Market Research Methods For SEO Rankings
Keyword research is the first step we take towards SEO rankings but sometimes these market research methods have a poor effect on our sites because we don’t fully understand the concepts. Give me the facts – I’ll draw my own confusions! It is a complex subject and even when we think we know it well, we often trip over something simply because we don’t know it’s there. What you may not know can hurt your SEO rankings and sometimes a heavy hand with what you do know can too.
A problem that search engines encounter often is the design of websites that purely use advanced programming such as C++, JavaScript or CGI. If the navigation links within your site are powered by these advanced scripts alone, the search engine will not be able to fully browse your site. You need to provide links in basic HTML so that the engine can read your website. Its difficult to get SEO rankings for something that can’t be read and indexed.
It can take months for a website with a new domain name (.com, .org or .edu) to show up on search engines. Google has imposed an ageing delay on new websites so that it doesn’t waste time on indexing websites that don’t last long. If later you want to change your domain name, I suggest you rethink and use what you have instead. A cosmetic facelift of your existing web pages along with several new good quality SEO articles may serve you better in the long run for SEO rankings. When you already know all the ins and outs of your website, then it’s so much easier to revise than replace because of familiarity. If you think a better domain name is called for by all means buy it and put a blog on it, linking to your existing site. Best of both worlds and extra links.
Some internet marketers make the mistake of placing researched keyword requirements above that of article quality. It is necessary to use market research methods for keyword phrases because until you know what other people are targeting and what the competition is for some key phrases you may be mistakenly optimizing for SEO rankings on something you just can’t have. Once you have eliminated these saturated phrases, you have a better idea of what you may be able to use.
At first glance, it will still seem sensible to optimize an article for researched keywords rather than be concerned with artistic considerations, true relevance or honest, from the heart writing. However, bear in mind that not everyone will want to buy your product or idea even if it is suitable to everyone. You know that what you sell is saleable only to a certain target market. If you prioritize keyword optimization in your article just for SEO rankings, rather than writing the article for the sake of the product you want to sell and to provide information to your target audience, chances are you will attract buyers for a commodity that you do not have.
The keyword here is relevance. A person searching the internet for something he needs will filter out the search results by using their own theory of relevance. My suggestion is, write the article for the sake of your product and for your target customers information. Place the priority of keywords as a secondary consideration. It’s all about relevance. Sure, it would be a plus for you if you manage to pull in lots of traffic even if they don’t want anything to do with your site or products. But believe me, misleading a person on the internet is a risky business. Search engines analyze your hits and bounce rates and, if your traffic clicks away after seconds, they know your site isn’t satisfying them by showing them what they need.
Be specific with your keywords. Don’t generalize. The biggest disadvantage of internet shopping is that customers cannot scrutinize the product personally. What they usually do is find out from other sources what the product is all about, how it works, etc… When they decide to finally buy, they know in detail what they’re looking for and will most likely use a specific name brand as part of their search strings. Your keywords need to be able to match those strings in terms of number of words matched and how the order of those words match.
For example, when looking for bras, women need to order by using their torso and cup size. So, the bra size could be a 36 B or a 36 C. Then there are colors to choose from like red, burgundy and black. A bit more specific is the bra classification. Is it a half-cup or a push-up, or is it a sport bra? With these factors in mind, you can conclude that a woman looking for a bra on the internet can type in "black push-up bra 36-C".
If you are selling products with criteria such as this, use this specific information for your SEO rankings. Do you have key phrases to match those kinds of search strings? Are the words in your key phrases arranged in the same order? The final consideration is the article where those keywords are embedded. If the article is just a small jumble of words full of keywords, the search engine will most likely discard your website in favor of another that has a good paragraph of relevant descriptive information. This will decrease the SEO ranking of your website for each search results page.
About The Author
Rich Niche Blogging, a website with free tutorial resources for bloggers, announces the release of Niche Market Research Methods for SEO . The new ebook is designed to help writers get SEO rankings and offers training to start a niche blogging business.
Handle Your Own SEO
Should You Handle Your Own SEO?
Everyone is trying to save money in today’s economy – but sometimes when you think you are saving money you are actually losing so much more than you save.
If you are considering handling your SEO, that is only a good decision if;
a) you have the time to do the work and actually get it done and b) you can get the results you need so you actually improve your traffic from top rankings.
