Keyword Intelligence Keyword Research for Search Social and Beyond Download Presentation: www.symetri.com/training/ses Ron Jones Crusader-In-Chief & Author Symetri Internet Marketing Book available on Amazon Twitter: @ron_jones Email: rjones@symetri.com
Symetri Internet Marketing Symetri Internet Marketing is a full service agency provides strategic direction to marketers seeking to take their campaigns to a new level.
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Agenda Introductions What do you want to get our of this session? Keyword Strategies and Principles Keyword Research Process Finding Keywords (Methods and Tools) Refining Keywords Categorization and Segmentation Measuring Performance Keywords and Social Media Keyword and Quality Content Keywords and Traditional Marketing International Keyword Research Throughout this presentation I will include thoughts and tips in this space to provide clarity and insights. Please check each slide for these tips.
Keyword Research Strategy and Principles
Central to all Marketing Channels SEO Positioning and Branding PPC Print, TV and Radio Keyword Intelligence Social Media Marketing Real Time Search Local and Mobile Display & Banner Ads Video and Image Search The intelligence gained from keyword research should be considered as strategic and important to not only SEO and Paid Search but also for all marketing channels.
Know Your Marketing Strategy A written marketing strategy will help you focus on the greatest opportunities to increase sales. A definition of your business A description of your products or services Why you are unique and compelling to your customers A profile of your target audience Your company s role in relation to your competition The unique positioning of your company Your pricing strategy Your distribution channels Your competitive market segments If you have not seen your companies overall marketing strategy, you should. The information it provides is essential to setting up a successful keyword strategy.
Define Your Keyword Strategy Conversion Keyword Strategy Hybrid Keyword Strategy Branding Keyword Strategy Rewards leads, sales and conversions as the most important metric for success Combination of branding and conversion strategies Rewards impressions over new leads or conversions The keywords you choose should align with one of these three strategies. This needs to be decided upon prior to conducting your keyword research.
Measuring Keyword Performance Analytics tools like Google Analytics can be used to measure keyword performance at the site level. If you already have this installed you can measure your current performance as a benchmark and go from there.
Measure Keyword Performance Sort by Conversions to get top performing keywords. Average Time on Site and Bounce Rate are indicators of visitor engagement Spreadsheets are great tools to managing your keywords. You can even used them to measure performance over time. Remember to keep your eye on the metric that is most important to you like conversions.
Campaign Management Impressions Traffic/Clicks CTR Conversion Cost/ Investment CPA Conversion Value Profit Revenue ROI SEO 10,000 400 4.00% 20 $300 $15 $100 $1700 $1400 467% PPC 1 500 10 2.00% 2 $500 $250 $100 -$300 -$800-160% PPC 2 2000 50 2.50% 8 $700 $88 $100 $100 -$600-86% Email 1 500 30 6.00% 5 $200 $40 $100 $300 $100 50% Email 2 1,000 50 5.00% 10 $300 $30 $100 $700 $400 133% Print 1 2,000 150 0.75% 25 $2,000 $80 $100 $500 -$1500-75% Setting up metrics like these on a spreadsheet to measure one campaign against another is a great way for marketers to see which campaigns are pulling their weight and which are not.
Picking the Right Keywords Keyword Research is about picking the Right Keywords Failure to pick these keywords can cost you: Time Money Productivity
Relevant Destination Content Keywords should be incorporated into Relevant destination content Search engine results pages and landing pages should contain content that uses keywords that were originally searched on.
Secret Formula for Success cont. Keyword Success Formula Right Keywords Relevant Destination Content Conversion $$$
Keyword Influence Unified Messaging Keyword Relevancy
Keyword Research Brief Target Audience / Personas Core Keywords and Data Key Landing Pages Keywords with Low Competition Keyword Usage Tips Download Worksheet: www.symetri.com/training/ses It is easier to build your Keyword Research Brief if you already have a template of items, like those above, setup in advance. Then simply fill out the document as you are conducting your keyword research.
This is a sample of a Keyword Research Brief. As you can see this outlines your Persona s and targeted keywords you use combined with some data.
By providing more detail like associated landing pages and keyword usage tips you can insure an even more consistent and fluid use of your keywords.
Transactional Informational Buying Cycle and User Intent Initial Research Refine Search Broad Search Terms ie camera, digital camera, orange camera Content Research More Specific Terms ie affordable digital camera orange, black digital slr camera zoom Decision / Conversion Very Specific Search Terms ie canon eos mark III, nikon d700, f2.8 24-70 zoom lens Broad search terms represent intent to gather info. Specific search terms represent intent to convert.
