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Tuesday, June 28, 2011 | 
How to target and rank high for low competion keywords Don’t try to optimize your website with keywords that have too much competition. As an example. If you did a google search for the keyword “SEO” it returns a result of 716,000,000 pages! You don’t need be a marketing genius to realize that there is a lot of competition for this keyword and that it is going to be extremely hard to rank for this term. So instead concentrate your efforts on keywords that are much more attainable and easier to rank for.
By now you understand the importance of doing proper keyword research. So you probably want to know how you do this. Well it is important to point out that, people have different methods and tools for achieving this research. In the first instance I believe that your primary goal is to find and optimize your website for ‘Low competition keywords’.
‘Low competition Keywords’ are those keywords that have a good monthly search volume but relatively low competition. I classify good monthly search volume as anything over 1,000 searches per month and preferably 3,000 searches. By low competition I mean that the sites occupying that first 10 places in Google can be beaten.
Good monthly search volume + Low competition = SEO success.
High monthly search volume + High competition = SEO failure.
Now is it easy to find these ‘low competition keywords’? The answer is no! The internet is extremely competitive, when other seo firms find these ‘low competition keywords’ they take advantage of them for clients. However that is not too say that there aren’t still a lot of excellent ‘golden keywords’ still to be found.
Start with understanding, that the goal of proper seo keyword research is uncover keywords that have a good monthly search volume and relatively low competition. When I am conducting keyword research I look at it as a process or in stages.
Firstly I decide upon a niche or business category that I might want to get into, this could be something like ‘NY commercial Insurance’ or ‘home renovation’.
Secondly, I use keyword research tools to ascertain the interest in the niche or category and look at keywords and search volumes. Then I look at the bigger picture, i.e.: how competitive is the niche overall for certain keywords?
Finally I look at the top 10 websites and ascertain what my chances of out ranking them. After all ultimately your goal is to be no.1 on Google, or at least on 1st page. So in reality the only real competition are the 10 websites that occupy the position on the first page.
Ok lets look at each stage in more detail.
Stage 1 – Deciding What keyword Category To Get Into
Really this is a decision that you have to make on your own. You might be really passionate about a particular business sector or subject. You’d be really surprised at what interests other people share as well. One tip is to check out Google Trends. You can see what is popular at the moment and you can also see a chart of topics popularity. Initially it doesn’t what matter what niche or category you choose because you’ll soon find out whether there is any market for it.
Really this is a decision that you have to make on your own. You might be really passionate about a particular business sector or subject. You’d be really surprised at what interests other people share as well. One tip is to check out Google Trends. You can see what is popular at the moment and you can also see a chart of topics popularity. Initially it doesn’t what matter what niche or category you choose because you’ll soon find out whether there is any market for it.
Stage 2 – Determining if there is a market for the category
Once you have decided on the business category that you want to get into you need to ascertain whether there is a market for it. Now, there are many different ways to do this but the easiest way is to use the Google Keyword Tool or the free wordtracker keyword tool. Use the tool to analyze monthly search volumes. As mentioned if the monthly search volume is over 1,000 then it might be something that you want to get into. You want to get a list of keywords related to your business ready for stage 3.
Once you have decided on the business category that you want to get into you need to ascertain whether there is a market for it. Now, there are many different ways to do this but the easiest way is to use the Google Keyword Tool or the free wordtracker keyword tool. Use the tool to analyze monthly search volumes. As mentioned if the monthly search volume is over 1,000 then it might be something that you want to get into. You want to get a list of keywords related to your business ready for stage 3.
Stage 3 – Looking at the ‘bigger picture’ for certain keywords.
Once you have your list of keywords, you now need to have a look at the bigger picture. This will help you get an idea of the chances for ranking. This does take quite a lot of time and effort but believe me it is well worth it.
*Note this information I am about to give you is the real juice of seo keyword research.
I am assuming that from stage 2 you have a list of keywords that get over 1,000 monthly searches. Take the keyword and type it into Google and do the following:
Once you have your list of keywords, you now need to have a look at the bigger picture. This will help you get an idea of the chances for ranking. This does take quite a lot of time and effort but believe me it is well worth it.
*Note this information I am about to give you is the real juice of seo keyword research.
I am assuming that from stage 2 you have a list of keywords that get over 1,000 monthly searches. Take the keyword and type it into Google and do the following:
Step 1 – General Search
Type the keyword into Google and make a note of the results. There are no hard and fast rules, use your own judgment. If the search results return over 100,000,000 pages then the chances are that the keyword is quite competitive. Conversely if the results are less than 1,000,000 then it is possible that the competition is not so bad. Use a general search to get a feel for the size of the competition.
