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Keyword Basics Part 3: Choosing your best keywords by Ken McGaffin, 22 February 2007

Keyword Basics Part 3: Choosing your best keywords

You know how sometimes you make a list of say, three things and then by the time you get to the end of the list, you remember that there’s something you really must include and your list of three becomes a list of four? This is Part 3 of Ken McGaffin's Keyword Basics series

Key points

  • Include the most popular keywords in your website copy
  • Use the most popular keywords along with 'qualifiers'
  • Look for niche keywords or markets that others haven't yet found

Well, that's happened to me with this series of three articles – I need to squeeze in another. So this article will be about choosing your best keywords from the many that can be generated using Wordtracker. The next article in this series will look at how to use your best keywords to create high ranking pages.

So how do you choose the best keywords, the ones you should concentrate on first?

In part 2, The Keyword Matrix, we developed two spreadsheets for chocolate and related terms, one of 85 search terms using the free trial and one of over 5000 terms using the full version (you can download both spreadsheets from the previous article).

The spreadsheets gave a prediction of the daily searches for each term:

Chocolate keywords

The 'predict' figure is the first metric you should look at. High scoring keywords will be the most popular words in your marketplace - the words people use when they're searching for your products - so 'gifts' for a luxury chocolate site, 'cheap flights' for a travel site.

But of course there is a problem. Because the keywords are so popular, lots of sites will use them. You will face a lot of competition and much of that competition will be good at search engine optimization.

An experienced SEO will welcome this challenge and will apply skill and hard work over a number of months to compete effectively. But a novice SEO will find it virtually impossible to compete for these highly popular keywords. What then should the novice do?

Strategies for a novice SEO

I think there are three strategies you should follow:

  1. Include the most popular keywords in your website copy, even though you may not rank well for them. Your customers will expect to see these keywords, and search engines will take note of them. By including them, you lay a foundation for the long term - slowly but surely as you add more content, your rankings will rise.
  2. Use the most popular keywords along with 'qualifiers', either geographic or sector specific. So while it might be difficult to rank well for 'chocolate gifts', it is not such a challenge to rank well for 'chocolate gifts Buffalo' targeting a geographic area or 'corporate chocolate gifts' targeting the business sector.
  3. Look for niche keywords or markets that others haven't yet found. Such keywords have the magic combination of being relatively popular searches, but having little competition. Wordtracker provides a measurement for this - KEI or keyword effectiveness index. Many SEOs adopt this niche keyword strategy: John Alexander and Robin Nobles explain the approach in detail in this excellent article - An Ingenious Way to Use Wordtracker.

Wordtracker provides you with a number of metrics to help in these strategies. You can see them here in the full version (similar metrics are available with the trial):

Chocolate competition

Here's what each of these terms mean:

  • Searches is the number of times the exact keyword appears in our sample of people's searches.
  • Predict is the number of times over a 24-hour period that the exact keyword will be searched for over all engines.
  • Google is the number of results that Google will return for the exact search term in quotation marks (you can also choose other search engines).
  • Google KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) is a calculation of the "effectiveness" of each keyword, taking into account the predicted searches and the number of competing pages.

As with all things in search engine optimization you have to use a mixture of solid data AND human intelligence. Keyword research is not a simple one-off task. You will achieve much more if you investigate the tools, think about what they tell you about people, and develop your own ideas and methodologies.

A final tip to expand your keyword list

Today, if I did a search for 'chocolate gifts' on Wordtracker, I'd get a predict figure of 192. But that score is for the exact keyword phrase on its own - it does not count people's searches that include 'chocolate gifts' along with other words.

To find these additional keywords do this search in the full version of Wordtracker: Keyword Researcher

Keyword researcher

The results will show a prediction of 386 for phrases that contain 'chocolate gifts' - almost twice as many as for 'chocolate gifts' alone.

Chocolate gifts keywords

Please keep those comments coming. The next article in this series will look at how to use your best keywords to create high ranking pages.

You'll find links to the other three articles in this series below:

About Ken McGaffin

Picture of Ken McGaffin

Ken McGaffin is Chief Marketing Officer at Wordtracker. He is an experienced internet marketing consultant and has worked for major pharmaceutical companies, advertising agencies, government bodies and non-profit organizations.