The Long Tail Long Tail Keywords are likely to convert better than broad terms. Long tail keywords actually represent keyword phrases that are very specific. As previously discussed these keywords are not searched on as much but they do have a higher conversion rate.
Keyword Research Process Find all possible keywords Brainstorm Refine Identify best performing keywords Break down into categories or segments Categorize Test Test performance Course Correct Working through a process will help you conduct your research in a methodical way instead of randomly picking search terms from a keyword tool.
Finding and Managing Keywords
Site Search Engine If you have a search engine for your site you can check to see what keywords people are typing in to find content on you site.
Meta Keywords Starbucks <TITLE>Starbucks Homepage</TITLE> <meta name="description" content="starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. The Company's other brands enhance the Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products, including Tazo Tea Company and Hear Music."> <meta name="keywords" content="starbucks, Starbucks.com, Starbucks Corporation, Starbuck, Starbucks Card, Gift Card, Coffee, coffe, coffie, Coffee beans, Coffee sampler, Coffee at home, Coffee gifts,coffee brewer, Coffee brewers, Coffee maker, Coffee makers, Starbucks Cards,Espresso machine, Espresso machines, Espresso, expresso, espreso, Encore, Foodservice, Frappuccino, Gifts, Home delivery, Latte, Mocha, Music, HearMusic, Hear Music, Mugs, Office Coffee, Tazo, Pods, coffee filter, Brewing Equipment, Steep, Tea, Ice Cream, Iced Coffee, Double Shot, Brewing Equipment, Seattle, Pike Place, 1971, Siren, doubleshot, jazz">
Thesaurus If you were to look up the word instrument in Roget s Thesaurus you would find: adornment anklet band bangle bauble beads bijou bracelet brass brooch cameo chain charm choker cross crown earring finery frippery gem gewgaw glass hardware ice jewel junk knickknack lavaliere locket necklace ornament pendant pin regalia ring rock rosary solitaire sparkler stickpin stone tiara Resources: www.webster.com www.thesaurus.com You would be surprised how well a thesaurus works in expanding your possibility of keywords. There are many tools online and within applications like Microsoft Word that have Thesaurus's built in.
Plurals and Singulars Jeweler Jewelers Jewelry store Jewelry stores Bike Bikes Towel Towels Computer Computers Book Books Camera Cameras Tent Tents Dog Dogs Pillow Pillows Headphone Headphones Car Cars Service Services Hat Hats By making a word plural or singular you can double your keyword set. This is more important if you plan to use paid search advertising where you will need to bid on both plural and singular terms.
Misspellings and Typo s Here is a list of common misspellings for the term mortgage: mortgauge mortegage morgauge morgage Mortage www.google.com/jobs/britney.html http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-typo-generator/ You would be surprised how many people cannot spell. Consider those keywords you have that might not be straight forward and consider alternative spellings as new keyword possibilities.
Prefixing Example Prefixing Jewelry gold jewelry silver jewelry platinum jewelry diamond jewelry amethyst jewelry moonstone jewelry mother of pearl jewelry birthstone jewelry garnet jewelry rose quartz jewelry opal jewelry quartz jewelry aquamarine jewelry bloodstone jewelry rock crystal jewelry emerald jewelry chrysoprase jewelry alexandrite jewelry pearl jewelry ruby jewelry carnelion jewelry peridot jewelry sardonyx jewelry sapphire jewelry lapis jewelry tourmaline jewelry topaz jewelry citrine jewelry tanzanite jewelry zircon jewelry turquoise jewelry amber jewelry Just by adding words in front of your seed or root keywords you can identify many more keyword opportunities. This is a great way of finding new possibilities.
Suffixing Example Suffixing Jewelry jewelry company jewelry repair jewelry cleaning jewelry design jewelry catalog jewelry fixing jewelry soldering jewelry store jewelry sales jewelry deals jewelry coupons jewelry dealers jewelry sellers jewelry shopping jewelry wholesalers jewelry resellers jewelry manufacturers Just like Prefixing you take the root or seed word and place words behind them to create new keywords. You can even do prefixing and suffixing to expand them even more.
Keyword Stemming Start with the root word Then expand in either direction Example Seed term: jewelry Prefix term: diamond Suffix term: shop diamond jewelry shop Keyword stemming is a combination of prefixing and suffixing. You simply expand on both sides of the root search term.
Refining Keywords
Analyze More than Search Volume Score for Relevance, Competition, Specificity and Popularity Add Site Keyword Performance Data Focusing on search volume only you will miss other variables that will influence keyword performance.
