Comments on: Keyword Research For Those Who Have Something Else to Do

By: Ruud Hein

Ruud Hein — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:35:56 +0000

In reply to Jon Wade.

Mandy makes good points, Jon.

What I also like, as an angle, is to do my own research. Works best when you’re new to a niche but you can set similar tasks when you’re already familiar with it.

Pick a few things you would want or need to know about a topic. Then start searching and researching about those. Read. Dig deeper. Now you’re refining your searching. Write everything down. Pretty soon you will have gone from a search like “how to keyword research” to “keyword research google analaytics ssl” 🙂

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:49:44 +0000

Hi Jon,

There are lots of different strategies and tools you could use. I’d take a look at SpyFu for competitor analysis, but also take a look at things like Google Trends, your Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools data, and the keywords you’re already using.

The key in good keyword research is to not over think or over analyze, but to choose the words that a.) are most relevant to your users, b.) most accurately describe the content of your site, are c.) are competitive (i.s. there’s a possibility to rank well for them). The best keywords are often the common sense ones we forget about. Put yourself in the searcher’s shoes and go from there 🙂

I hope this helps!

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:44:27 +0000

In reply to Ruth M. McNeil.

Thanks! 🙂

By: Jon Wade

Jon Wade — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:22:07 +0000

I have had a go at keyword research a few times but have so far struggled to really get to grips with it. One idea I had was to pull up a list of keywords I currently do well with and somehow compare this to trends in my industry, which will hopefully highlight areas where I could work on. Any tips for doing this?

Maybe a generic keyword list by industry? Or look at some specific competitors to see what they are doing well with?

By: Ruth M. McNeil

Ruth M. McNeil — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:55:50 +0000

Hi Mandy,

This are great tips! Thanks for sharing this. Keyword research is indeed a must if we want a great traffic. I have been using Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool for a while and it really helps me. Thanks for posting this.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:06:34 +0000

In reply to L.J..

That depends. Competition volume is variable depending on your niche or your industry. For example, if you were a wedding site, you might find that under 3 million sites competing for a particular term would be competitive. On the other hand, if you were a site that offered advice for contractors, under 1 million could be competitive. You have to get a feel for how competitive your industry is and choose your keywords with that in mind.

Hope this helps to answer your question! 🙂

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:03:25 +0000

In reply to Giuseppe Saieva.

Glad you found the post helpful! 🙂

By: L.J.

L.J. — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:46:27 +0000

What would you recommend as acceptable “low competition volume”?

By: Giuseppe Saieva

Giuseppe Saieva — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:28:22 +0000

Thanks for sharing a great post. I know SEO is so important but I do find it quite a challenging and time consuming job. Your post does help to focus my thoughts when I come to do it next.