Thursday, April 20, 2006
Finding Profitable Keywords with Google
you're an internet marketer, you know the secret of success is to find a niche market and then home in on the perfect keywords.
A niche market is a group of individuals with available money who share a common interest, problem, enthusiasm, need or mania and who can be easily found online.
For example, small plane owners comprise a niche market. Collectors of Grateful Dead memorabilia are a niche market. Members of the 101st Airborne form a niche market. People who build their own racing wheelchairs are a niche market. City dwellers approaching retirement to a rural area form another niche market.
It's pretty easy to think up groups of people who share a common interest or have a common problem. What isn't so easy is to discover which of the many potential markets will provide an entrepreneur the best monetary return for an investment of time and energy building a website and promoting it.
People who are forced to move suddenly are a niche market. They have a problem and they need a solution right now. They are looking for help. If you are an internet marketer, you want them to find YOU.
That's where the Google Keyword tool can come in handy.
You need to have an Adwords account to make use of these tools, but an Adwords account is free until you run an ad. The tools are well worth the time to sign up.
Once you have an Adwords account at adwords.google.com, you can then proceed to adwords.google.com/select/Tools.
First, take a look at the "Keyword Tool." You may want to prepare a list of keywords in a text file before you go to the Tools. Then you can simply cut and paste the list into the keyword tool box. Be sure to check the box "Use Synonyms" to get the most complete list of keyword suggestions.
For example, say you'd found some great affiliate programs for dog products, but know the main dog market is oversaturated with heavy competition. You're looking for some nice niche markets where your products will still be big sellers, but the competition will be less. So you type the word "dogs" into the keyword tool.
128 keywords show on the returned list. Most of the major dog breeds are included, such as Pugs, Papillons, Corgis and Cockapoos. Owners of specific breeds may form markets you could pursue. And in addition, there are such prime niche markets as dog tags, dog crates, dog electric fence, dog insurance, dog costumes, dog medication, dog boarding, dog names, etc.
The only question is whether any of these niches has monetary value.
Your next step is to go to the drop down box near the top of the page and change "show columns" from "keywords only" to "keyword popularity." You do not need to run the search again; the page display will change when you make your selection.
When you get your results, be sure to notice that at the bottom of the page is a link you can click to export your results to a spreadsheet like Excel, as well as looking at them on the webpage.
Now you will see one column which shows you how much competition there is for the keyword and another column showing how many people are looking for that term. The information is presented in nice graphical form so that with a glance you can really understand just how tough a market "dogs" really is. It is nearly totally saturated. Maybe you'd be better off into the ferret market, or pot bellied pigs. When you look closely, you see a possible opening in "heated dog beds" and when you look even more closely you can see a pattern emerging which might be useful. Electronic collars, electronic fences, heated dog bed, heated dog houses, etc. all show a slightly lower competition factor. Now all you need is the domain name ElectricDog.com and you're ready to go. (Sorry, it's already taken.)
But wait ... there's another option on the drop down box for "show columns". Now set it to show you "Cost and position estimates" and set the value for "Calculate Values using Max CPC" to the maximum of $100. Click Recalculate.
The results you see show you how much people are bidding to be in the top 3 positions for an Adwords ad (which is also a good indicator of how much relatively you can make for the percentage of revenue Google pays for Adsense ads for the keyword used in your website's articles and content.)
You immediately notice that electric dog fence is a $5.10 keyword, electronic dog door is $12.26, and electric dog collars is $5.20. At the same time, you notice an even smaller niche with great potential which you'd overlooked, "dog insurance" with a bid value of a whopping $15.38, but when you bounce back to the page with "keyword popularity" results, your excitement backs off a bit, because that keyword appears to be totally saturated. More research may be in order there, or perhaps simply an opportunity to add a few articles and garner some Adsense revenue.
So now you know a possible slot and you know that to promote it you may need to steer away from expensive Adwords ads in favor of other advertising, but you may be able to make good money from your site's content through placing Adsense ads on your pages.
