Anyone want to test out my keyword research theory?
-
Hi all,
I'm relatively new here but not new to the world of SEO / SEM. Over the years I've loved using SEOmoz and other tools but of course have found certain limitations with respect to how I like to work. That's the case with any tool / service.
So over the years I've put together a keyword research / competitor analysis process that has worked well for me and I'm wondering if it might also work for others.
I've spent the last 15 years of my life as a director of a range of companies, mainly in printing but also in systems development, marketing, etc. I spent a large percentage of my time developing systems and tools to help me with my search engine marketing. I've now sold all my companies and I'm semi-retired, somewhat bored, and would love it if I can assist others with the process I've used over the years.
I'm curious to know whether SEM professionals agree with the way my system ranks search terms from "best" to "worst". If you're interested in testing this process and telling me if you think the resulting list of search terms that I come up with for your website is "spot on", "not bad" or "horrible!", then please read on.
My key motivation here is to educate myself as well as others. I'm not charging for any of this...
If you give me your website URL, your top 5 competitors and your top 5 search terms, I will return to you:
- a complete list of search terms including "niche" and longtail search terms
you can then...
- really easily filter out irrelevant search terms, thus creating a list of negative keywords, ready to import into your Adwords campaign.
- easily group your search terms in "education" and "purchase" search terms so I can analyse these two groups of keywords separately
- see which words are used most often across all the search terms so you can easily create keyword specific Ad Groups in your Adwords campaign.
You can tell me which options you prefer:
- broad match, "phrase match" or [exact match] when getting search engine results
- specify any country you want the SERP results for, or even any city.
I will then:
- do all the keyword research, getting the latest (live) Google SERP results
- combine all competitor metrics (page rank, domain age, juice links, etc) and search term information (search volume, CPC, search term length, etc) together to give you a list of search terms ranked from "best" to "worst"
- do the same for both organic search terms and paid (Adwords) search terms
- do the same for both direct search terms and niche search terms
- take into account "word count" (number of words in a search term) as longtail keywords generally higher-converting search terms
And you can adjust things to change how the keywords are ranked:
- specify "thresholds". eg; you can ignore the really competitive search terms, or ignore the really short search terms
- specify "weightings". eg; you can put a greater emphasis on search term length, or a lesser emphasis on cost per click
As a result of the keyword analysis, it'll also show you who your organic and adwords competitors are based on all keywords, or just your top ranked ("best") keywords.
In that competitor data you can see:
- which paid ads appear at the top, side AND bottom of the results page
- which organic results are shopping, image, video, and local results
- all the metrics for each competitor (page rank, domain age, juice links, etc)
All of this is is handled in a simple web interface that I threw together recently. It's really simple, merely asking for your site and preferences and then an interface to view / sort the results.
Interested?
I'd like to hear from any SEM professionals who want to test this process.Once I have your basic details, I can get a keyword list together simply (using my internal process / software) and then you need to do some basic sorting, particularly if your search terms are in an industry that I know nothing about. Your input will be required.
From there, give me 24-48 hours and I'll return 2 lists of search terms: "organic", and "Adwords". I'd love to hear your opinion about the relevance of the search term lists. I hope it will also spark some interesting discussion and hopefully help people learn a bit more about keyword / competitor research.
If you're interested, please shoot me a private message letting me know why you'd be a good candidate to test this system. I really do want people who are well versed in search engine marketing. So please include a basic "resume" about who you are. If you have an SEM company and that's your main career focus then I definitely want to hear from you.
Adam
-
Well Spyfu is awesome, no doubt about that.. except..
I'm in Australia. Spyfu only covers the US and UK.There are quite a few tools that simply don't cater for Australia.
My software caters for nearly 30 countries, and most major cities in those countries.
Sure, SERP results will change on a city-by-city basis but that's a problem any tool is going to have. If the tool uses the Google API then the SERP results from the API are different (sometimes vastly) from an actual browser searching on Google.
I'm not sure how to overcome the geolocation issue entirely. I don't think it's possible.
But otherwise, what I find frustrating with all these tools is they give a bunch of data but don't give any answers. So spyfu shows me historical CPC which is fantastic but it means I'm left to try and use that data to answer my question which is really simple: "which keywords are the most profitable based on ALL data available?"
The Kombat function in Spyfu does what the SEMRush "comparison" tool does - shows me which competitors share keywords. For a seasoned SEM specialist this is great because he / she can interpret all that data and make customized suggestions to their clients. But again, for me... I ran a business. I just needed an answer.
It's about having something that summarizes all the data and presents options to me.
Maybe I'm over-simplifying it, but what I wanted was to be able to give my system my website and 5 keywords, it would return 1,000 keywords that might be suitable, and then it'd automatically collect every key metric for every competitor across all 1,000 keywords and then rank those keywords from best to worst based on all the back-end mathematics.
