12 Mar 10 What is the Single Most Important Thing in Keyword Research?

This is tricky, isn’t it?

So, what is the answer…?

Is it the search volume? Or is it competition volume? Better still, is it the nature of keywords? Or is it the intent behind the keyword search? Or is it the title competition? Or what?

Whew! Too many to juggle with….

Well, do not waste your time on thinking hard in the solitary corner of your messed-up room (messed up room is common with all the webmasters, do not get sold for the sleek, and well-arranged rooms that you see in the A-listers videos; they are done on a purpose) because the answer to the above question is none of the above.

All of these things are important, very important, but nothing is half as important as important for a successful keyword research as is the common sense. You knew the answer? Hey, Einstein, why didn’t you tell me so? J

Now, let’s get serious.

Keyword research is a process of funneling down the information searched by the customers in your niche so that you can come up with terms that are searched by the many users and have fewer competitors.

The definition is sweet and sleek. Take a note of it. But, keep in mind that this definition rests on two variables: information entered by your customers and process of filtering down.

To get what?

To find the right keyword for your website or campaign, and in both the cases you will need to use your common sense. It is your common sense that will tell you how much a keyword is valuable. For example, let’s say you have optimized your website for “beach hotels” seeing its volume and competition, and despite everything being just right you are not getting any traffic, at least not substantial. Why?

Because you may have been suggested by your keyword tools that “beach hotels” is the most searched term in your niche, but it didn’t say that no one searched for “beach hotels”. Rather people searches for terms like “Miami beach hotels”, “OC beach hotels” “beach hotels in Florida”, etc., as “beach hotels” is a local keyword. And people search this keyword as a compound keyword along with some city, county, or state’s name.

This is all common sense. Take it out of equation, and you end up getting no traffic, regardless of your ranking.

Say again, which is the most important factor in keyword research?

Well done! You got it right this time.

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Tags: Common Sense, Einstein, Hey, Hotels Florida, Hotels In Florida, Keyword Research, Keyword Search, Keywords, Miami Beach Hotels, Nature, Niche, People Searches, Search Volume, Single Most Important Thing, Solitary Corner, traffic, Variables, Videos, Webmasters

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28 Jan 10 Blog with a Friendly Face – Part 2

I have started to write this series with a hope to tell my readers what does it mean to have a successful blog, and how one can make one’s own blog a success without any external help. To make your blog a success, you will need to portray your blog as a friend to your visitors. Let us find out what being friendly means, and eventually you will also learn how it helps your blog stand out in the crowd.

A catchy blog name

How successful do you think the blogs like theoatmeal, techcrunch, and lifehacker would have been, if they had longer and mundane name? Would you have cared for Gizmodo was gizomoloversguide.com? Well, you might have, but the pull had not been as much as the current name has. Having a catchy name is important. When I say so, I do not mean that you cannot have a good name with keywords in it; all I mean is it should be short, sweet, and simple.

Your topic should be unique too

It is not just the name that builds the perception; the perception is build by the subject matter as well. Find a need gap between what people wants and what they are served, and find which gap you can fill with your expertise; that is to say, find a unique topic to write about.

Treat the topic in a unique way

If it is not possible for you to find a unique topic that interests you then build a unique point of view. People love fresh perspective of things. I am sure you will be able to do so. Give a new voice to old cause, a new reason to do the old thing.

Why you need to do all these?

We make new friends because they have something new about themselves, they are not just the carbon copy of the friends we have. Indeed each one of our friends has something in common among themselves and with us, but we do not make someone our friend, if he has nothing new to offer. We do not want too much of a same thing. We want friends that are unique yet gel with us quite nicely. It holds true for blogs as well, and that is why we need to do this.

We will meet in the next part, until then try finding out your niche, unique name, and unique topic to blog about.

Tags: blog, blogs, Carbon Copy, Catchy Name, Crowd, Face, Gap, Keywords, Mundane Name, New Friends, New Reason, New Voice, Perception, Perspective, Point Of View, Subject Matter, Success, Techcrunch, Topic That Interests

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17 Jan 10 Are You Getting Slapped by Google?

When I first heard the term “Google Slap” I couldn’t figure outs its head and tail. I had to do some research before I could understand the meaning of it. And today out of the blue this term popped up in my mind, so I thought to write about it only today. Have you heard of Google Slap?

Well, Google Slap is a financial penalty levied upon an advertiser who pulls visitors to his website that doesn’t have any quality content using Google Adwords campaign (Google’s PPC campaign). Sometimes Google so tightly slap the advertiser that it being a small business owner goes out of business. Actually, Google charges the maximum possible CPC (Cost per Click) rate, which is $10, if the landing page of the ad shown in its SERP (search engine result page) does not comply with the rule set by the search giant.

Does it sound like unfair practice?

Indeed it is. How can a vendor (that is what Google is for Adwords customers) dictate rule about how an advertiser should keep its website. Having content or not should be the PPC advertiser’s decision. He should not be arm-twisted to follow what Google has to say. But we are living in the world dominated by Google, so whatever it does in the name of empowering net users becomes rule, which everyone has to follow.

I am not against Google’s imposing its policy on indexing certain kinds of websites while leaving other either in sandbox or discarding it altogether because search bots is Google’s property and so is its database. Hence, Google is free to do whatever it wants, and make any rule that is necessary related to website’s indexing to please itself.

I have my objection to Google’s imposing its whim on to its customers (Adwords keyword buyers) because by selling keywords Google is not doing any favor to advertiser. Selling Adwords keyword is its business and the company is making money out of it. Similarly, an advertiser who owns his website is in there for profit motive, and he should be free to decide how his website should be.

Then who will decide the quality?

Customers, people who clicks on the ads. People are not too stupid to perceive the quality of the page they reach. Google does not need to be moral police (quality police to be more precise).

What do you think, isn’t Google acting like the Big Brother? Is it right in your opinion?

Tags: Advertiser, Cost Per Click, Cpc, Giant, google, Keyword, Keywords, Maximum, Objection, Out Of The Blue, Ppc, Profit Motive, Quality Content, Sandbox, Search Bots, Search Engine Result, Search Google, Small Business Owner, Unfair Practice, Whim

Filed in Marketing with 1 Comment

12 Mar 10 What is the Single Most Important Thing in Keyword Research?

28 Jan 10 Blog with a Friendly Face – Part 2

A catchy blog name

Your topic should be unique too

Treat the topic in a unique way

17 Jan 10 Are You Getting Slapped by Google?

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