I'm In Love With SEO

[Dana_W]

So, Daniel, what are your favorite keyword research tools, since as you have pointed out, the Google Keywords external tracker isn't that good for SEO?

(I still think it's probably good for generating lists of alternative keyword phrase suggestions.)

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

So, Daniel, what are your favorite keyword research tools, since as you have pointed out, the Google Keywords external tracker isn't that good for SEO?

(I still think it's probably good for generating lists of alternative keyword phrase suggestions.)

Personally I like Wordtracker and the SEO Book Tool, I'm not saying the Google External is absolutely useless, I still use it sometimes in cross reference.

Like Magic Mel pointed out, not one tool is entirely accurate (actually all are based on estimates) but the Google External is for PPC research, not for SEO.

In fact, my best article's keywords say in the Google tool "Not enough data" and here's why (Google's very own definition):

"Approximate Search Volume [Previous Month]
This column shows the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords that were performed on Google and the search network in the previous calendar month. This number is specific to your targeted country and language as well as your selection from the Match Type drop-down menu."

A tool that gathers data like that can be incredibly useful for PPC, but useless for SEO. A tool that depends on an ENTIRE PREVIOUS calendar month and on REGIONAL search results is definitely something I wouldn't depend on.

Whoever is using it for SEO alone is leaving money on the table. The keywords that drive the MOST traffic for me don't even have "...enough data" in the Google tool.

[richpeck]

Good work!

Another great point about this is that you *could* do it for other key terms related to the product, create a "mini network" of sites that all point to the product and then sell the network for like 10X weekly income or something... because keeping those ranks is going to take a lot more work than whipping up a simple blog I think.

Just some more food for thought!
R

[Darth Executor]

I have a question about keyword research:

how do I start? Do I just go to a keyword research tool and randomly type in keywords until I find one that works? It seems a bit unproductive.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Darth Executor

I have a question about keyword research:

how do I start? Do I just go to a keyword research tool and randomly type in keywords until I find one that works? It seems a bit unproductive.

Well usually keyword research is done for specific niches you have previously chosen. For example, the weight loss niche, you go and type related broad terms such as fat ; weight ; exercise etc...

Out of those broad terms (usually 1-2 words) long tail keywords that people search for daily stem out and those are the ones you grab, the beauty of long tails is that they usually have low competition, especially those with 3+ words. Another great thing about really long tail keywords is that 1 can have many smaller keywords within it.

[Mike Bogowski]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Like Magic Mel pointed out, not one tool is entirely accurate (actually all are based on estimates) but the Google External is for PPC research, not for SEO.

Daniel,

How do you define the difference? You will use PPC research the estimate how many searches a day a keyword phrase has to determine if you should bid on it or not.

For SEO, you research how many searches per day to see if you should try and rank for it or not.

To me the method is different but the research and data I need is exactly the same.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Mike Benkovich

Daniel,

How do you define the difference? You will use PPC research the estimate how many searches a day a keyword phrase has to determine if you should bid on it or not.

For SEO, you research how many searches per day to see if you should try and rank for it or not.

To me the method is different but the research and data I need is exactly the same.

In theory yes, in practice no.

The fact that the Google tool calculates results based on the previous calendar month + the specific country + the specific language is already enough for me to stay away from it, although I'm not saying it's useless.

That is a dreadful combination:

1. Outdated search results based on the previous calendar month. "Not enough data" if it's for keywords being searched to date, or 2 weeks ago for that matter.

PLUS

2. If you are in a different country or you speak a different language you will get different results, the whole point of Internet Marketing is appealing to a global market. A keyword that gets let's say 3 daily search results in the US and 1,000 in Australia is being COMPLETELY overlooked because some people rely on that tool.

I'm sorry, but that is just leaving A LOT of money and targeted traffic on the table.

[Ross Kenny]

Keyword research is a very important skill you need to practise and get good at.
Yes you can outsource it but you really need to master it yourself.

Finding profitable long tails is a skill and takes time digging and testing.

Keyword research plays a big part in SEO whether it be your blog, mini site or
article..

Really impressed with you Daniel and yes you do learn faster from experimenting.
(Most of my skills have come from ideas I've tested and learn't from)...

Keep up the good work and keep sharing...

This forum would be 1000 times better if there were more of you willing to share
your experiements and new findings....!!

Ross

[Tina Clark]

Thanks for the post, it will be the first WSO I offer. Look for it next week. $17 for the first 10 warriors.

Really though, just your headline made my day. I'm broken up with SEO right now, but we're talking about getting back together.

