Next Advanced SEO session is by Chris Dimmock of Cogentis to talk about SEO KW Research – Beyond the Ordinary.
You’ve mastered the KW tools – what next?
– find significant kws’
– uncover competitor’s keywords
– mine the long tail for elusive but valuable obscure search terms
– expand your *virtual shelf space* in surprising ways
KW Tools:
Adwords KW research tool is valuable, but keepin mind it’s just Google data
Adwords Traffic estimator
MS Ad Intelligence for Office 2007 – need an account Bing/msn – has a KW extraction tool – handy for importing from a URL.
WordTracker
Traditional Advice for KW Research
1) brainstorming session – but ask outsiders so you don’t get caught up in your own jargon
2) read your log files – only works if people are already finding you for those terms
3) Lots of time consuming grindy work with s/sheets – safest way
Chris’s Advice for KW Research
– singulars and plurals
– word order e.g. sydney hotels vs hotels sydney
– industry jargon falls into long tail
– searcher intent and your goals- make sure your kws become the conduit
-testing and analystics are key. Don’g be afraid to use SEM to tst your SEO KW coversion rates
– Define your goals- conversions, traffic, newsletter, signups etc. Does the target page provide access to the goal outcome.
Overview of Paid Tools
1) KW Discovery – gives you AU data
2) Word Tracker
3) SEMRush
Look at Current Trends for KW Research
– googletrends
– hot aol
– zeitgeist
– Twitter trends
– GG Insights for Search
– Yahoo Buzz – Buzzlog.buzz.yahoo.com
– Google Buzz
– Trendistic
Chris says there’s a lot of talk about using social media to predict the future. Traditional kw tools don’t help when you’re trying to do this. Sometimes there is no recent history. So take an educated guess in that case and cover your bases.
Try KWSpy etc.
The Google Search based KW Tool is very powerful – allows you to research your competitors
– Remember to research misspellings
– Try MS adCenter Labs
Geographical Sales Expansion
– different markets have different keywords to describe things e.g. accommodation vs lodging vs accommodations
Conclusion
– Use KW tools
– Use PPC to test conversions before you SEO
– Don’t believe the numerical stats from tools
– Test or you’re wasting your time
Hi!…
I was at the session and the statement”Don’t believe the numerical stats from tools”… made a little bit of noise in my mind… what should I believe then!?…
What’s your opinion about it? Did he mean not to “believe” to the specific number that the keyword tool says? or the trend it represents?
I mean, if a kw1 has 1,000 monthly searches and k2 represents 100 monthly searches, is kw1 still “better” than “2” considering that the numbers are not exact but still represent a trend?
In your opinion, would you recommend to use two keyword tools to confirm trends? (understanding that the tools are different of course)
Hope you had an excellent return trip to NZ…
Chhers!
Hi Gustavo, When I said ”Don’t believe the numerical stats from tools” I meant don’t believe the actual numbers they return. Look at the relative value. So yes, using your example “if a kw1 has 1,000 monthly searches and k2 represents 100 monthly searches” and I got a similar relative values from 2 or 3 different keyword tools, then I’d believe that kw1 is much higher search volume than kw2. But what I was trying to say was I wouldn’t necessarily believe there are 1,000 searches/ mth from kw1…..
Hello Chris,
Thanks for helping me to clarify this.
Attending to this session was very helpful and I’ll start to apply some of the tips you gave for a project in my company.
Quite happy from being in contact with you via Kalena’s blog.
Cheers,