Keywords and key phrases are the bread and butter of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ranking for one particular keyword over the other could mean the difference between thousands of organic visitors a month and millions. In order to rank for those juicy, valuable keywords for your niche site, you’re first going to have to do quite a bit of keyword research.
You probably already know a couple of places where keyword research would be beneficial, like choosing keywords and key phrases to generate blog post entry ideas, or to build ecommerce sites around. Keyword research however, goes a little more into detail than that. Here we’re going to show you some unique tools to find popular search terms and how to rank highly for your particular niche key phrases.
Keyword Research Tools
Google Keyword Planner – This is probably one of the most well known keyword research tools available. Designed primarily for Google Adwords users, the Google keyword tool lets you check search terms to get a rough estimate of its number of monthly searches. You’re able to filter your search results by broad keywords and exact match, and also limit search to different regions, countries, and languages.
Alexa Search Analytics – Alexa offers a great way to learn interesting information about your various niche competitors. Just enter their URL in Alexa’s search form and then under Search Analytics you’ll see the up-to-date top search keyword queries used on that blog or website.
Google Trends and Insights for Search – These two tools let you find out the most relevant, viral content on the internet right now that relates to your keyword search. Many current events have never been searched before on Google, so it’s important to check on this and stay on top of what’s hot and what’s not.
Google Webmaster Tools – One particular section of Webmaster Tools lets you research which keywords and keyphrases users are entering into its search engine whenever your blog or website turns up in the Search Engines Results Page (SERP). While this particular section won’t let you know which keywords led to a user actually clicking on your link, it is useful in the sense that it’ll show you which keywords you can work on to come in at first. It’s always easier to improve a ranking than to start from the beginning.
Yahoo Answers – A good percentage of daily searches are asked in the form of a question. These questions are many times in reference to a specific problem or “how to”. Search your most relevant, basic terms for your niche site on Yahoo Answers and then you’ll see popular questions relating to that specific topic.
SEMrush.com. The new tool for Search Engine Marketing. US database 40 000 000 keywords. Learn everything about your competitors!
There a many more useful, detailed keyword research tools out there, but with these few, reliable sites, you’ll be able to find all of the relevant information you could ever need for your niche blog site.
Keyword Placement
One big, often overlooked part of keyword research is keyword placement. Where exactly are you going to put these terms you’ve tirelessly looked for, and how often should they be placed? Here we’ll take a look at where keywords and key phrases work best and the tools that can help you do so.
Homepage Titles- In most cases, your blog’s homepage carries the most weight on your website. By weight I mean that search engines like Google will see it as one of the highly ranked pages on your website since it’s more than likely your homepage will garner the most backlinks from other webpages around the internet. This makes your homepage easier to rank for more competitive terms.
Most people believe that their blog title has to be an exact description of what your site is all about, or that it should only include your blog’s name. But doing so probably means you’re missing out on a lot of potential search traffic. Try choosing a homepage title that has anywhere between 4,000 and 50,000 exact searches monthly (using Google Adwords Keyword Tool). Keep it relevant of course, but realize the more popular terms are generally a lot harder to rank well for, so anything with a good size, average monthly search will do.
Easy Rank Key phrase Titles- Easy rank key phrase titles involve turning your homepage title keyword into a key phrase. For example, a more competitive keyword could be Custom Flash Drives, whereas a longer key phrase title could be Custom Flash Drives for Promotional Marketing. Since the keyphrase is longer, it’s less popular, thus having a better chance at being ranked first.
Permalinks- Permalinks are the keyword snippets at the end of your URL. In www.usbmemorydirect.com/products, the permalink would be “products”. By default, permalinks are usually taken up by the title of that specific page. You can however, customize the permalink URL without changing the page titles. In this way, you can rank highly for certain keywords, while at the same time giving your latest blog posts interesting, attention-grabbing titles.
Now that you’re armed with your list of ideal target keywords and the basic fundamentals on how to use them, you should be climbing your way to the top of the SERPs in no time!
Google Adwords Keyword Tool is what I use often. Also Market Samurai is also a really great software to find out keywords and rule out the competition.
With the new Google algorithm updates, you have to be careful about keyword placement. If Google thinks that you are spamming it will de-index the website.
Shamelle, thanks for the great comment. You are quite right, you want to be careful about keyword stuffing, or over using your keywords, because Google sees that as a spammy tactic. The key is to make sure that you’re writing in a style that is best for your readers, not just best for SEO.
Vincent,
Once you start doing your keyword reseach and implment the keyword title method, you realise that its so easy and wonder why you’ve not been doing it before.
I agree, people are constantly searching for those type of thing: “How to write a comment” make sure the titles are relevant but they need not be strict, as exact match is not the only way.
Great point Simmeon! Keyword research can be intimidating, but once you get started it’s easy to implement into your regular blogging routine.
I have always used Google ad words for my research and continuing to use it. Ad words is very reliable and it proves to be an essential tool for keywords and many other things.
I have also market samurai, but am not using it as much since they are going downhill with their product.
