Keyword Selection Paradigm

[Young Samurai]

Hello,

I am uncertain as to the criteria for selecting the correct keywords.

Can anyone advise on the paradigm for the selection of keywords for domain name and product pages in an affiliate site? I assume that the limits will be different depending on the price range of the product targeted. I trust the lay out below will help clarify what I am looking for and will help anyone who is willing to assist.

_________________________________________________

Primary Keyword (Domain Name):

Exact Monthly Searches (limits): ?
Competition (limits): ?
AllInTitle (limits): ?

Secondary Keywords (Product/Page Names):

Exact Monthly Searches (limits): ?
Competition (limits): ?

_________________________________________________

Perhaps you ignore competition numbers and focus on the strength of the competition alone.

I know good practice is probably the same across the spectrum but I'd be especially happy to hear from anyone who has seen success with an Amazon focused site(s).

Thank you in anticipation,

PS, I trust this is in the correct section of the forum,
and
I know that pieces of relevant information are scattered throughout the WF, it is my hope that collecting the information on this thread may be of help to other newbies.

[FivestarHB]

there is no one answer to that question, as there are many ways to skin a cat. (horrible metaphor sorry)
Different strategies, different emphasis, different techniques, different gurus etc.
I am currently liking Gary Gregory's MOBS system. His kwyword research is simple and useful:

exact match with >800 monthly searches
"keyword" in google with <30,000 results and <10,000 results for allintitle:keyword.

That being said, I go back to The Keyword Academy approach, and simplified with Clickbump, where you disregard all the thousands of results and just look at page one. Clickbump says look for 3 or 4 PR0 or PR- and the keyword is competitive. TKA popularised this approach with saying that PR1 or 2 in the top 4 results for a keyword was gettable.

Then there are the keyword research tools, samaria etc. I like Microniche finder - it has a "strength of competition" index which is helpful.

Keep learning, testing and you will come up with some criteria you are comfortable with.

[Young Samurai]

Originally Posted by FivestarHB

I am currently liking Gary Gregory's MOBS system. His kwyword research is simple and useful:

exact match with >800 monthly searches
"keyword" in google with <30,000 results and <10,000 results for allintitle:keyword.

Thanks FivestarHB,

That's the sort of info/discussion I'd like.

Am I correct in saying MOBS makes a difference between primary and secondary keywords
and what you have described is the criteria for the secondary keywords?

[Sojourn]

Originally Posted by Young Samurai

I assume that the limits will be different depending on the price range of the product targeted.

As an FYI, I do not adjust my limits based on the price range of the product being targeted. Getting to the 1st page of the search engine results has nothing to do with the price of the product and everything to do with the strength of the competition of the pages already sitting on the 1st page.

Originally Posted by Young Samurai

_________________________________________________

Primary Keyword (Domain Name):

Exact Monthly Searches (limits): ?
Competition (limits): ?
AllInTitle (limits): ?

Secondary Keywords (Product/Page Names):

Exact Monthly Searches (limits): ?
Competition (limits): ?

_________________________________________________

When I first started, I tended to look for keyword phrases that indicate potential buyer phrases (best abc, abc reviews, compare abc's, etc) with EXACT monthly searches of at least 1000/month, preferably under 50,000 inquote results ("keyword phrase"), and preferably less than 100 intitle/inanchor results (intitle:"keyword phrase" inanchor:"keyword phrase").

My limits have changed over time as my experience level and resources have improved.

Once I find a keyword I like, I analyze the competition of the 1st page. I use Market Samurai's SEO Competition module to do this but you can do the same with SEO Quake for free.

I look at Page Rank, # of backlinks to the page (not the domain), strength of the backlinks to that page, and on-site SEO of that page for my keyword phrase (look at Page Source for use of title tags, meta description, etc).

I bring up the pages in spots 1-10 and look at them. Is the content useful? Unique? Can I do better?

If I like what I see, I try to get an exact match domain for that keyword.

Originally Posted by Young Samurai

I know good practice is probably the same across the spectrum but I'd be especially happy to hear from anyone who has seen success with an Amazon focused site(s).

