It looks quite different to the old tool, and one thing that I noticed straight away, before I even began a search, was that it has a range of categories that you can choose from to search within. This surely can only make for better, more refined searching when looking for variations of a keyword with different meanings. When you begin your search, you can choose specific keywords that you want the tool to show, with the help of this category selection option and another option which allows you to choose keywords that only contain certain words. This backs up Google’s claim that the tool lends itself to greater keyword refinement and more flexible search options.

Visual of The Google Keyword Tool

Click image to enlarge

There are advanced options that you can use when searching too. As always, you can refine your search down to the specific country you want the data to be from and choose the language you want it to be in. There is also the option to include results which contain adult content and to show statistics for the number of those that search via their mobile. If you choose this option, these figures are included within the main search results.

One criticism that I have of this tool is that, unlike the previous tool, you cannot search for data on a specific set of keywords. What I mean is, if you wanted to search for 5 keywords, and 5 keywords only, there doesn’t seem to be an option to do that. Within the advanced options, you can choose to show results for ‘all keyword ideas’ relating to your search terms, or ‘ideas containing my search terms’. If you click on the latter option, it does narrow your search slightly, but there are still a lot of keywords to plough through. This leads me to feel that it is perhaps not quite as user friendly if you know what you are looking for and you want to do it quickly.

There are advantages to this tool however.  As well as the options that I mentioned above that allow for greater flexibility when searching, you can also sort your list of keywords in line with what you are looking for. You can sort by relevance (the default option), keyword (which lists keywords alphabetically), and competition, amongst others. The option to sort by keyword could assist in what I was saying before, that you can’t search for specific keywords. The keywords you type in do appear in bold within the list, but sometimes they do not all appear to be there?

All in all, I imagine the tool will be a success, but I think that it will take time for people to adapt to it. If you have any comments, please feel free to leave them below, and I will come back to you where possible.

Once you have established your main competitors for the core keywords I always advise checking out the number of backlinks they have using a backlink checker such as Majestic SEO. The great thing about majesticSEO is that you can plot several websites on one graph to see where your site is in comparison to the competitors ranked on page one. I have shown an example below where the graph displays three sites that are on page one for the term “fancy dress” and another site currently on page five which as you can see has significantly fewer links pointing to their domain.

The site on page five is clearly newer and has a long way to go to catch up but the great thing about this graph is that expectations can be met when demonstrating to clients how much SEO work is required to catch up. The term “fancy dress” is a very competitive one as you can see by the number of links the sites on page one have so when conducting the keyword strategy for a fancy dress client looking to launch a website with next to no links the best advise I can give is that they focus on the longer tailed more specific keywords first. These keywords can relate to specific products sold on the site or the top categories which for the fancy dress client would be things like “hen night fancy dress” and “70′s & 80′s fancy dress”. There are many keyword tools available online which can help you build a list of potential keywords to target. I personally use the Adwords Google Keyword Tool as not only does it suggest potential keyword variations from the suggestions you enter but it also gives you an idea of potential traffic volumes for these keywords. There has been a lot of speculation in the SEO community recently thought which suggests that the volumes are inaccurate on this tool but in my opinion I think it is still useful for determining which keywords have more volume than others.

Once you have compiled a list of potential keywords you then need to look at your site and determine which pages these keywords should be targeted to. Generally I would stick to 5 keywords per page and group similar keywords together on a page so that content can be written to incorporate the chosen keywords and the title tags can be kept short and descriptive to contain these keywords. You may find at this point that you want to add extra pages to your site in order to target keywords you hadn’t thought of but the research shows you should be targeting.

Please leave your comments below and if you have any questions feel free to ask them below and we will come back to you where possible.

Take a look at this from a web optimiser or SEO link building point of view and it will open up a whole new can of worms regarding online content, keyword creation and links to your website. The confusing thing is that there are perfectly acceptable and understandable theories behind both spelling something incorrectly and spelling it correctly when it comes to search engine optimisation.

To understand this further, start by looking at it from a web copywriter’s point of view. The reason you hire professional search engine optimisations services for content writing is because they are creative, accurate, strong in their grammatical abilities and pay good attention to detail. The main body of your content within your web pages should be interesting, enticing and definitely grammatically correct. Spelling mistakes within the main content on your website looks terrible from a human user’s point of view, particularly within blogs and news pages. For this reason it is crucial that the spelling within all aspects of your site is correct.

