How do you keyword research?

[Ali-v-8]

I am curious about the number of people who say they do keyword research and have no idea what it actually means.

Some SEO's simply think it means the client gives the keywords they want and then they just look for the most popular ones in google keyword tool and that's it all done and dusted.
If this is all you are doing then do not wonder why you have failed.

 

[Maxwell83]

I have no idea when it comes to SEO, i'm not a client or an SEO, just curious. What would proper keyword research consist of.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Unfortunately some of my ways of getting keywords involve disclosing my own SEO techniques.
I will how ever say that I prepare by finding my target market then asking them. Not directly but by posing questions and seeing what they come back with - Influence is a key factor in choosing terms.
The auto fill suggestion is another great way. Type in the main phrase and look at the top 5 suggestions

 

[Maxwell83]

Unfortunately some of my ways of getting keywords involve disclosing my own SEO techniques.
I will how ever say that I prepare by finding my target market then asking them. Not directly but by posing questions and seeing what they come back with - Influence is a key factor in choosing terms.
The auto fill suggestion is another great way. Type in the main phrase and look at the top 5 suggestions

I am fascinated by things like this - its such a science and an art.

10 years ago while at uni, I created a web site with affiliate links for loans. It was easy money back then and I was actually okay at web marketing using PPC but the market quickly got competitive and I graduated and went into law, closing down the website.

10 years later the game has totally changed, SEO etc etc is so important and I am totally in the dark now. If I ever need to promote a website, I would paying someone most definately, not DIY'ing it.

 

[Websitehandyman]

I have a little tree in the garden that keyword grow on, when the fall off I mark the ground and become the site for that keyword. Sometime more then one word falls on the same site and the more words that fall the higher that site gets.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Sarcasm or factual practice - sometimes when i see work i am not sure if what you say is a true technique.

I have a little tree in the garden that keyword grow on, when the fall off I mark the ground and become the site for that keyword. Sometime more then one word falls on the same site and the more words that fall the higher that site gets.

 

[UKSBD]

Initially combine it with competitor analysis.

 

[Chunkford]

I read magazines

 

[webgeek]

A client discussion will yield an initial number of terms which, when combined with some 'think like a buyer', are used as a seed list of synonyms.

That seed list of synonyms is run through numerous keyword tools to get a painfully large list of keywords, search volumes and competition, which are often fed back through again for another iteration to get an even larger list.

That list is then triaged based on search volume and competition, where the phrases are reviewed manually to determine which ones are a part of the buy process, and kept, and those which are informational/navigational and chucked out.

Now that the list is down to the core group of terms which should theoretically drive sales, if they were ranking well, the list is fired through one of a couple of tools to get a look at what's the top 5 ranking sites look like. Things like Domain Authority / Page Authority / Domain Age / Inbound Link Profile etc, are taking into account to determine whether we can reasonably expect to rank top 5 in a timely manner, given their sense of urgency, budget, and ability to either fund content creation or create it themselves.

The now shrunk list is then manually punched into Google to see what the competition really looks like. Actual context of search results are examined. Are these results representative of the competition? Is this where a buyer would really go to look for results? This must be done, since often times some of the phrases will yield informational, educational, governmental or other links which are not a part of the buy cycle, and thus be punted.

The remaining list are prioritized with highest volume and lowest competition, in descending order and run against the rank checker to see where the client site already ranks. If it's got a bit of traction already, it's often much easier to push it up a few notches than start from 200+ ranks.

Now the list is grouped based on those with some traction and those without, descending sorted by volume/competition.

Depending on the monthly budget of the project, we may now group them into short, medium and long term, based on the projected difficulty to get results.

The phrases are reviewed and recommended to clients, then adjusted based on their input.

Once agreed, those phrases are passed over to content for editorial calendaring, associated LSI terms assigned, playbook assignments, etc. Then the fun begins

 

[Ali-v-8]

@chunkford - Yes I also get a copy of a magazine where possible and look at forums, but it is very difficult to avoid influence.

@webgeek - do you really ask your client to whittle down your keyword list?

 

[webgeek]

Once we have it where we think it's right, we give them a chance for input. Maintaining stakeholder buy-in is critical to managing almost any project - from IT to SEO.

You'll notice that they're not at the top of the funnel, helping us whittle down 1500 keywords to 20. Instead, they're at the pointy end (the bottom), where we've got the 20 recommended, presented along with the rest - including 'potential candidates' and 'not a chance' terms.

Occasionally we find that customers, who know their business better than we do, will eventually provide insight into terms that matter most to them, due to profitability, stock on hand, future direction which differs from past successes, etc. Although we try to get that out of them at the first discussion, inevitably it will take awhile to get those insights.

 

[terryuk]

Baring in mind you can grasp the basics

 

[Ali-v-8]

Why do you whittle down to 20? - I abandoned this practice a long time ago.
Do you not feel like you are restricted by term counts.

My keyword research is done to determine my goals and aims - This is no longer to gain ranking on just 20 popular terms - it is to increase the amount of business the website generates.

Ranking for 20 terms VS ranking for 100 - who do you think would generate more money?

You'll notice that they're not at the top of the funnel, helping us whittle down 1500 keywords to 20. Instead, they're at the pointy end (the bottom), where we've got the 20 recommended, presented along with the rest - including 'potential candidates' and 'not a chance' terms.

