Keyword research and niche selection

[voronov]

Ok, so overall I now have a pretty good idea how IM works. But one particular thing I'm struggling with is keyword research and niche selection.

Last thing I tried was following Google Sniper 2.0 (IM training product) guidelines in this regard. The author suggests picking keyword phrases with at least 3000 phrase monthly global search volume and no more than 13000 exact match (in "") results in google.

This seems like a good idea and works well when he demonstrates it in his training videos. But when I tried performing the exact same searches as he did in the videos, like "lose leg fat" I got entirely different results. In the video there was 11k and I got 70k. Similarly with other search requests.

The reason I even started checking is because I could not find any keywords to match the criteria in ANY niche. So it made me wonder. George (the author) can't be wrong, he's a great guy, so there must be something wrong with what I am doing. What could it be? Why am I getting so much more competition results than he does in his videos?

That's the main question. Also feel free to share your tactics on keyword research that you guys use. And about niches: which are in your opinion the least competitive (yet still profitable) and a good place for a newbie to start? Oh, I should specify: at Clickbank. Give me some advice please.

[BlakeM]

Results in google don't really matter. That's a myth as far as I'm concerned. You're better off checking out your competition and seeing if you can beat them. Check to see how many back links they have, the quality of the backlinks (do they have PR etc.), whether the keyword is in the domain, the heading, and the title of their site, etc.

If you don't think you can beat them, then move on. If you think it's possible, and the term gets a decent amount of exact searches, than go for it.

[trevonline]

Originally Posted by BlakeM

Results in google don't really matter. That's a myth as far as I'm concerned. You're better off checking out your competition and seeing if you can beat them. Check to see how many back links they have, the quality of the backlinks (do they have PR etc.), whether the keyword is in the domain, the heading, and the title of their site, etc.

If you don't think you can beat them, then move on. If you think it's possible, and the term gets a decent amount of exact searches, than go for it.

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[voronov]

Originally Posted by BlakeM

Results in google don't really matter.

You're probably right, though they are generally a good indication of how competitive that particular phrase is. I just find it strange that I fail while following exactly the same steps that the author suggests and performs himself. Is there perhaps some setting in google that is different for me by default or can this possibly be due to my geo location? I really don't know.

[voronov]

Also everyhting else except the number of search results seems in order. It's even the same pages competing (though some of them have switched places) and other guidelines apply well. It's just that I get an inflated number of search results. Why could that be? I type them in quotes just like the author.

[Hamida Harland]

Originally Posted by voronov

George (the author) can't be wrong, he's a great guy, so there must be something wrong with what I am doing. What could it be? Why am I getting so much more competition results than he does in his videos?

I'm sure George IS a great guy, but that doesn't mean he can't be wrong. I'm a fan of sniper type sites, but I think the 13,000 competition results figure is absolutely ridiculous. I don't agree with that at all.

It's the QUALITY of the competition you should be taking into consideration, NOT the number. I've easily grabbed page 1 rankings for keywords with 100,000+ exact match competition results. Other times I've struggled to get a good rank for a keyword with less than 20,000 results.

You need to assess the top 10 results for any keyword you're trying to rank for in terms of backlinks, page rank, authority, site optimization etc. The page 1 results on Google are really all you need to worry about.

[voronov]

Originally Posted by Hamida Harland

It's the QUALITY of the competition you should be taking into consideration, NOT the number.

Very useful idea. Thank you, Hamida.

[Ryken]

Hi voronov, Sound like you've been scratching your head, n-e -ways here's a page with nfo that can help you out. http://profitnpocketcash.com/keyword-generator/.
Also here is another tool you can use, Free SEO Software | The Best PPC & SEO Management Tool -Traffic Travis.
The second one can help you check out your backlinks or another sites backliks and much more.
Hope this helps.

[voronov]

Thank you, Ryken. I am using Traffic Travis and some other software.
In your experience, if TT Seo Analysis tool says a keyword is "relatively easy" (4 stars) what exactly does it take in terms of action to get it on page 1 of google?

[voronov]

Also I can see TT is somewhat inaccurate. I just used its Keyword Finder tool and found "best ways to get ex back". According to TT it gets 29 daily searches on google (at least in the video it says that this number stands for daily). According to google keyword tool however it only gets 110 searches per month. Which is much less and really not worth targeting.

[Ryken]

I'v also noticed the inconsistencies with TT as compared to Google keyword tool. With that said I prefer TT over google. In the end when needed I use both. Or anything else that will help me get the job done.

[UMS]

As other people have mentioned, looking at the number of "competing sites" is a flawed method.

All you really care about is the quality of the sites in the first 10 results as they are the ones you want to beat.

I highly recommend Shane Melaugh's video where he gives a very clear example of why the traditional keyword research formula is flawed.

SECockpit - Keyword Research and SEO Myths | SwissMadeMarketing

[mwashington]

It sounds like what we have here is not an exact science. So getting the best results is what your looking for. If your looking for everything to line up and match I don't think that will happen.

[Ryken]

Originally Posted by voronov

Thank you, Ryken. I am using Traffic Travis and some other software.
In your experience, if TT Seo Analysis tool says a keyword is "relatively easy" (4 stars) what exactly does it take in terms of action to get it on page 1 of google?

Well make sure your keyword/s are in your title, h1, h2 and etc. keywords in the body of the page (the article or story) meta-description. Your Off-Page opimization (backlinks-have the backlinks in the article itself that link to your page. Also have keywords specified in the text of the link that will help search engines and readers identify the topic. XML Sitemaps-http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/, good quality content available on your page and time.)

Truth be told there are quite a few variables that go into this. Being indexed by google, bing, and etc. I like many others wish there one one particular thing that would get us there but it takes all of this. Especialy backlinks.
Hope this helps

[ResearchDiva]

One reason you may be getting different results from "George" is that the demonstration you're watching may be a little old???

But, regardless, concentrate on those page 1 sites....they are your competition for the keyword.

Where the number of competing pages comes into play is based on how many other people you are competing with to get to page 1. Remember, they are all looking at those top 10 spots as well and trying to knock them out of position.

So, in theory, you are going to do have an easier time if there are only 10K competing pages vs. 100K competing pages....in theory.

But, as Hamida indicated, the quality of those top rankings is a good thing to focus on...especially now with Google tightening up their criteria for good quality sites that provide value to the users.

Put a strategy in place, with a foundation of good, solid, useful content and then try different tactics to drive traffic to the site and convert. Also....be sure you know where your target market hangs out and make sure you have good content in those spots as well.

Hope that helps...Dawn
YourResearchDiva.com

[StoneWilson]

Different people got different methods to define whether a niche is good or bad. But one thing I'm really sure is the same is not all the niches they picked were both profitable and low competitive.

Just pick one and do test.

-Stone.

[John Williamson]

My 'competition analysis' simply involves checking out the stats for the sites on page 1 and deciding whether or not I can beat 'em...

[JustusKim]

I think it is a good idea to look for the niche you are interested in, but you also must look for a niche which you are interested in and is making money. A high competition may be a good sign as it shows that it is a niche which is making money. However it may also mean that you have to compete with more sellers. The key is to find the right balance.

Try using Amazon and ebay to do your niche research - use the magazine and e-book sections to find niches which people are interested in. I find this method very useful. You can tell how popular a product is by looking at the reviews.

If you want to take it a step further, look for a physical product which is very popular that does not yet have a digital product - then create a similar digital product and sell it on clickbank.