I created an infographic to help explain the process a bit.
-
Hi,
Not to be a stick in the mud, but it kind of sounds like spyfu
but with that said good ideas in ranking most important to non, the issues I think you would run into is the geolocation change in serps (someone in dallas, might not get the same results as someone in new york for certain queries.)
Shane
-
Hi Sean,
It's software I've written that collects all the metrics... domain age, page rank, home page rank, backlinks, CPC, etc, etc.
I would actually collect domain and page authority as well and for a while even the "keyword difficulty" metric from SEOmoz as I trust their metrics a lot and it's good to see if my results are similar to theirs.
As mentioned to David above, it could all be automated but at the moment there's a bunch of manual tinkering I do after my software collects all the data.
At the same time, full automation wouldn't be possible as the client needs to be involved in filtering out the irrelevant keywords, picking which keywords are "education" or "purchase" keywords, ignoring keywords of less than x searches per month, etc.
However I have developed nice little online modules for these steps that help do this quickly. So you can group the keywords, and filter by various methods, and make mass-changes (like deleting groups of keywords) with one click.
I think if those steps are made really simple and quick then people will be happy to be part of the process. The result will be a more relevant list of search terms in the final ranked list.
If you already have a website for which you're confident you've got an awesome keyword list for, I'd love to know if my system yields similar results.
I hope, if it doesn't yield similar results then people would be interested in breaking down why, I make modifications, and so on. It would be fun (but then again, I have few friends!)
Adam
-
Hi David,
It's software I've written. But it's an application that runs on PC / Mac.
The client needs to be involved though. So I need to be given the basics, then my software compiles all the keywords, gets monthly search volumes, and then the client would need to get rid of the irrelevant ones and then I get my software to do all the research, gathering absolutely everything.
It's a massive amount of data normalizations and calculations with the result being the most profitable keywords ranked from 100% to 0%.
The client can get involved again and tinker with some settings to get the list of ranked keywords tailored to their own preferences.
For the parts where the client would need to be involved (initial info, clean up the keyword list, tinker with the results), I've programmed those steps in an online interface so I can have people test this process.
I could have a sign up form for beta testers but really anyone who's an SEM professional who already has a list of keywords for a particular website is someone I'm interested in talking to. I want them to compare what my system / process outputs to what they already have.
So it doesn't really require an online form... just an expression of interest with a 1 minute bio and I'll pick a few people. At the moment I have to trigger each stage of my software to do it's thing, clean up some of the results, etc - it's not fully automated as I never had any intention of making it publicly available. So I want to make sure I'm spending my time doing all this for someone who is REALLY interested in it and can provide some quality feedback.
If you're keen, let me know
Adam
-
Hi Adam
That is a detailed description, I would also be interested in learning a little more about the tools you are using as there would seem to be several applications working together.
How much of the process involves a person rather than automation?
I like the fact that you plan to split the terms in to education / research and buying terms, this is a valuable recourse for companies.
-
Hi Adam,
Sounds interesting, I'm curios to know what tools you're using to compile your data?
Also, you mentioned a web interface, have you considered opening the tool up to limited beta access with user access / sign-up form? (instead of requiring people to pm why they'd be a good candidate / message you back and forth etc.)
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can anyone explain to me why this website is top of the listings?
Hi folks, Since the latest penguin update, this website: <cite class="bc">www.sterlingbuild.co.uk</cite> is now appearing top of the listings for most 'Velux' related search terms e.g. velux windows, velux, velux windows online. I say top, VELUX themselves are actually top but then Sterling Build are top of all the other retailers that sell VELUX Windows. Why? Their link profile is appalling, the website is no better than their competitors as far as I can tell, their prices are more expensive - it makes no sense? Would be very grateful if anyone can work out why Google has decided they have the best website? Thanks, Luke
Competitive Research | | LukeyB300 -
Reached No. 1 for my Keyword, what next?
Hi, After months of targeting, promoting etc... I have now reached Google.co.uk rank position 1 for my phrase "creative recreation trainers" and I stand at rank 3 on Google.com. I am happy with these results as this is the phrase I targeted and this is the brand I wanted to rank first for. But were do I go from here? I am thinking I change brand and try work some magic on that, but still continuing to add backlinks etc... to the Creative keyword phrase? What would people advise? Also can anyone do an analysis of any sort on that keyword phrase and/or the url http://www.designerboutique-online.com/all-clothing/creative-recreation/ and tell me some good points, bad points, what to do next and so on? Any help would be great. Thanks
Competitive Research | | YNWA0 -
Question about Keywords & Ranking
I hope this isn't too basic of a question, but I am confused about something. If you use the Keyword Research tool and type in "Stained Concrete Flooring", the 3rd result (stainedconcrete.org) has the lowest numbers of any of the sites in the top 8-10... Is it because they have a large amount of traffic? or is there some other factor that I am missing?