As far as online searches go however, there is actually a strong argument for using words which are spelt incorrectly. The main reason for this is that a proportion of human searches spell words incorrectly within their search. Whether this is down to accidentally hitting the wrong key or just not knowing how to spell the word, it is still happening. From a company perspective this can be extremely interesting and can help to get you a higher page ranking if handled correctly.

Most companies will know if their keywords are difficult to spell or are the type of word that  is frequently misspelt by users. Including these misspelt words as some of your keywords can mean that your site ranks high within searches which are also spelt incorrectly. The other benefit to this is that keywords which are spelt incorrectly are likely to be less competitive, as the majority of websites within the same industry will spell them the correct way. There are of course downsides to this, the first one being that you are relying on user searches to be spelt incorrectly in the exact same way your words are, and secondly, if Google is automatically correcting spelling and overriding the original user search, then the whole process is irrelevant.

Using the odd misspelling can work, as long as you know it is commonly misspelt a certain way. As of yet there are no known ranking penalties for purposefully misspelling, however it is important you do not jeopardise your website reputation in favour of one page ranking.

At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we realise that campaigns are usually most successful when they are based on the work of dedicated professionals. However, clients should do some research and bring a little relevant knowledge of their own to the table. Keyword research illustrates this wider point to perfection.

The main list of keywords is basically a starting point. It is crucial to recall that users rarely enter single words into the search engines these days. Hence adjustments to word order can be an astute variation to employ. Another good tip is to add another word or two to a phrase. When a user has been frustrated by a search which has not yielded up the hoped for result, they typically add an additional word to the existing ones. By paying close attention to your own behaviour as a user it is possible to plan for the behaviour of others. However, SEO specialists know much more about typical user psychology.

Some users actually remove words from their queries. This type of behaviour often occurs in the aftermath of a search which yielded little relevant information. In other words, the user attempted to be too precise for what was actually on the net in the area concerned. Hence it makes sense to cater for this behaviour, even if it occurs relatively infrequently compared with word addition. Another option is to plan for situations when users cut words in order to find what they are seeking. In these circumstances, users may chop up longer words and it can be worthwhile to predict which words in your keywords this could happen to.

It is a commonplace to mention misspellings in this context. Users of the net are often in a frantic hurry and are therefore prone to making spelling mistakes. Literacy levels also vary from user to user. Common misspellings thus need addressing. However, it also makes sense to consider alternative spellings. ‘Optimisation’ and ‘optimization’ are a good example of this method in action.

Do not forget acronyms. If your site is in a sector which is acronym-rich, users will enter a few of them from time to time. For example, if you sell wood and such like, MDF should be one of your keywords. None of your users are likely to type out the whole thing. Similarly, slang should not necessarily be neglected. If your site comments on celebrities, your users will probably enjoy reading lots of colourful slang. What people enjoy reading influences what they write and such users may well enter pieces of relevant slang into the search engines now and then.

The basic principle is that it is unwise to miss out on business by having an inadequate keyword list. Nor is it good practice to keep it the same for too long.

One of the first things which a search engine optimisation company will do is identify the keywords or phrases which produce the highest number of search results or are most popular amongst users. This is an essential part of the search optimisation process as it ensures that your key phrases match those of the searchers as accurately as is possible. Simple things such as the use of plurals can have a significant effect on your ranking within SERPs and also the number of click throughs you achieve, as the way in which people search for specific things is not always obvious.

Now we have the opportunity to take our keywords a whole lot further than this is by identifying the actual purchasing habits of users who type in specific key phrases. The most common reason this is being used is to identify which users are spending the most amount of money, therefore ensuring that your website is getting as high a return on investment as possible. Although all keywords are important, by highlighting the ones which incur the higher spending users can be really good for revenue and profit and is a great tool for getting the most out of your content and links.

Google Analytics is one of the best tools around for helping you ascertain which keywords are used by the highest spenders, and their segmentation applications are the best way to go about finding this out. Google Analytics is no stranger to encouraging ROI by the use of increased visitors to your site, but the advanced sophistication of enabling you to break your target audience down even further is an excellent facility for those websites that rely heavily on online purchases.