Everyone is trying to save money in today’s economy – but sometimes when you think you are saving money you are actually losing so much more than you save.
If you are considering handling your SEO, that is only a good decision if;
a) you have the time to do the work and actually get it done and b) you can get the results you need so you actually improve your traffic from top rankings.
To determine if you should handle your SEO – check out these questions.
1. Can you work within simple HTML? At a bare minimum, you need to be able to add Meta tags to an HTML document. Ideally, you can also bold text, set up links, change formatting, rename images, move java script into a .js file etc.
2. Do you have enough time to make your site search engine friendly? Plan on a minimum of 3 hours for sites that are in great shape, and up to 25 hours (or more) for sites that may need a complete overhaul. In our experience, 3 – 6 hours seems to be the norm for time spent on updating SEO friendliness issues.
3. Will you have this time for SEO friendliness work within the next week? Typically, if people don’t take action in the immediate future (within the next 5 business days), the project ends up being delayed indefinitely. You need a clear scheduled start date for your SEO work – especially when the holidays are approaching! You need to get things going!
4. Can your business afford to “lend” this time to SEO without experiencing some other negative impact? If the time is not truly extra time you have, then you would be “borrowing” the time from another area of your business. Can you do that without harming another area of your business?
5. If your SEO project becomes bigger than you initially anticipated, will you have the time and attention to continue dedicating to it until completion?
6. Are you an experienced and competent copywriter? If you said no, do you feel you can quickly master writing compelling copy that is also keyword rich?
7. Is the content already on your site something you feel comfortable altering? Often people that have paid for high-end marketing copy on their websites do not want to make any SEO alterations themselves, for fear of altering the effectiveness of their current copy – and therefore affecting their conversion rates.
Everyone is trying to save money in today’s economy – but sometimes when you think you are saving money you are actually losing so much more than you save.
If you are considering handling your SEO, that is only a good decision if;
a) you have the time to do the work and actually get it done and b) you can get the results you need so you actually improve your traffic from top rankings.
Web CEO – The Right Toolkit for Your SEO!
To determine if you should handle your SEO – check out these questions.
1. Can you work within simple HTML? At a bare minimum, you need to be able to add Meta tags to an HTML document. Ideally, you can also bold text, set up links, change formatting, rename images, move java script into a .js file etc.
2. Do you have enough time to make your site search engine friendly? Plan on a minimum of 3 hours for sites that are in great shape, and up to 25 hours (or more) for sites that may need a complete overhaul. In our experience, 3 – 6 hours seems to be the norm for time spent on updating SEO friendliness issues.
3. Will you have this time for SEO friendliness work within the next week? Typically, if people don’t take action in the immediate future (within the next 5 business days), the project ends up being delayed indefinitely. You need a clear scheduled start date for your SEO work – especially when the holidays are approaching! You need to get things going!
4. Can your business afford to “lend” this time to SEO without experiencing some other negative impact? If the time is not truly extra time you have, then you would be “borrowing” the time from another area of your business. Can you do that without harming another area of your business?
5. If your SEO project becomes bigger than you initially anticipated, will you have the time and attention to continue dedicating to it until completion?
6. Are you an experienced and competent copywriter? If you said no, do you feel you can quickly master writing compelling copy that is also keyword rich?
7. Is the content already on your site something you feel comfortable altering? Often people that have paid for high-end marketing copy on their websites do not want to make any SEO alterations themselves, for fear of altering the effectiveness of their current copy – and therefore affecting their conversion rates.
8. Do you have any prior SEO experience?
9. Do you have the tools or know where to purchase the tools that will help you in keyword selection, site analysis, reporting and current industry information?
10. Would you rather spend your time working ON your business (i.e., growing it) than IN your business (i.e., taking care of the nitty gritty details rather than the big picture)?
11. Do you have a plan in place to make sure you stay current on all SEO trends and changes so you can maintain your rankings on-going?
Now let’s take a look at your answers and what they mean:
1: Can you work within simple HTML?
On-page optimization requires that you work within the HTML on your website. If you are not able to work with an HTML document and feel confident that you will not cause any errors or malfunctions, then you simply can not handle your SEO at this time.
You would need to learn HTML before you could consider handling SEO. Please note, if your site is more complex than simple HTML, you would need to be comfortable working within the code used on your site.