This is a valuable tool, indeed.
Read more...
A niche market is a group of individuals with available money who share a common interest, problem, enthusiasm, need or mania and who can be easily found online.
For example, small plane owners comprise a niche market. Collectors of Grateful Dead memorabilia are a niche market. Members of the 101st Airborne form a niche market. People who build their own racing wheelchairs are a niche market. City dwellers approaching retirement to a rural area form another niche market.
It's pretty easy to think up groups of people who share a common interest or have a common problem. What isn't so easy is to discover which of the many potential markets will provide an entrepreneur the best monetary return for an investment of time and energy building a website and promoting it.
People who are forced to move suddenly are a niche market. They have a problem and they need a solution right now. They are looking for help. If you are an internet marketer, you want them to find YOU.
That's where the Google Keyword tool can come in handy.
You need to have an Adwords account to make use of these tools, but an Adwords account is free until you run an ad. The tools are well worth the time to sign up.
Once you have an Adwords account at adwords.google.com, you can then proceed to adwords.google.com/select/Tools.
First, take a look at the "Keyword Tool." You may want to prepare a list of keywords in a text file before you go to the Tools. Then you can simply cut and paste the list into the keyword tool box. Be sure to check the box "Use Synonyms" to get the most complete list of keyword suggestions.
For example, say you'd found some great affiliate programs for dog products, but know the main dog market is oversaturated with heavy competition. You're looking for some nice niche markets where your products will still be big sellers, but the competition will be less. So you type the word "dogs" into the keyword tool.
128 keywords show on the returned list. Most of the major dog breeds are included, such as Pugs, Papillons, Corgis and Cockapoos. Owners of specific breeds may form markets you could pursue. And in addition, there are such prime niche markets as dog tags, dog crates, dog electric fence, dog insurance, dog costumes, dog medication, dog boarding, dog names, etc.
The only question is whether any of these niches has monetary value.
Your next step is to go to the drop down box near the top of the page and change "show columns" from "keywords only" to "keyword popularity." You do not need to run the search again; the page display will change when you make your selection.
When you get your results, be sure to notice that at the bottom of the page is a link you can click to export your results to a spreadsheet like Excel, as well as looking at them on the webpage.
Now you will see one column which shows you how much competition there is for the keyword and another column showing how many people are looking for that term. The information is presented in nice graphical form so that with a glance you can really understand just how tough a market "dogs" really is. It is nearly totally saturated. Maybe you'd be better off into the ferret market, or pot bellied pigs. When you look closely, you see a possible opening in "heated dog beds" and when you look even more closely you can see a pattern emerging which might be useful. Electronic collars, electronic fences, heated dog bed, heated dog houses, etc. all show a slightly lower competition factor. Now all you need is the domain name ElectricDog.com and you're ready to go. (Sorry, it's already taken.)
But wait ... there's another option on the drop down box for "show columns". Now set it to show you "Cost and position estimates" and set the value for "Calculate Values using Max CPC" to the maximum of $100. Click Recalculate.
The results you see show you how much people are bidding to be in the top 3 positions for an Adwords ad (which is also a good indicator of how much relatively you can make for the percentage of revenue Google pays for Adsense ads for the keyword used in your website's articles and content.)
You immediately notice that electric dog fence is a $5.10 keyword, electronic dog door is $12.26, and electric dog collars is $5.20. At the same time, you notice an even smaller niche with great potential which you'd overlooked, "dog insurance" with a bid value of a whopping $15.38, but when you bounce back to the page with "keyword popularity" results, your excitement backs off a bit, because that keyword appears to be totally saturated. More research may be in order there, or perhaps simply an opportunity to add a few articles and garner some Adsense revenue.
So now you know a possible slot and you know that to promote it you may need to steer away from expensive Adwords ads in favor of other advertising, but you may be able to make good money from your site's content through placing Adsense ads on your pages.
