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You’re probably using anywhere from 2 to 6 keyword research tools in your work. If not, you must be a pretty reasonable person who isn’t drawn in by sales hype and shmarmy promotional pages. I admit I’ve used more keyword research tools than I can count. None of them really help you find good keywords. You have to find the good keywords in the lists of suggestions your tools give you, and those lists are only as good as your intuitive grasp of the vertical you’re trying to optimize for.

But don’t fret, friends. Honest Mike’s Used SEO Tools has just the right resource for you and it will only cost you the time it takes to read this article to get your greedy little fingers on it — I mean, I’m going to show you how to improve your keyword research for free.

Take a keyword research tool — any keyword research tool. Use that tool to develop a list of keywords for which your tried-and-true methods give you strong indications of value. Now go and create content for those keywords. Build the pages! Build the links! Then come back here when your pages are indexed and receiving traffic.

Three Months Later After Doing “Standard” Keyword Research

Now that your newly minted pages are generating search referrals, do you still have the original keyword list you used to build those pages? I hope so, because you’re going to need it.

Now, sit down with your favorite spreadsheet tool and put the following data into these columns:

1. The list of keyword expressions you decided to optimize for
2. The corresponding page URLs
3. The corresponding page titles
4. The normalized count of search referral strings from your raw server logs that match your keyword
5. Your page’s average rank for the targeted keyword in Ask
6. Your page’s average rank for the targeted keyword in Bing
7. Your page’s average rank for the targeted keyword in Google
8. Your page’s average rank for the targeted keyword in Yahoo!

If you do this right you’ll probably notice several things, including (but definitely not limited to):

• You have no search visibility for some of your keywords in Ask, Bing, or Yahoo!
• You’re not getting nearly as much traffic as you have been led to expect from that AOL click data
• You get traffic from a lot of expressions you did not target
• You’re probably not targeting all the right expressions

If you get as much traffic from a number 1 listing as from a number 9 listing, what does that tell you about your choice of keywords?

If you’re not getting traffic from Ask, Bing, and Yahoo! and you have the same rankings on those search engines as on Google you’re justified in saying that there is no point in optimizing for those search engines. If your rankings are different, shut up and start optimizing for those search engines because you’re in no position to complain about not getting enough search traffic.

If you’re getting traffic from fewer untargeted expressions than targeted expressions you probably have too little page copy.

If you’re getting more traffic from targeted expressions than untargeted expressions you probably rely too much on anchor text.

If you’re getting more traffic for your “money” terms than the rest of your site, you probably have a really sucky Website.

If you’re getting more traffic from search than from other Websites, you really, truly, most sincerely suck at this. Find another business.

Or learn how to expand your opportunities for traffic. Search engine optimization should be just the beginning, not the end of your Web marketing. Through search you create visibility and draw in interested people whose interests escape your initial keyword research. If you create good content some of those people will link to your site. No matter how many links you buy, exchange, or steal — if your site isn’t good enough to attract at least SOME natural links you should still be able to improve it so that it gets those natural links.

Website referrals should provide you with more traffic than any search engine. When you don’t care about which search engine sends you the most traffic, you improve your search engine optimization 100-fold.

You should see that each search engine’s users have a slightly (or greatly) different set of terms they use to find your content. If you cannot see that kind of variation in your search referral data you have totally screwed up your search optimization. You need to fix it.

You cannot use one search engine to optimize for another. If you think you can, you have absolutely no clue as to what you are doing. Get out of SEO before you hurt yourself or swallow your foolish pride and learn how to do it right.

Your keywords won’t lie to you. They’ll tell you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. They’ll tell you what needs to be fixed. They’ll tell you what is working. But you have to know where to look for them. Every keyword has a “before” and “after” picture. Make sure you look at both pictures before deciding you’ve done your keyword research because it ain’t over until you’ve exhausted every possible way of obtaining traffic for a specific keyword from search.

