Keyword Research

Keyword Research

Fred Sextonbigcheese@mouseandman.com

@FredSextonMarch 2009

Charlotte SEM Association Twitter hashtag #SEMCLT

The first step to success with any marketing campaign is to know your message. With search marketing, that means knowing the search terms

that are being used by your target audience. Understand what they’re searching for, and you

can tune-in to their traffic via search engines. This presentation covers tools and techniques of

performing keyword research.

"Learning the Lingo of Your Customer"

● Marketing 101● Ex: Kodak

– Physical/tangible– Benefit

● Customer lingo doesn't equalmanagement lingo

What is keyword research?

● Process of selecting keywords that are relevant to your site and are used by potential customers as query terms.

Why Keyword Research?

● First step in (my) search marketing strategy● Correct bad keyword choices (negative

keywords with Adwords)● Speak the customer’s language (some CEOs

think they know how to describe their customers)

● Develop list of relevant terms to target in SEO, PPC, Blogs, Videos, Social Media, and offline documentation

● Competitor Watch

Why Keyword Research? (cont)

● Keywords give ideas for site design and navigation

● Discover new keyword opportunities

Longtail Keywords

● 3/4 or greater words● Less competition● More of them● Sum of longtail is bigger!

Longtail Keywords

● Tails can deviate at different rates● Typically:

– Red=Newer– Blue=Older

Stages● Keyword Discovery

– Multiple Sources– Tools

● Keyword Addition/Subtraction– Client approval

● Keyword Evaluation– Volume– User Intent (potential conversion rate)– Competition– Performance

Keyword Discovery

● Free expression writing, all words are good● Keywords from company

– Interviews– Press Releases– Web site

SEO Quake Plugin - FF

Keyword Discovery

● Site Search Box– Reveals real/actual site keywords– Number of words searchers are using– Make sure you collect site search data

Keyword Discovery

● Customer Lingo– Interview them, “Why did you buy from us?”– Customer surveys– Talk to sales staff who talks with customer

The best keywords come straight from the customer’s mouth.

Keyword Discovery

● Always use multiple sources

Keyword Discovery

● Establish difficulty– Search in Google for:– Internet Marketing 103,000,000– “Internet Marketing” 43,000,000– allintitle: Internet Marketing 2,450,000– allintitle: “Internet Marketing” 2,200,000– allinurl: "internet marketing" 1,170,000

Competition

Competitor investigation (PPC)

Creating Keyword Lists

● Find exact search phrases– Log Files (automated programs)– GA hack– Hittail

Keyword Tools

● Google Keyword Tool

● WordTracker● Trellian Keyword

Discovery ● Google Webmaster

Tools● Google Insights● Google Trends

● Suggestion Tool● Hitwise● Hitwise● GoodKeywords.com● adCenter Labs Tools● Microsoft adCenter

Add In for Excel● Nichebot

Keyword Tools

● Live example– Google Keyword Tool– Google Trends

Google Suggestions

Keyword Addition

● Comparison (best, compare, reviews)● Adjectives

– Price (cheap, free, discount)– Product (green, plus size, unique)

● Intended use (gift for mother, baptism gown)● Brand / vendor / manufacturer / product #

(ebay)● Location / Local● Action (apply, book, find, buy)

Permutations

● Keyword permutation tools– Enter keyword terms, and modifiers – Combines variations of phrases

● http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-list/generator.php

Popularity● Being popular isn't always the best (longtail)

– Low Hanging Fruit● Popular phrases

– Less relevant– More competitive/expensive

● Less Popular– More focused– Satisfies searchers– Higher conversion– Less traffic per keyword

Consider User Intent● Understand the “why”

– Research vs Purchase (“just looking”)– Stage in buying process

● Buying vs Browsing– “car reviews”– “fast auto financing”

● Adjust ad copy and landing page to reflect knowledge level or interest

– Misspellings– Location from where visitors are coming from

Searcher Behavior

● Navigational– I just want to be at your web site.

● Informational– Do blue widgets require special maintenance?

● Ad potential?● Transactional

– Interactive, purchase, subscribe, BUY!– I want financing to buy a hybrid car.

Competition

● Are they doing PPC? How much are the bids?● How optimized are their sites?● What’s their linkage situation?

– Quality of links– Anchor text

Plurality

● Web Design● Web Design Companies● Web Design Company● Top Web Design Company● Top Charlotte Web Design Company

Performance Considerations

● PPC Testing●

So, now what...

● Select and optimize 2 related phrases per page

● Don’t keyword stuff.– Optimal KW density = 7%...maybe ;)

Where on page?

● Page title tags● Headers (H1,H2 tags)● Anchor text● META keywords & descriptions● Page URLs● Internal linking

Keyword Research for Paid Campaigns (Negative Keywords)

● Negative Keywords– They prevent search engines from displaying

your ads:● Common examples are “free” or “cheap”.● Great for filtering out irrelevant queries:

– Irrelevant clicks cost money, but hurt CTR, quality score, conversion % and

● Don’t use negative keywords with only exact match option.

Negative Keyword Example

Summary

● Remember… It’s not about the keywords You want to be found on...

● It’s about the keywords the End User uses to find you.

Summary

● The success/failure of your search campaign depends on good keywords selection.

● Keyword research is always on-going.● Don’t use popularity as the only criteria.● Get feedback, and if term isn’t working,change

it!

Questions

Fred Sexton

bigcheese@mouseandman.com

@FredSexton