Competitive Research | | Timvroom0 -
Different SERP results in browsers / different result pages for keyword in browser
Hi, I am making the SEO reports for a travel agency and I have the following problem. SEOmoz shows me the website is on page 1, for a keyword. Yesterday, a google search with firefox showed me the same position, while, searching from a different computer on google using firefox gave me another position. The URL shown was also different. I asked some friends to do the search - the results were the same - first page. Today, firefox shows me the second URL on the 4'th page, and the result from the first page of google does not appear, while Chrome still shows me the first URL on the first page. I have no idea why the URL that was ranking well does not appear on the first page with Firefox, and why it appears on the first page with Chrome, or why the URL that was ranking bad -meaning page 4, appears on Firefox but does not appear on Chrome. Can someone give me some advice?
Competitive Research | | Netlogiq0 -
Keyword based link problem on site
So I think I might have identified an issue with a site that I'm trying to get ranked for a specific keyword but, wanted to get some opinions before I started making some big changes on the site. On my homepage I have the keyword that I would like to be ranked for in the title lets say "Blue Widgets - Company Name', also on the home page I have some descriptions of our services including the keywords. I also have a couple of the keyword based links within in the content, navigation and footer. But these keyword based links all point to another page on the site: blue-widgets.htm. If I really want my home page to rank for the keyword "Blue Widgets' should all of these links point to the home page instead of the sub page? I know there are a great number of other factors that contribute to rankings but looking at my competition, this is something that they seem to be doing. The keyword based links within the content, navigation or footer all point to the homepage. I also have a higher Domain Authority than some of the sites that rank higher than me so I'm not sure if building more links is the answer. Of course I always want to build natural links but these sites don't seem to be doing that either. Any comments, suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated.
Competitive Research | | TRICORSystems0 -
Theoretical Canonical Query/Test
This is just a general discussion on your thoughts on this - maybe some tests have been done, but I haven't found any. Suppose I have document X If I put document X on high authority website A - It comes in SE position 1 for Keyword Z If I put document X on low authority website B - It comes in SE position 10 for Keyword Z What happens (if anything) if I put document X on website A and include a canonical tag to point to document X on website B. What SE position would document Z on website B now come for Keyword Z ??
Competitive Research | | James770 -
How can my site not ranked on easy keyword while it currently ranked 1 on difficult keyword??
The site in question is http://ikt.co.id The site is perfectly optimized (or even over optimized) for keyword "Bikin Website Murah" (in Indonesia it means "develop an affordable website") currently if you search on both google.co.id AND google.com, it ranked on #10 (on google.co.id) and it ranked on #7 (on google.com), and both term only return 1.3 million results I have A LOT OF pages that started with 'bikin website' , or 'website murah' ... there are a lot of them, and i have had a lot of backlinks on those pages too (have been manually building a lot of links, starting from creating a tutorial article and blog submission and many other way) .. the site has been perfectly optimized for that keyword For example we have http://ikt.co.id/blog-category/bikin-website-murah-promo-terbaru.html (for newest promotion) http://ikt.co.id/blog/bikin-website-seo-murah-discount-40-sampai-31-juli-2011.html (for discount 40% promo that lasted untill 31 juli 2011) AND YET, if you search on google.co.id for keyword "2000 likes facebook" , our lone page that i created when our facebook likes reached that amount, RANKED #1!! , and please let me tell you this term return 400 million results++ (on google.com this keyword ranked #19, on 500 million results++). And let me tell you it take that SINGLE page (which has absolutely 0 backlinks) 2 days to ranked #1 .... and her brother if you searched "1000 likes facebook" also show similar result (though not better then the sister) How ?!? and Why ?!? , i dont understand this at all.... my domain does not contain any keyword, they uses the same engine and yet that lone pages which have absolutely no backlink ranked so well on a very competitive keyword, while my Target Keyword ranked poorly.... And what is even more bizzare? "Bikin website murah" might not rank good, but "bikin website" ranked better x_x ... arghh i dont get it... why my site ranked poorly on easy keywords and ranked high on difficult keywords :(( .... Why I am not smiling because those easy keyword is actually my primary keywords 😞
Competitive Research | | IKT0 -
Researching Backlinks from Distinct C-Classes
I'm looking to do some competitive research on the top ranking sites in my niche. How can I get a list of the number of backlinks that come from distinct C-Class IP addresses? I don't see this anywhere in the OSE data. Thanks.
Competitive Research | | stevenmusumeche0