Keywords for Beginners
What is a Keyword ?
The basic definition of a keyword, is a word or phrase, that is typed into the search box in your browser.
The Search Engine then decides, based on the keyword that you have entered, the most relevant information, and displays it on the results page.
The reason that keywords are so critical is, that you want your page to be in the top results in order for anyone to find it.
The keywords that you use tell Google, and the other search engines what your page is about.
Keyword research is not something to be done once when building a website , and then forgotten, it should be a something that you do regularly.
You need be constantly analyzing what keywords are working for you and which aren’t. Focus on your good keywords, get rid of the bad ones and keep looking for new ones.
If you aren’t constantly doing keyword research, your competition sure is. Some of the big guys have hundreds, even thousands of keywords.
You are writing articles anyway, you might as well optimize them when you do it.
While social media, is great for spreading the word about your site, what would happen if you stopped ?
Keyword research is one of the ways to optimize your website, to get free traffic from the search engines. That traffic won’t stop if you keep on doing , and improving your on site optimization.
Large companies pay unbelievable amounts of money to have good ranking in the search engines, but you can do it for free, with good keyword research, and some other simple methods for increasing your rankings.
So where do you start, well there is a saying out there that you write for people not search engines. In truth you can do both. A good idea when first thinking about what keywords to use is to think of what words you type into the search box.
If your site was selling Yoga clothes, and Yoga accessories. You need to think of a lot of keywords that you think people will search for. Yoga clothes probably has a lot of competition, but you still want to use it, so you will start to rank for that keyword.
How about Yoga clothes for kids, men,women . Yoga mats, yoga mat bags, yoga rugs, yoga pants, yoga apparel.
Use some qualifiers, plus sizes, cheap, hot, organic, people who do yoga are probably interested in being green, or some brand names.
I hope you are starting to get the idea, and am going to stop now, so I don’t start ranking for yoga clothes. LOL
You still need to use your main keywords, but will have a better chance of ranking for the longer ones. They are known as Long Tail Keywords, or as some people call them, the low hanging fruit. That’s another post 
Keyword Tools
Ok, so now you have your preliminary list of keywords, you now need to find some more.
Lets go to Google Adwords External Keyword Tool
Put your keyword into the searchbox, and hit search Google will then find you a list of keywords that relate to the one that you entered.
A lot of people will stop here grab the keywords with the most traffic and start popping them in their website. This is a really bad plan, and is doomed to fail. You need to do some further research.
In this image you can refine your search by country, filtering out keywords, and adjusting the monthly searches.
You now have what I hope is a long list of keywords, so what do you do with them now ? More research !!
Don’t worry it’s easy.
There is a really cool free keyword tool put out by Mark Ling of Affilorama, and its called Traffic Travis.
Not only can you do keyword research there is also , Search Engine Tools, Page Analysis, SEO Analysis, PPC Analysis, and Keyword Tools all for free.
Simply put your keyword into the search box, and Traffic Travis will pull information from the internet telling you how tough the competition will be for a certain keyword, or keyword phrase, what the page rank is, how well the site is optimized, for the first 20 websites that rank for that keyword. Cool eh !
Before each module there is a detailed video explaining how it works, so I won’t go into anymore detail.
One more Free Keyword Tool.
Enter the keyword.
Red is a high competition keyword, orange medium, green low.
I have rushed over the last part on purpose. I wanted to show the tools, so you could see how easy basic keyword research can be, but am going to go into more detail in my next post.
There is a lot more to keywords, and keyword research, but this should give you a basic understanding.
In my next post I will go into more detail on these keyword tools, competition on a keyword, is it worth going after a keyword, and more.
I have put a few links below of some great resourses.
A tutorial on keywords Word Tracker- Keyword Basics there is a product for sale here, but you can just read the tut’s
Google Webmaster Tools The Google Bot if you have a website and don’t have Google Webmaster Tools you really, really need to get it !!
Googles Matt Cutts on Keyword Research Youtube videos.
Learn from other website owners at Google Webmaster Central Forums
Please leave your comments, Tweet and share if you liked this post.
This is an addition to my original post. I use Market Samurai for keyword research, and was hesitant about mentioning it because I am an affiliate. A couple of the commentors have mentioned it so I have added my affiliate link.
The videos on keywords are excellent, and 100% FREE. There is also a free trial offer.
Thanks
Neil
Really comprehensive information Neil that I am sure both newcomers & oldies to internet marketing will find helpful.
Keep it coming!
Michael
Michael B Wilbraham recently posted..Three Actions To Earning Cash At Home By Way Of Blogging
Hi Michael,
Glad you liked it. There is really no mystery to keyword research, but you need to spend some time on it.
I think people tend to want to get their site up, and running and skip some of the best practices.
Neil
Hey Neil
Great explanation of keywords.
Keyword reasearch is so important, both knowing what keywords will drive traffic to you but also what keywords will convert.
Good stuff Neil.
Peter Fuller MBA recently posted..Attention this book will make you MONEY
Hey Peter,
Conversions are very important. The different qualifiers that you use will bring different traffic.
If I typed Cheap Iphones into my computer, I am probably looking to buy a cheap Iphone.
If I type in Cheap Weddings, I am probably looking to have a cheap wedding in my backyard, and am looking for some ideas.
One may convert, the other one probably not.
Neil
Hi Neil,
awesome stuff I have to say. This is the one of the first, if not the first article about keyword research with calm explanantions of the subject, without hype and “top secret stuff”. Step-by-step explanations, easy to follow.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend recently posted..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Would You Like To Change Places With Another Person
Shhhhhh.
