Keyword Competition confusion

tugmyroo
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26 Apr 11 11:21 pm

Hello everybody I'm new here and this is my first post. I'm just curious about keyword research competition in relation to the mark's affiliate site set up. ok so it is said that I need to make a massive keyword list by first inputting a niche keyword for example "dog training" "dog obedience" and so on.

Then I am supposed to break that keyword list down into keyword sets of long tail keywords being three or more words. and then I generate keywords by using Google's keyword tool for each set of long tail keywords, and I am looking for any keyword that suits my niche topic.

For example "dog training obedience guide" I'm also looking for global search volume of 1,500 or more and my match type is set to broad.

okay so now this is where I'm becoming confused. anything I have seen on search engine optimization has said that I should be looking for low competition somewhere in between 10,000 and 50,000 comparing sites for my longtailed keyword but according to Mark's affiliate site up, I can use any keyword as long as it has 1500 or more searches.

So for example if I find a keyword that has search volume of 80,000 and the competition is 2,000,000 I can use that keyword anyway? I hope I'm explaining myself properly :-0 anyway any help would be very much appreciated

Last edited by tugmyroo on 27 Apr 11 5:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

cterao
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26 Apr 11 11:52 pm

Mark does not advocate worrying about competing sites because he says it can cause many new people to get "analysis paralysis" and they will just get stuck spinning their wheels with keyword research.

Personally, I go for anything that has 30,000 or less competing sites, but that is just my preference.

I also look at other things too like what sorts of sites are on the front page of Google (small sites vs. authority sites), the number of backlinks, and the PR of the sites on the front page of Google.

Don't get caught up too much in keyword research, but also don't try to rank for ridiculously competitive terms like "weight loss" or "dog training"

Hope this helps :)

Clayton
I did AffiloBlueprint for one year - http://www.journeyofmyown.com/welcome-affilorama-friends/

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tugmyroo
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27 Apr 11 12:36 am

Thank you for the speedy response. "analysis paralysis" lol i like it. however I'm not having an issue as much with finding lower competition long tail keywords. My issue is following his blueprint method of finding keywords. I don't know if I'm supposed to be looking at competition numbers as well as search volume or am I just simply looking at search volume?

If that is the case then how am I going to rank highly in Google if I am using search terms that have high competition. Longtailed keywords can also have high competition. so do I just go to Google's KW tool and input my keyword sets and pick any old long tailed keywords that apply to my niche with high search volume?

And since I'm on the topic I might as well ask if I should be registering my domain name with a keyword that has higher search and low competition? Or does it matter if I'm going with his blueprint method. I've been struggling with this for a week now and I'm sure there's something very simple .maby I am over thinking it.

gradyp
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27 Apr 11 6:29 am

And, if you follow Mark's teaching and some of the other advice you'll find on this site, you can cut through about 80% (or more) of those competing pages.

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cecille.l
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27 Apr 11 11:10 pm

Hi Tugmyroo,

You probably are over-thinking it. :)

There are other factors to consider when choosing your keywords or when building your keyword list like buyer intention and competition. Basing on the search volume, choose about 50 keywords and create variations of these keywords. You will be able to narrow these keywords down as you consider other factors.

Hope that helps. Have a good day!

Cecille

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jmpruitt
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29 Apr 11 11:48 am

definitely over thinking things. that is what most people teach you to do in kw research. Mark tried to simplify the process and cut out the BS that most people teach (generally just to confuse you so that they can sell you their own kw research tool that you really don't need)

Also, Mark teaches how to go for much simpler keywords. Think about this, if you cant get rankings for these 1,000-1500 monthly search keywords, what chance do you have of one that gets 30k,? Not much.

One problem a lot of newbies have who have tried other systems is they try to mix and match different info they learn. that's part of why there is such a high failure rate.

Forget everything else you know about keywords, and follow exactly what mark teaches. it works. Then, once you begin to see some results, and you begin understanding the basics, then you can look at the more advanced stuff that others teach.

You wouldn't expect a child to go out and run a marathon when they haven't even taken the first steps yet, but this is exactly what most people try to teach IM to newbies.

They try to "shortcut the learning" by skipping the fundamentals and teaching advanced strategies. Once you understand and learn the fundamentals those advanced strategies will make more sense. But, you need to learn to walk first.