2, 3 and 4: Do you have enough time to make your site search engine friendly? Can your business afford to “lend” this time to SEO, and therefore experience no significant negative impact? If the time is not truly extra time you have, then you would be “borrowing” the time from another area of your business.
You will also later need to write content, alter content and handle various optimization techniques, but to get started – before you can do anything else – you need to make the time to get the foundation ready for SEO. If you don’t have time to do this, your project simply won’t get off the ground.
Do you truly have the time, or are you just taking it from somewhere else. If you are taking it from somewhere else, that may be fine – you just need to be sure that you aren’t harming your business in other ways. Getting rankings, and ultimately traffic to your site will not benefit you if your business falls apart while you work on the optimization.
The remainder of the questions are details for you to consider. Basically, the more No’s there are, the more likely it is that you should NOT handle your SEO in-house.
If your results determined you can handle your SEO, here are the final details you need you consider:
1. What is your time worth per hour? Which option is more cost effective for you – hiring someone or spending your time?
2. Can you recognize when your choice is not working for you and are you willing to try the other option at that time?
3. You must commit to educating yourself and learning all that you need to know to truly run a successful SEO campaign. Inadvertently spamming, or using a questionable technique can result in a temporary loss of results or a permanent ban from the engines. Be 100% sure you aren’t endangering your business.
If your results determined you should outsource your SEO, here are the final details you should consider:
1. Make sure you know what questions to ask the SEO firm you hire.
2. Plan on spending anywhere from $300 – $1000.00 per month to run an aggressive SEO campaign.
No one but you can decide – we just wanted to arm you with some things to consider. It is all in the details, and you should consider them carefully before making a decision.
About The Author
Jennifer Horowitz, Dir. of Marketing for EcomBuffet.com, has written a book on SEO and has been published in many SEO & Marketing publications. She is the editor of Spotlight on Success: SEO & Marketing newsletter. Over the past 10 years Jennifer’s expertise in marketing & Search Engine Optimization has helped clients íncrease revenue. Follow Jennifer and stay current on SEO, marketing, social media & more. http://twitter.com/EcomBuffet
Key Differences Among the Most Commonly Used Keyword Suggestion Tools
Key Differences Among the Most Commonly Used Keyword Suggestion Tools – Part One
Rigid, unchanging procedures threaten any business activity. With Internet-enabled and -related enterprises, keeping up with technological progress is absolutely essential to survival. As opposed to static (unchanging) websites that are not looking to strengthen or raise their industry share, any dynamic (changing) website will have new copy, even new strategies, on an ongoing basis. Regular, extensive, ongoing keyword research is not a luxury, but a basic survival tactic.
Understanding how people actually use words, and the relationships these words have in the context of an Internet search, is key to threading these words and phrases through the fabric of your site. Because the Internet is so very dynamic, with word relationships changing seemingly by the minute, this is a huge and growing challenge for more and more people and companies. After all, the Internet is growing into the major commercial and communication hub of the world. Accurate and useful keyword suggestion tools – and their intelligent implantation into business and marketing strategy, are a major part of the solution.
here are a plethora of keyword suggestion tools available, from free to cost-based, including NicheBot, Wordtracker, KeywordDiscovery, SEOBook, and the various Google keyword tools. In this two-part article, we will consider these tools and the differences among them. Part one will cover the first three on the líst, while part two will cover the Google tools and SEOBook’s Keyword Suggestion Tool.
Most importantly, perhaps, these tools help you estimate the relative (rather than absolute) size of the search referral "market" produced by particular words and phrases. You will develop a better understanding of what terms appear how often in search queries, and what other terms are correlated with them, and how many times they are searched compared to those other terms. The analytics you develop with the tools will also give you a good idea of how their suggestions will fare, and provide a means of understanding "competition levels" for specific words and phrases.
Naturally, there are differences both large and small among these keyword analysis/suggestion tools. Google, of course, compiles its tool data from its own search network of sites and offers tremendous functionality at low or zero cost. The subscription-based services, such as Wordtracker and KeywordDiscovery, take advantage of databases of multiple sites and data that can be assembled, broken down, repurposed and presented in myriad ways.