87 comments

  1. Rebecca February 24, 2007 00:17

    I have been on your email list for a few years now and have always considered it one of my most boring elist subscriptions. Please don't take offense it is just how I felt about it.

    Recently though, wow, I just have to tell you that you guys are doing an awesome job.

    The new newletter is filled with incredible and relevent information and the Keyword search tool is truely magnificent.

    Please, don't get all big headed and stop the good work now that you have found the magic formula. You are really adding value to your services the likes of which I have never seen.

  2. Hank Whittemore February 24, 2007 14:11

    Thanks for the information.

  3. Jer February 25, 2007 22:00

    I'm confused! In this article you suggest 'chocolate gifts'. Do you mean "chocolate gifts"? And how would [chocolate gifts] be used stategically if at all?

  4. Jill February 26, 2007 20:42

    I've tried Word Tracker a couple of times and been a bit unsure how to make effective use of it, despite being told I really needed to. Reading your newsletter is giving me small bits of information that are showing me the light! Its making me look forward to going back to try it again! Thanks!

  5. Marjorie Brown February 26, 2007 21:56

    I feel my web-site is lacking keywords. Can you help me? We are a bed and breakfast near the ocean. We serve a three course breakfast and give a lot of amenities. I paid a lot for my web-site but I'm not sure what to do. Thanks

  6. Thriftone Jones March 04, 2007 00:47

    I too am concerned about the use of chocolate gifts. How would it be used strategically if at all?

  7. Zoe Hiles March 06, 2007 11:46

    I'm tackling how to make an impression on the highly competitive "greeting card" search term for my new company Squashed Tomato. Your free trail wordtracker has quickly given me a valuable starting point. As a relative novice to optimisation your articles are hugely accessible and highly useful. Thank you.

  8. Chic Alert April 07, 2007 01:02

    Another great read but this is very Wordtracker oriented it would be good to explain how other tools can be used too. Off to find the next dose.

  9. Ryan July 19, 2007 19:48

    Great Article, you have really explained Wordtracker and its feaatures, I can not wait to use it. Thanks.

  10. levant July 27, 2007 21:02

    great, I have been looking for this information all over the web. you finally convinced me to subscribe to wordtracker. thanks again.

  11. anuj saxena August 06, 2007 15:05

    What would be the keywords for call centre.Can you provide me a list

    Regards Anuj Saxena www.25x7services.com

  12. evert harder August 10, 2007 09:43

    Informative and well written, no doubt a Keyword expert

    Thanks

  13. Gopal August 22, 2007 09:54

    What would be the best kayword for a trekking and tours agncy in Nepal , Tibet and Bhutan for www.yalatour.com. Will you please help me? I expect your list.

    Regards Gopal for. Yala Tours

  14. Sudhir August 25, 2007 12:49

    It was good to see that at least somebody in the search marketing business is giving the honest and free advice without charging anythng. What you see most of the times is the hyped merketing lingo. Kudos to you Ken.

  15. Jay August 29, 2007 04:23

    Good read.

    Been trying to "get" this keyword stuff for a while. I "get" most of it but there's still a lot of stuff I don't quite understand.

    Still learning.

    Thanks.

  16. Evelyn August 31, 2007 05:27

    New site, need help with effective key words. have been going through your articles, learning. Can you help with some effective keywords for our site. Thanks

  17. John James de Souza October 09, 2007 05:08

    This is a new website and I need help with effective key words to get internet surfers to click on my website. Your assistance in this matter will very much appreciated.

    Thanks.

  18. Allan Hunter October 10, 2007 02:15

    Twenty minutes ago I didn't even know what a key word was but after reading your articles it was like a light bulb turned on in my mind.

  19. Carol Clark October 25, 2007 12:17

    Thank you so much for educating a real novice in terms I can understand!

  20. Bruce Rutledge October 31, 2007 12:28

    As a newbie this has been an eye opener for me. Thanks for the hints!

  21. Arif Yakub October 31, 2007 18:46

    Interesting read.

  22. asian baby November 03, 2007 22:13

    Wow it's rocking articles. thanx for info.

  23. algie November 05, 2007 16:09

    This could help me a lot! Thank you very much!

  24. Barbara November 07, 2007 19:58

    Keywords are something all webmasters or bloggers need to become educated in. Without them, your site could get buried.