This is a valuable tool, indeed.
Read more...
Picking Selective Keywords for Higher Search Engine Ranking
Keywords are an essential component of producing a web site. These are the words which the search engines use to help categorize and rank your pages. For instance, if your web site is about 'writing articles' then your keywords could include 'writing', 'articles', 'article writing' and so on.
The advice from many web designers and search engine optimizers has been to find as many keywords as you can. They advise you to search for keywords using a variety of online tools and software programs which can identify leading keywords. At first sight this seems attractive, but it actually defies logic.
Let's take a look at the aim of a search engine. It's job is to track down pages that meet the specific search term that a web surfer has typed in. The more closely the pages it serves up match the search term, the better it is for users. Search engines need to be as accurate as possible in delivering the right material to their users. Otherwise the web surfer goes elsewhere.
Now imagine you are a search engine algorithm - the mathematical program which calculates the probability of any web page matching the search term typed in. If the page has hundreds, or thousands of keywords you'll be a bit confused. For instance, is this web page about 'article writing', or is it about 'feature writing for journalists'. They are different things. You'll end up knowing the page is relevant but not that relevant. So you rank it down the bottom.
But what if the page only has the keyword 'article writing' several times? You're absolutely clear the page is about article writing and so you rank it highly.
Admittedly, it's not quite as simple as this. But this is the principle of search engine technology. It is trying to find the most relevant pages that match the search term.
What this means for Internet marketers is that you need separate pages for each keyword. Focus each page on each individual keyword. Use the keyword in headings, sub-headings, the page text, the page title tag and in the meta tags. Avoid having pages which contain several keywords as that simply confuses the search engines and lowers your rankings.
So forget the advice to have hundreds or thousands of keywords. Go for single pages that match single keywords and you will find your page traffic increase.
This trick also works for Google AdWords. Each advert should apply to just a handful of keywords - you get much greater click through rates and therefore cheaper advertising when you only have a couple of keywords per advert. If you have hundreds of keywords you'll find you'll get greater results by having keyword specific ads, rather than one advert with hundreds of keywords.
So go against the advice of filling your pages and adverts with keywords. Go specific.
Read more...
The advice from many web designers and search engine optimizers has been to find as many keywords as you can. They advise you to search for keywords using a variety of online tools and software programs which can identify leading keywords. At first sight this seems attractive, but it actually defies logic.
Let's take a look at the aim of a search engine. It's job is to track down pages that meet the specific search term that a web surfer has typed in. The more closely the pages it serves up match the search term, the better it is for users. Search engines need to be as accurate as possible in delivering the right material to their users. Otherwise the web surfer goes elsewhere.
Now imagine you are a search engine algorithm - the mathematical program which calculates the probability of any web page matching the search term typed in. If the page has hundreds, or thousands of keywords you'll be a bit confused. For instance, is this web page about 'article writing', or is it about 'feature writing for journalists'. They are different things. You'll end up knowing the page is relevant but not that relevant. So you rank it down the bottom.
But what if the page only has the keyword 'article writing' several times? You're absolutely clear the page is about article writing and so you rank it highly.
Admittedly, it's not quite as simple as this. But this is the principle of search engine technology. It is trying to find the most relevant pages that match the search term.
What this means for Internet marketers is that you need separate pages for each keyword. Focus each page on each individual keyword. Use the keyword in headings, sub-headings, the page text, the page title tag and in the meta tags. Avoid having pages which contain several keywords as that simply confuses the search engines and lowers your rankings.
So forget the advice to have hundreds or thousands of keywords. Go for single pages that match single keywords and you will find your page traffic increase.
This trick also works for Google AdWords. Each advert should apply to just a handful of keywords - you get much greater click through rates and therefore cheaper advertising when you only have a couple of keywords per advert. If you have hundreds of keywords you'll find you'll get greater results by having keyword specific ads, rather than one advert with hundreds of keywords.
