In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> Determining Keyword Competitiveness
High Rankings Happenings
---> Personal Site Review from Jill Whalen
---> SEO Training Class – Sept. 18th – Only 3 Openings!
Twitter Question of the Week
---> The hardest part of SEO is...?
Stuff You Might Like
---> IM Charity Party in San Jose
---> Me Sticking to My Guns?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> Keywords in Domain vs. Volume of Content
Advisor Wrap-up
---> Vacation Time! Introduction
Hey everyone!
Summer has finally settled into New England, just in time for me to head to the opposite end of the country. Oh well.
I've got an interesting email exchange about keyword research for your SEO learning pleasure, as well as a new Twitter Question of the Week.
Oh, and our September SEO class is filling up (only 3 seats left), so if you were thinking of attending, you probably should register as soon as possible.
Enjoy! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++Determining Keyword Competition++
[The following is an email conversation I had with a fellow HRA subscriber. – Jill]
Hi Jill,
I'm a Keyword Discovery subscriber, and I use the tool for organic SEO purposes. I've recently discovered that the keyword analysis information (competition and thus KEI info) is based on exact match search instead of partial match. I asked KD why they do this, and they said it's because it gives you a more "realistic picture" of the true competition on any given keyword.
I'm struggling to understand this. The vast majority of people don't put quotes around their search phrases. I choose the keywords and phrases I want to target based on the KEI info returned by Keyword Discovery. But if this info is based on exact match instead of partial match, then aren't we barking up the wrong tree?
Help! I feel like I must be really dense here, because I just can't understand... Your thoughts and input are greatly appreciated.
Ellen
++Jill's Response++
Hi Ellen,
It's because you're not looking at how many people are searching for the words. You're trying to learn *how many other websites might be optimizing* for those words.
That said, putting it in quotes still isn't a very good measure for how many other sites are possibly optimized for the phrase. It's only telling you how many pages have that exact phrase somewhere on them. A much better way to check the competition is to do it manually at Google via the "Allintitle:" command.
For more info, please read this article:
Avoiding SEO Brain Freeze Part One – Hunting for Keyword Phrases
Specifically Step 6 (but you should find the whole thing helpful).
For what it's worth, we use Google's Keyword Research tool these days because it's much more accurate than the others, is free, and you get info straight from the horse's mouth.
Hope this helps!
Jill
++Ellen's Follow-up Questions++
Jill,
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
So you're actually collecting your keyword data from two different sources: the number of searches from Google's keyword research tool and the amount of competition using an Allintitle search? Then do you just compare the info from both sources to decide which keywords you're going to target? Do you not use KEI info for that purpose?
So one last question about this whole exact-match vs. partial-match thing for determining competition... Isn't your competition in any given search based on the way the user conducts that search? For example, if the user has done a search with quotes, obviously you'll have less competition in that given search than you would if they searched without quotes?
I may be missing something here, but it seems that if you want to target the majority of search engine users, then shouldn't you gauge your competition based on the number of sites returned using the most common search method (partial/broad search)?
Thanks,
Ellen
++Jill's Response++
Hi Ellen,
You are correct, I'm getting my data from two sources: Google's keyword research tool, and Google's Allintitle data. I create a spreadsheet with the number of searches and the Allintitle number and then it becomes clear which are the "keyword gems."
I don't use KEI at all because it is a useless measurement – all it tells you is which other pages have those words on their page somewhere. That doesn't necessarily mean they're your competition.
You said:
Isn't your competition in any given search based on the
way the user conducts that search? So for example, if the
user has done a search with quotes, obviously you'll have
less competition in that given search than you would if they
searched without quotes?
We assume that the users don't use quotes, since most don't.
Your competition is the number of pages that are OPTIMIZED for the phrase in question. Because it's hard to know for sure who actually optimized and who didn't, the Allintitle command is a quick and dirty way to get an idea. If they've got the phrase in their title tag, then they're at least minimally optimized for it. You then can dig further at the sites that show up for the phrase in question and eyeball them to determine if they really are optimized for the phrase, and if you think your site can beat them.
You also said:
I may be missing something here, but it seems that if you
want to target the majority of search engine users, then
shouldn't you gauge your competition based on the number
of sites returned using the most common search method
(partial/broad search)?