[JordanFrancis]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

2. If you are in a different country or you speak a different language you will get different results, the whole point of Internet Marketing is appealing to a global market. A keyword that gets let's say 3 daily search results in the US and 1,000 in Australia is being COMPLETELY overlooked because some people rely on that tool.

I'm sorry, but that is just leaving A LOT of money on the table.

Just a quick point on this. You can select any Country you like. You can also choose "All Countries and Territories" for the whole "global market" experience.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Tina Clark

Thanks for the post, it will be the first WSO I offer. Look for it next week. $17 for the first 10 warriors.

Really though, just your headline made my day. I'm broken up with SEO right now, but we're talking about getting back together.

LOL Tina, nice thought. But I don't think it can be offered as a WSO, the entire method is layed out on the thread for free.

Originally Posted by JordanFrancis

Just a quick point on this. You can select any Country you like. You can also choose "All Countries and Territories" for the whole "global market" experience.

Yes, but not all languages. That and point 1 are more than enough to stay away from it. Or at least not to rely on it as your main tool.

[JordanFrancis]

What I would like to know, and if Daniel or anyone else can help
that would be great...

These keyword tools are estimates. That we know, but just how
recent is the data that SEO book and wordtracker etc base their
estimates on anyway?

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Ross Kenny

Keyword research is a very important skill you need to practise and get good at.
Yes you can outsource it but you really need to master it yourself.

Finding profitable long tails is a skill and takes time digging and testing.

Keyword research plays a big part in SEO whether it be your blog, mini site or
article..

Really impressed with you Daniel and yes you do learn faster from experimenting.
(Most of my skills have come from ideas I've tested and learn't from)...

Keep up the good work and keep sharing...

This forum would be 1000 times better if there were more of you willing to share
your experiements and new findings....!!

Ross

Thanks Ross

Trial and error, my favourite method of making money and traffic generation (and by the looks of it, yours too).

Originally Posted by JordanFrancis

What I would like to know, and if Daniel or anyone else can help
that would be great...

These keyword tools are estimates. That we know, but just how
recent is the data that SEO book and wordtracker etc base their
estimates on anyway?

Well, like it has been said before all of these search results are based on estimates. What I do know is that the keyword tools such as SEO Book and WT vary their results daily, so I take it it's based on daily data.

Don't take my word for it though.

[JordanFrancis]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Yes, but not all languages. That and point 1 are more than enough to stay away from it.

Regarding the language. I am not seeing the point here. If anything,
it is irrelevant. If you're positioning your articles and sites for XYZ
keywords, then you're targeting one language only anyway? If a
searcher types your keywords in a different language, google
won't return your website anyway. I don't get Thai results when
I look for stuff...

Mind you it is gone 2am here and I may be missing something.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Tina Clark

Thanks for the post, it will be the first WSO I offer. Look for it next week. $17 for the first 10 warriors.

Really though, just your headline made my day. I'm broken up with SEO right now, but we're talking about getting back together.

Ha ha ha! I can tell I'm going to love your posts.

Unfortunately for you it looks like you will have to fight Daniel for SEO's love.

As for me, SEO is very fickle. Sometimes it loves me, sometimes it won't even take my pleading phone calls to tell me what I've done wrong.

[JordanFrancis]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Well, like it has been said before all of these search results are based on estimates. What I do know is that the keyword tools such as SEO Book and WT vary their results daily, so I take it it's based on daily data.

Don't take my word for it though.

That's promising to know. It is certainly a good idea to utilise more
than one keyword tool. The best often being your brain!

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by JordanFrancis

Regarding the language. I am not seeing the point here. If anything,
it is irrelevant. If you're positioning your articles and sites for XYZ
keywords, then you're targeting one language only anyway? If a
searcher types your keywords in a different language, google
won't return your website anyway. I don't get Thai results when
I look for stuff...

Mind you it is gone 2am here and I may be missing something.

One is typos, that tool doesn't seem to pick up on the most common ones, I think it might be related to the language.

The other is words and/or phrases used from another language, like popular french cliches or something of that sort that everyone understands.

Since the Google tool bases itself on a specific language, it doesn't seem to pick up on any of those (the others do).

You might not give much relevance to this but I do, because I have found amazing keywords that the Google tool doesn't pick up because of these small details.

I still use it, not saying it's useless, but you just shouldn't rely on it alone (same goes for the other keyword tools).

[JordanFrancis]

Those are worthy points. Though I did search "bonjour" and
got loads of keywords for my UK English tailored results.