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge. It's most appreciated.

  25. Llenar November 13, 2007 22:18

    Fabulous information. I'm going in. Going to get my first keywords. Wish me luck.

  26. Hypotheek November 25, 2007 11:14

    This article has opened my eyes thanks a lot!

  27. Kevin November 25, 2007 15:50

    Great article! I understand most of what you're saying, however I am in the very competitive market of foreclosures and have no clue of how to rank. Can you give some assistance? My site is http://www.SaveYourHomeYourself.com

    Thanks,

  28. Vinyl Shutters January 05, 2008 07:13

    Thank you for this insightful article. I believe I am finally getting on the right track!

  29. joseph January 19, 2008 17:55

    Great article! I'll use your guidelines when optimizing my company's website. THanx a lot

  30. Swapnali January 23, 2008 09:30

    Hi, I have gone thr' the info regarding keywords. You have suggested to use popular keyword. Suppose I use saree or sarees which is popular than wedding saree but saree is very comman word anyone having relevant content can add it so how search engines make differentiate among keywords used different sites? Is there any number limit for keywords for a particular site?

    Can anybody explain with example the keywords with qulifire and niche keywords?

  31. Jan February 03, 2008 16:30

    Thanks, I found some nice niche keywords thanks to following your tips.

  32. Dave February 11, 2008 22:13

    This subject is new to me, and I've found that I also need a title and description in addition to the key words for submission. How critical are these other items compared to key words?

  33. Peacabo February 14, 2008 01:37

    My husband and I are venturing to website business to make extra money to help us for many reasons (i.e. house mortgage payment):) We just purchased a search engine website and we don't really have any experienced in running & maintaining a website. We're confused about how to submit or advertise our search engine website to pay per click companies for traffic? Which PPC co. to go? What Title is best to use? And, What Keywords,& Phrases we should choose to use with our very limited budget? We're eager to learn. We hope that you or someone will be willing to share their time, knowledge in guiding and assisting us in this matter. All help will very much appreciated.

    Thanks. Http://mustfind.net

  34. AdJuice February 18, 2008 15:04

    I find the Wordtracker keyword researcher unbeatable for generating 'phrases containing the exact keyword'. If you were to devise a keyword list manually, no matter how long you spent on it, Wordtracker would always generate countless further keywords you would never have been able to compile yourself. Thanks - Ewan Kennedy.

  35. TMC February 24, 2008 17:50

    Great article! This helps a ton!

  36. Fione - e1Net internet marketing coaching March 05, 2008 07:08

    Hi,

    I've been using wordtracker since 2003 but hardly been browsing into the other sections. Checked today and found that there were these useful articles so i'll definitely be spending more time checking out the info that i've been missing out on

    rgds Fione http://www.eOneNet.com

  37. friends March 24, 2008 20:45

    I gererally dont read articles but today this is my third articles that i found very interesting in your website.

    Thank you very much !

  38. cheaptimesharerental April 03, 2008 14:31

    thanks for the clarification..i was quite blur when i received the keyword analysis results..e.g.with the kei & google column.. i guess with several more tries, i should be able to reap the benefits from this tool

  39. optimindzer April 21, 2008 13:35

    thanks for your great sharing

  40. homeofim May 03, 2008 13:47

    Good idea Thank You

  41. pan May 22, 2008 06:48

    When I read this article first,I thought that it helped to me. But when we think more about it, I found it not help . such as, I sell guitar amplifier ,escpcilly tube guitar amplifier, I 'm from china. we want to look for dealers in US and canada, we don't know which words they used "guitar amplifier" is words many people used, so we add "tube guitar amplifier", but it is words used by retailer people , They are not our customers.Do you think we can competitive with fender or marshell? point right people ,used right words is important to SEO

  42. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker May 22, 2008 09:01

    pan: try some pay per click (PPC) advertising to research which terms work for your company. Before starting, use Wordtracker to find 'negative' keywords that you don't want to bid on. Once you've found some keywords of interest, go back to Wordtracker to find more similar words to target with your SEO. Also try some simple modifying words like 'trade', 'wholesale', 'import'. Good luck.

