Newbies: Why You NEED TO Check The First Page Competiton For Your Keywords If You Want To Succeed

[KateD]

Hey Newbies....


Let me ask you a question:

If you found a keyword phrase that gets searched for 1000 times per day and has just 20,000 competing pages, would you think that you hit the jackpot?

Well, if you answered "yes" right away, you may be making a very common mistake typical of newbies. You see, it's great that there are only 20,000 competing results, but the ones that you NEED to know more about are those first ten listings that show up when you type in your keyword phrase inside of Google's search box WITHOUT quotes.

Getting to page 1 should be your primary goal when targeting a keyword phrase.

And if you don't think that you can crack the top ten, then you should really question whether or not to even target that keyword phrase, REGARDLESS of how much search demand it gets.

A recent study showed that the first ten listings in Google's results get almost 99% of the total search demand.

So unless you can get onto that first page, the most you can hope to get from that keyword phrase is less than 1% of the daily searches. So in the above example, unless you are in the top ten, you are competing with ALL the remaining results for that 1% of search volume (in the above example, that's just 10 searches a day - 1% of 1000 daily searches).

THIS IS WHY GETTING TO GOOGLE'S PAGE ONE IS SO IMPORTANT!

So in the above example, if the competition for those first 10 listings are too hard (ie. aged domain names with thousands and thousands of backlinks), unless you are really competing for those remaining 10 searches. Now that keyword phrase doesn't look so hot anymore.

My Advice:

Once you find a keyword phrase that you get excited about, be sure to analyze the first ten listings that show up in Google when you search for the keyword phrase without quotes.

There are a variety of ways to check the stats of these listing, whichever way you choose isn't as important. Just make sure you do that before you start registering domain name, writing articles, etc.

Be sure to especially check for the amount of backlinks that the competition has. If you know these numbers, you know exactly what to do to beat them. Obviously there are other factors involved, but number of backlinks, page rank, and domain name age seem to have a strong influence (right now anyway).

So let's say that you found a keyword phrase that you wanted to target. You check the first page competition and see that most of them have between 100-250 backlinks and have 0 and 1 Page Ranks. You know that to increase your chances of beating them, you have to get more than 100-250 backlinks as a starting point.

The key point is that you have a better idea of the likelihood of getting to page 1. If it isn't likely, then don't target that keyword phrase.

I say all of this from personal experience. I have jumped on more than one keyword phrase that looked good initially (ie. high search, low amount of competing pages), but whose top ten was so strong that I would never get near it, and therefore never see any of those daily searches.


Parting words: newbies, please be sure to check your page 1 competition on any keyword phrase you'd like to target before you take any sort of action. This is something that more experienced marketers have been doing for quite some time, but is often left out of the many ebooks and programs being sold in the WSO section.

Newbies, you now I love. I wish you the best in your marketing efforts.

Much Success,

KateD


P.S. For those of your interested in the breakdown of the percentage of clicks that the first page competition gets (remember, it's almost 99% of the total searches), here it is:

Position #1 ------> 56.36% of clicks
Position #2 ------> 13.45% of clicks
Position #3 ------> 9.82% of clicks
Position #4 ------> 4.00% of clicks
Position #5 ------> 4.73% of clicks
Position #6 ------> 3.27% of clicks
Position #7 ------> 0.36% of clicks
Position #8 ------> 2.91% of clicks
Position #9 ------> 1.45% of clicks
Position #10 ------> 2.55% of clicks


Good luck guys....

[GeorgR.]

Yes, because you're ALWAYS competing against the top #10, regardless whether you have a million "competition". From that point of view, those numbers are all pretty non relevant....enter your desired keyword and simply check how strong the #10 spots are (backlinks, domain age, et. al), ignore MOST other numbers your keyword tool spits out for ya.

[janita]

Pretty good suggestions for newbie, agree with you that new comers face more competition then older.

[thebarksmeow]

Nice post. I only disagree with this part. Well not really disagree but something that needs to be pointed out.

Originally Posted by KateD

So let's say that you found a keyword phrase that you wanted to target. You check the first page competition and see that most of them have between 100-250 backlinks and have 0 and 1 Page Ranks. You know that to increase your chances of beating them, you have to get more than 100-250 backlinks as a starting point.

If the sites have 0-1 page ranks and the on-page SEO is basically non-existent (keyword not in title, url, or description), you can outrank them without needing as many backlinks. If your on-page SEO is better, you would only need a handful of backlinks.

[Michael Nguyen]

I would like to add. To increase your chances of getting clicks you need a compelling title with good desciption. You can be #1 but if the #2 has a better title and description then you can be sure that this will take away some of the clicks that was meant for #1. If all is equal then #1 will get most clicks. Also make sure your title and description doesn't truncate.

I have 68 charecters (with spaces) for my title and it fills the title line without cutting off.

I have 141 charecters (with spaces) for the description and it doesn't cut off.

Also make sure the keyword is in url and use hyphens.

Good luck

[KateD]

Originally Posted by michael_nguyen

I would like to add. To increase your chances of getting clicks you need a compelling title with good desciption. You can be #1 but if the #2 has a better title and description then you can be sure that this will take away some of the clicks that was meant for #1. If all is equal then #1 will get most clicks. Also make sure your title and description doesn't truncate.

I have 68 charecters (with spaces) for my title and it fills the title line without cutting off.

I have 141 charecters (with spaces) for the description and it doesn't cut off.

Also make sure the keyword is in url and use hyphens.

Good luck

Great tips there! That's another thing many marketers overlook.

And it DOES make a difference.