So you’re all set. You have the concept for your web property and you’re ready to build. There is just one more thing, the domain name. Seems pretty straight forward doesn’t it? You just call it your company name. What if your company name is Acidophilus Research Incorporated or you don’t have a company?

I’d like to take you through a mock brainstorming session similar to ones our team has internally when qualifying potential domain names for new websites. You may discover during the process that people working on the same project have radically different interpretations of the objectives a site seeks to accomplish.

Does the domain have parasitical value?

Parasitical value refers to gleaning spiffs in the form of traffic, ranking or general interest by analyzing and mimicking successful query trends in your domain. Seeking parasitical value can be extremely useful when building smaller websites designed to “take a portion of the existing pie” through long tail, albeit more obscure, query terms.

The idea is to look at what is already being searched for under your topic structure and align existing interest with your content. Stay away from terms that are too competitive and make sure there is an overlap between the selected term and your site’s overall objective.

Examples of domains with parasitical value:

wholesale-candy-store.com
candystorecandy.com
sugar-candy-store.com

Does the domain have brand value?

A domain’s brand value refers largely to the human intuitive element. How will the domain be identified, remembered, referred to, passed along and searched for? As far as domains are concerned, brand value is best pursued when seeking user loyalty.

Brand value is key in marketing and as such needs to be easy to remember. Traditionally the trendier the better but be careful! Creating a brand in the world of web 2.0 can be a double edged sword. With a thousand new startups a day capturing every snappy little phonic available it may become difficult for the masses to distinguish their Iubo’s from their Sampa’s. If you don’t remember it, nobody else will either.

Examples of domains with brand value:

twitter.com
theonion.com
digg.com

Things to avoid when choosing a domain name:

1. Don’t end a word and start the next word with the same letter. (e.g. spellinggnat.com) You will find much of your traffic falling to (spellingnat.com).
2. Don’t just take the alternate .tld of a successful brand. (e.g. ebay.net) You run the risk of being litigated. Plus this is just lazy.
3. With few exceptions, don’t make domains too long. (e.g. wouldyoureallyremembersomethingthislong.com)
4. Don’t sub odd characters for letters. (e.g. 0ddl0vew0rd5.com)
5. With few exceptions, don’t chop all the words and string them together to shorten your domain. (e.g. Decorative Paint Store to decpaisto.com)

What about cases where there is a company name but it is excessively long?

Let’s take the sample at the beginning of this post (Acidophilus Research Incorporated) ewww. How can we shorten this up? Query data shows that there seems to be a lot of people searching for “acidophilus” but it also shows that a lot of people are searching for “acidophillus” and “asidophilus” which tells us that people are having a hard time spelling acidophilus. Possible synonyms could be bacteria, micro organisms, microbes orrrrrr germs. The word “incorporated” is not succinct or descriptive so let’s leave it off. Ideally you would carry your, now shortened, word combination through another round of keyword research.

Possible solutions:

germresearch.com
germscience.com
microbugs.com

Whatever you choose, make sure your domain is punchy, pertinent, succinct and above all else relevant in concept or principle to the purpose of your subject matter. That pertinence combined with a little parasitical and brand value will go a long way towards establishing your web property as a presence people will recognize and seek out.

From a marketer’s point of view there are two kinds of search engine optimization: keyword-based optimization and query-based optimization. Most people in the SEO industry pursue keyword-based optimization. It’s easier to learn keyword-based optimization and there are plenty of tools out there to play with. Query-based optimization, however, offers greater efficiencies.

In fact, query-based optimization is better described as query space marketing because you move beyond basic keyword research and suggestion and take your SEO to a higher level. Nonetheless, you can bring some of your keyword-based SEO vocabulary along with you when you move up to query space marketing.

Keyword Research – Keyword research for query-based marketing is more fluid than traditional keyword research.

You’re looking for query spaces, either to develop or to invade. Invading a query space just means you’ve decided to throw your hat into the ring with other people who are already competing for a specific vertical. A vertical may have more than one query space (in fact, topic verticals have very hierarchical structures so they almost always have more than one query space).

