Keyword Research + Related Keywords = Qualified Convertible Traffic

Do you still remember the last time you have searched on Google and wandered past the third or even the second page of the results? I guess not. But that’s just normal because studies have shown that searchers don’t even get past the second page of the search engine results. This is the main reason why most people who put up a website wants it on the first page of search engines especially on Google. In this chaotic world of internet marketing, almost everyone is obsessed to get to the first page and only few people are sane enough to hold back and try to think outside the box. 

What’s the use of getting on the first page of search engines for targeted keywords that will never be converted into sales?  Of course it’s very satisfying to find your website on the first page of the SERPs because this means that all your efforts to optimize your site have paid off. This is particularly true for people whose only goal is to drive high amount of traffic on their site. But what about those whose main objective is to generate high revenues? For these individuals, especially those engaged in paid search, high volume of traffic is useless, if these are not the ones that they were aiming for.

This article stresses the importance of choosing the right keywords, keywords that will not only get you on the first page of the SERPs but will also give you qualified traffic, for your website. So, how do you go about finding those set of keywords? You have several options here, you may personally think of keywords that you think potential customers will be looking for; you may ask friends, colleagues, and family members for suggestions; you may also ask present and previous customers for the keywords that they are using when searching for products belonging to the same niche. Sounds like a good idea isn’t it? It may be a good one but being in the online marketing industry is not that easy. Always remember that even a slight mistake in choosing the targeted keywords for your website may put you in a very disadvantageous position or even worst, you might end up in the Google sandbox. 

You may have the best intentions in coming up with your own set of targeted keywords, but it won’t hurt to utilize other available resources like a good keyword research tool. A keyword research tool will help you in identifying the words and phrases that are profitable and have high search volumes that you can use on your website. Some available keyword research tools in the market will also give you suggestions such as list of related and similar keywords, and the profitable keywords being used by your competition.

KeywordSpy is an example of a keyword tool that you can use for your research. It can give you all the information that you need for your research such as PPC and Organic competitors utilizing a specific keyword in their PPC advertising and Organic data, as well as PPC Ads, Related Keywords and Misspelled Keywords in connection with your searched term or phrase. 

Once you have decided on the keywords that you want to target for your website, I suggest that you also look for the related keywords as you may also find them valuable and at times, they may be a distinct source of targeted and convertible traffic. KeywordSpy will give a huge contribution when it comes to identifying valuable related keywords for your website. By performing a keyword search on the KeywordSpy website, you will be given a list of related keywords with their corresponding search volume within a month’s period, Cost per Click (CPC), number of profitable general PPC ads, number of profitable affiliate ads, and the time and date of the latest keyword scan performed. Not only this, the good thing about KeywordSpy is that by clicking on each of the keywords under the related tab, you will be able to view the list of PPC advertisers (your possible competition) employing that particular keyword on their campaign, and find out if it is profitable to bid on that particular keyword by looking at its ROI (ROI refers to the profitability of an advertisement copy). Thus, all you have to do is to look for a profitable and has a high search volume keyword which you can use as one of your targeted keywords on your website.

Creating a successful business and website online is not about easy solutions, you need to do your research for you to find the keywords that will lead you to the path of success, however, don’t just find the right keywords, you have to learn how to use them properly on your website. 

Optimization Employing Keyword Phrases Instead of Keywords

Everyone engaged in the online industry, small and huge companies alike, knows that the success of a website in terms of ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs) depends on having a solid and efficient keyword research. Of course, it is not the sole factor that will get a website on the first page of search engines, but it will definitely affect the page position of a website in the SERPs. Those who are employing search engine optimization on their website and Ad campaigns know the importance of keyword research as it can either make, when properly done, or break, if done carelessly, their campaign or website.

However, although keyword research has been recognized as such and is being employed by everyone in the online industry, most companies, most often than not, still overlook one of the most important part of keyword research, which is keyword selection and evaluation. 

But before going deeper into that, let us first focus on the main issue of this article which is the advantage of using key phrases or keyword phrases over keywords when it comes to getting more traffic and converted sales on your website.

Keywords vs. Key Phrases

Keyword pertains to a single word such as 'shoes' or 'accessories', whereas key phrase refers to multi-word search term such as 'ballerina shoes for women' or 'elegant car accessories'.

Why Use Key Phrases Instead of Keywords?