It all comes down to knowing the strengths and weaknesses
of the tools. Well... obviously, right? Then you can use the
best tool for the job.

As a side note, I do use the seo book tool a lot. It's a cool
tool to have in my box.

[Mike Bogowski]

I respect your choice obviously, I don't agree but respect it!

In the end what matters is wether or not the technique works for you, who cares if I use a different tool to you.

As long as you're making cash, power to you bro

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

In theory yes, in practice no.

The fact that the Google tool calculates results based on the previous calendar month + the specific country + the specific language is already enough for me to stay away from it, although I'm not saying it's useless.

That is a dreadful combination:

1. Outdated search results based on the previous calendar month. "Not enough data" if it's for keywords being searched to date, or 2 weeks ago for that matter.

PLUS

2. If you are in a different country or you speak a different language you will get different results, the whole point of Internet Marketing is appealing to a global market. A keyword that gets let's say 3 daily search results in the US and 1,000 in Australia is being COMPLETELY overlooked because some people rely on that tool.

I'm sorry, but that is just leaving A LOT of money and targeted traffic on the table.

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Then I used a social bookmarking submission automated software (BIG Mike's SocialBot) to get backlinks to all the pages of my blog (every blog post is considered a page and so are the comments for each post).

5. Mass instant backlinks don't work.

Enjoy!

Dan

I use SocialBot as well but was under the impression that if you bookmark a page on every one of the 100+ sites that it would do you more harm than good. Are you saying this is not true? Cause damnit it would save me a lot of time having to fill out a new profile everytime I wanted to submit a new bookmark because the one I was using has now gone through 30 to 40 sites. Far as I know there is not a button to make it only submit to only a few sites after you've filled out all the log in forms for all the sites.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by bzimm

I use SocialBot as well but was under the impression that if you bookmark a page on every one of the 100+ sites that it would do you more harm than good. Are you saying this is not true? Cause damnit it would save me a lot of time having to fill out a new profile everytime I wanted to submit a new bookmark because the one I was using has now gone through 30 to 40 sites. Far as I know there is not a button to make it only submit to only a few sites after you've filled out all the log in forms for all the sites.

Well it worked for me, at least in the short term. We'll see in the long run.

[MaryK]

Originally Posted by steve m

can some one please explain to me what the "do in the key word search" the quotation marks, ?

By putting your keyword search in "keyword" you will just target that particular keyword or words. In other words, only sites using that keyword(s) will show. You will then know just how many sites you are competing with, or otherwise.

Love your first blog - keep up the good work.

[TheMagicShow]

Only thing that I can say is this, if you want to know whether a keyword is worth going after either in seo or ppc campaigns, then just look at the ppc ads and see how long them ads are running, the longer the ad runs then you kinda get the idea that the keyword must have some pull, if an advertiser is spending money on keywords months after months or maybe even years, they sure as hell wished they could have had it ranked oragnically instead of paying for adwords.

Most adwords campaigns are up there because the webmaster/business owner cannot get that high organic ranking, so they use adwords to have their site/campaign in the spotlight.

This method basically lets you know if some keywords are really worth it and while others are a waste of time.

[rubo123]

Originally Posted by Darth Executor

Given the priorities of those doing the search it's not much of a surprise.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Well it worked for me, at least in the short term. We'll see in the long run.

Do you normally bookmark like that say for articles or was this just something that you just did for no other reason than just to see what happened?

[zeurois]

From the results gathered from google kw tool and seobook's tool, I can only say this:

- I know few established websites that make daily sales from organic traffic and their kw aren't displayed (= no traffic) in seobook's tool.
- I know at least one website with a good spot in google getting little to no traffic from some keywords given by the kw tool(google's) as kw with many daily searches (1k)

My conclusion: the truth is out there

[yommys01]

Great post Dan. But I have a question. How do you know if a keyword get 4,000 daily search results.

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by ste25

I cant believe those numbers are accurate.

Well gee, if you can't believe it, then that's that.

[Brian Johnson]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Ok guys, let me tell you something that happened this week. It's probably the fastest possible way to make money online.

This sort of happened by accident.

I was doing some keyword research for one of my clients and stumbled upon a long tail keyword phrase (5 words) that has 4,000 daily search results and at that time (one week ago) it had less than 3,000 competition.

Anyway, I was able to grab the hyphenated .com domain for that keyword.