No, because those pages may or may not be optimized. In all likelihood, they may just have one of the words somewhere on the page. So they are not really your competition. You're not alone in being confused, however. It's a common mistake for people to think that somehow the number of searches for a particular keyword phrase tells them how competitive the phrase is.
Here's an article that goes into more detail on that:
Why Use Keyword Research Tools
Here is where you can see all the Keyword Research articles from the past newsletters.
That should help reinforce what I'm saying. You may also want to check out our Keyword Research Forum.
Good luck!
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above article, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.
Twitter Question of the Week My Twitter question for this week was:
"The hardest part of SEO is...?"
The reason I asked was that, in developing my new Kindle Reviews website:
I found myself getting a little bit stuck when trying to determine the best site architecture for it. For me, it's one of the most difficult aspects of the SEO process because it takes a whole lot of organizational skills, which I kinda lack. Determining the site architecture can be a bit overwhelming.
Others had different areas where they got stuck.  Here are some of the more interesting responses:
@SusanEsparza – Explaining to my friends what I do. "No, it's not actually changing the search engines..."
@msmichellediane – Figuring out where to begin, what to read and whom to listen to when you're just starting out, building your first site.
@danthies – Ignoring all the distractions to implement the basics.
@LisaBarone – Deciding if I'm a guru, an expert or just a goddamn ninja.
@macgenie – Having the patience and persistence to implement all the great stuff you learn from your favorite experts. :-)
@cyandle – Making sure the client understands NOT to overwrite all of the hard work that went into the SEO project...
@CarrieHill – Getting client & webmaster to buy in on ALL pieces of the puzzle. Structure, URLs, content, keywords, etc. (if we aren't the webmaster :).
I was surprised that most of the answers were about the process of getting clients to consider doing SEO, rather than the SEO process itself. So I clarified my question and retweeted:
"Rephrasing a bit: The hardest part of the SEO *process* is...?"
The retweet got me some answers more along the lines I was looking for:
@SEOSEM – The hardest part of SEO is good external link acquisition campaigns.
@chrbutler – Creating content worth being searched for.
@vikassah – Hardest part of SEO is keyword research.
@balibones – The hardest part of the SEO *process* is getting high quality external links. When done right, it's always time consuming.
@BDids – The hardest part of SEO is waiting...for links...for ranks...but, it's worth it.
@robdwoods – Creating compelling content.
It appears that, aside from getting clients or bosses to actually implement SEO, the hardest part for most people is link building and content building. Guess I'm the only one with site architecture disabilities. Or, more likely, many don't go that far with their SEO process because it's fairly complicated to get it right.
You can see all the great replies via the #TQW search on Twitter.
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week? Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter.
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Stuff You Might Like ++IM Charity Party in San Jose++
I'm speaking at the San Jose Search Engine Strategies Conference next week and am hoping to see a bunch of you there!
I also want to let you know about a charity party that is being held during the conference to help Doctors Without Borders and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society help sick kids.
You can register to attend and/or donate to the cause here:
IM Charity Party
Thanks!
++Traffick.com Interview++
In response to my "Most of SEO Is a Boondoggle" article, my buddy Andrew Goodman from Traffick.com had some very interesting follow-up questions for me. Because he knows me pretty well, he introduced the article with the following:
"Unsurprisingly if you know her, far from backing down in response to detailed questions, Jill kicked it up a notch! Sit back and enjoy an entertaining and informative interview."
Most of SEO a Boondoggle? Jill Whalen Sticks to Her Guns
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++Keywords in Domain vs. Volume of Content++
Forum member "jsp1983" wondered which might be better, "Essentially, a very localised domain, but with less content vs. a less specific domain, but with lots of content."
I'm not sure why it was an either/or situation, but the resulting comments by forum members led to an unusually interesting discussion on the importance of keywords in domain names (or the lack thereof).
You can read the thread and share your thoughts here:
Keywords in Domain vs. Volume of Content
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
As mentioned, I'm off to California at the end of this week. My husband and I decided on the Russian River Valley part of Sonoma for our winery excursion. From there, I head to the SES conference for a couple of days and then a quick pit stop in Hawaii to check in on the family there.
My son Tim has it even better, though. He's headed to London and Paris on a trip his school was offering. He'll be the first in the family to get to see Paris...lucky kid!
See you in San Jose or catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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