Worksheet Download Worksheet: www.symetri.com/training/ses
Keyword Categorization and Segmentation
Sort Keywords by Categories Core Keywords Keyword Categorization Blue Red Green Product Categories Product Features Product Attributes Keyword categories represent features and attributes. As you look at your list consider which words can be grouped together in this way.
Sort Keyword by Segments Core Keywords Keyword Segmentation Free Quality Luxury Persona Types User Intent Type of Audience Price Similar to categorization, segmentation is a type of grouping but is typically broken down by persona types, user intent, price etc. Find keywords that can be grouped together by segment.
Build Models for Various Campaigns Landing Page Optimization Site Structure User Intent Models PPC / SEO Campaigns This is one of the light bulb moments with keyword modeling. Once done right you can use each grouping for more than just SEO and PPC but for site structures, landing page optimization, etc.
Keywords Sorted Into Categories Slip and Fall slip and fall lawyers slip and fall attorneys slip and fall accident slip and fall accidents slip and fall attorney slip and fall lawyer slip and fall cases slip and fall injury slip and fall slip and fall lawsuit Brain Injury traumatic brain injury lawyer brain injury law firm brain injury law firms brain injury lawyers Motorcycle motorcycle personal injury motorcycle accident lawyer motorcycle injury lawyer motorcycle accident attorney motorcycle accident lawyers motorcycle accident law firm motorcycle accident attorneys motorcycle injury motorcycle injury attorney Work Injury work injury attorneys construction lawyer construction accident lawyer workman comp attorney workman comp attorneys Bicycle bicycle accident lawyer bicycle accident attorney bike accident attorney bicycle accident claim bike injury Truck trucking accident lawyer truck accident lawyer trucking accident attorney truck accident attorney truck accident lawyers truck accident law firm truck accident claim truck accident truck accident attorneys This is an example of keywords that have been grouped together for a law firm and it s service offerings.
Keyword Mapping to Landing Pages Home Page Motorcycle Slip and Fall Bike Personal Injury Truck Work Injury Motorcycle Sub Content Personal Injury Personal Injury Personal Injury Contact Us With the grouped keywords on the previous slide we can organized a sitemap that will contain the landing pages for each group. The power of this is that you have an associated landing page for each keyword set.
Optimize for Landing Pages Map out where content and keywords will go on each landing page Title Tag Splash Imagery Pull Down Navigation Create a clickable prototype to test user behavior Header (Use Keywords) This will help with engagement and decreased bounce rates Credentials Video Body Copy (Use Core Keywords) Testimonials Footer For each landing page you should layout the page and identify which 1-2 keywords to use and where they will be. This example of a clickable prototype is a good best practice for enhancing usability.
Deep Site Structure How many clicks does it take to get to the deepest content from your website? Authority Weaker pages are at the bottom 6 Clicks to deepest Level Low indexation and poor long tail If your site takes several clicks to get to the content your visitors are looking for you will not only loose them but you will loose authority on those pages.
Flattened Site Architecture Increased number of links Reduced number of clicks to deepest level Authority is preserved 0 1 2 3 No more than 3 clicks to deepest level The outcome should be higher indexation and better long tail keywords Consider a flat site architecture to keep relevant landing pages closer to the root or homepage. This makes it easy to get to the content as well as keeping the authority preserved.
Persona Design Personas are archetypal users of a website that represent the needs of larger groups of users, in terms of their goals and personal characteristics. They act as 'stand-ins' for real users and help guide decisions about functionality and design Personas identify the user motivations, intent, expectations and goals responsible for driving online behavior.
Segment Keywords By User Intent Researching Searching for General info Not sure what they want yet Send to high level info pages Shopping Narrowed their search Comparing features Comparing brands Send to category and comparison pages Information Looking for education How-To s Looking for product use Send to Article Pages Purchase Have specific product in mind Looking for best price Looking for discounts Trusting site to make a purchase Send to specific product pages
Keywords Keyword Categories Mapping Keywords to Ad Campaigns Campaign 1 Ad Group 1 Ad Group 2 Ad Group 3 Keywords Ad Ad Ad
Benefits to Keyword Modeling Increased keyword ranking Higher relevance which translates to higher conversions Increased engagement Identify new product/service opportunities Find missed opportunities Learn the needs, wants and intent of your target audience to serve them better
Keyword Tools: Automation vs. Aided Mindset should be Computer Aided Make sure humans are involved
Search Event Funnel Progression 1. Searches Search events that lead to conversions. Each stage has tools to analyze keywords. 2. SERP 3. Search Clicks Conversions 4. Conversion There are search events that lead to conversions. Understanding the tools that analyze those events will help you decide which tools are best to help you reach your goals.