Rigid, unchanging procedures threaten any business activity. With Internet-enabled and -related enterprises, keeping up with technological progress is absolutely essential to survival. As opposed to static (unchanging) websites that are not looking to strengthen or raise their industry share, any dynamic (changing) website will have new copy, even new strategies, on an ongoing basis. Regular, extensive, ongoing keyword research is not a luxury, but a basic survival tactic.
Understanding how people actually use words, and the relationships these words have in the context of an Internet search, is key to threading these words and phrases through the fabric of your site. Because the Internet is so very dynamic, with word relationships changing seemingly by the minute, this is a huge and growing challenge for more and more people and companies. After all, the Internet is growing into the major commercial and communication hub of the world. Accurate and useful keyword suggestion tools – and their intelligent implantation into business and marketing strategy, are a major part of the solution.
Win Google Over to Your Side!
There are a plethora of keyword suggestion tools available, from free to cost-based, including NicheBot, Wordtracker, KeywordDiscovery, SEOBook, and the various Google keyword tools. In this two-part article, we will consider these tools and the differences among them. Part one will cover the first three on the líst, while part two will cover the Google tools and SEOBook’s Keyword Suggestion Tool.
Most importantly, perhaps, these tools help you estimate the relative (rather than absolute) size of the search referral "market" produced by particular words and phrases. You will develop a better understanding of what terms appear how often in search queries, and what other terms are correlated with them, and how many times they are searched compared to those other terms. The analytics you develop with the tools will also give you a good idea of how their suggestions will fare, and provide a means of understanding "competition levels" for specific words and phrases.
Naturally, there are differences both large and small among these keyword analysis/suggestion tools. Google, of course, compiles its tool data from its own search network of sites and offers tremendous functionality at low or zero cost. The subscription-based services, such as Wordtracker and KeywordDiscovery, take advantage of databases of multiple sites and data that can be assembled, broken down, repurposed and presented in myriad ways.
Specific Tool Functionality
Wordtracker aggregates its keyword data from the leading meta search engines, primarily Dogpile but with input from MetaCrawler and others. In Wordtracker’s attempts to mine keyword gold, it will discover how many times a certain term or phrase shows up in its database of over 316 million words. This is quite a trick in itself, as English (according to linguists) has between 600,000 and two million words, depending upon how we define a "word." It is clear that Wordtracker leaves no permutation or word-form uncounted, which is a distinct benefit.
Wordtracker’s brain trust asserts that metacrawlers process the queries of the leading search engines with some precision, and that the software robots that continuously check site rankings and such do not interfere with the count. In a different approach, KeywordDiscovery relies on its global "premium database" of some 4.5 billion searches based solely on user data, thus diminishing the distortions inherent in some other strategies.
If you are considering which tool to use, you can still get free trials of most tools, except that you usually need to provide contact information, with phone numbers and e-mail addresses required. There are few ways to use and compare the tools anonymously, so the next best approach is "meta-analysis," in which we look at various published third-party reports on the actual use of these tools.
In a study published last year, one technology writer performed keyword forecasts for "dog food" with KeywordDiscovery, Wordtracker and several other programs. Despite using different original data sets, all of these tools try to supply reliable estimates of the available search referral traffic without "data inflation." There are numerous ways to analyze and present the results.
On average, KeywordDiscovery predicted there would be some 1,088 searches for "dog food" daily, while Wordtracker calculated the probable search referral market for "dog food" to be about double that. KeywordDiscovery does have a unique and quite useful algorithm that considers "seasonality" in its results, letting you review the seasonality of terms historically, as monthly estimates or even as a component of annual trends. Search engine market share is developed, as well.
KeywordDiscovery and Wordtracker results can both be repurposed to estimate just Google referral traffic or that of any other major engine. In the tech columnist’s example, the Wordtracker daily estimate for Google’s "dog food" search was 1,043, or almost half of all the "Daily Prediction" information. KeywordDiscovery had Google accounting for 67 percent of its "Average Daily" results, thus suggesting that 738 "dog food" searches would be made in Google every day.
Perhaps this does not seem to be much of an absolute difference, but when considered over a 30-day period, the difference scaled up considerably in this particular test. KeywordDiscovery estimated some 22,000+ "dog food" searches that month, but Wordtracker projected over 31,000 "dog food" searches for that same period.