Being way too lazy that day (and hangovered as well) I couldn't bother myself to build a website, I went to Blogger opened a blog, made 10 blog posts optimized with the keyword, transfered the domain to that blog and submitted the site map to the search engines.

Then I used a social bookmarking submission automated software (BIG Mike's SocialBot) to get backlinks to all the pages of my blog (every blog post is considered a page and so are the comments for each post).

Take into account that the keyword is completely informative, it doesn't really have commercial value, but I thought what the heck ANYTHING can be monetized. So I went to Clickbank grabbed a related product and spread my affiliate link all over the blog.

Today I just did a Google search for the keyword and I'm in position #1. I logged to my Clickbank account and I already made 7 sales in ONE day.

All this costed me $8 for the domain name, about 2-3 hours worth of work and it will make me passive residual income forever without me having to lift a single finger.

Myths Dispelled:

1. Hyphenated domains are crap for SEO.
2. Keywords need to have commercial value (This proves ANYTHING can be monetized).
3. Making fast cash is not possible.
4. Out ranking authority sites is hard (My 1 week old PR0 blog is out ranking PR8 websites for that keyword).
5. Mass instant backlinks don't work.

Enjoy!

Dan

Hey Dan,

Awesome work dude ... got to love SEO for sure.
Nothing beats free traffic, I have several niche similar to
what your talking about however they are commercial in
nature but have little competition.

Hyphenated domains ... I steer clear these days. However
when you can not find a .com, .net or .org that is not
hyphenated then they are fine.

That being said I think Google does prefer non hyphenated
domains.

Nice thread about building quick traffic and making some bucks.

[Skribblez]

Originally Posted by yommys01

Great post Dan. But I have a question. How do you know if a keyword get 4,000 daily search results.

You don't.

[h1dayah]

Originally Posted by livetheriches

Awesome Daniel! Curious too if you are just 'redirecting' the domain to the blogspot..

Am just wondering what you guys talking........please explain more for me would be much appreciated.As am here to learn.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by yommys01

Great post Dan. But I have a question. How do you know if a keyword get 4,000 daily search results.

Through a keyword research tool, no keyword tool is entirely accurate, but most give a fairly decent estimate.

I like the SEO Book Tool the most.

[Ryan_Taylor]

Hey Daniel,

Nicely done! 7 sales in one day from scratch - not bad!

Just a word of warning... Be careful on what you uncover by doing your competitive searches. I've been burned a number of times thinking I found a killer keyword with little competition - only to find a day later that the results Google initially showed were way off.

I'll give you an example of one I found this weekend: "low cost insurance"

Targeted with thousands of searches a day. Initially Big G told me there were only 2,500 competing pages. I suspected that was wrong and the next day it showed 250k. Still not bad, but not nearly as great as I initially thought.

This happens to me on a weekly basis.

[Black Hat Cat]

I find the Google Keyword tool to be pretty accurate comparing search numbers with what I get to my sites. How can SEO Book's tool be even remotely accurate?

How do you explain this:

Keyword phrase: tight braless tops

Google Keyword tool: [exact] "Not enough data"
SEO Book's tool: 2,174 searches per day on Google

I cant believe those numbers are accurate.

They aren't. Like you, my own stats have proven it. But others don't have to take our word for it, they can prove it to themselves. Run an adwords campaign, or get top rankings for the keyword. It won't be hard. Then you'll see first hand just how wrong it is.

By the way, for those who don't know, Wordtracker numbers are estimates for all of the major search engines, not any one search engine. So, when it says "tight braless tops" is getting 2,160 daily searches, that is the total daily searches from every major search engine. That doesn't mean 2,160 daily searches at Google. That means, in order to have a shot at each of those daily visitors, you'd have to get top rankings at every search engine they consider major.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Ryan_Taylor

Hey Daniel,

Nicely done! 7 sales in one day from scratch - not bad!

Just a word of warning... Be careful on what you uncover by doing your competitive searches. I've been burned a number of times thinking I found a killer keyword with little competition - only to find a day later that the results Google initially showed were way off.

I'll give you an example of one I found this weekend: "low cost insurance"

Targeted with thousands of searches a day. Initially Big G told me there were only 2,500 competing pages. I suspected that was wrong and the next day it showed 250k. Still not bad, but not nearly as great as I initially thought.

This happens to me on a weekly basis.

Yes, good advice. I always check back on the competition of some keywords on an almost daily basis.

Originally Posted by blackhatcat

They aren't. Like you, my own stats have proven it. But others don't have to take our word for it, they can prove it to themselves. Run an adwords campaign, or get top rankings for the keyword. It won't be hard. Then you'll see first hand just how wrong it is.

