ads work for them and which ones do not.
- SEO Tools
- There are a lot of SEO Tools out there that show you what your competitors already rank for that you can add to your list. Here is a free one.
- Google AdWords Keyword Planner
- You can type in a competitor’s website and get keyword ideas based on that website.
- Microsoft Ad Planner
- You can type in a competitor’s website and get keyword ideas based on that website.
Biggest Mistakes when doing Keyword Research
- Choosing keyword phrases that are too broad
- Too vague of keyword phrases will not help meet your goals.
- Keyword phrases with too much competition
- Do you really want to compete with a company that has a $50,000/year marketing budget?
- Keyword phrases without enough traffic
- What good is ranking #1 for a keyword phrase that is only searched for 10 times per month?
- Keyword phrases that don’t convert
- What good is ranking for a keyword phrase that doesn’t make sales, get newsletter sign-ups, or donations for your cause?
- Trying to rank for one keyword phrase at a time
- Okay, you can get away with two keyword phrases per page but I wouldn’t try for more than that. But the two keyword phrases have to relate to each other.
“The paid version of this course will include more options with notes on each option along with a spreadsheet to organize your keyword phrases.”
Michael Rock