The major search engines and social media hubs base a significant portion of their search rankings and page order on keyword indexing. However, the simplest keywords that apply to any particular business have likely already been saturated with competition. This means that newer or smaller businesses without the capitol to pay for a higher listing or dominate the anchor text of any particular word will likely never be associated with it highly enough to be seen in sufficient manner to affect sales. The solution for these companies is to develop a deep keyword and key phrase research strategy. This white paper outlines how.
2. Advanced Keyword Research Strategies, Copyright ®, All Rights Reserved. 1
The Importance of Upgrading Your Keyword Research Strategy
The gatekeepers of visibility on the Internet, namely the major search engines and social
media hubs, base a significant portion of their search rankings/page order on keyword
indexing. However, the simplest keywords that apply to any particular business have likely
already been saturated with competition. This means that newer or smaller businesses
without the capitol to pay for a higher listing or dominate the anchor text of any particular
word will likely never be associated with it highly enough to be seen in sufficient manner to
affect sales.
The solution for these companies is deep keyword and keyphrase research combined with
link building strategies to create stronger impressions between that company and the
keywords within the indexing system of the major search engines and social media hubs.
Step One: Choose a Timeline
Proper keyword usage is contingent upon a time frame for research and implementation.
Over an infinite time frame and using infinite resources, you could place highly for any
keyword. However, you have limited time and resources to place as highly as you can in the
major search engines and in social media search results and you must choose your keywords
based on that.
Basically, the shorter your time frame is, the longer that your keywords must be. Also, a
shorter time frame must correspond to a more consolidated group of related keywords. We
will discuss the length of your keywords in Step Two and how keywords should relate in Step
Three.
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Step Two: Primary Keyword Selection
Although the term for index cues is a key "word," you are really looking for keyphrases - two
to three word text strings that describe the product or service of your company specifically.
For instance, if you are selling cat food, you will want to make a list of keywords that relate
to your niche in the market such as "organic cat food," "chicken not corn cat food," etc.
These top level terms should describe your products or services generally, as you will be
choosing more specific keyword phrases from them later on.
Resources for Keyword Selection
Your top level keyword selection should not be random or based on gut feeling; there are
likely terms that are already indexed by the major search engines and social media hubs as
relevant to your company's main operations. Your job is to find them and the following
resources can help you immensely:
A. The Google Keyword Tool
A free tool administered by the search leader itself, the Google Keyword Tool is the first (but
not the last) tool that you can use to find indexed terms that relate to your company
operations. Simply type your keyphrases into the search box and the Google Keyword Tool
will display the global and local monthly search volume for that keyphrase, as well as
indicate the level of competition for that keyphrase. The tool will provide you with a large
list of similar keyphrases, which is an extremely helpful resource for identifying new
potential keyphrases.
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B. Wordtracker
Google has recently implemented many upgrades such as Google Penguin and Google Panda
that have fundamentally reorganized many of its search engine listings. This means that you
need an outside keyword tool in order to provide a truly objective viewpoint on keywords to
choose for Google itself - many, though not all, of the keywords on the Google Keyword tool
may have been adversely affected. Wordtracker is a top keyword selection tool that can be
used in tandem with the Google Keyword Tool to provide more ideas for top level terms.
If a keyword pops up on both Wordtracker and the Google Keyword Tool as a top choice, it is
likely safe from the most recent upgrades implemented by Google.
Wordtracker has a free trial version and a paid version. The free version is fine for top level
terms, but you may want to invest in the paid search for more accurate niche terms.
C. Keyword Discovery
Niche businesses may actually benefit more from high rankings on niche search engines
rather than Google. Keyword Discovery is a great keyword suggestion tool for every other
search engine.
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