I think this is why people are reluctant with SEO

[taffie]

This keyword research issue, I find it very confusing and time consuming, which can be frustrating to say the list, no wonder why most people won't put up with SEO.

Okay here is the deal, you use GoogleKeyworExternal to research a keyword, it generates results, you pick a few keywords with high searches and very low competition, you say great you found it, check the insights and see the trend is going up!

Now here is where the frustration sets in, you now head over to google search, search for that very keyword with high searches and low competition, (and I am talking about optimsiation for articles here, not PPC) only to find the search results are well over some millions?

Am I missing soemthing here? Please help before I do something!

[David Chung]

Is 'Competition' measured differently in the Search-based Keyword Tool than it is in the AdWords Keyword Tool? - Search-based Keyword Tool Help

In the Search-Based Keyword Tool, competition is defined as a measure of the number of ads showing on a term

...In the AdWords Keyword Tool, competition is defined as a measure of advertisers bidding on a term.

"Competition" in the Google keyword tool is not a measure of the number of search result listings. It just tells you whether people are bidding on that keyword in Google Adwords.

Additionally, the number of search results does not really tell you if a term is competitive. The quality/SEO optimization of the sites that are currently ranked is a better indicator of how easy it will be for your own site to rank.

A lion in a field with a hundred, a thousand, or even a hundred thousand sheep still doesn't have any competition.
A single sheep in a field with just one lion is still going to have a very bad day.

I would worry more about the competition's quality and not their quantity.

[Andyhenry]

Sorry to say it but you're making something simple into a problem for yourself.

1 - Just because there are searches doesn't mean you can make money.

You need to learn about effective keyword research. There a lots of high searched terms with low competition that are not buyers, so using that as your criteria is flawed. You need to find buying phrases that have low enough competition that you know you can access them with your abilities (only you know what they are).

2 - Normal search results contain a LOT of results that are not relevant and not worth considering as competition.

3 - Search results are location based.

If you're searching from the UK then you'll see different results to if you searched from the US. Therefore it's also important to understand where your target audience are searching from and make sure you do your research using their location and what they will see - otherwise you'll get false information and be thinking you're ranking well for a highly searched term but in reality you could be on page 4000 in their searches.

It sounds like you need to spend time learning about research before you waste your time doing things wrong.

Andy

[markhimeb]

Both Google keyword tools are not providing enough info to invest on a specific niche. I use Market Samurai and get an instant knowledge of both competition as well as possible seo traffic for the 1st ranked page on the keyword I'm going after. There is a free trial version available, via which you can learn how to use it.

After spending lots of money to ppl doing seo for me, I decided to sit and learn some stuff about in- and off-site optimization and now I can easily outrank almost any micro-niche I want (with competition up to 300k).

Won't be too analytic on how -I'm leaving this for my coming WSO :-)

I'll just tell you one thing that I now know for good: do not trust all those speaking about free traffic and B***T. There is no such thing as free traffic getting strategies. In the end, if you really manage to rank high in Google without having spent a cent (which is not possible for a newbie), you will have spent a lot of time (probably thousands of hours), which cost much more than getting a couple of free products to do the work for you.

[Zaheera]

Hi,

SEO is not a rocket science. It will take your more time like in keyword research. But at the last time, the rewards is your. and surely reward is waiting for you.

But here you first complete your on-page optimization and then off-page optimization.

Just keep it up :-)

All the Best!

[TheZafraGroup]

As long as you have quality content/website that you're trying to rank, it shouldn't be too difficult. Search for your keywords well. It doesn't matter if a result reaches the millions. That should be good. It means people search for that keyword. Competition is always good in terms of search engines, businesses and other things. It shows life. As long as you search good keywords and provide a website or content with quality and with good keyword density, you will rank well.

[taffie]

Thanks guys, a lot of food for thought here. So David, if I understood you correctly then I think for the purpose of the kind of research (which is very basic of course) looking for terms with a lesser number showing ad in the Search Based Keyword Tool right? And leave the Adwords Keyword Tool results for PPC kind of research?

Andy, I have taken note of your words.

@Mark, I here you, I think I will finally need to sit and learn, I think the time has now come, I have just been avoiding it for a while now, you know what it's like I am sure, but yeah, have heard of Samurai, I think curve is steep, particularly if you can't spend.

Bust thanks again to you all.

[Liam Hamer]

It's so important to learn how to do keyword research properly. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to follow someone else's strategy, but you have to develop one which will work for you and your overall needs. The Google Keyword Tool is extremely useful(I still use it even though I have some paid tools) to get an initial idea of what terms are being searched and how many searches they are getting.

When I'm looking at the top 10 or 20 for a specific keyword, I often just use SEO Quake and Traffic Travis(both free) to get a quick idea of my potential competitors' on page optimization and backlinks. Traffic Travis in particular can pretty much show me whether I think I can rank for a keyword, what I need to do and how long I think it will take me. After this, I may dig even further to analyze the competition - like taking a closer look at their backlinks(usually with SEO Spyglass) and their on page SEO(usually with Website Auditor).

Like I said, keyword research is so vitally important. Even if you aren't driving traffic primarily from the search engines, I still think it's vital you look at what your market is looking for, what terminology they are using etc. It's also extremely helpful in structuring your sites, at least I have always found it so. Good luck

[cyrsss]

Defiantly it is frustrating in start but

IF you have few month experience then page itself tell you exact competition and trend also shows in ad word tool if u know the art

[MikeFriedman]

People greatly over think keyword research.

But one big misconception out there... the number of results in Google does not mean a damn thing as far as competition.

There really are 3 things to consider when looking at a keyword.

1. Can I outrank the top 3 websites?

2. If I crack into the top 3, is there enough traffic for it to be profitable? (Note: This has less to do with search volume than you think. There are keywords that get less than 100 searches a month that are highly profitable. It depends on what you are selling and how much you make off of each sale.)

3. Is it a buying keyword? Something like "are diet pills safe" might get a lot of traffic (I didn't check), but those visitors are probably not buying anything.

That is really all you need to worry about. Probably worthwhile to check the search trends too and make sure it is not something dying off.

Everything else is just a bunch of white noise.

[SEOATCL]

seo is the best and the cheapest way to showcase your online presence. the problem is that everybody want to get his website to first page of google within some weeks or months. everything requires the knowledge and the time. so first you need to acquire the knowledge to optimize your site and then give it some time before you see some results.

this greediness of people wanting to get their site to rank high in shortest time is what makes them fail in seo.

in seo patience is a must