When it comes to buying a domain, you need to think about what you want. For example with Mark's site, WoW Blackbook wasn't a keyword optimized domain, but if he really wanted to get into it with the niche, he could use that site to build a brand around. Most of the biggest sites online are not keyword optimized, except that now their brand names are big keywords.

Do you want to use your online content to Educate others, inspire them to action, and run a profitable business for yourself and your family? I can help you get started
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sirmatts
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02 May 11 6:15 am

Yeah James has said a lot of good stuff here already so there is not too much needed to add. The most important factor is to get some content going and slap it up on a site. You can always alter your keywords later at some stage. There are so many ways to go around keyword research its a art of itself. I thin a lot of people get hung up with google keyword tool.... Just get a list of buying keywords they don't need to show up in Google keyword tool even... any keyword research tool has data that is a couple of months old in first place.

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rick courtney
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09 May 11 11:14 pm

Hey guys- Great information here- One thing I still dont quite grab is this- I understand to find the lower competition keywords but in your example.. Dog Trainer.... Using Dog Trainer Obedience would be a lower competition keyword but do you still use Dog Trainer as a keyword phase? Does it help at all?

process
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11 May 11 11:33 am

Hi folks

I have a left of centre question....

What if the keyword phrase you are going for is NOT a searched for term (eg say less than 100 local searches month), but say you decide to write an article or 2 with keyword title and start to CREATE awareness of that keyword phrase?

In other words instead of looking for a phrase that exists already, you are in effect creating a phrase that you think might create some interest....over time with a bit of marketing and awareness.

I understand that if people dont search for a keyword phrase then they are not going to visit your website..

BUT...

By creating interest and generating some publicity via say articles and 2.0 sites etc then isn't that a way of generating some interest..and therefore encouraging people to either visit your site specifically via the links or go to google to input the keyword phrase you have created?

Thoughts appreciated.

"When you have the choice to be right or to be kind - just choose kind"

-Stuart Wilde

jpastorizo
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13 May 11 3:11 am

Process,

Finding keywords that gets decent monthly traffic volume, ranking for them and then having your Title Tag and Meta Description to make those searchers go to your site is challenging already in itself. I like your creativity but IMHO it will take a helluva time and money to be able to start getting traffic the way you explained.

Tugmyroo,

You can choose any related terms in your niche to be your domain name and then just do the right on-page optimization and build backlinks to rank your site. However, having said that I would tell you that an exact match keyword domain name definitely helps you rank your site faster for that keyword phrase if it has moderate competition.

If you have a low competition keyword phrase you can rank your site just by having the exact match keyword domain name, proper on-page optimization and wordpress platform (Yes, even without much backlinks. Ive sites that rank even with 0-5 backlinks - of course it is for the low competition keyword and the domain name is the exact match keyword).

The 1500 monthly search volume is a guide and not set in stone. Think about it when you build an authority site that has 50 pages you are at the minimum trying to rank for the keyword phrases for each of those pages (50 keywords in total). When you start looking at your Google webmaster tools data you will find that there will be visitors that arrived at your site through keywords you never optimized your site for. Write an article about that and get visitors that way and if the keyword phrase makes a lot of sense then maybe you can build a new page specifically for that.

If your keyword gets 80,000 searches per month but has 2,000,000 competing pages then the question is this..."Is this 2,000,000 competing pages for your keyword phrase typed in Google in quotes like this - "dog obedience training"? If it is, then that is a very high competition keyword.

"Can you rank for that keyword?" is not the question. The question is "How soon do you want to rank for that keyword?". =)

Regards,
Jon

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jmpruitt
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13 May 11 4:38 am

Process, what you are saying does work, but that is a more advanced strategy, and you need to know how to get the word out and create a buzz before it will work. that takes practice and a long time, as well as having authority figures in the niche start talking about it.
For example, in the blogging niche, Content curation has been a huge buzz word because someone created a training program, called it content curation and started talking about it being a new form of blogging.

Sadly, haven looked at what they are doing, it has been done since the beginning of blogging, all they did was create a new name for an old tactic and got enough big name authority bloggers using their phrase to create a buzz around it.

redritz
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15 May 11 3:58 pm

jpastorizo wrote:You can choose any related terms in your niche to be your domain name and then just do the right on-page optimization and build backlinks to rank your site. However, having said that I would tell you that an exact match keyword domain name definitely helps you rank your site faster for that keyword phrase if it has moderate competition.