A ‘Niche’ Player
Nichebot came on the scene with some degree of fanfare. It is a complex program, with a tightly specified methodology that lacks flexibility in some important ways. On the other hand, it gathers data from more sources than Wordtracker – leveraging the results from KeywordDiscovery and Google – and provides a great selection of explanatory videos, instructive screenshots and excellent "Help" functions.
However, Nichebot recommends a five-step system, which can be time-consuming and confusing, even for veterans. There are, of course, some free "quick-dig" tools, including, oddly enough, Wordtracker and its thesaurus. While it is free to search Wordtracker via Nichebot, you get only basic counts, and must pay for a premium search if you wish to see competition data and the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI).
You can dig a bit "deeper" without additional cost by clicking on a term or phrase in the results, which provides a líst of associated phrases. One savvy forum poster declared that the primary purpose for using Nichebot is "to find as many keywords from multiple sources to cover as much territory for the maximum traffic for your website." In practice, he explained, one can start "from a broad search and just keep refining, merging, narrowing in."
The proliferation of "niche" tools and functions would seem to be a sensible development given Nichebot’s name, but the added functionality comes at a price. For instance, you can get the addresses of the sites that have the greatest number of backlinks for a particular term, but the learning curve involved with this program makes the more arcane data difficult to develop.
Generally speaking, Nichebot results are excellent, and it allows better organization of projects and searches via its folder hierarchy. Further, the program checks your site for keyword density "red flags" that Google may note (and disapprove of). As premium search charges kick in a bit early compared to others, the question for users has to be: Do the premium charges return enough value to offset the time and money spent to obtain it?
Time and Tide
While meta-analysis of user comments at a random selection of forums discloses that they don’t find Nichebot particularly intuitive, it is considered an impressive software achievement.
Even its appearance gives Nichebot the impression that using it takes time and discipline. While KeywordDiscovery and Wordtracker can be used in a stream-of-consciousness manner at times, Nichebot does not lend itself to brainstorming or "fluid" search styles. This is a direct result, of course, of its having the power it does. Despite that power, it does have a number of anomalies that are commonly reported. For one thing, it applies its vaunted "Jackpot" rating to keywords for which it finds no competition, even if that is the case because of error or anomaly.
Finally, a number of users report that advanced searches can get stuck in a "holding pattern" (in a queue) and take from 15-20 minutes to generate results. With the tide of the Internet forever washing new waves onto the shore, time is of the essence. Even though advanced keyword research searches can return valuable data, it is no stretch to say that many marketers might consider 20 minutes per keyword tool inquiry to be a barrier to frequent or consistent use.
Rating the Tools
Wordtracker is easier to use for most people, but the possibilities are certainly expanded with Nichebot. Doing random or unassociated searches "by the seat of your pants" is among Wordtracker’s great strengths, but Nichebot works well to focus your work and helps you take a step-by-step, measured approach. It can be said that Nichebot can not only return search terms and numbers, but can actually sub as your defacto keyword research process. As one user commented at a KEI forum, Nichebot "takes a lot of the guesswork out [but] getting there is somewhat painful."
KeywordDiscovery’s "9-in-1 tool" approach (check their site, it’s even divided up this way) is popular with many users. It goes some 10,000 keywords deep and the more you pay the deeper you can go. Nichebot does provide more information, but it has that steep learning curve and much harder to learn than the more "friendly" Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.
What works best for you will most likely be a product of trial and error – and for many will be a combination of the tools. Because you have to give up more and more personal data to get the "free trials," however, you may want to let other people’s fingers "do the walking" and continue to do meta-analyses of others’ results. There is a lot of wisdom to be gleaned from multiple opinions, yet there is nothing like running your research your way. Trust the judgment of tech columnists and meta-analysts, or acquiesce to giving up some personal information to find out for yourself.
Remember, because of the many search engines and the multitudes of sources the keyword tools get their numbers from, all of the results are relative. For starters, check out the most important, relevant and highly "trafficked" keywords and terms already associated with your site’s content. As we move to Part Two and consider the Google tools and SEOBook’s program, don’t forget that ongoing study, research and testing are the most fruitful ways to stay abreast of an ever-changing universe of words – and all their relatives, too.
About The Author
AdGooroo is a leader in online competition analysis. With a cutting edge keyword research tool and providing free keyword research, AdGooroo is a must-have for any search marketer or agency.