At this point, my keyword research for an Amazon product review site is done. Seriously. I don't need any other keywords just to get started. As long as I've vetted the product and niche and am confident that the product sells online and that reviews would be helpful to buyers, then I just start writing the reviews with the post title of "product make/model review".

As I do more reviews in the niche, I start to come up with ideas for informational posts that I think would help buyers in that niche. I do very little keyword research for those. At most, I'll start typing a phrase that describes the idea into Google to see if it will show me an intuitive search result that suggests a popular way of phrasing the topic and I'll use that in my post title and as the keyword for that individual post but I don't worry about it too much. As long as I'm sticking with my niche topic and coming up with content that I think will be helpful, then traffic has followed.

I think this strategy works for me because I build large sites and I write a lot so I get lots of long-tail keyword traffic I never could have foreseen in my initial research.

Any of the sites I've built that make money every month were built with only one keyword phrase in mind. That's it. One phrase. I do not put brand names or product names or anything like that in my domains. I pick something generic and then just start writing about that niche.

Why Exact and not Broad? Only because that was how I started out and I've stuck with it. I know it's just a launch point and NOT the end number so just sticking with Exact gives me a standard baseline to use for all future keyword research.

I've got a site that targets a keyword with less than 1000 exact searches a month but gets 10,000-15,000 unique visitors a month. I have a single Squidoo lens that targets a phrase that gets less than 1000 exact searches a month but it gets over 3000 visitors a month and has made $250/month consistently for almost two years.

You just have no way of knowing the true potential of a single keyword or niche so pick a main keyword wisely that is nicely related to your niche and start writing. The site stats will become your best friend. Write what your visitors show you they want and your site will start to unfold like the petals of a flower. (Ha!!! That's for all the sports analogies I had to endure in my corporate life. )

[markowe]

Originally Posted by Sojourn

My limits have changed over time as my experience level and resources have improved.

Good little guide that - the makings of a WSO

So true though, I have put up niche sites that were aiming at one keyword phrase, never really broke through to page one for that phrase for all my efforts, yet get 20-30 visits a day from a related keyword phrase I never really optimised for, just mentioned in the post in passing really. Once again goes to show it's quality, diverse content that is impressing Google these days. My attempts at Google Sniping and whatnot seem to sink without a trace in far too many cases...

[Young Samurai]

Sojourn,

I am almost lost for words ...

I didn't expect such a thorough/in depth answer.

Yes, Market Samurai speeds up the process considerably.

I find the "product make/model review" interesting - you appear to be drilling deeper into the niche than I had considered.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Sojourn

As an FYI, I do not adjust my limits based on the price range of the product being targeted. Getting to the 1st page of the search engine results has nothing to do with the price of the product and everything to do with the strength of the competition of the pages already sitting on the 1st page.



When I first started, I tended to look for keyword phrases that indicate potential buyer phrases (best abc, abc reviews, compare abc's, etc) with EXACT monthly searches of at least 1000/month, preferably under 50,000 inquote results ("keyword phrase"), and preferably less than 100 intitle/inanchor results (intitle:"keyword phrase" inanchor:"keyword phrase").

My limits have changed over time as my experience level and resources have improved.

Once I find a keyword I like, I analyze the competition of the 1st page. I use Market Samurai's SEO Competition module to do this but you can do the same with SEO Quake for free.

I look at Page Rank, # of backlinks to the page (not the domain), strength of the backlinks to that page, and on-site SEO of that page for my keyword phrase (look at Page Source for use of title tags, meta description, etc).

I bring up the pages in spots 1-10 and look at them. Is the content useful? Unique? Can I do better?

If I like what I see, I try to get an exact match domain for that keyword.



At this point, my keyword research for an Amazon product review site is done. Seriously. I don't need any other keywords just to get started. As long as I've vetted the product and niche and am confident that the product sells online and that reviews would be helpful to buyers, then I just start writing the reviews with the post title of "product make/model review".

