Keyword analysis ways to improve it

[onlinemediadirect]

I am aways being my worst critique and constantly looking to improve.

Thats how you become a winner right !

something I feel I can improve on is Keyword analysis and targeting. I would really appreciate hearing stories of other SEO's on here , gaining an insight into the techniques you use and how your keyword analysis has evolved as time has gone by.

Thanks in advance.

[JaredBroker]

Hey Garry,

The best lessons that helped me over the last two years are:

-Only analyze the strength of first page of Google results (MOZbar + keyword optimization).  Forget about exact match, intitle, and inurl numbers, etc.

-Make a huge list out to the long tail.  Group similar phrases together over time.  It is an ongoing process.

-Write more content above all else, insert your long tail phrases all over the place, then analyze.  Let the tools point you towards topics and niches that are working in your market instead of PPC (I don't have that money to waste).  You will be surprised about the route analytics takes you.  Don't corner yourself into thinking about a few topics.

-Look in places other than the Adwords Tool since the vast majority of Internet Marketers and SEOs look there.  I like Keyword Optimizer Pro and again, my analytics.

Take care,

Jared

[Dekoda_Jones]

Yeah that usually happens with people who don't understand it.  I have a similar background having specialized in it for years.  When you understand QS and the other qualifying metrics, it really does make a lot of sense.

[onlinemediadirect]

I didnt mention Joshua I started out doing adwords before seo back in 2000. Its nice to hear other people using adwords to quantify SEO. I know many SEO's who treat Adwords like some "expensive" devil and constantly talk it down.

[Dekoda_Jones]

That would work if what you are trying to do is rank the importance of the terms the client has provided.  Gosh knows we have all been there when a client is desperate to only qualify a list of words the client has thought up off the top of their head.  In this case, exact match would be perfect.

One thing to remember is that Adwords works on a quality score qualifier, so just jacking the bids up won't always work.  If you have a finite group of keywords I would split them all into their own adgroups and write specific ads for each of them that reference that keyword.  This will ensure that Google sees you as relevant and you show up in 100% (or close to) the potential searches.

Always be sure to check your impression share to ensure the data is accurate and what percentage of actions your ads did actually display for.  I had a client a few years back that only had a 15% impression share because his QS was so low and he was convinces people didn't use the internet to search for MBA courses.

Good luck

[onlinemediadirect]

great plan Joshua have you ever maybe used exact matches on your adwords when you already have an existing list of keywords from a client.

[Dekoda_Jones]

The best tactics I have for keyword research are to come up with a provisional list of keywords using a mixture of Google keyword tool and Google wonder wheel, then placing them in Adwords all under a broad match and increasing bids significantly.

Whilst you will burn some cash, you can then (after a week or two) run a search query report to see what actual terms people are using.  This system is a tried and tested winner.  Sure, it will cost you a bit and you will have a lot of wastage, but the information and insights you gain are priceless.