  43. Ted Visser June 04, 2008 03:37

    What's all the fuzz about keywords? Google is the major player in searchengine-country, and doesn't bother about the keywords in the metatags at all. Google doesn't use the keyword metatag, you see.

  44. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker June 04, 2008 10:49

    Ted Visser: you are confuzzing (sic) keywords with the keywords metatag. A keyword is a word or phrase used to search. Keywords can be used in your page copy, in your page title tag and in the text of inbound links to your pages. All these places are not your keywords metatag.

  45. ujang June 06, 2008 06:43

    Just found this site, I'm a newbie trying to find the best keyword list for my site..

  46. Vivek June 21, 2008 04:18

    Interesting read. I have placed several keywords by thorough searching, but cannot see result...

  47. karen June 24, 2008 12:30

    A good read & very educational. I'm new to SEO and asking my hubby who is a developer is no good for me as I don't understand what he is talking about most of the time. It is pages like this which I find excellent.

    Thank You

  48. vijay June 25, 2008 10:10

    Hello, Your three strategies is so good.but i want to know which are the best keywords?

  49. Pabi June 27, 2008 08:07

    Great job!

  50. bd64 June 28, 2008 08:21

    its really good and useful for me

  51. CyberGnarus Web Development July 07, 2008 14:29

    Great article and advice. But with 5000 keywords, how do you choose the ones you are going to actually target, if you can only optimize a page for one primary and one secondary keyword? Thanks, Carol Harkins

  52. Ajay July 07, 2008 15:35

    I have been trying to get my blog http://www.brainthorn.blogspot.com out there.

    I am a new blogger and I appreciated your article on using keywords. Thanks for the info.

    Cheers and keep on truckin'.

    Entropy at http://www.brainthorn.blogspot.com

  53. Howard July 15, 2008 18:23

    I sell solar lights. I am so confused after reading all this to me it seems like I should just use solar lights as much as I can. Is it a lot more complicated then that?

  54. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker July 16, 2008 17:18

    Howard: put Wordtracker on your RSS reader and subscribe to the newsletter and we'll take you through the process.

  55. shiv July 22, 2008 16:19

    Hi thats a good article i like it so much and wordtacker also very useful thanks

  56. Karen August 01, 2008 01:55

    Thanks for the article. I'm on my way to SEO

  57. shalisha August 17, 2008 16:01

    I want to thank you so much for your brilliance and your willingness to share with us newbies the ways of internet marketing and SEO strategies. I love writing articles and I know this is my strongest suit, and this is the avenue I know I will pursue for traffic. But I was at a loss with the keyword thing. I spent $329 bucks for WT and it is so worth it. But I tried to use it without reading the instructions! Needless to say, I was not fully utilizing it! I love your knowledge and please keep your series coming because they really are helpful.

  58. Shalisha August 17, 2008 16:03

    I forgot, can I please be on your email list and receive your newsletters? I would love to read more and learn from you. Thanks.

    Shalisha

  59. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker August 24, 2008 09:49

    Shalisha: go to the home page of wordtracker.com and sign up to the Keyword Expert Newsletter with the form at the top of the right-hand side of the page.

  60. Cynthia September 11, 2008 23:03

    Great article. So basically there is no maximum number. But words must be directly related to text onsite.

  61. Casino Gambling Betting September 26, 2008 16:47

    Some great advice even for beginners. SEO and SEM is not rocket science. I think the terms SEO and SEM frighten people more than help. Ppl heaer SEO and panic. As though its some mystery force that only the "Gurus" know.. fact is. Its just good keyword research.. and well written content.. Links will come with good content and unique site..

    good luck ppl !

  62. SEO Optimization October 25, 2008 02:26

    One of the issue confronting every keyword sleuth is what is an acceptable KEI score. Is it 2,000 or .02 or .002? To get a high KEI you may have to give up a lot. If you go for a widely used KEI (say .002) your competition is too stiff. It takes a lot of time and effort to reach a happy and profitable medium. As you indicate, a substantial amount of time has to be dedicated to finding this "divine" balance.

  63. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker October 25, 2008 09:51

    SEO Optimization: I would forget KEI for anything other than a glance and possible further investigation. It's mostly bogus, using searches within quotation marks. And takes no account of the quality of the competition nor its quality relative to your own site. Even more important: don't target single keywords, target groups of keywords.