So go against the advice of filling your pages and adverts with keywords. Go specific.
Read more...
Cheaper Ways to Get Visitors to Your Website
Getting visitors to your website has been the ultimate dream of internet marketers. More traffic equals more money, so they say. But how can you do it without spending a fortune?
Unknown to many there are a few ways of getting visitors to your site without risking a lot of money. But remember, it's not that easy. It takes more work. So, if you would rather work instead of pay to get visitors to your site, then here are a few things you can do:
1.Submit articles to article directories. This is probably one of the most effective ways of getting traffic to your site. By submitting articles with a link that points to your website, you are assured of long term traffic. As long as your article stays in the directories that you submit to, people can find it and the chances of getting traffic to your website is increased. A few of the article sites where you can submit to are goarticles.com, ezinearticles.com, ideamarketers.com, articlecity.com and articlesfactory.com.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's not really rocket science. SEO is simply a technique that you implement on your site to rank higher in the search engines. Here are the things you might want to implement right away:
a) Your domain name should have your keyword in it.
b) Title tag of each page of you site should contain your keyword.
c) Your keyword should be on the first paragraph of your page.
d) The image alt tags should contain your keyword.
e) The file names of each page of your site should also have your keyword.
3.Create a blog then link it to your site. Postings at Blogger are easily indexed by Google. Updating your blog is feeding the search engines. Each time you put fresh content out, the search engines will notice it and come running to eat it all up. Putting your keywords in this fresh content will help you rank higher in the search engines. Your site gets updated a lot if you link your blog to it. Blogging is easy and it adds a lot of pages to your site. You can get free blogs at blogger.com and wordpress.com.
4.Posting in forums related to your topic. By participating in forums you'll have the opportunity to place your link in the signature line and get traffic from forum members. You can find a forum related to your topic by going to a search engine and typing your keyword + forum. Make sure the signatures you post in forums are catchy to attract readers and make them click on your link and come to your site.
These are simple, cheap and very effective ways of getting visitors to your website. Implementing the above would guarantee a stream of traffic not only for the short term but also for the long haul
Read more...
Unknown to many there are a few ways of getting visitors to your site without risking a lot of money. But remember, it's not that easy. It takes more work. So, if you would rather work instead of pay to get visitors to your site, then here are a few things you can do:
1.Submit articles to article directories. This is probably one of the most effective ways of getting traffic to your site. By submitting articles with a link that points to your website, you are assured of long term traffic. As long as your article stays in the directories that you submit to, people can find it and the chances of getting traffic to your website is increased. A few of the article sites where you can submit to are goarticles.com, ezinearticles.com, ideamarketers.com, articlecity.com and articlesfactory.com.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's not really rocket science. SEO is simply a technique that you implement on your site to rank higher in the search engines. Here are the things you might want to implement right away:
a) Your domain name should have your keyword in it.
b) Title tag of each page of you site should contain your keyword.
c) Your keyword should be on the first paragraph of your page.
d) The image alt tags should contain your keyword.
e) The file names of each page of your site should also have your keyword.
3.Create a blog then link it to your site. Postings at Blogger are easily indexed by Google. Updating your blog is feeding the search engines. Each time you put fresh content out, the search engines will notice it and come running to eat it all up. Putting your keywords in this fresh content will help you rank higher in the search engines. Your site gets updated a lot if you link your blog to it. Blogging is easy and it adds a lot of pages to your site. You can get free blogs at blogger.com and wordpress.com.
4.Posting in forums related to your topic. By participating in forums you'll have the opportunity to place your link in the signature line and get traffic from forum members. You can find a forum related to your topic by going to a search engine and typing your keyword + forum. Make sure the signatures you post in forums are catchy to attract readers and make them click on your link and come to your site.
These are simple, cheap and very effective ways of getting visitors to your website. Implementing the above would guarantee a stream of traffic not only for the short term but also for the long haul
Read more...