Google AdWords Keyword Tool Microsoft Ad Intelligence Alexa WordStream SpyFu WordTracker Keyword Discovery Compete SEOmoz BrightEdge Covario Hitwise comscore AdGooroo Conductor Rank Above The Search Monitor Compete SEO/PPC Tools Conversions Legend Pre-Click Post Click PPC Tools SEO Tools Clicks SERPS Searches Free $ $$ $$$ These tools can also be categorized as pre-click and post-click analysis tools.
Google Keyword Tool Filter search by region and other specific modifiers This tool is constantly changing and improving but it is a MUST HAVE for your SEO toolkit Free: https://adwords.google.com/select/keywordtoolexternal
Google Keyword Tool Click here to add or delete column views. Ad share, Search Share, Search Network are populated by Adword Campaign Used to be viewed as a graphic. Export as.cvs file to get exact numbers. This tool is constantly changing and improving but it is a MUST HAVE for your SEO toolkit Free: https://adwords.google.com/select/keywordtoolexternal
Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Plugin for Excel to help you gain insights on demographics, user location, top frequent search queries, etc. You need an adcenter account and Microsoft Excel (works with Excel 2007 and 2010). Microsoft data only. Free: http://advertising.microsoft.com/small-business/adcenter-downloads/microsoft-advertising-intelligence
Keyword Discovery Always use Global Premium database to get the purest data. Click on keyword to get all variations on that keyword. A highly recommended tool that provides keyword suggest, forensics, project management and analysis Paid: www.keyworddiscovery.com Free: www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html
Keyword Discovery Learn more about question keyword phrases A highly recommended tool that provides keyword suggest, forensics, project management and analysis Paid: www.keyworddiscovery.com Free: www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html
Wordtracker Like Google KWT, offers a competition score. However this is for SEO only. IAAT Stands for In Anchor and Title KEI or Keyword Effectiveness Index looks at popularity to competitive ratio. An all around work horse tool that provides keyword suggest, competition analysis and KEI scores. Paid: www.wordtracker.com Free: https://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
Wordstream Attempts to provide a competition score like on Google KWT Great keyword tool but focuses heavily on PPC campaigns. Has an awesome set of FREE tools Paid: http://www.wordstream.com/ Free: http://www.wordstream.com/keywords/
Wordstream Keyword Grouper Great feature for grouping your keywords into relevant groups or segments Great keyword tool but focuses heavily on PPC campaigns. Has an awesome set of FREE tools Paid: http://www.wordstream.com/ Free: http://www.wordstream.com/keywords/
Webmaster Tools Identify keywords that Google sees a relevant to your site. You should use this tool to understand how Google sees your site and what keywords it finds as relevant Free: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en
Google Trends You can break down results by region Very nice tool for tracking and comparing multiple keyword trends. Can go back several years. Free: http://www.google.com/trends
Google Insights Notice the forecasting for of future results. Very nice tool for tracking and comparing multiple keyword trends. Can go back several years. Free: http://www.google.com/insights/search/
Local Keyword Research Tool Great for localizing your keywords into city, zip, neighborhood and county. Free: http://www.localmarketingsource.com/local-keyword-research-tool
SpyFu Reveals top PPC keywords and Ad competitors Competitive analysis keyword tool for both PPC and SEO campaigns Free/Paid: www.spyfu.com
ispionage Excellent tool for gaining insights on you competitors PPC and SEO strategies Free/Paid: http://www.ispionage.com/
SEM Rush Excellent tool for gaining insights on you competitors PPC and SEO strategies Free/Paid: www.semrush.com/
comscore Search Planner Provides competitive intelligence on keywords that will drive click-throughs Paid: (Expensive) http://www.comscore.com/products_services/product_index/search_planner
Working in Excel Niels Bosma s SEO Tools for Excel Onpage Factors Returns data for each page Content Duplicate Content Issues Backlinks Google Page Rank and Link Count Alexa And much, much more Excellent Free tool for working in Excel Free: http://nielsbosma.se/projects/seotools
Testing and Validating
Test and Refine Campaigns PPC as a tool for testing Quick results for keyword performance Are you getting the right audience? Setup your Campaigns SEO Core keywords PPC Ad groups Wash, Rinse, Repeat
Validate in Analytics Review Bounce To Gauge Keyword Relevancy and Visitor Intent You can take this model further by looking at which keywords are converting. This can only be done if you have conversion goals setup ahead of time.