This article does help those that need places and tools to do their own keyword res.
Yes, Google ad words is a fantastic tool! I haven’t tried market samurai but I’m going to look into it since so many Basic Blog Tips readers are using it.
Good list of tools, I havent use them all but will surely give them a try 🙂 Good one Vincent
Thanks Herbert happy keyword optimizing!
Really very helpful post for a beginner like me. Thanks a lot.
Thanks Kate! Keyword research is a breeze once you get started!
very useful information thank you very much bro:)
I’m glad you enjoyed it Mazhai!
For a free tool I really like WordPress SEO by Yoast. That plugin has definitely helped me to be more conscious of the Keywords I’m using where their placed within my blog posts.
Thanks!!
Ryan H.
Ryan, SEO plugins are great, they make everything so simple! I’d never used SEOPressor, another WordPress SEO plugin, until I submitted a post to this blog but Ms. Ileane requires it and it’s awesome! It does a great job of making sure you don’t forget any of the little things.
Thanks for reading Pulkit!
Well after Google has introduced panda and penguin update -which keywords would you suggest to target long tail keywords or short keywords?
I recommend targeting both! You move to the top of the SERPs a lot faster with long tail keywords so you should never neglect those. But, you want to make sure you’re ranking for the competitive keywords that drive the most traffic as well, those are just more of a time investment.
Hey Clarke,
Thanks for the guide on Keyword research. I always combine Google Adwords keywords tool and Google insights for researching a keyword. I like to go for long tail keywords which has at least 1000 to 10,000 monthly searches because it has less competition and it isn’t very hard to get well rank.
Is it good to combine 3 or 4 keywords as our homepage title? Like MS. Ileane did here at BBT (Blogging Tips, social media optimization, youtube video tutorials).
I think combining keywords for titles can be a good idea, you just have to make sure you can optimize the content adequately for all of those terms. Ms. Ileane has tons and tons of posts on all three of those subjects, so she isn’t at risk of spreading herself too thin. You just need to start by evaluating your content and then determine how many keywords you can optimize for.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool really ROCKS!
I use it regularly for my keyword research. Can’t live without it.
Thanks 🙂
Thanks for reading Nandita, it is a pretty sweet tool! 🙂
I don’t know if it’s the only guide I’ll ever need, Vincent, but you make some good points. Thank you, especially, for the suggestion about using Yahoo Answers as a means of keyword research.
Haha, you make a good point because you should always be learning new SEO techniques and refining your site optimization, but it got you to read the article didn’t it? 😉
Vincent, you made a wonderful job here. What do you think about Market Samurai? Have you used that before? I am using it as a trial version, I kind of like it but do you think its not as effective as google adwords tool? I hope you can help me out since I am new to all of these. Thanks.
James, thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I’ve never used Market Samurai so I’m afraid I can’t do a comparison for you. I believe Ms. Ileane is very familiar with it though, so I’d definitely recommend asking her what her opinion on it is!
Great article. I’ve been doing keyword research from some time now and even I learned a few useful tips here. Keyword research is #1 in SEO and making money online. Thanks for sharing!
Great Chris, I’m glad you found it useful!
I must say that these points are really the main factor. But sometimes, if anyone don’t find your site link helpful when you provide link on Yahoo Answers! Then he/she can report spam against your site and this will disable your a/c through Yahoo Answers.
Dhruv, I was talking about using Yahoo Answers to see what types of keywords and phrases people are using to search for answers to common questions, but you are right. When using Yahoo Answers for link building you always have to ask yourself if the answer you’re writing and link you’re leaving are adding value to the conversation. If they aren’t, work harder on your answer or move on.
I’ve used Google Adwords Keyword Tool mostly but I’ve tried Traffic Travis as well. How well, in your opinion, does Traffic Travis stand compared to other programs? I really want to try Market Samurai but it’s too expensive
I haven’t used Traffic Travis myself, does anyone have any info they can share with Prim about how it compares to the tools listed above and Market Samurai?
Many people just go about putting phrases in their titles and articles without first checking what people are more likely to search for, this is a bad practice…..
Hi Vincent,
I never thought, we could even use “Yahoo Answers” to find relevant and important keywords. This seems quite interesting and I would certainly use this trick.
There are certainly a lot of tactics out there to creative, informative, and especially eye-catching posts.
This keyword research strategy seem to be very useful. I use all the services that you have described + semrush
Keyword research is important to target your keyword ranking. Keyword ranking is most important in search engine optimization. Keyword research helps us to check maximum searches oh that keywords.
There are quite a number of Keyword research tools available online – Some do work better than other, depending with you want to do with it – Some tools can provide a great competitor analysis , where some other tools (also depending on where you are located in the world) are more accurate than other. And then it all depend on the niche that you’re in and what keyword you want to rate for – for an example : it will most likely be easier to rate for bicycle than for Finance or insurance – due to the market and the amount of competitors in the market.
Keyword tool of Google is one of the best tools, I am using it. And alexa gives very good info about keywords. Nice article.