This can be done by simply selecting the standard keyword report that you regularly use, most commonly the Google keyword report. Whilst this gives you a good insight into the most effective keywords, the tool allows you to add in a specific audience segment and then monitor the keywords that are used by that particular group. This is good in itself for identifying specific audience trends and by taking it one step further and focusing on their spending habits, you can increase profit and really drive your sales.

The tool enables you to input a specific amount of spend. So, for example, you may want to target real top end spenders so you can put in a higher amount and the system will tell you the most common keywords used for the top spenders. The figure does not only have to be the highest purchases, often companies will focus on mid-range spenders, as increasing the quantity of the highest spend range can be a clever way of increasing your overall profit.

The strongest keywords and the ones which are unlikely to change should be included in the base of your website. These will be obvious keywords such as the product you sell, or you website name if it is a recognisable name that resembles your product or service offerings. Once you have identified your main keywords, try to incorporate these into your Meta tags and the main body of your web pages. Try not to use keywords that could change or go out of date within these elements of you web page as these are the backbone of your site and are not as easy to change once they have been put in place. If you’re in any doubt, visit SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk where we can offer you expert SEO advice.

Content such as blog pages, news areas and forums should be the location for any keywords of the moment or ones which are time sensitive. Keywords or phrases of this nature could be those concerning recent news stories or current trends which do not stay around forever. This can be particularly applicable with a young audience, as they often create their own terms or slang words for things. Placing keywords such as this within blogs is a great idea as it means they will always remain within your site but can either be easily removed or will be stored in an archive. Blog pages are updated regularly too so from a search engine’s point of view you will not be penalised if there is out of date content on your site, as long as it is replaced or joined by fresher posts.

The most common mistake people make is not refining or changing their keywords. With all things in the world of SEO it is important to remember that it is an ongoing process and just because it works from the beginning does not mean it always will. Granted, some of your more robust keywords will stick around; however user search trends change along with search engine criteria so leaving things stagnant will not do you any favours. Have a brainstorming session or a review of your keywords every few months, you can use some keyword tools from Google which are free and can really help in showing which keywords are working best at that moment in time and in a particular market.

The golden rules to remember are that you have two main audiences for searches – the human user and the search engine. As long as you are tailoring your keywords to both of these then the traffic to your website should easily flow.

Of course keyword placement isn’t the the most important aspect of seo – however in an industry where a myriad of practises must pull their weight in order to produce the best result possible, keyword placement is ignored at the peril of your search engine optimization services.

There are plenty of reasons why keyword placement is neglected by so called sSEO experts, and these range from “our content creation strategy offers little flexibility when it comes to placing keywords” to “we didn’t even realise that keyword placement matters!” In fact when compared to other seo practises, keyword placement is criminally under considered, or when it is considered it is usually as a side-effect to content creation.

With this in mind – what is keyword placement, and how is it best utilised?

Titles

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, keyword placement within your titles will have the most bearing on your seo success, and with this in mind search engine optimization services really do need to ensure that they optimise their titles. On a simple level it is helpful, in regards to seo, that the titles on your page i.e. within your actual title or within the <title> tag, contain some relevant keywords, however it is an often overlooked fact that the closer your keywords are to the start of the title the more effective it will be in terms of search engine optimisation.

Headers

In terms of users, more often than not your headers will be the only text on your content that will be actually read, and therefore it is advisable that they are relevant and well written. However, as well as optimizing the usability of your content, your headers will also play an important role in regards to seo, as they are usually more prominent – as well as receptive to keywords. With usability and SEO in mind, therefore, it is a good idea to incorporate keywords into your header – but be warned, overlong headers that appear to be keyword stuffed will set off alarm bells to search engines.

Body of Text

Content should also be written with quality in mind, and therefore you should only manoeuvre keywords around the body of your text if it does not come at the expense of the integrity of your work. However, in saying this, there are ways to optimize keyword placement within content; for example, by incorporating keywords within the first and last sentences of your text.

To conclude, many SEO experts will suggest that the meta tags play no role in search engine optimisation, and in a way they are right; however, this isn’t the whole story, and by placing keywords in the meta tags you will better communicate to search engines what your page is about – which will allow the more efficient indexing of your site.

A good way to start out with building and creating a website is to learn about SEO and the SEO tools that can help your business get noticed. SEO is not a new concept but over the past few years it has replaced a lot of what used to be available for paid advertising and marketing. Because of search engine optimization, even small businesses are now able to compete with larger businesses.  If you have a well-built website that uses ethical SEO techniques, that increases your odds at being a success online.

