Keywords. It’s the most important part of any PPC account. Unfortunately however, keyword research can be a beastly, horrible, and mind-numbing task. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s hard work. And to stay ahead of the game (and the competition), keyword research needs to be done regularly to find new, hidden keyword gems.
But don’t feel overwhelmed! The beauty of keyword research with PPC is that once you’ve done your initial research and let your campaigns run for a bit, you can use a hand-dandy little report called the Search Query Report to find new and interesting keywords with the click of a button.
The Search Query Report
Basic Description
What is the Search Query Report? In short, it’s a report that tells you the exact search terms that resulted in the click of your ad. Ever wonder what words you’re really paying for? The Search Query Report will tell you that. [Read More…]
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There are many free blogging platforms out there. The biggest are Blogger (or Blogspot, whatever you prefer) and Wordpress. I have tried both and prefer Blogger for it’s simplicity and flexibility in editing the HTML code of the site. Anywhoo, I have found a fairly nice video explaining how to create a blog on Blogger. Click below to play. (Be sure to turn up the volume. Volume is low.)
Now, I want to clarify a few points:
1. If you have a Google e-mail account, use it to sign in on the homepage at the top. Resume the tutorial at Step 2, “Name Your Blog.”
Where To Sign In on Blogger If You Already Have a Google Account.
2. If you do not have a Google account and are prompted to create one, use your preferred primary e-mail address (@Yahoo, @Hotmail, etc.). This will be your Username when you sign in to your blog.
Setting Up Your Blog Best Practices
1. Pick a name that is keyword rich, easy, and short! Do not use:
More than 3-4 words
Words that are easily misspelled, misunderstood, or made-up
Dashes or underscores
Arbitrary numbers, numbers instead of actual words, or your username
2. Choose a template that is simple and attractive. Dark colors with a light background are easiest to read and less stressful on the eye. Stay away from white letters and a black background.
3. Write a blog “tag line” that explains the purpose of your blog. Keep this to one sentence. Go to Settings–> Basic–> Description and enter your tag line in the Description box.
4. Turn comment moderation on. This will prevent spammers or ugly comments from posting to your blog without your prior approval or knowledge. Go to Setting–> Comments–> Comment Moderation, choose “Always” and enter an e-mail address where you want comment notifications sent. Also, choose “yes” to Word Verification.
5. Offer an RSS feed. “RSS” stands for “real simple syndication.” Basically it’s a way for your readers to subscribe to your blog and get a notice when you write a new post. It makes it much easier for your blog to generate a reader base and following. You can do this by going to Feedburner.com and following the directions. Enter the feed URL at Settings–> Site Feed–> Post Feed Redirect URL.
In my previous post, How To Choose the Right Keyword for SEO, I talked about how to do proper SEO keyword research (which differs greatly from PPC keyword research.) And although the aforementioned research method works well for national campaigns, finding local keywords is much harder and requires additional steps.
To find local keywords, the best place to go is usually the query report from within Adwords. But what do you do if you either don’t have an Adwords account, don’t have enough data to pull from, or don’t have money to run an Adwords test? Keep reading to find out how to find local keywords for SEO without a PPC account.
Basic Local Research
The first thing I do when doing research for a local client with no PPC account is to try to find local, geo-modified keywords to work from. These become my jumping off point. For this research, I use two things: a reverse rank checker and a keyworddensitychecker. I use both in the same way that I outlined in my previous post, but this time I look specifically for local terms. I then add found keywords to an Excel spreadsheet, my master list.
After using these tools, I will go to Google Trends and Google Insights to see if I can find geo trends for terms. There are a lot of filtering options so I tend to stick around and play for a while to see what I can find. Again, any findings go on the master list.
I then run my master list through the Google Keyword Suggestion Tool. Any words with volume are added, exported, copied and pasted back to the master. From here, the words go to Aaron Wall’s Keyword Tool. The same thing happens with volume words: export, copy, paste.
What To Do If Results Are Thin
At this point if my results for geo-modified keywords are still thin, I simply start researching national, broad terms, following the same keyword research method as outlined before. Once I have my complete master list, I write down the counties, cities, states, and regions my client serves. I use a local keyword generator to help me decide on cities. What the local generator does is generate keywords based on the zip and radius you enter. Quite helpful.
With the highest volume keywords and my city list, I go to a keyword list generator tool to come up with keyword combos, placing the core terms in box 1 and geo modifiers in box 2. I then run these combos though the Google Keyword Suggestion, and any words with volume then go through Aaron Wall’s tool. Export. Copy. Paste.
By now your list should be shaping up. If the list is still thin, I’d go to Google’s Related Search or Wonder Wheel for ideas. Screen shots below. Click to enlarge.
How To Get To Google Related Search and Wonder Wheel
Google Related Search and Wonder Wheel Links
I don’t use Related Search and Wonder Wheel often, because many of these words have no volume to them. Still, if you’re dry on words, you must leave no stone unturned.
Once you’ve got your final list, choose your keywords by measuring their competitiveness. After that, you’re home free!!
P.S. Reading my previous post will make doing local research make more sense and much easier. Read it here.
What is your local keyword research method?
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I approach SEO research very differently than PPC. Search engine marketers, especially those familiar with managing PPC, get wrapped up in volume, conversions, and searcher intent all too often. But for SEO, a keyword’s competitiveness is the most important thing. Why? Because if a keyword is too competitive too rank for, what do volume and intent matter?
I don’t like spending time beating my head against the wall. I would much rather find less competitive keywords with similar traffic to optimize for and actually get somewhere. And I bet you agree. So, to that end, below I have shared my system for generating a strong SEO keyword list. Read on and enjoy!
Pay per click campaigns live and die by data. An account may be a stinker, but with the right data you can transform any campaign. The essential element to getting this data is reports. Specifically, those available under the “Reports” tab in your Adwords account.
But which reports do you need to worry about, and which are just extra info? Read on. This 5 part series will uncover the reports that can take your campaigns from zero to hero.
(To run any of the discussed reports go to “Reports–> Reports–> Create New” in your Adwords account.)
The Impression Share Report
Basic Description
For any PPC advertiser, the biggest primary hurdle is getting your ad shown to visitors. The Impression Share Report will tell you quickly how successfully your ad is being show and how often. It does this by comparing the impressions your ads receive to the total possible impressions for your specified campaign or account. It will depict the result as a percentage. So, if the report tells you 60%, your ad is being shown to 60% of searchers. Thus, 60% is the “share” of impressions that is yours.
This report is great for taking a pulse of your PPC dominance. And while you should base your CPC on ROI goals, the Impression Share report is important in understanding market saturation, demand, your competition, and where you fit in. Plus the Impression Share Report is potentially the best resource to go to if you want to increase impressions and don’t know how. [Read More…]
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