Both keywords and keyword phrases are good sources of traffic, however, with the current trend in the online industry, keywords are already considered as vague, thus, by using them, it will be extremely difficult for your website to rank on search engines or much worst, it won’t help you rank at all. Aside from this, when you use keywords instead of key phrases, you may get traffic on your site but these won’t be the targeted traffic that you were aiming for in the first place. That being said, why waste your time and effort optimizing your website using keywords that won’t even get you on the first page of the SERPs? Consider using key phrases instead of keywords on your website to get more favorable results in terms of page ranking and targeted traffic which will eventually convert into sales. Majority of Search Engine Optimizers already shifted to the use of key phrases on web sites and campaigns for two reasons:

• Less Competition = Greater Chance of Ranking in the SERPs.  Not everyone in the industry has discovered yet the benefits of using key phrases instead of keywords on their website, thus there is an assurance on your part that the key phrases that you will use will have few competition in the market, thus giving it a higher chance to rank in the SERPs. 

• Getting Qualified Traffic. You have to accept the fact that not everyone who searches for a keyword which pulls up your website would be interested in it. Let’s take the keyword ‘shoes’ as example. If you are engaged in selling women’s shoes in Baltimore, Maryland, and you are only using the keyword ‘shoes’ as the targeted keyword on your website; then whenever the keyword ‘shoes’ is being searched for on search engines, your website may come up, however, not everyone who clicks on it would be interested as they may be looking for children’s shoes or shoes located in Australia, thus those are considered as loss on your part especially if you are using PPC in your campaigns because they won’t be converted into sales. So it is best if you try to target key phrases instead of keywords; you may target the key phrase ‘women’s shoes for sale in Baltimore, Maryland’ or ‘selling women’s shoes in Baltimore, Maryland’; although there will be less traffic coming in to your website, you are guaranteed that those traffic will be converted into sales.

Finding the Best Key Phrases through Proper Keyword Research

As we have pointed out earlier, with the help of proper keyword research, you will be able to identify the best key phrases that you can target for your website. Always remember that when chosen correctly, your key phrases will give you the traffic and profit that you are aiming for, and it will metamorphose your website from a passive one to one that constantly gets qualified and targeted traffic that converts into sales.

Proper keyword research requires a good keyword research tool that will not only give you information such as search volume for a particular keyword phrase and its CPC; you need one that will also give you idea on possible key phrases that you may use, which is related to your targeted key phrase, and this is what KeywordSpy offers. By doing a keyword search on KeywordSpy, you will be able to see the PPC Ads, Related Keywords and Misspelled Keywords connected to your searched term or key phrase; not only this, it will also give you a peek on your competitors (PPC and Organic) that are utilizing the specific key phrase in their PPC advertising and Organic data.

Tips in Choosing Keyword Phrases

Studies show that not all users go beyond the second or third page of a search engine result page, so from here we can conclude that the best key phrases are those that will increase the chance of your article landing on the first page. So here are some tips to help you in identifying the best key phrases for your site or campaign:

• Put yourself into a searcher’s position, your target audience, if you were to search for key phrases connected to your website, what would they be? You may also ask friends and family members for ideas as they can give you a picture of what your customers may be looking for. 

• After you have come up with a list of three or four key phrases, search for them using a keyword research tool like KeywordSpy. 

• Sort and refine your search by looking for the best key phrases that would fit best in your site. Choose key phrases that have high number of searches but at the same time have less competing sites as this will likely generate sales. 

• After you have chosen the best key phrases, choose one that will become your primary keyword phrase. Your primary keyword phrase should be one, which you think; users will tend to look for in your article. 

• Also choose two to three additional phrases which you can use to attract searchers who use variations of your primary keyword phrase as their search queries.

By using the aforementioned knowledge and information on key phrases, you may now put this into action and use key phrases, if you’re not yet employing it on your website or campaign, to get on top of the search engine rankings and drive only targeted traffic on your website. So start thinking key phrases not keywords. 

Taking Advantage of SEO Competitive Research: Get To Know Your Competitors with KeywordSpy

Each time Google makes revisions on its “Google algorithm, webmasters go gaga trying to figure out and finding new means to cope with the abrupt change fearing that it may bring about tremendous effect on their page rank in the SERPs. This means prolonged working hours and sleepless nights for them trying to figure out the effects as well as remedies for this abrupt change.