Type the keyword into Google and make a note of the results. There are no hard and fast rules, use your own judgment. If the search results return over 100,000,000 pages then the chances are that the keyword is quite competitive. Conversely if the results are less than 1,000,000 then it is possible that the competition is not so bad. Use a general search to get a feel for the size of the competition.
Step 2 – Perform “inanchor” search ** very important**
The next step is to perform the following search into Google.
inanchor:”keyword”
The inanchor search command shows us how many websites have the keyword as anchor text pointing back to their website. We may assume if they have the exact anchor text pointing back to their website that they have done some sort of linking building campaign for that keyword. Therefore it is logical to assume that they are the competition. Generally a result of under 1,000 is good and definitely under 100,000 search results.
The next step is to perform the following search into Google.
inanchor:”keyword”
The inanchor search command shows us how many websites have the keyword as anchor text pointing back to their website. We may assume if they have the exact anchor text pointing back to their website that they have done some sort of linking building campaign for that keyword. Therefore it is logical to assume that they are the competition. Generally a result of under 1,000 is good and definitely under 100,000 search results.
Step 3 – Perform “intitle” search
The next step is to perform the following search into Google: intitle: “keyword”
This result will reveal how many websites have the keyword in the title tag. It is generally accepted by most seo professionals that the title tag is extremely important for seo, as it is one of the first things that the search engines look for. This command can help give us an approx figure of the number of website competing for this keyword. Granted some websites may have put these keywords in their title tag by accident but the majority have put it there for a reason; i.e., they want to rank for a particular keyword. No hard and fast rules about the numbers, obviously the lower the better.
The next step is to perform the following search into Google: intitle: “keyword”
This result will reveal how many websites have the keyword in the title tag. It is generally accepted by most seo professionals that the title tag is extremely important for seo, as it is one of the first things that the search engines look for. This command can help give us an approx figure of the number of website competing for this keyword. Granted some websites may have put these keywords in their title tag by accident but the majority have put it there for a reason; i.e., they want to rank for a particular keyword. No hard and fast rules about the numbers, obviously the lower the better.
Step 4 – Perform “intitle” and “inanchor” search
Now you want to perform both the inanchor and intitle search term. Input the following into Google
intitle:”keyword” inanchor:”keyword”
This will give you an approximate result of serious SEO competition. Smart SEO marketers will have the keyword in the title tag and will be building backlinks using the keyword as the anchor text. Therefore I think this helps to give us a fairly good idea of the competition. Remember the lower the search results from this command the better. Results of less than 1,000 may indicate to us that we can beat them with a relatively small amount of back link building. The higher the number the more competition.
Now you want to perform both the inanchor and intitle search term. Input the following into Google
intitle:”keyword” inanchor:”keyword”
This will give you an approximate result of serious SEO competition. Smart SEO marketers will have the keyword in the title tag and will be building backlinks using the keyword as the anchor text. Therefore I think this helps to give us a fairly good idea of the competition. Remember the lower the search results from this command the better. Results of less than 1,000 may indicate to us that we can beat them with a relatively small amount of back link building. The higher the number the more competition.
Stage 4 – Analyzing the top 10 websites for your keyword
That concludes stage 3. Hopefully by now you have chosen a keyword that has a good monthly search volume and relatively low link building competition. However we can’t stop there. You now must analyze the top 10 website on page 1 of Google. So far we have only compared the number of competitors. However we haven’t looked at the strength of the competitors. It is my opinion that you only need to try and beat the first 10 website after all your goal is to rank number 1 or at least get on the 1st page for the keyword. So we now need to analyse the strength of these top 10 competitors.
That concludes stage 3. Hopefully by now you have chosen a keyword that has a good monthly search volume and relatively low link building competition. However we can’t stop there. You now must analyze the top 10 website on page 1 of Google. So far we have only compared the number of competitors. However we haven’t looked at the strength of the competitors. It is my opinion that you only need to try and beat the first 10 website after all your goal is to rank number 1 or at least get on the 1st page for the keyword. So we now need to analyse the strength of these top 10 competitors.
Step 1 – Type keyword into Google
The first step is simple, type your keyword into Google and make a note of the top 10 results.
The first step is simple, type your keyword into Google and make a note of the top 10 results.
Step 2 – Take each site and have a look at its backlinks.
The second stage is to have a look at the backlinks that each site in the top 10 results shows. Now as I have mentioned before I believe that it is impossible to get an exact result on the number of backlinks that a site has pointing to it, however we can still get an idea.