 

[Chunkford]

it should be with a vision to increase the number of keywords used to visit a site. Not to concentrate on x number of keywords as this normally leads to the dark side my young padawan

 

Most traffic comes from longtail hence once having done the majors I concentrate on longtail.

I would say that keywords and variations may be almost limitless in many cases.

 

[inbound interactive]

Here's how I do my Keyword research (you might want to take some notes)

So as previously mentioned you will want to get direct feedback from your client now keep in mind seasonality. If your clients sales are dictated by the season remember to keep this in mind, you client might not think of this (sound silly but it may be true).

So from the core terms you client gives you you will want to do some keyword research, I like to just write down keywords that come to mind and then from there run splits in Google adwords.

I also like to check Analytics and my favourite is internal site search! You might want to look at product performance under your conversions tab (in GA) as you might be able to bump up high performing keywords that might be below the fold etc.

I will also check PPC data and pull in keywords from here. Next I look at competitors and pull there back links anchor text to see what they are targeting, also if the clients competitors are activley doing SEO they will likely have good internal structures within there site, this anchor text from categories and products can also be pulled.

So once I have all my possible opportunities I run them through a rank checker (I use AWR) and pull the search volumes (exact match from Adwords) I don't look at competition (why restrict yourself?).

From here I will prioritise with the client but basically anything ranking anywhere but the first page that have good search volumes is going in the schedule to target (obviously as long as it relevant!).

Generally speaking I make my keyword targeting schedules 3 months long but shorter or longer depending on how it performs.

Hope that helps.

 

[inbound interactive]

Sorry, should really start proof reading!

 

[UKSBD]

A little gift for anyone interested

http://www.v1seo.co.uk/11/seo-keywords-finder-helps-you-find-keywords-by-category/

comments appreciated

 

[webgeek]

20 terms was just an example, depending on budget of course. If you are willing to take a site up to the middle of page 1 for 20 terms or more, at 100 quid per month, please PM me and I'll outsource some work your way!

Budget defines the size of the footprint. Otherwise, SEO firms would push hundreds or thousands of terms upward at a time, all for a shoestring. This can't happen, because you can't leverage that many terms for that much money. There are limits on the amount of content that can be generated and links built - all regulated by monthly budget.

The 20 terms are the keywords initially optimized for and tracked - not the only consideration...

After the core terms are formed, the keyword research via LSI is done to create the editorial calendar which includes tons of other relevant terms which will be used in the content, though not directly used as the target of promotions. These help create context only and are not a part of the site KPI's.

 

[Ali-v-8]

KPi's in association with semantics ???? :|

(LSI) Semantics I can understand why you would mention - But why KPI, thats in reference to monitoring conversions or milestone.
Have I missed something here ???

Or did you mean ranking performance.

 

[webgeek]

KPI's are often proposed/agreed/reported for a number of items on each of the online marketing channels (organic, ppc, social, etc).

Although sales conversions, enquiries, lead form submits, subscribes, video views, white paper downloads, etc, etc are the primary KPI's, there are numerous other secondary factors which are used to track performance as well.

As stated, LSI terms are used in the content editorial calendar and NOT in the KPI's.

 

[Ali-v-8]

and if you read the thread properly you would not just post that.

google keyword tools is the best for keyword research for google search engine.

 

[david64]

Method: Pretty similar to what WebGeek posted in his first post.

My aim is to get as much as possible that is relevant on the page, see how it sits and then tweak.

The way I look at things these days, I am much more interested in becoming a long-tail bloater, as they tend to convert in much better ratios. I can't be bothered at working on one big term only for the rankings to disappear 12 months down the line. Focus on a good-looking link profile and take any big terms you are given.

 

Method: Pretty similar to what WebGeek posted in his first post.

My aim is to get as much as possible that is relevant on the page, see how it sits and then tweak.

The way I look at things these days, I am much more interested in becoming a long-tail bloater, as they tend to convert in much better ratios. I can't be bothered at working on one big term only for the rankings to disappear 12 months down the line. Focus on a good-looking link profile and take any big terms you are given.

But it makes the job of getting the longtail so much easier if you have the majors.IMHO

 

[david64]

But it makes the job of getting the longtail so much easier if you have the majors.IMHO

Certainly. I am just no longer prepared to put in the effort to chase them, at least when it comes to link building. I'll take what Daddy G gives me, because he usually lets me keep those

Also, good to see your cheap psychoanalysis service is back. Lots of prospective clients here

 

[jcooper]

Some clients give their keywords yes but the SEO company still give their input

 

[wilson230]

I always use Google adword for keyword research.

 

[jcooper]

Some clients may have a set of keywords they want to rank form the SEO company will then run a keyword research for the client and analyze the keywords they have provided and discuss the results with the client. Some cases, the SEO company will give the client a list of the best keywords (after doing keyword research)for the particular niche of the client.

 

[Ali-v-8]

If you are required to achieve "x" then that is your job - However you do it - It may require you focusing on "A,B,C" as well.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Why do you whittle down to 20? - I abandoned this practice a long time ago.
Do you not feel like you are restricted by term counts.

My keyword research is done to determine my goals and aims - This is no longer to gain ranking on just 20 popular terms - it is to increase the amount of business the website generates.

Ranking for 20 terms VS ranking for 100 - who do you think would generate more money?

It's because a lot of these guys don't understand that approximately 70% of search terms that you'll receive positions and click throughs via won't even show up in initial keyword research.