  64. Bill November 01, 2008 15:37

    I am trying to get this site to the search engines. I tried google optimizer and was total confused with it. So I am looking into this product and the same some.

  65. Bill Tan November 07, 2008 01:26

    We carried many hot products made in China with website www.allhookah.net. I am trying to find a better way to promote our products and website. Any suggestions? Thanks

  66. Angelina November 08, 2008 13:51

    Your articles are full of insights and useful tips especially for a beginner. With a 7-day Wordtracker free trial, I would like to put in practice what I have understood from reading your articles. Thanks a lot!

  67. Matt and Brenda November 22, 2008 11:57

    Thanks for the great information. Wordtracker is a great tool.

  68. SGDNetworks November 29, 2008 05:41

    Thanks for the information. Its good for keyword research for beginners with good explanation. Explain about how to choose a niche market and how to promote it.

    Thanks Venkat

  69. Hariz December 09, 2008 12:14

    Hi Ken, I am from Indonesia. I am making a website sort of newsportal www.shippingindonesia.com. what whould be the key words that will make it stay on top when someone clicks on this subject? thanks, kind regards hariz

  70. Darenda December 15, 2008 14:20

    I was alterted to your web site through a "how-to" article written by Nick Usborne entitled "Writing For the Web #1." This is the third article I've read from your site today. The article was informative and education but I thought that the question and answer session was equally interesting. I especially the helpful and instructive tone of the response from @wordtrackers.

    Thanks, you've got another subscriber!

  71. khaos December 16, 2008 12:55

    Looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Regards, khaos forum edebiyat Felsefe Blog

  72. Publius187 December 25, 2008 09:48

    It took me a long time to realize the concept of 'keywords'. I'm glad i came across this info. Thanks!

  73. Pete January 07, 2009 23:05

    Great article! I am always looking for ways to drive more traffic to my website. Thanks!

  74. Kirthika February 02, 2009 18:10

    Great article. I have 134 pages in my website,dealing with all categories, and where to load all key words. In the home page or individual pages. Will you please enlighten me please. Thanks for everything. Kirthika PN

  75. angielski February 17, 2009 19:17

    Quite useful, especially the idea of including all the high competitions keywords on the website.

  76. courtney February 21, 2009 16:59

    I like the fact that I now understand the importance of key words and how the google msn ext, works and I no it will work good for me !! Thanks for each one teach one

  77. Diolt March 06, 2009 08:00

    You can the best keyword research onto Adword.google.com.

    or pursue your competitors.

  78. Ron - Self Hypnosis March 19, 2009 09:21

    Great article series on expanding your keyword research. Thanks.

  79. News Alerts April 06, 2009 19:45

    Very good and comprehensive article. I've read several articles regaring keyword research by Ken McGaffin, they all rocks :)

    Does anyone can answer the question what is better and gives more "true" results Wordtracker or Google Adwords?

  80. chris filipek April 07, 2009 04:47

    "John Alexander and Robin Nobles explain the approach in detail in this excellent article - An Ingenious Way to Use Wordtracker."

    the article link is broken!

  81. emil April 09, 2009 05:38

    thanks for free info

  82. Mark Nunney @ Wordtracker April 12, 2009 15:03

    chris filipek: thanks. Link fixed.

  83. neil April 14, 2009 07:04

    Mark, you wrote this article more than 2yrs ago,all I have to say is brilliant, it's still relevant. I'm now just getting started. Where do you forsee this keywords concept going in the future?

  84. Ann Willsmer May 07, 2009 12:19

    What a great website and loads of excellent advice. The articles are well written for the lay person helping to de-mystify the whole process. Thank You

  85. Harson July 17, 2009 01:03

    I should have read this before i started my blog a few months ago. excellent article.

    i am sure this article will be a reference for more years to come. good job and i am expecting more superb posts. thanks

  86. online counselling services September 22, 2009 14:38

    Great Post, wordtracker is good tool to get uncovered niches also I use google keyword tool with it ti get all info about any keyword list

  87. English Language camp October 27, 2009 17:05

    The great thing of wordtracker is the KEI column which indicates the importance of a keyword to get higher ranking & traffic I did not find such a column in google keyword suggestion tool

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