Setup Metrics for Success Impressions Traffic/Clicks CTR Conversion Cost/ Investment CPA Conversion Value Profit Revenue ROI SEO 10,000 400 4.00% 20 $300 $15 $100 $1700 $1400 467% PPC 1 500 10 2.00% 2 $500 $250 $100 -$300 -$800-160% PPC 2 2000 50 2.50% 8 $700 $88 $100 $100 -$600-86% Email 1 500 30 6.00% 5 $200 $40 $100 $300 $100 50% Email 2 1,000 50 5.00% 10 $300 $30 $100 $700 $400 133% Print 1 2,000 150 0.75% 25 $2,000 $80 $100 $500 -$1500-75% Setting up metrics like these on a spreadsheet to measure one campaign against another is a great way for marketers to see which campaigns are pulling their weight and which are not.
For Social Media
Use Social Media to Provide Context Listen to social media conversations to get better context by keyword Use that knowledge to help segment or categorize you keywords Learn what words/terms your audience is really using Some white hat SEO s discussing the latest Panda Update If you don t have social media monitoring tools setup you should. You can learn a lot from your audience and what they are saying about you and your industry. Apply that learning to your keyword research.
Social Media Based Keyword Research Twitter Based Tools Advanced Twitter Search Social Mention Tweetbeep Twassup Tweet QA Twitscoop Surchur TweetStats Socialoomph Video YouTube Keyword Tool Blinkx MetaTube Networking/Blogs Foursquare Search Technorati Delicious PostRank Images Advanced Flickr Search Google Image Search Bing Image Search
Social Mention Learn about keywords that are driving social conversations Paid: http://www.socialmention.com/ Social media monitoring tool for gaining real-time insights on keyword usage within conversations
Understand User Sentiment Learn about top keyword, user intent and sentiment Entered in the keyword furniture to gain social insights
SOV and Sentiment Formulas Share of Voice Formula: (positive mentions) + (neutral mentions) / (total mentions for all companies) So for McDonald s, You add 77 + 263, which is 340. Now divide this by 1,723 to get 19.73 percent. This is the share of voice for McDonald s. Sentiment Formula: (positive mentions 5) + (neutral mentions 3) + (negative sentiment 1) total company mentions Use a 5-point scale with positive = 5, neutral = 3, and negative = 1. For each type of mention, multiply by the scale number and divide by the total number of mentions. So for McDonald s, the calculation would be (77 x 5) + (263 3) + (13 1) / 353 = 3.36. Share of Voice: 19.73% Sentiment: 3.36
SOV Top 6 Burger Restaurants
Relevant Points of Engagement Keyword Tools like tweetbeep.com and socialoomph.com provide alerts for specific keywords Companies have the privilege of listening in. What they decide to do with the information is what actually influences users and potential customers.
YouTube Keyword Suggest Learn popular video keyword phrases one letter at a time. Free: www.youtube.com Just start typing you keyword letter by letter and see what popular search terms are suggested
YouTube Keyword Tool Search for keywords by Video ID or Demographic. Free: https://ads.youtube.com/keyword_tool Just like the Google Keyword Tool but for YouTube. Functionality is similar to the GKT
And Beyond
Content Quality Too many people creating unique quality content Content repurposed will get you penalized by Panda Content that makes you go WOW and want to share Funny and Humorous Well Written Anecdotes History of the part Photos and Video Content Quality is becoming the standard for SEO. It is not enough to just have good content, you need to have WOW content to achieve higher rankings.
WOW Content
Use Keywords in To Create Content Promotions with deals to participants - daily deals Tips or How To s Little known facts or factoids White papers Relevant and timely statistics Ask your community - take polls and share results Invite guest authors Top 10 lists Case studies Infographics Guides to help educate Interviews Live events News Opinions Photos Gift ideas
Editorial Calendar Proactive Approach to Managing Content Pick Target Dates for Finished Content Use Your Targeted Keywords Decide What Type of Content Start with Working Titles Start with you keywords then fill in topics and titles afterwards.
Offline Advertising and Branding Keywords in media content TV, Radio, Print Integrated Media Campaigns Positioning Statements Branding Copywriting
International Keyword Research Problems Common approach across all markets Getting a linguist who understands the culture Translation Issues Dialects Colloquialisms Special Characters and Spellings Work With A Specialist
Keyword Intelligence Keyword Research for Search Social and Beyond Download Presentation: www.symetri.com/training/ses Ron Jones Crusader-In-Chief & Author Symetri Internet Marketing Book available on Amazon Twitter: @ron_jones Email: rjones@symetri.com