So, you think that’s too bad, right? Well, you haven’t clearly seen the entire picture yet. It’s bad enough that you have to constantly keep yourself abreast of the latest features, updates and releases made by Google, and on top of that, you also have to find solutions and techniques so that this sudden change in the Google algorithm won’t greatly affect your page rank. However, it doesn’t end there. After you have figured out how the algorithm works, and optimized your website in order to dance with the tune of the new formula, you still have to consider the fact that you are not alone on your chosen niche. You have competitors who could have found better ways to outsmart the algorithm, thus you also have to find ways to outsmart them. This is the part where competitive research and analysis enters the picture.

Competitive Research and Analysis

Competitive research is the process of examining all aspects that may be affecting a business environment. It mainly asks questions about your competitors, the latest economic trends, government regulations, market structure, etc. However, when it comes to SEO competitive research, the processes involved include studying those websites that are ranking for your targeted keywords in order to have an edge over your competitors. In other words, competitive research is basically the study of your competitors, especially the ones that outranked your position in the SERPs. 

When it comes to competitive research, the more information you have about your competitors in the same niche, the better, as you will be more equipped to proceed on the next process called Competitive Analysis or Competitor Analysis. 

Competitor Analysis’ main goal is to create a delineation of every move and technique a competitor of the same niche may be doing or might do in case of an abrupt change in the Google algorithm or other search engines. This also includes the strategies and possible response or contingency plans a competitor might employ in case another competitor of the same niche made strategic and crucial changes to their site; and the most probable reaction that your competitors will do in cases of environmental shifts and industry changes. Competitor Analysis has been proven to be an effective and efficient approach to analyze and figure out your competitors’ marketing techniques and this will help you to find ways and means to outsmart and step up to them.

Both processes mentioned above are huge parts and two of the most important aspects of organic search engine optimization, which every webmaster should focus on.

Importance of Doing Competitive Research and Analysis

In order to get ahead of your competitors and to totally outsmart them, first, you must understand and figure out why your competitors ranks well and how your site matches up compared to theirs. This will give you a better picture which will help you in setting your goals, which will further help you as to which area you should pay close attention to, for you to have an edge over your competitors.

Determining Your Direct Competitors

Before going gung-ho over analyzing your direct competitors, you also have to consider that not all of your competitors’ techniques will work, thus you should only focus on those competitors’ whose techniques actually worked and are producing great and valuable results in the SERPs. Also, pay close attention to those sites that are ranking well for your keywords, even if they do not belong to the same niche. May be you’re wondering why you have to bother checking sites belonging to other niches --- well, if search engines considered those sites as relevant, thereby giving them high ranking, perhaps it’s  also high time for you to pay attention to those sites, scrutinize and figure out why they are ranking so well. 

In selecting your direct competitors, the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing) play an important role. Consider the top 10 ranking sites, having your targeted keywords as gauge, in the major search engines as your most important competitors.

Conducting Competitive Research

The first step would be to know your position in the SERPs for your targeted keywords. Look for those sites that have higher page rank than yours, and try to analyze what they may be doing to get a better position in the SERPs. To do this, you need the right kind of keyword tool because a properly conducted research involves good keyword research tool. There are lots of keyword research tools out there, which may help you, but if you want intensive and up to date data, then you better use KeywordSpy. 

KeywordSpy will not only show you your PPC Competitors, but it will also provide you useful data that will greatly help you with your competitor analysis such as the positioning of your competitors in terms of PPC Keywords and Organic Keywords. Aside from the most effective and profitable keywords being used by your competitors, other information that you can get from KeywordSpy are the following: the Daily Ad Budget of your competitor, Average Ad Position, Average Cost per click, PPC Ad Copies, and PPC  and Organic Keywords.

After searching for your competitor in terms of your targeted keywords, you can now start doing your competitor analysis to look for ways to beat them such as examining your competitor’s link structure, the way your competitor’s website has been optimized,  and the effective keywords that your competitor is using, which is missing in your own campaign. After proper analysis and after you have figured out the key areas in your site that needs improvement and the areas on your competitors’ site that have loopholes, then you can work on this to your advantage.

As you continue to optimize your site, competitive analysis allows you to retain your edge and stay on top of your competitors. However, getting on top of the SERPs is not as easy as staying there. The game goes on as you continuously need to find techniques and develop strategies that will give you an assurance of staying on top.