Jon

Hi,

In regards to what Jon said above, my question is this:

When I went to "Build the site" it asked for a domain name. Since I picked weight loss as my first niche`, do I find a product in weight loss I want to promote and then go for an exact match kw domain name?

Thank You,
Red

Start losing fat, inches and weight now!

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jpastorizo
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15 May 11 10:15 pm

redritz wrote:
jpastorizo wrote:You can choose any related terms in your niche to be your domain name and then just do the right on-page optimization and build backlinks to rank your site. However, having said that I would tell you that an exact match keyword domain name definitely helps you rank your site faster for that keyword phrase if it has moderate competition.

Jon

Hi,

In regards to what Jon said above, my question is this:

When I went to "Build the site" it asked for a domain name. Since I picked weight loss as my first niche`, do I find a product in weight loss I want to promote and then go for an exact match kw domain name?

Thank You,
Red

Red,

You can go that way, choose a product you want to promote and then try to find an exact match keyword domain name. Since the weight loss niche is a competitive niche a lot of the products stay around for a long time. Personally, I wouldnt do it this way and my reasons are these:
1) If you choose a domain name dependent on the product then you might be slapped with a trademark violation
2) If you choose a domain name dependent on the product then what happens if the company selling the product goes out of business?
3) I think it is best to let the keyword decide what you will market rather than finding a product and letting that decide what you will market.

Regards,
Jon

HOW WE DID 200K+ ON THE DEADEST MONTH OF ECOMMERCE
WATCH HERE => www.slingly.us/replay

cterao
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16 May 11 7:58 pm

I completely agree with Jon.

Focus more on solving a problem rather than just a specific problem. You should do this with everything you do from keywords, to domains, to articles (with the exception of product reviews, of course).

Clayton
I did AffiloBlueprint for one year - http://www.journeyofmyown.com/welcome-affilorama-friends/

Make $100 commissions by being my affiliate - http://exsolutionprogram.com/affiliates/

strongfarmer
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16 May 11 9:32 pm

Can anyone tell me about how much influence "Title" "Desc" and "H1" have on PR?

Im targeting a sub-niche where a lot of keywords I have found get 4 stars in TrafficTravis.
Most of the top 10 competitors are authority sites with PR 2-4 with maybe 20-60 backlinks, but no one are actually targeting the keyword. The is a red X everywhere in "Title" "Desc" and "H1".

What's your experience?

jpastorizo
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16 May 11 10:42 pm

strongfarmer wrote:Can anyone tell me about how much influence "Title" "Desc" and "H1" have on PR?

Im targeting a sub-niche where a lot of keywords I have found get 4 stars in TrafficTravis.
Most of the top 10 competitors are authority sites with PR 2-4 with maybe 20-60 backlinks, but no one are actually targeting the keyword. The is a red X everywhere in "Title" "Desc" and "H1".

What's your experience?

Strongfarmer,

I am not particularly sure what the influence of those factors are to PR. If you see that the websites in the Top 10 doesnt have those factors then the better for you. PR has nothing to do with ranking for the most part (unless everything is equal between competing sites then PR might be the tiebreaker). Ive seen so many sites in the Top 10 of search results and they are PR0 and are less than 1 year old domains.

Complete your on-page optimization, use wordpress and make sure you have internal linking within your site. And if youre lucky to get an exact match keyword domain name then you'd be in the Top 10 very soon - you said that the Top 10 competitors only have 20-60 backlinks right?

Regards,
Jon

HOW WE DID 200K+ ON THE DEADEST MONTH OF ECOMMERCE
WATCH HERE => www.slingly.us/replay

process
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17 May 11 12:21 pm

Thanks for replies guys!

"When you have the choice to be right or to be kind - just choose kind"

-Stuart Wilde

jmpruitt
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18 May 11 11:43 pm

Strongfarmer, PR is entirely based on the sites that are linking to that page. It really has nothing to do with keywords. For example, I have a site with a PR3, i have changed the keyword a couple of times and my PR didnt change at all. it all comes down to who is linking to that page on the site.

ishuvonet
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29 May 11 12:10 am

I prefer to work with keyword that has minimum 1900 exact search and I think any keyword that has global monthly search volume under 300000 is reachable but you need to focus on building quality backlinks for that.

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