KateD

[Spot the Ball]

Title and description is one area Im paying more attention to now,

Eg,

Green Widgets - Green Widget model 6843
(description) Green Widget For Sale is a good widget

Isnt nearly as likely to get clicks as the following -

Green Widgets - Is the 6843 Green Widget really all that good?
(description) There are better Green Widgets around

Once the consumer arrives on your page they then see the full article which actually says "There are better Green Widgets around but at this kind of price you are going to have to go a long way to find any green widgets that can compete"

You get the idea, make your titles and descriptions stand out from the crowd to get those all important clicks.

[bdawg56kg]

Wow this was an eye opening post. Can you give a general rule of thumb you go by when deciding if competition is too tough? (number of backlinks, age of domain, page rank, etc) Thanks!

[KateD]

Originally Posted by bdawg56kg

Wow this was an eye opening post. Can you give a general rule of thumb you go by when deciding if competition is too tough? (number of backlinks, age of domain, page rank, etc) Thanks!

I think that it really depends on the experience and skill that the individual marketer has.

Where someone might think that 200 backlinks is a lot, another marketer knows he can do that many in a week, or day, or whatever.

Competition is relative. But the important thing is to KNOW what your competition is BEFORE you start.

KateD

[Aspiring Guru]

Thanks for all the good info. I am a newbie to all this, so I'm trying to take in as much as I can.

[Mike Anthony]

good points Kate. I have been trying to emphasize the power of good keyword and competition research. People are buying lots of backlinks and seeing little results because they are targeting terms and competition they will never beat. Meanwhile others are sailing through to the first page with ease on less than a hundred.

Originally Posted by KateD

So let's say that you found a keyword phrase that you wanted to target. You check the first page competition and see that most of them have between 100-250 backlinks and have 0 and 1 Page Ranks. You know that to increase your chances of beating them, you have to get more than 100-250 backlinks as a starting point.

I'd go a bit beyond that. Its not just the backlink count but what the anchor text is on those links. Thats critical. You can completely pass over KILLER keywords because you see a site with a whole lot of backlinks and yet that site might be ranking in that niche without much anchor text lasered links because its really weak competition. Many time in the serps you see a site with less backlinks ranking above a heavier backlinked site.

Thats why I said in a recent thread that keywords were the most important SEO factor. You start with them, you do on page SEO with them and you backlink with them.

[Fraggler]

Yeh a great post, Kate.

To take the backlinking analysis even further, check the IP diversity and the quality of the sites the links are on too. There are a lot of places that share links between their own sites. They have 1000's of links but they are all coming from one of their own sites.

You can pick out the sites with a poor backlinking profile when you see a site with a large number compared to its surrounding competition and an unusually low PR for the quantity. Always double check though.

[halfpoint]

Good points, Kate.

Since I began looking at the actual pages I was up against rather than how many results were returned I found heaps of highly searched keywords with weak competition that I otherwise would have over looked had I been following the "search for competition in quotes" method.

Although, I do think there is some merit to using the basic "in quotes" method occasionally. For example, if I'm just looking for some very low competition keywords for some articles that I'm not going to bother sending any links to I'll often just look for competition with less than 15-20k results. It's not perfect, but in that regard it works okay.

[KateD]

Originally Posted by Pat Jackson

Although, I do think there is some merit to using the basic "in quotes" method occasionally. For example, if I'm just looking for some very low competition keywords for some articles that I'm not going to bother sending any links to I'll often just look for competition with less than 15-20k results. It's not perfect, but in that regard it works okay.

Yes, I agree. But I think that it should be the first step in determining a keyword phrases true competition and potential for easier rankings.

Most people stop at the this initial step, and are targeting keyword phrases that they THINK has low competition, but who in reality has fierce competition on page 1.

KateD

[naonline]

Originally Posted by michael_nguyen

I would like to add. To increase your chances of getting clicks you need a compelling title with good desciption. You can be #1 but if the #2 has a better title and description then you can be sure that this will take away some of the clicks that was meant for #1. If all is equal then #1 will get most clicks. Also make sure your title and description doesn't truncate.

I have 68 charecters (with spaces) for my title and it fills the title line without cutting off.

I have 141 charecters (with spaces) for the description and it doesn't cut off.

Also make sure the keyword is in url and use hyphens.

Good luck

very good tips Michael. If you need inspiration look at the competition for ideas. Especially the PPC ads - a lot of work goes into these, especially in the more competitive niches.

[4morereferrals]

Holy backlinks batman - I might agree with you on something

Great point - just had that happen during some research.

There's a guru in a certain niche I like - he has got 38k backlinks and ranks top for a very specific and shortened keyword phrase - i want a piece of the longer tail too - but i digress.

The vast majority of his backlinks are anchor text'd for HIS NAME and the name of his product ??? wow - not the keyword term people are looking for.

If you want to buy a bicycle would you search for :

Joe Dokes?

The ultimate System for Bicycles?

... inching up the serps for the term ever so surely

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

good points Kate. I have been trying to emphasize the power of good keyword and competition research. People are buying lots of backlinks and seeing little results because they are targeting terms and competition they will never beat. Meanwhile others are sailing through to the first page with ease on less than a hundred.



I'd go a bit beyond that. Its not just the backlink count but what the anchor text is on those links. Thats critical. You can completely pass over KILLER keywords because you see a site with a whole lot of backlinks and yet that site might be ranking in that niche without much anchor text lasered links because its really weak competition. Many time in the serps you see a site with less backlinks ranking above a heavier backlinked site.

Thats why I said in a recent thread that keywords were the most important SEO factor. You start with them, you do on page SEO with them and you backlink with them.