When existing query spaces have been optimized they have very well-defined content. The Web sites populating these query spaces may be dominated by fewer than 10 sites (more competitive query spaces usually have from 30 to 50 serious contenders). A query space with relatively little well-defined content probably has relatively little traffic. Don’t let that deter you.

Invading an existing low-traffic query space makes it easier to create something worth talking about. Since there are already a few people interested in the topic, once they find your great new site they’ll spread the word to their friends and neighbors. In other words, true linkbait thrives on low-traffic query spaces. It obtains some credibility from being created for an underoptimized market.

But I think there is more fun and challenge in building a query space. It’s essentially market-building but if you find there is relevant content for a query that hasn’t been staked out by other marketers you can define the queries you want to optimize for. The previously existing content will guide you in selecting your topics, sub-topics, and lead keywords.

A lead keyword is the hook that brings people in. You use content created for that lead keyword to introduce people to other keywords that they will eventually search for.

Mining the rich content you find in unoptimized query spaces helps you establish on-page relevance quickly. You can also turn those “sleeping competitors” into allies by creating hubs that help them realize more traffic. Eventually, some of them should see what you’re doing and link back to you.

Keyword Suggestion – Keyword suggestion for query-based marketing is as easy as making up a new word or expression.

Of course, you have to come up with something catchy, something that rings (or sings). Something people will remember and associate with the query space. Sometimes it is easier to find an expression that someone else has coined, which despite its natural appeal has fallen flat, and then you just make a fuss over their expression.

I wish I could say this works like a charm but your execution of the strategy may fall flat, too. Still, if someone else has done the creative work but failed to market the idea, you may be able to pick up where they left off and accomplish what they did not.

Keyword suggestion for query-based marketing needs to focus on the phrase or word itself. People will search for a specific reference and once they are satisfied they’ll move on to other things — but you may be able to satisfy their curiosity and lead them through a segue to your own purpose. Regrettably, a lot of Web spammers use the segue technique, but so do many legitimate marketers.

The keyword suggestion for query-based marketing identifies expressions that people think are cute and then creates a buzz around them. For example, suppose you visit a Web forum where someone has embedded in their signature a quote from a new movie. If you search on the expression you may find that no one has optimized for it. Ask yourself, “Can I create anything relevant for this expression that moves my marketing plan forward?”

Ringtone spammers need not raise their hands.

Keyword SEO – Keyword SEO is not dead. In fact, some people would say it’s just getting its second wind.

However, keyword SEO is not very efficient because it doesn’t address the complex needs of large content sites. For example, etailers with thousands of items in stock have limited time to implement on-page SEO for keywords related to their products. Most of them probably don’t hope to capture many links for their products, either. In this market the keyword-based approach to SEO takes a long time.

You can supplement keyword SEO with query-based marketing, building value and new search audiences for Web sites that can be leveraged to drive traffic to the primary site. Does that sound like microsite marketing? Hey, all this stuff can work together.

The point of this article is not to persuade people to give up on keyword based SEO. Rather, it’s to help you see where you can go next when you’re ready to take things to the next level.

Let’s begin by saying, “keyword research is analogy for topical insight“. I recommend building a foundation of knowledge starting with an intuitive understanding of the topic. This process doesn’t have to be a long arduous process but consider it more of an adventure into topical insight. We start with what we know, what other people are saying and any available facts we can find. So we can really drive our insight and perform effective keyword research and ultimately build a keyword profile.

Topical Insight Formula for keyword research:

1. Choose a topic for understanding
2. Research the chosen topic
3. Establish a foundation of topical insight
4. Start keyword research
5. Finish with a keyword profile

Being a wanna-be dog lover, I chose Dogs as our topic and more specifically the breed known as Basenjis. I have a strong personal affinity for those little canines but weak topical insight into the subject matter let’s begin our research with:

What we know?