As I do more reviews in the niche, I start to come up with ideas for informational posts that I think would help buyers in that niche. I do very little keyword research for those. At most, I'll start typing a phrase that describes the idea into Google to see if it will show me an intuitive search result that suggests a popular way of phrasing the topic and I'll use that in my post title and as the keyword for that individual post but I don't worry about it too much. As long as I'm sticking with my niche topic and coming up with content that I think will be helpful, then traffic has followed.

I think this strategy works for me because I build large sites and I write a lot so I get lots of long-tail keyword traffic I never could have foreseen in my initial research.

Any of the sites I've built that make money every month were built with only one keyword phrase in mind. That's it. One phrase. I do not put brand names or product names or anything like that in my domains. I pick something generic and then just start writing about that niche.

Why Exact and not Broad? Only because that was how I started out and I've stuck with it. I know it's just a launch point and NOT the end number so just sticking with Exact gives me a standard baseline to use for all future keyword research.

I've got a site that targets a keyword with less than 1000 exact searches a month but gets 10,000-15,000 unique visitors a month. I have a single Squidoo lens that targets a phrase that gets less than 1000 exact searches a month but it gets over 3000 visitors a month and has made $250/month consistently for almost two years.

You just have no way of knowing the true potential of a single keyword or niche so pick a main keyword wisely that is nicely related to your niche and start writing. The site stats will become your best friend. Write what your visitors show you they want and your site will start to unfold like the petals of a flower. (Ha!!! That's for all the sports analogies I had to endure in my corporate life. )

[Sojourn]

Originally Posted by markowe

My attempts at Google Sniping and whatnot seem to sink without a trace in far too many cases...

I noticed something about my biggest Amazon site recently that has had me noodling over something along those lines for the past few days.

When I started the site, I chose my one keyword, got my domain and started writing. At the top of Google was a Made for Adsense, exact match .org, then Wize, and then I forget - another exact match domain, or two, Amazon, etc.

Every day I would check where my site was for that main keyword and struggle to beat that darn MAF site sitting at #1. Darn thing would keep me up at night trying to figure out how to get around it. It had junk content and no value! But eventually I started creeping up page 1. Then my site passed it and took that spot. Then my hubpage passed it. Then my Squidoo lens passed it. Eventually, I forgot all about that site.

I noticed the other day, though, that site had actually drifted to about mid-way down page 2. The owner hasn't added any content or any additional backlinks. They just let it go. They had the #1 spot and they weren't even paying attention.

I have to assume they were getting income and that the income lost from letting it go had to be made up by something else. Another MAF site, probably, that will go the way of this one - stacking up domain registration fees for stuff they don't even tend to any more. What a waste.

Not that I don't have a stack of my own domains where I've built sites I don't even look at anymore but I seem to have settled on a few that I keep growing and growing and the results are showing.

So what I've puzzled over is do those MAF, sniper, thin site strategies require this constant running to keep ahead of the drop in SERPs? Is it building a business on sand?

I don't know.

What I do know is that if I see an untended, half-baked site sitting on the top of the SERPs for a niche/keyword I want I'm gonna pluck it like the dead chicken it is!

[Young Samurai]

Originally Posted by Sojourn

What I do know is that if I see an untended, half-baked site sitting on the top of the SERPs for a niche/keyword I want I'm gonna pluck it like the dead chicken it is!

Brillant.

[Craig McPherson]

Samurai,

Best piece of advice I can give you is to read every single one of Sojourn's posts.
All your answers will be there.

ps: Welcome back Erica

[markowe]

Originally Posted by Sojourn

What I do know is that if I see an untended, half-baked site sitting on the top of the SERPs for a niche/keyword I want I'm gonna pluck it like the dead chicken it is!

So true - I have been bemoaning the lack of available exact-match domains in another thread, but I think that for all their success, those Xfactor/Clickbump-type sites are a short-term, flash-in-the-pan and that I am actually going to start going after some of them as their owners are waaay too blase. I guess I would be too, but you are definitely not untouchable if all you have is an EMD and a bit of domain age. In fact I think I will set out to prove it in the near future.

