subject: SEO Keyphrase Research To Find Profitable Keywords [print this page] Keyphrase research (better known as Keyword Research) is essential if you own a new website or are contemplating writing an article if you want to find profitable keywords. This will put you on the right path to receive more website traffic, to increase your website sales or to boost your affiliate commissions. If you were like me a few years ago, hoping to make the big bucks online (without knowing what you're doing), I would dare say you are about ready to give up. I know I was, until I realized the error of my ways. I was neglecting to do simple seo (search engine optimization) keyword research. I always wondered why my website wasn't receiving the traffic I thought it deserved or at least some traffic for my efforts.
Today it surprises me the number of people that are launching new websites or submit new articles that neglect to conduct even very basic research about how much competition they're up against, how much work will be involved in getting to the top 10 results on the major search engines and most importantly how much potential return there will be for their efforts.
To put things in perspective, it's easier to look at launching a website or writing a new article like starting a new business. If I was to start a business, after selecting my product or service, I would conduct market research to see if it's going to be a viable option for the time and effort I was going to have to put into it. Instead of investing large sums of money (unless you pay a designer or writer), you're going to be investing your precious time. Therefore, it goes without saying that you want to get best results for the least amount of effort.
I'm going to show you how to find out if particular search terms are worth targeting by analyzing the competition, target market and potential return for that keyphrase. However, I'm not going to show you how to optimize your website posts or articles to maximize your search engine rankings, you can download this free seo ebook for the best optimization strategies.
Using Keyword Analysis Tools
Firstly, we want to find out the specific keywords or a keyphrase that our potential target market would try and search for when looking for our website or article. So you will need to use a keyword analysis tool to find out what search phrases they are look for on the major search engines. This eventually will be the keyword or keyword phrase you are going to try and rank high with on the major search engines.
Google has a keyword tool that shows what their users are searching for. However, the reason why I haven't linked to it is for a very good reason. If you have ever used Google's keyword tool you would have noticed that they provide a good statistics about particular keywords BUT have you also noticed that the results are usually no more that one to three words? This is because the tool is designed to attract potential customers to use the Google Adwords program and I'm sure they will never release longer or targeted keyphrases that are searched because it would lower the value of the shorter keywords. Essentially, Adwords is a pay per click program, so it makes sense that the more competition there is for a particular keyword or phrase, the higher they can charge their customers using the program. If you have your heart set on using the Google keyword tool then simply search for it and you will find it but I assure you that you will be heading in the wrong direction and I will explain why.
Think back to when you have used a search engine to find a product or service you were looking for. Now think about what you typed into the search bar. Did you type in one to two words or was your search more specific with a longer search phrase?
These long search phrases are called long tailed keywords and the most profitable keywords for anyone starting out trying to make money online. Longer search phrases are more targeted and have less competition which is perfect if you have a brand new website or you're writing a new article. Also these longer search phrases allow you to focus in on particular sub topics within a more general theme. Some websites have been around for years, having established themselves properly and as a fresh face you will have no chance competing for shorter, more frequently searched terms unless you have a lot of money and plenty of time. Don't worry though, you can easily build up the same amount of traffic with longer keyphrases and over time your website will eventually be ranked high for those shorter keywords.
Keyphrase Research To Find Low Competition Keywords
One definite way of soaring up the search engine rankings, boosting your websites or articles potential income and smashing the competition is to simply select search phrases with low competition that potential customers may be using. The easiest way to check for this by completing a two stage process:
Search major search engines and find out how many results there are for that particular keyword or phrase. If your website is less than 3 months old I would suggest trying to limit targeting keywords with around 500,000 or less results. After a while, you can progressively aim higher as your website gets more popular. The older and more popular your website gets, the easier it will be to rank higher for your targeted terms.
Use a backlink checker to work out how many backlinks you will need to pass the website that is ranked #1 for your search term and then exceed their backlink count to make your website appear more popular for the search phrase (explained more in the free seo ebook).
Therefore, by completing these three steps you will discover the demand for your product or service, how much work is involved in becoming visible to your potential target market and how fierce the competition is (or lack thereof) for your particular search terms related your website or article. You will seriously be amazed about how many highly searched terms have little or no competition which means more money for you!
I will admit if you follow the process outlined above it can be very time consuming but once you see the results it's worth it. However, there is a website worth linking to that I wish I had found when I first started designing my website called Internet Business Promoter. It actually allows me to quickly find and target long tail keywords to concentrate on and it will even show you the amount of competition for that keyword without even checking Google. With some initial seo keyphrase research you will be well ahead of your competition and have the ability to locate profitable keywords easily. You will get more traffic to your new website or article and in turn your website will have a better return on investment, be it time or money.
SEO Keyphrase Research To Find Profitable Keywords
