New to IM, traffic questrion

The first place I'd start is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. You can use that tool and either:

(1) Enter a keyword you think would be a good starting point, then get a list of related keywords, search volume, etc. or...
(2) Enter your blog's address and have Google scan it to see what keywords are relevant to what you've already put together, again with search volume, related keywords, etc.

That's the "traffic" part of your question.

For the "conversion" part, you'll really have to test it. What counts as a "conversion" on your blog?

- Optins to your email list?
- Clicking on an affiliate link?
- Buying a product you sell from your blog?
- Something else?

Depending on your answer, there are different ways of testing these and some are easier than others.

For conversion, you can also use some general rules of thumb, like the idea that certain keywords are more indicative of a "buyer" than others. For example, someone searching for "maryland real estate" could be anyone from a buyer, to a seller, to a student doing research, to a real estate agent checking their rankings. Someone searching for "sell maryland house fast" would be a much better prospect for an agent or investor since that term says a little bit more about where the searcher is in the selling process (they're probably ready to go!).

This same thing applies to just about any market, but until you test the keywords, it's all just "best guess" stuff, at least in my opinion.

~Kenton

The best tool without question is MicroNicheFinder. It rates keywords in terms of how easy they are to rank for based on SEO of the competition and has a traffic light system to give you an indication of your chances of ranking (and degree of work involved).

I recently invested in Market Samurai (I've just switched over to Mac) and it takes 10 times as long!

Andy

I agree with using the Adword Keyword Tool, but in a slightly different approach. You can find another website that is similar in content and purpose as your blog (but much much higher in visitor count: use Quantcast.com to determine volume) and plug in that address into the Google Adword Keyword Tool and see what keywords it produces for you. This would be a good starting point for you. After a while you will start to see which keywords are truly relevant and traffic-getting for you.

Before you use any tools in doing keyword research, I recommend that you spend 3 minutes reading this blog post.

Keyword Tools Conspiracy Theory | Taknique

Have you read it? If so, then start doing a keyword research.

That should save you lots of time and MONEY.

Have a look at this post I made.

It is very detailed and step by step with graphics to guide you.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...step-step.html