You have probably heard and even read a lot of about SEO tools and SEO services but, if you are not currently using them or are not familiar with how they can work for you, you should start learning this information.  It can help you start seeing the increase in people that see on your website and to be able to reach the networks and groups of people that are going to be interested in the products that you are promoting.

Keywords are often the most important part of using search engine optimization in a website and can be used in building the content and articles for the website, links for the website and what people see and search for.  When people are searching for something online, they enter in the keywords to find it. Search engines then scour the web for the keywords and find the websites that are the best match. If you want to get listed by search engines, you need to be using those keywords in the content of the website and in the links and ads that you are posting.

Choosing keywords can be a challenge but, if you need help in doing the work, there are SEO tools and SEO services online that can help and analyze the website, the content and the articles to help decide on keywords that are going to be the best fit. When choosing keywords to use it is important to consider which ones best describe the products that you are promoting and selling and also which ones are doing well in search engines. To do this, you may need to research what keywords people are searching for the most and which ones you can use that are related to what you are selling. You also need to consider that any changes you make to any of the keywords being used in the articles and content that is on pages of the website, need to also be changed in the links and ads that you are running. Search engines need to be able to easily find the keywords when they are searching your website.  So it is good to make sure that the keywords are easy to find.

Use keywords correctly and do not use them too often in the content or articles. People need to be able to read and understand the articles and content that you have on the website and you do not want to fill them with keywords so that they do not make any sense. Keep the articles and content and any other features that you use for updates fresh and interesting – blogging is a great way to do this. This will help keep the attention of customers and users who are on the website and that are interested in the products that you have. It is also a good idea to keep changing the content and articles and keeping it fresh for readers to view and provide good information that they are going to find helpful. If you need to find more SEO tools and SEO services, you can search online for resources that are available to help you build a good website and get the success that you want. Start learning now how to improve your website.

Set Goals for Your SEO

Make your goals work for you by choosing smart goals. What does a smart goal consist of? Well, it depends on what you want for your website. Most of the goals website owners set include: to be profitable, to get good search engine rankings and to increase the amount of traffic to their website. Sounds easy right? While those are possible goals to have, you should try to focus on the smaller goals first. Instead of wanting a certain amount of visitors to your website, focus on targeting certain groups and markets of people who are more likely to buy the products.  Make measureable goals that you can track the progress of and see how they are doing and set a timeline to achieve your goals.

Once you achieve one of the goals that you have set, concentrate on forming new goals and make a plan as to how you are going to achieve that goal. If your first goal was to start SEO blogging, maybe your next goal would be to find new places to post it or change the title on it to attract more people. If you continue to set goals for your website, you are going to be more likely to find success and improve your search engine rankings by making the necessary changes and setting new goals to achieve.

Use Tools to Check the Progress of your Goals

Once you have set your goals, your work does not stop. Now is the time to track the progress of these goals and see what is working and how much work you need to do to achieve your goals within the timelines that you have set. Find a tool that will analyze the keywords that you are using in your online campaigns and see which ones are working the best and which ones are not helping your website. You may find that changing a few keywords can help you achieve your goals and adding new ones may improve your website.

Be Open to Make Changes to Your Website

If you are determined to use a certain set of keywords in your online campaigns because you know that they are being searched for often and that they work for other websites, you may be missing out on opportunities that you can achieve by being open to making changes. Instead of focusing on just the keywords that you want to use, you can also find ways to use the long tail keywords that can bring you really specific traffic. By targeting certain markets such as geographically, you can create appropriate landing pages, offer useful content and direct users from there to the products they are looking for – this is one way to enhance your search engine optimisation efforts.

If you find that the SEO keywords you are using are working well but you are still not seeing the traffic that you want on your website, you may want to take a look at the content and articles on the pages of your website where you are using the SEO keywords. Maybe you need to add new articles or find better sources for content that are going to help you use the keywords better.

If something is working well for your website and you have used a tool that has reported the keywords that are working well for you, leave them as they are and only make changes to the actual content. Keep the use of the keywords the same. It is always a good idea to keep changing the content itself, though. Instead of trying to reinvent the keywords that are working well for you, search for additional keywords that you can add to the pages on your website and see if they are also able to do well for you. Keep track of the changes that you make so that you can also track the progress.