Thanks for sharing it………
To know the value of keyword research, it is also important to know the usual mistakes that we encounter. This is a very informative post that sugggests what to avoid and what to consider for getting the right keyword which is best guide for advance SEO.
Very simple and easy to understand 🙂 Great for getting the main idea. But still, when doing keyword research it’s hard to keep up with the goals you have set for yourself 🙂
This Article is really fantastic recently I am working in SEO company and this post is really helpful to me. Thanks a lot.
thanks Vincent ,
i always use google keywords tools to search any keywords,
and your post is helpful for me.
can you tell me about “wordpress”?
WordPress is the predominant blogging platform. For more information on WordPress I recommend doing further reading on this blog, Basic Blog Tips.
Good work Vincent and a list that I can add to my favorites. I have been reading a lot lately about Samurai Market. Perhaps you have some input on this one. Thanks.
I always use Google Adwords Keyword Tool and it is the best tool to find keywords. You share best tools. I will use them too from now. thanks for sharing.
I love all of these although I prefer a dark and stylish look, the more colorful ones are also pretty awesome…
Great post, I personally use Google webmaster tools and I it’s still one of the best tools out there.
thanks for sharing I will check out the other ones better
Great post Vincent. While there are bloggers and webmaster who pay for expensive keyword tools, I have not yet encountered the need for anything beyond the free Google keyword tool. I have tried out the free trial version of Market Samurai and Traffic Travis as well.
Nice blogging style ..
came to your site through wpblogtips.com for the commentluv site search . but even got ,ore than that ,, that is SEO tips .. would help me a lot
THX for being there
Hey Vincent, fantastic post! I have been an offline entrepreneur for more than a decade and have recently expanded my offerings online. I appreciated your post more than I can say, and have had it open for days going through each of the steps you suggest. Thanks so much, I’ll let you know how it goes for me 🙂
great post vincent , i think i am gonna ditch WordPress subscribe , its cost me 19/month , its a great plugin but what kinda costly , its like having a seo assistant with right beside you 🙂 i was something within the dashboard , you got something for me? 😀
Thanks for the tips Vincent. One additional tip is to utilise Bing Webmaster tools along with Google Webmaster tools as you suggest. Even though Bing does not possess the same market share, portions of their webmasters tools are more valuable then GWT. The follow feature they recently introduced relates to backlinks analysis but is quite powerful: essentially the link command that Yahoo eliminated is now available in BWT (many search engine optimisation companies do not know this yet). This is a nice follow up to determine difficulty levels to obtain rankings for keywords after the research is done. Also unlike Raven Tools or SEOMoz’s premium open site explorer, these tools are free.
I loved your post, I am Brazilian but like to visit your blog.
good luck!
Great article. I knew a lot of the info already but I never thought of changing the permalink url to be keyword centric while leaving the title alone. Good idea and I will give it a try.
Your article is most informative, and makes me realize I have so much to learn. I am still learning to use Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool, and Trends sounds interesting too!
Thanks for the valuable info Vincent.
Hello Vincent!!
I must say that your post is just wonderful and it is so helpful as well for all the SEO’s. Good content. Keywords and keyphrases really the most important part of the search engine optimization. I always prefer to use Google Adwords as the keyword tool and I find it quite easy to use. All the other tools that you have highlighted are truly very helpful. Thanks for the share!!
Vincent, thanks for this expansive guide. I agree with the previous post. Have to be a bit careful with overoptimizing for keywords, as many people were punished by recent Google updates. I also find that checking keyword competitiveness can be done easily with some of the tools that are out there. I really like SEOMoz
I usually just use Google’s tool, and I’ve heard about Market Samurai a lot. I think I’ll start looking into it. I’m with you on keyword placements, though. The problem with longer keyword phrases is that sometimes it’s just too unpopular to write something about.
Great article! I tend to write for content/readers first and then try to vamp the SEO but I hate sounding awkward in my writing. I have Market Samurai and really need to get working with it more.
Keywords or phrases play a vital role in website optimization. SEO experts are mainly responsible to find niche keywords for websites. There are definitely a large number of keyword finder. But what I believe is that sometimes you need to use your brain when deciding on keywords. It is not always easy to find business or product relevant keywords. So, we need tools. But think, think and think on your own before you start using any specific tool. It is then you will be entitles as SEO expert. What you say?
I’ve always use just GKT for keyword research, didn’t know that there are so many ways that can help in my keyword research. Very informative, thanks for the great share!
Thanks a lot. I’m very appreciate that you give me about blogging and how important the keyword tool is. Very informative.
I just started to alter my permalinks to try to get the attention of the search engines. It appears to be working that my blog pages are ranking really fast and quick. Now I have to work on figuring better ways to use Keywords. I very rarely use them while I try to just focus on good content.
I think Alexa helps me a lot. It tell me about the keywords for which my blog rank is falling. Webmasters and analytic are good, but tracking the ranks for individual keywords with them is really hard task.