Try going to Yahoo site explorer or One Utility. Enter the domain name and have a look at the number of backlinks the site has pointing to it. The more backlinks means the more backlink building competition for you.
The second stage is to have a look at the backlinks that each site in the top 10 results shows. Now as I have mentioned before I believe that it is impossible to get an exact result on the number of backlinks that a site has pointing to it, however we can still get an idea.
Try going to Yahoo site explorer or One Utility. Enter the domain name and have a look at the number of backlinks the site has pointing to it. The more backlinks means the more backlink building competition for you.
Step 3 – Have a look at the age of the domains.
Most seo pro’s believe that older sites are more trusted by Google. Do a quick search to ascertain the age of the domain.
Most seo pro’s believe that older sites are more trusted by Google. Do a quick search to ascertain the age of the domain.
Step 4 – Have a look at the onpage optimization of each site.
For each site go to the homepage and then right click “view source.” This will allow you to see the source code. Check to see if you can find the following:
A. Keyword at the beginning of title tag.
B. Keyword in the keyword tag
C. Keyword in the description tag
D. Keyword in the h1 tags.
E. Keyword sprinkled throughout the page.
An absence of these might indicate that the site isn’t properly seo optimized and could mean that you could take advantage of this. It is my opinion that it is ‘offpage’ factors, i.e., the number of backlinks that a site has pointing to it that is the most crucial!
For each site go to the homepage and then right click “view source.” This will allow you to see the source code. Check to see if you can find the following:
A. Keyword at the beginning of title tag.
B. Keyword in the keyword tag
C. Keyword in the description tag
D. Keyword in the h1 tags.
E. Keyword sprinkled throughout the page.
An absence of these might indicate that the site isn’t properly seo optimized and could mean that you could take advantage of this. It is my opinion that it is ‘offpage’ factors, i.e., the number of backlinks that a site has pointing to it that is the most crucial!
Step 5 – Analyze if any sites have your keyword in the url.
The search engines put some weight on keyword rich domain names. If one of the sites in the top 10 results has the exact keyword you want to rank for as the domain name then it may be harder for you to beat it.
The search engines put some weight on keyword rich domain names. If one of the sites in the top 10 results has the exact keyword you want to rank for as the domain name then it may be harder for you to beat it.
Step 6 – Check the Page Rank of the domains.
Page rank is a way of Google showing us how important it thinks a web page is. You want to have a look at the page rank of the top 10 websites. Now it is quite possible to outrank a site with a higher page rank than yourself, however it is useful to help build an overall picture of the domains strength.
Page rank is a way of Google showing us how important it thinks a web page is. You want to have a look at the page rank of the top 10 websites. Now it is quite possible to outrank a site with a higher page rank than yourself, however it is useful to help build an overall picture of the domains strength.
Step 7 – Check for prominence of Web 2.0 properties
A SERP (search engine results page) that has a lot of web 2.0 properties (e.g.Squidoo,Flixya,Hub pages) may indicate to us that we are going to be able to rank well. Unless the web 2.0 properties have been heavily backlinked, then with our own back linking tactics we have a definite chance of beating them.
A SERP (search engine results page) that has a lot of web 2.0 properties (e.g.Squidoo,Flixya,Hub pages) may indicate to us that we are going to be able to rank well. Unless the web 2.0 properties have been heavily backlinked, then with our own back linking tactics we have a definite chance of beating them.
Perform all 7 of these steps and you should be able to get a good feel of your likelihood of getting your site on 1st page of the top 10 websites. This is a lot of information to take in, especially if you are just starting out in seo. Hopefully by now you can see the importance of it. So before you do any search engine optimization make sure that you perform proper keyword research. Visit our blog for more information.
6 comments:
The blog contains informational and educational material. The post enhance my thoughts and experience. So nice!
Great article. Keywords are so important to SEO, and using them the right way is essential to actually making progress towards that high google rank. I feel like I could start my own SEO Company after reading this! well not quite, but good job!
It is true that Title role in a website is essential to our article can be read by people. why? because 80% of internet users use a certain keyword to search for information using search engines.
The blog contains informational and educational material. The post enhance my thoughts and experience. So nice!
I've got to scramble to keep up with your prodigious output!!!!
thanks info
To be honest i am not really good on choosing keyword and lucky i am to see some guideline for choosing it.In Finland i am working as an call center agent and doing some SEO stuff is my part time job however choosing keyword is really hard cause it is full of reason to compete.
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