Know-How Exchange : SEO/SEM

We have found the Google Adwords keyword generator to be pretty good. It almost always gives us enough to work with, and it suggests negative keywords that we might not have thought of on our own. Of course, as we gain experience and see what works best, we add/delete and expand the list (including negative keywords).

At the beginning we start with a dozen of the words WE think would work well. The keyword generator builds on that list. I suspect Google has some very clever/sophisticated AI algorithms.

Also recommended: Use SpyFu.com to see what keywords competitors are using.

Keyword generators work using keywords/phrases you type in, and then attempt to identify synonyms, common misspellings, etc. to build a set of suggested keywords. Google's free keyword generator is good. There are also many others, many of which are free: keywordtool.io, lsigraph.com, ubersuggest.io, etc. Also, if their website already has Google Analytics installed, you may be able to better understand what keywords people currently use to find them. That'll ensure that you don't accidentally remove these keywords from consideration. Also, try out SEO SpyGlass to find the keywords that your competition is using well.

Not sure about that, Peter. Google has a fairly sophisticated "thesaurus" that leads it to words you may never have used. They also know what keywords are working for other web pages with words/text similar to yours. Example: We were looking for tenants facing eviction, and Google suggested something like "missed rent payment."

When possible we actually talk with recent customers/visitors and encourage them to describe their journey, the purchase decision process, the key considerations, etc. That's the best way.

Other times we see what keywords competitors use. Or, if they have a website with Google Analytics installed, we simply look at the search terms that led people to the site. (I recognize that's a kind of reinforcing logic.)

Finally, we do a series of interviews with client personnel who actually interact directly with customers and see what THEY think customers search for. The logic here is that these people are closest to the customer ... and very often they come up with keywords we wouldn't have thought to include.

Net, a little bit of market research can go a long way. It also helps us with copy development for the ad and the landing page, because we begin to understand how the customer thinks, what's important to them, what words or phrases are turn-ons for them, etc.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Keyword generators work, as far as i can tell, by accessing the API of a specific search engine. From this these programs can syphon off all kinds of search terms that are broad match and direct match returns. There are various free and paid versions. Google's Keyword Planner has changed in recent years so that its returns are tied to active PPC campaigns. This means its free returns offer less specific results.

Two premium services that might be worth looking at are SEM Rush and SpyFu. I use Market Samurai, which is also pretty good, and LongTailPro, which I've had a few issues with. Moz is another decent service.

In terms of "best" keywords, that really depends on the niche, the keyword or key phrase, and the geo modifiers you attache. If your market is for common, heavily searched for terms such as fat loss, mortgage, or car insurance, PROCEED WITH CAUTION, because it will be difficult is not impossible to rank well for those kinds of terms, I've tended to focus on exact matches in terms of keyword phrases rather than for specific single keywords, and I tend to do so for phrases for which there is an exact match in terms of an available domain name.

With this approach it's possible to rank far higher search results in geo-specific markets in which there is less general competition and for which there is a healthy enough number of monthly searches.

I hope this helps.