There
are all kinds of keywords being used by people daily, in their
search for information. Most professional search engine
marketers learn early in their career, that all keywords are not
the same. Some keywords are highly competitive while others are
less competitive, which often seems as though fewer people are
searching for them. But then there are some keywords that are really hardly
being searched for at all. Some of the most ideal phrases are
those that relate to a product or service but are being fairly
often used by a specific audience of searchers, but at the same
time have low competition.
Let's
put it another way. Phrases which have a low number of competing
pages, but also are phrases that are actually being used often by
searchers, represent a nice "window of opportunity."
The reason these keywords are appealing is because you can gain
significant advantage (with little or no competition) while only
performing mild optimization.
Result:
High visibility on major search engines without the stress of
competing with millions of pages.
Of
course you can go after more competitive phrases once you know
how, but the point is that you have to work a little harder if
you are competing with 40,000,000 pages as opposed to say 400
pages or maybe just 40 pages. In a minute I'm going to give you
8 tips to help you think
more deeply about your keyword research in Wordtracker.
But
first, for
the purposes of this article, I want to talk about some of the
tiny differences in keyword combinations that can make an
enormous difference in
the end result. This article focuses on the use of Wordtracker
and observes a few comparisons between phrases to demonstrate
some major advantages in just choosing the best keyword terms.
Rule 1: Wordtracker
uses a KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index)
A KEI Value of 100
may represent a good keyword phrase.
A KEI Value of 400
usually represents a much better high use/low competition
"window of opportunity."
The higher the KEI
value usually represents a much bigger window. The assumption is
that the higher the KEI the better. But notice that I use the
word "usually." KEI is not perfect, but it is a
simple mathematical equation and it does reveal interesting
opportunities. The question for most people, is how to tap into
these high KEI keyword phrases without spending hours of
research. In a minute, we'll talk about the new Wordtracker
Academy, but first let's just give you some sets of examples of
phrases and how they stack up with similar but slightly
different phrases.
BIG differences
in little keywords:
1. "Download
Free Knitting Patterns" has a KEI value of 419.0
2. "Easy Knitting Patterns Free" has a much
greater KEI value of 2140.5
-----------------------
1. "purchase
watercolor paintings" KEI 002.7
(Very weak)
2. "Watercolor prints to Purchase"
KEI 705.0 (Excellent improvement)
3. "watercolor paintings southwest" KEI
2916.0 (still better yet)
------------------
1. "dropship
affiliates"
KEI 256.0 (fair window)
2. "dropshipping affiliates business"
KEI 512.0 (much better)
3. "dropship affiliates business"
KEI 1600.0 (better still)
-------------------
1. "sales ability
tests"
KEI 475.4
2. "sales management tests" KEI 680.3
3. "sales competency tests" KEI 1176.0
-------------------
1. "no
soliciting signs"
KEI 0.325 (very weak)
2. "no soliciting signs custom"
KEI 4230.0 (much better)
-------------------
These were just a few observations I
made recently with Wordtracker in the Members area.
Not a member yet? Then Check Out Wordtracker's Free Keyword Tool Now
Do you ever feel like you are running
out of ideas when you are working in Wordtracker? From my point of view,
I think that often, the challenge is that we simply do not
think laterally enough about our visitors.
8 Keyword Research Tips to help you think deeper
thoughts and explore those true niche areas:
1. Why not start at the top, instead of
the middle?
By choosing the popularity link you can start with the busiest
keywords. But keep your eye on the IAAT column which gives you a more accurate compete count so the smaller
this number is, the easier your job will be. IAAT stands for In Anchor And Title so you know pages that have
at least got the keyword phrase in one instance of anchor text
and in the Title tag, at least probably have a measure of basic
SEO knowledge.
2. Wordtracker's recent new design
includes a training area.
Did you know Wordtracker has opened a new training area on their
Web site which has tips and articles and resources that you may
not have known about? Watch this area continue growing in the
future.
Learn Wordtracker through their resources here
3. Magic in 3 minutes - listen to
audio tips for free
Have you listened to my series of Wordtracker Magic audio tips?
These are short little 3 minute recordings where I teach you how
to tap into Wordtracker's hottest windows of opportunity in just
minutes. The audio tips are free and you can listen in right on
your computer.
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/audiomagic.html
4. Behaviors Vs. Keywords
Have you thought about exploring "search behaviors"
instead of just "researching keywords?" I
explain the difference in my e-book Wordtracker Magic. Now you
can downlod
the e-book for free if you watch this short video.
Instructions are given at the end.
5. Opening up the niche
Just when you think you're running low on ideas, don't forget to
plug that keyword you're investigating into a tool like http://www.Thesaurus.com
and watch for more synonyms you can explore.
6. Reverse approach
If you feel challenged because the keyword you're researching
has no potential, try a reverse approach and explore your
audience's searching behavior first to see what they want, then
create that quality content that they're looking for.
Wordtracker is a powerful window on the world.
7. Are you mixed up in a muddle of
industry jargon?
Every so often, Wordtracker may reveal unusual letters, short
forms that at first appear like a mess. Realize that many
searchers do search with short forms or even worse. Often
they'll search using their own industry jargon. Why not make the
most of it? Use a tool like http://www.acronymfinder.com
to reveal the possible meaning of those nonsense phrases. For
example, we all assume the term SEO means Search Engine
Optimizer, right? Did you know it actually has over 21 different
meanings? Try plugging any acronym or short form into acronym
finder and see all of the possibilities. It can be an eye
opener.
8. Observe Those Big differences in
little words
Remember that there really are big differences in little tiny
words that make up your keyword phrase. Learn to explore and dig
through Wordtracker's awesome database and follow some of these
tips and you won't need anyone to tell you about it once you
strike those golden search trends. You'll know by the traffic
coming to your pages.
Remember that you can work in
Wordtracker for a long time and never discover it all or see it all.
The reason is because their main
database of (350 million plus queries) is being updated every week on a rolling 8 week cycle.
In other words, there are always fresh trends waiting to be
discovered, if you'll just change your thinking to a little wider
scope.
If you to access the full membership,
you can get
13 months for the price of 12 months through this link.
About John Alexander
John Alexander is the Co-Director of
Training of Search Engine Workshops with Robin Nobles. Together,
they
teach 2-day beginner, 3-day advanced, and 5-day all-inclusive
"hands on" search
engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe.
John also teaches online
search engine marketing courses through http://www.onlinewebtraining.com,
and he’s a member of Wordtracker’s
official question support team.
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