How to Research Niche Keyword Phrases for SEO
Find Good Keywords for a Niche Using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool
Oct 20, 2009
Performing keyword research to uncover the perfect niche keyword phrases that will increase web traffic is more of an art than a science, and it seems there's a different approach suggested by every search engine optimization specialist on the Internet.
But regardless of the differing opinions on SEO, one basic idea appears to be offered up as truth among all the experts: a good keyword phrase is one that has lots of people searching for it, and not a lot of competing pages turning up in search engine results.
Following are suggested steps to help website owners search out these optimal keyword phrases.
Using the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and Google Search to Find Good Keywords
The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a free tool for advertisers looking to use the Google Adwords program. While the focus of the tool is for advertisers, it can also be used by webmasters to perform keyword research.
There is a variety of information provided in the Google Keyword Tool but for the purposes of increasing website traffic, the primary focus should be on the global monthly search volume result. This indicates how many times a particular keyword was searched for using the Google Search Engine.
The following example uses the keyword phrase "wedding scrapbooking" to illustrate how to use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and Google Search to find good keyword phrases that have a decent amount of monthly searches and a low number of competing websites.
- Type 'wedding scrapbooking' into the textbox for keyword and phrases and hit the get keyword ideas button. A list of results will appear.
- Look at the first term in the list, which is by default the one most relevant to the search term. In this case, the top of the list shows 'wedding scrapbooks', a term slightly different than the phrase entered.
- Look across to note the global monthly search volume result for this term, which is 3,600 at the time of writing.
- Open a new browser and enter the term "wedding scrapbooks" (including the quotation marks) at google.com. A list of results will appear.
- At the top of the results screen is a line stating Results 1 - 10 of about ... for "wedding scrapbooks". At the time of writing, the total results number is 195,000, meaning that approximately 195,000 pages come back for the exact term "wedding scrapbooks". This indicates very high competition, which means the chance of getting on the top page of Google results is not very good.
- Return to the Google Keyword Tool and look for the next result in the list of possible keyword phrases. The second result, "wedding scrapbook", has an extremely high monthly search volume but a search for that term at google.com indicates it also has very high competition.
- The third result, "wedding scrapbooking ideas", shows a decent monthly search volume. A search at google.com shows very low competition at less than 8,000 total results. This would indicate a good keyword phrase for a niche website on scrapbooking.
More Things to Consider When Researching Keyword Phrases for Niche Websites
A high search volume and low keyword phrase competition does not guarantee a spot on the first page of Google results. It is important to look at the first page results to determine the overall rank of the sites and how well they are optimized for the keyword phrase to get a deeper analysis of the competition.
If the niche website will be using Google Adsense advertising for revenue generation, it is also very helpful to consider the cost per click (CPC) information provided in the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. Choose high CPC results for primary keywords whenever possible and as secondary keywords even when search competition is high.
The information above will help a website owner find keyword phrases that can optimize a site for increased web traffic. This focus on keyword research and keyword optimization can go a long way toward building an effective and profitable niche website.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