• They are cute, small, smart, and loyal
• Cool looking and would-be designer dog
• Easily trainable
• They don’t bark, they Yodel! Sweet!

This pretty much sums up my personal knowledge of this breed.

What people are saying? Let’s Google it. Ahh, here is a nice link: The Basenji FAQ this is a nice find. Now we have medium-strength topical insight.

• They are one of the oldest breeds still in existence
• The dogs have been found in Egyptian art
• It’s confirmed. The number one thing everyone is saying is “…they are the bark-less dog”.

What available facts? Is there a formal organization for everything about Basenjis? Let’s try Google again. Here is an association Basenji Club of America this might help. Now we have Godzilla-strength topical insight

• An extensive list about Basenjis from:
  • Breeder Directory
  • Rescue Contacts
  • Basenji Pictures
  • Basenji Sounds

• Is a basenji right for me? An Basenji interactive guide.

Wow. We accomplished a lot.

Our process of choosing a topic and researching with three simple questions has established Godzilla-strength profile of “Topical Insight” or may I say SEOzilla strength profile. Now we have Power!

All this intuitive understanding can be applied towards our keyword research. Let’s dive in. Our voyage into keyword research starts with tools. I get strong insight into Google’s keyword relevancy system by just using Adwords. It’s an easy sandbox tool to start your keyword research. After our topical insight tour the number one concept that follows the Basenji it is known as the “Bark-less Dog”.

The Google Adwords keyword tool offers a couple of query function to generate our results:

1. Keyword variation query
2. Site-related keyword query

Let’s try keyword option one keyword variation query. We will sort keywords by relevance, search volume and possible advertiser competition here are the results.

Specific keywords:

• Barkless dog
• Barkless dogs
• African barkless dog

Additional keywords to consider:

• barkless basenji
• basenji dog
• basenjis dogs
• basenjis dog
• basengi dog

What we can learn is that Google agrees with our topical insight conclusion. Not surprising. We also learn that singular, plural and misspellings are variations worth incorporating into our keyword search.

Let’s try the site related query function and see how it matches to our The Basenji FAQ. Keywords related to basenji sorted by relevance, search volume and potential advertising competition here are the results:

• Basenji
• Basenjis
• Basenji training
• Basenji breeders
• Basenji puppies
• Basenji shirt
• Basenji puppy
• Basenji breed
• Basenji pups
• Basenji puppies for sale
• Basenji for sale

Whats different about this function is Google algorithmically matches keywords related to the site contents. What we can learn and build on our 1stquery keyword variations points towards more to an economic perspective. I mean how the site can be monetized. Our primary topic of Basenjis can be expanded into the world of E-Commerce which makes sense from a PPC perspective.

Let’s key on the secondary topics generated from our site-related keywords:

• Training (Coaching & Consulting)
• Breeders (Pet Inventory)
• Shirt (Apparel Industry)
• For Sale (Sellers of Pets)

At this point, I am certain we understand more than we ever wanted to know about the topic of Basenjis. Let’s recap.

Keyword Research Outline:

• Topical Insight – An intuitive understanding of the topic
• Topic Research – The process:
  • Simple Formula: What do we know, What does everyone know, and those who get paid to know
  • Choose the topic, the primary keyword driver, the core of your research
  • Use Google Adwords tools to build related keyword list
  • Understand and document keyword variations
• Related Topics
  • By utilizing Google Adwords tools we can find secondary topics. In this case we see an economic tangent connected to our primary research of basenjis.
• Lastly, choose wisely and use as appropriate.

In conclusion, keyword research follows a process of discovery of the topic, related topics and cannot be singled out without recognizing its connected relationships to the economy, social communities, even to individual and public knowledge bases. As a way of confirming our intuition or hunch, we use the available Google adwords tools to confirm and expand our findings. At the end of the day, you can successfully attain “Topical Insight” of any subject and be on your way to being a search engine expert in keyword research in the 1stquery or the second. :>