The Gurus will get mad if they know I’m giving away their secrets, but by sharing these tips I just want to give a little bit back.
How much Magic Google Keyword Dust would you like to buy ?
Haaa.
Thanks Oliver
Hi Neil – no issues with you posting when tired! Great post and relevant content for all online marketers
Cheers Kiaran
kiaran recently posted..Your First Steps To Branding you Inc
Thanks Mate,
A couple of times I thought of stopping and I would just finish it up in the morning, but I got r dun.
Cheers
Very nice article Neil! Very informative and easy to understand for newcomers. I’m looking forward to your next post.
Karen Newman recently posted..New Career Mindset
Hi Karen, and Welcome.
I am amazed at the comments I see from veterans who say SEO isn’t for them they have a blog on boats and don’t need it.
Or, don’t even know what it is. You need to know the rules before you play the game.
Thanks for the comment
Neil
Hey Neil,
You really going to help people out with all of the great resources you put together.
The best part…It’s all FREE!
I’ll chat with you later…
Josh
Josh Garcia recently posted..5 Steps You Should Take When Utilizing Article Marketing
Hi Josh,
I like free
You can do a lot with all the free information out there.
Glad you liked it.
Take care,
Neil
Hey Neil,
Really good stuff on keyword research, and I loved the visuals, as you know guys are visual individuals, the more visuals the better !
Thank you!
Hi Robert,
I like the visuals myself, show me step by step instructions to follow.
That’s of course after I’ve tried it myself for a while, and gotten frustrated, another guy trait. LOL
See you soon.
Neil
Neil,
You are learning early what value is.
Keywords for beginners?
That was a blast from the past but you really gave some great info and the detail was perfect.
I like when people give resources and not just generalities.
One thing I would suggest is Market Samurai it has a free version of a keyword tool that is awesome along with tutorials to boot.
Let me know if you need a link.
Steve Shoemaker
steve shoemaker recently posted..Ten Twitter Tools I Twuly Love
Hey Steve,
Thanks a lot. I found a lot of generalities when I first started, people would just blow by a very important step, I’d be lost, and frustrated.
My favorite was ” just copy and paste the code on your home page” I actually tried it.
I thought to myself at the time, that’s way to simple.
The tutorial neglected to mention that you had to add it to the code of your Home Page. LOL
Market Samauri is great I have it myself, a very useful tool to find green niches.
I might mention it in my next post or pop up the link. I just didn’t want the post to to be too overwhelming, by providing too many options.
Thanks,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Wow, what a great post! Very thorough and helpful.
You did a great job.
Thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong recently posted..How To Build Your Network Marketing Business On AutoPilot
Hi Mavis,
Thanks a lot.
I think I might have to try video
I understand that we can speak about 150 wpm, and I type with three fingers at about 15 wpm.
Seems like a viable option. LOL
Take care,
Neil
Great post.
Learning keywords early is great. Once you get the idea of keywords down it can save a ton of wasted effort.
Great free resources too.
I would say to check out the free portion of Market Samurai also. Under “dojo” they have some awesome videos that explain keywords in a way that makes it all seem incredibly easy. Plus the narrator has a soothing voice. I should just play it to put me into a peaceful sleep a night.
Steve Scott Site recently posted..Caution- Flesh Eating Zombies Ahead!
Hey Steve,
I actually bought Market Samurai a while back. You are right the training in it is fantastic.
I’ve only taken it for a test spin but it is great. I also have to check out Domain Samurai.
Here’s my affiliate link for anyone interested. http://www.marketsamurai.com/c/newbie2newbie Just click on Dojo at the top of the screen to watch the free videos.
Take care Steve,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Great, and very complete, post about keywords!
Love the pictures you included too.
Nicely done!
Susanna
Susanna Hess recently posted..Todd Falcone’s 16 Action Steps For Success
Thanks Susanna,
You’ve just inspired me to start the follow up
Take care,
This is definitely a whirl-wind post on keywords, but I must say, you’ve done an excellent job with it, Neil.
I just read a post about KeywordEye last week and was quite impressed with the tool.
One very important thing you mentioned, Neil, and that is the fact that keyword research is a PROCESS, a never-ending one as a matter of fact.
So better learn how to do it right the first time around.
Best,
Ana Hoffman
Ana | Traffic Generation Cafe recently posted..Bloggers Get on Board – Or Else…
Hey Ana,
Thanks,
Your comments and feedback are always welcome here.
Learning basic SEO is paramount in developing a blog that is going to survive.
I must admit, I was a little impatient myself, and hopped ahead.
Luckily it wasn’t to far ahead, so I can go back and change some things.
Neil
Neil,
Great job on this post about keywords.
Ana said it right, your keyword research is a process and I am still learning. This is always something new to understand.
My next purpose will be Market Samurai, I had the trial but next went through with it. I know this is a great tool. I was trying to decide either Market Samurai or Wordtracker.
Thanks for the great explanation.
Tommy
Tommy DiPietro | MLM Prospecting Hero recently posted..Five Ways To SEO My MLM Sales Strategies for the Home Business Owner WordPress Blog Part 1
Hey Tommy,
I takes a while to get the gems, but when you do it’s totally worth it.
I am still looking daily to see if I can find better keywords to target.
Talk to you soon,
Neil
Great tutorial! Not all people know all of these. Actually, not all of them have the idea which items in their settings need the necessary changes that can help them with their website. It’s nice of you to discuss these things to us.
Aaron Fuller recently posted..Reverse Phone Number Lookup