By the way, for those who don't know, Wordtracker numbers are estimates for all of the major search engines, not any one search engine. So, when it says "tight braless tops" is getting 2,160 daily searches, that is the total daily searches from every major search engine. That doesn't mean 2,160 daily searches at Google. That means, in order to have a shot at each of those daily visitors, you'd have to get top rankings at every search engine they consider major.

Nice point, I guess we can't expect any tool to be accurate, but those estimates definitely help a lot.

[precious007]

There is one single algorithm Google uses so Why wouldn`t mass instant backlinks work ? They do. I have used this technique for several sites and works perfect.

[Internet Stores]

Wow...that's great! Talk about making fast easy money! SEO really works great by putting in a little effort and time.

[Daniel Molano]

Well just to update you guys a bit, the site did drop in rankings but it still remains on page 1 of Google.

I guess instant backlinks do boost the ranking temporarily and also afterwards, but not with the same value.

I'll add a few backlinks to it naturally and see what happens.

[Julian X]

Great post, thanks Daniel . I am new to SEO and this really helps me .

Best Regards,
Bemodo

[surenpp]

does it have any effect on your income from the site

[kkchoon]

If the market is big enough, you can setup your site with SEO SILO structure, greatly boost your LSI and back links effort to rank for even more "not orignally planned or targeted" keywords!

- I love SEO too ! -

[Boonee]

Daniel,

How has the drop in ranking affected your sales?
And, how many sales have you had in total thus far?

Bridget

[Daniel Molano]

The sales have been obviously affected by the ranking drop. But I am looking for ways to backlink naturally so I can recuperate first position.

There is one site that has over 80 backlinks, so I'm trying to compete with that one. The good news is that my site is much better optimized for SEO than that one, so I'm looking forward to beating it.

[maemae]

Very Inspiring! Thanks!
Maemae

[Li Weng]

Good stuff Dan. Talk about good ROI. A lot of people say that SEO takes longer than PPC, but if you want to do PPC right, it's not exactly a short job either. I'd choose SEO over PPC any day.

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by Li Weng

Good stuff Dan. Talk about good ROI. A lot of people say that SEO takes longer than PPC, but if you want to do PPC right, it's not exactly a short job either. I'd choose SEO over PPC any day.

Me too Li, I see PPC as short term traffic, which you have to repeat and be aware of constantly.

SEO after the proper implementation and enough backlink building can be a set and forget, long term traffic approach. Plus it's organic and therefore even more targeted.

PPC in my eyes is only good for testing niches and markets, imagine investing all that money you would spend into a viable PPC campaign into an SEO campaign instead. Much better ROI in my opinion.

[Li Weng]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

Me too Li, I see PPC as short term traffic, which you have to repeat and be aware of constantly.

SEO after the proper implementation and enough backlink building can be a set and forget, long term traffic approach. Plus it's organic and therefore even more targeted.

PPC in my eyes is only good for testing niches and markets, imagine investing all that money you would spend into a viable PPC campaign into an SEO campaign instead. Much better ROI in my opinion.

Dan, I can't agree with you more. For me, PPC = more work and more stress. You are forced to work on it all the time, otherwise you lose money!

SEO you just have to do these things right once, and it's pretty much done forever. You just leave it, maintain a little bit every now and then if you want to, and you can still expect traffic and money from it in years to come. Best part is that it's free.

I never understand when people say PPC is less work than SEO, because it honestly isn't. There's a lot more to worry about when you're doing PPC.

[tonyd13]

Originally Posted by Daniel Molano

That would be correct Dana, you basically get to leverage Blogger.

Daniel,

Does it matter if you host the blog at blogger itself or can you just have blogger ftp the files to your server? Great post BTW!

[Daniel Molano]

Originally Posted by tonyd13

Daniel,

Does it matter if you host the blog at blogger itself or can you just have blogger ftp the files to your server? Great post BTW!

Well the thing about hosting the blog with blogger is that you also get to leverage on their page rank (PR9 I believe). Blogger belongs to Google which is why the SERPs (especially Google) love it so much.

[Peter Liu]

Originally Posted by mookinman

Superb and inspiring, Daniel - thanks for posting.

The only thing I struggle with is keyword research... I seem to have some kind of mental block with it sometimes. Everything else in the process you describe is well within my abilities. Still, I'm doing okay.... but I want to do better

I am doing rather bad in keyword research.
By the way, which keyword research tool are you using?