[Young Samurai]

Originally Posted by Craig McPherson

Samurai,

Best piece of advice I can give you is to read every single one of Sojourn's posts.
All your answers will be there.

ps: Welcome back Erica

Yes Craig,

It can be time consuming but worth it.

[Sojourn]

Originally Posted by Young Samurai

I find the "product make/model review" interesting - you appear to be drilling deeper into the niche than I had considered.

There's no doubt I've dug in heavily on this niche. My reviews are a minimum of 500 words and my best selling review is over 3000 words. Often, I'll write a product review then another post where I compare that product to its closest competitor and then include it in a post where I talk about the top 5 or the best ones under a certain $ amount.

Lots and lots of detail seems to work for me. Can't stress enough that navigation of the site is key if you do go to this level of detail. My nav bar at the top of the site does not have Privacy Policy, Sitemap, or About. Those go to the side. Instead, it's things like pages for these products by price range, a page showing all the reviews and the Compare table plus some above-the-fold space I use to direct to favorite posts or to draw attention to current deals.

Originally Posted by markowe

So true - I have been bemoaning the lack of available exact-match domains in another thread, but I think that for all their success, those Xfactor/Clickbump-type sites are a short-term, flash-in-the-pan and that I am actually going to start going after some of them as their owners are waaay too blase. I guess I would be too, but you are definitely not untouchable if all you have is an EMD and a bit of domain age. In fact I think I will set out to prove it in the near future.

Go for it! Those sites are just test accounts to show you how fast you might be able to rank for that same keyword. Check whois for domain age, look at their backlinks, figure out how to put up better content and take 'em down. (evil grin!)

While I love exact match domains because I think they give you a bit of a boost up front, they're not required for success. Stick an 'e' in front of your exact match or the word 'best' or 'reviews' at the end. Hyphenate it or whatever is the shortest way to get the exact match with the fewest adds to it without making it sound bizarre and just use on-page and off-page SEO to target the main keyword itself. Don't let the lack of an exact match stand in your way of building a site in a niche you think you should be in.

Originally Posted by Young Samurai

Yes Craig,

It can be time consuming but worth it.

Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL! If you knew how much time I spent actually chopping back my responses so they weren't so long you'd wonder how I ever got anything done!!

Originally Posted by Craig McPherson

ps: Welcome back Erica

Aw, Thanks!!! I'm here every day but I do tend to hide out in the background and just soak up the ambiance.

[iresh]

I too dont think there is a one way answer for your question, Its totally depends on the market sector you are following and market competition and other things...

[wadezwd]

Originally Posted by Sojourn

...Getting to the 1st page of the search engine results has nothing to do with the price of the product and everything to do with the strength of the competition of the pages already sitting on the 1st page.
to some extent, getting #1 for a particular keyword or phrase is not a tough job, but is this of value? -- so my question is how do you determine the value of your job?

When I first started, I tended to look for keyword phrases that indicate potential buyer phrases (best abc, abc reviews, compare abc's, etc) with EXACT monthly searches of at least 1000/month, preferably under 50,000 inquote results ("keyword phrase"), and preferably less than 100 intitle/inanchor results (intitle:"keyword phrase" inanchor:"keyword phrase").
My limits have changed over time as my experience level and resources have improved.

well, i think this shall be quite good for a beginner like myself, and i think it is the regular way or so-called Tao [the law of nature, in Chinese ], and it will possibly change as it goes forward. so i would like start with and implement these numbers in my practices. therefore you deserve my appreciation and thanks.
......
You just have no way of knowing the true potential of a single keyword or niche so pick a main keyword wisely that is nicely related to your niche and start writing. The site stats will become your best friend. Write what your visitors show you they want and your site will start to unfold like the petals of a flower. (Ha!!! That's for all the sports analogies I had to endure in my corporate life. )

enlightening points and guides for newbies, thank you!

[wadezwd]

Originally Posted by Craig McPherson

Samurai,

Best piece of advice I can give you is to read every single one of Sojourn's posts.
All your answers will be there.

ps: Welcome back Erica

absolutely right, i do agree with you, indeed