Keyword Research Spreadsheet
December 19th, 2009
Keyword Research Spreadsheet
Keyword Research Mishap | seoFool.com
Keyword Research
Keyword research is very important in the SEO, if your keyword is wrong then everything done by you may go in vain, which is really not a GOOD thing because in SEO world if you don’t utilize time properly, you cannot succeed. Here I am going to tell you something about how to do key word research and what kind of keyword research could be used in different phases of the steps of SEO.
Keyword research is a vitally important aspect of your search engine optimization campaign. If your site is targeting the wrong keywords, the search engines and your customers may never find you, resulting in lost dollars and meaningless rankings. By targeting the wrong keywords, you not only put valuable advertising dollars at risk, you are also throwing away all the time and energy you put into getting your site to rank for those terms to begin with. If you want to stay competitive, you can’t afford to do that.
The keyword research process can be broken down into the following phases:
Phase 0 – Demolishing Misconceptions
Phase 1 – Creating the list and checking it twice
Phase 2 – Befriending the keyword research tool
Phase 3 – Finalizing your list
Phase 4 – Plan your Attack
Phase 5 – Rinse, Wash Repeat
Demolishing Misconceptions: This phase is to make sure that there is none of the misconception about the work you do and the keyword which may define your work or website kind. You should be clear of those keywords; there should not be any kind of doubt about them.
Creating the list and checking it twice: Creating the list and checking it twice. Think of all those keyword that a customer can type in the search engine’s search box while looking for the product that you have on you website, but don’t include really common words like “clothes” or “shoes”, because they can create a lot problem while search for your website because there are already too much of competitors who had been using those keywords from years and if can put your website at page at which no one want to reach.
Befriending the keyword research tool: Now that you have your list you have to narrow your list to only include highly attainable, sought-after phrases that will bring the most qualified traffic to your site. Work seems tough but luckily we have tools to do the hard part for us. You can find these tools on these Great websites:
Google AdWords Keyword Tool: Google’s keyword PPC tool doesn’t provide actual search numbers for keywords. Instead, it displays a colored bar, giving users only an approximation. Still, it may be useful.
Google Suggest: Google Suggest is a great way to find synonyms and related word suggestions that may help you expand your original list.
Thesaurus.com: Again, another way to locate synonyms you may have forgotten.
Wordtracker: Wordtracker is a paid-use tool that lets you look up popular keyword phrases to determine their activity and popularity among competitors. Their top 1000 report lists the most frequently searched for terms, while their Competition Search option provides valuable information to determine the competitiveness of each phrase. This is very useful for figuring out how difficult it will be to rank for a given term. It may also highlight hidden gems that have low competition-rates, but high relevancy.
Finalizing your list: Now that you have your initial list of words and have tested their activity, it’s time to narrow down the field and decide which terms will make it into your coveted final keyword list.
I recommend creating a spreadsheet or some other visual that will allow you to easily see each word’s conversion rate, search volume and competition rate (as given to you by the tools mentioned above). These three figures will allow you to calculate how viable that term is for your site and will be a great aid as you try and narrow down your focus.
The first step in narrowing down your list is to go through and highlight the terms that most closely target the subject and theme of your web site. These are the terms you want to hold on to. Kill all words that are not relevant to your site or that you don’t have sufficient content to support (unless you’re willing to write some). You can’t optimize for words that you don’t have content for.
Create a mix of both broad and targeted keywords. You’ll need both to rank well. Broad terms are important because they describe what your web site does; however, they won’t increase the level of qualified traffic coming into your site.
Targeted terms are often easier to rank for and help bring qualified traffic. They also make you a subject matter expert to the search engines, since the targeted terms strengthen the theme created with the broader phrases. Sticking with our example, targeted terms for your cowboy boots site may be “men’s cowboy boots”, “blue suede cowboy boots”, “extra-wide women’s cowboy boots”, etc. Broad search terms may bring you the higher levels of traffic, but it’s targeted, buying-oriented terms like these that will maximize conversions.
Plan your Attack: So you made your list of about 10-20 highly focused keywords.
If you did your keyword research right, at least some of the words on your list already appear in your site content, but some of them may not. Start thinking about how many pages you’ll need to create to support these new words, and how and where your keyword phrases will be used.
I typically recommend only going after three or four related keywords per page (five if you can balance them properly). Any more than that and you run the risk of diluting your page to the point where you rank for nothing. Make sure to naturally work the keywords into your content and avoid over-repetition that may be interpreted as spamming. Your content should never sound forced.
Your on-page content isn’t the only place where you can insert keywords. Keywords should also be used in several other elements on your site:
- Title Tag
- Meta Description Tags
- Meta Keywords Tag
- Headings
- Alt text
- Anchor Text/ Navigational Links
You’ve spent a lot of time molding your keywords; make sure you use them in all the appropriate fields to get the maximum benefit.
Rinse, Wash Repeat: Congratulations. Your initial keyword research process is behind you. You’ve created your list, checked it twice, made friends with the keyword research tools and are now off to go plan your attack. You’re done, right?
Unfortunately, no. As your customer’s and your site’s needs change over time, so will your keywords. It’s important to keep monitoring your keywords and make tweaks as necessary. Doing so will allow you to stay ahead of your competition and keep moving forward.
Good luck!
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