There are probably about three thousand different strategies when it comes to keyword research. If you ask 10 people, you are absolutely going to get ten different answers. I don’t actually know why this is, but I think that it is definitely something that we can both optimize, and also shed some light on. I wanted to take some time to get into some of the basics and some of the more advanced ways to do keyword research in a proper way, that will yield good results. Starting with basics, lets begin.
Negative keyword research may not be the first thing you think about, but it is definitely something that we have talked about on here in my previous articles, as well as something that you HAVE to do. I would try to get a good list of negative keywords when you launch. Nobody that is starting a bake recipe wants to push out the term “apple pie” and start getting hits on the first ‘American Pie’ movie, for obvious reasons.
Secondly, make use of tools to fill out a good list. Tools like the Google Keyword Tool, Bing Keyword Research, Wordstream, etc, help out quite a bit. There is no way that you are going to have a complete keyword list without using something like this, period. Your mastery of the english language would have to be on a level that has never been seen before. Take my advice, find the gaps in your keyword list, and you will thank me later.
We have talked about this quite a bit in the past, but this is a never-ending rule in PPC. “Think like the searchers.” There may be some differences in what people are calling your product(unless you sell an ipod), they may be searching for more specific terms of whatever you are selling, as well as they may be looking for different things with the things you are advertising, such as comparisons, sales, best pricing, best reviews, etc.
Taking a hard look at your website will also help you figure out the keywords you are wanting to select. Find out everything there is to know about your product, so you can start thinking like those that will be hopefully searching for it.
Hopefully this is a good reminder for you guys, so please let us know if you have any additional suggestions, we would love to hear them!
