SEO STEP BY STEP PG 16 TO 18

THIS IS STEP BY STEP SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

PAGE 16 TO 18 CHAPTER 2

As you can see from this search, I would be able to identify the top websites currently ranking for the search term in question, the ranking increase or decrease that each of these sites has recently experienced, the strength of domain for each of these websites, and the estimated clicks/month that each website is driving from the search term in question. This is powerful information that can also be used to identify the search terms that make the most sense to target.

Our main focus with this type of research is to find the right organic search terms. By organic search terms, I mean search terms that naturally rank on the search engines as opposed to search terms that have been bought. When you do a search on Google, you’ll typically see sponsored searches at the top and right-hand side of the screen that have actually been purchased. Our focus is on the rest of the search results that can be had for free!

Here’s an illustration to demonstrate the difference:

Throughout my career in marketing, one thing I’ve always found interesting is the fact that 80 percent of time, money, and resources spent on increasing search engine visibility is focused on paid search. However, 80 percent of all search engine traffic actually comes from the organic searches, which can be obtained for free!

Keep in mind that it’s far better to focus on ranking at the top for fewer terms than to focus on ranking in the middle of the pack for more terms. Why? Because the percentage of traffic that goes to the top positions dramatically increases as your ranking improves.

Data Courtesy of Moz

Identifying the right search terms to target is the most important thing you can do to help ensure your success on the search engines. If you don’t have the right search terms to target, it is highly unlikely that you end up getting much value from the rest of your efforts. It will be more difficult to make progress in the rankings, and even if you do make progress, there may not be much search traffic for you to benefit from. Focusing on the right keywords is the motor that will drive this car forward.

With this in mind, it would only be fitting for me to include some other highly regarded keyword tools in order to provide some additional options available for keyword research:

 

• Market Samurai ($97/one time and offers free trial) http://www.marketsamurai.com

Market Samurai generates keywords and traffic statistics based on Google search query data and provides a range of additional analytics and tools. Some of the more popular tools include the Rank Tracker, which allows you to track all of your keywords, the Keyword Research Tool, which helps you find relevant keywords and conduct an in-depth analysis, and the SEO Competition Tool, which allows you to analyze the top ten sites ranking on your target keywords.

 

• Word Tracker ($69/month and offers free trial) http://www.wordtracker.com

Word Tracker generates keywords and traffic statistics based on searches performed across all the main search engines, including Google and Bing. It uses a database of over 330 million search terms, which it updates weekly.

 

• Keyword Discovery ($69.95/month and offers free trial) http://keyworddiscovery.com

Keyword Discovery generates keywords and traffic statistics from over two hundred search engines worldwide and claims to have the largest keyword database, containing nearly thirty-eight billion searches. Keyword Discovery imports the search engines’ search logs into its database or collects samples from its user panel and other sources. Data is collected daily, but due to the size of the index, the database is updated monthly.Finding the right set of keywords to target with your search engine optimization efforts is the first and most important step in getting to that very important spot at the top of Google. So make sure to get it right and you will be well on your way to achieving success online.

 

 SEO Challenge #1: Keyword Development

Use the Google Keyword Tool to find ten keywords that have at least one thousand monthly searches and are relevant to your target audience. How many monthly searches does your top keyword receive?

THIS IS STEP BY STEP SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

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