Why Keyword Research is CRUCIAL!

Keyword research is a crucial step in determining keywords. You want to rank four in search engines. Keywords are used in social media, bios, page and post titles and within the content on those pages, within URLs, within meta descriptions, YouTube video descriptions, social media posts, and on and on. So when a client tells me they never did keyword research before creating their social media bios, I shake my head. Why do all this work to then not even be found organically in Google Search? Yes, you can build your brand awareness eventually around your business name and rank organically for your business name, i.e. course envy. As you can see in this Google search screen. But in the meantime, you want to be found via organic searches. When I say organic searches, I mean when a person inputs a word or string of words into Google and Click Search, that top ranking website that is in an ad is the number one ranked organic search. So as you can see, when I input the keyword course envy into Google search our website course MTV.com is the first thing that appears in organic search results. Then if you want to dig deeper, you can see the keywords I'm targeting to rank organically for via the meta description below that page title quickly scanning it Amazon FBA, big keyword, social media marketing, Facebook ads and so on. So here's an example of an organic search. I input Facebook course, click search and as you can see, I'm notified which ones are ads in Google. So these top three are all ads. The first organic search that appears as the number one organic search result is Facebook blueprint. This is Facebook's own certification program. So obviously, it's very relevant. It's their own website behind that course. So Facebook.com, you have the keyword in the title, in the URL, in the meta description. Obviously, this has a lot of clout, so it should rank organically, number one. So I use keyword research in two ways. I use it to rank organically and via Google AdWords. So let me show you how I ranked above Facebook via Google ads. So right here, I created a Google AdWords campaign and targeted the keyword for my Facebook ads course. So whenever you search a term, that's the difference. These ones that appear under ads are there because someone paid a certain amount per click to appear in front of users who search this term. So there's a paid ranking for this keyword. Obviously, you can see above the fold are all ads. So this tells you how important eventually getting into Google AdWords is and ranking for these keywords. But if you don't have the budget just yet, that's why I say master keyword research. So you can rank for those long tail keywords organically. So step number one is finding seed keywords you want to rank organically for in Google Search. You want to eventually rank for many keywords, but start by focusing on a keyword that you will positively rank number one four in Google Search. So as you can see in this screenshot of Google Search, I rank for both single keywords and multiple word keywords. These are called long tail keywords. Now, most of my clients think they should rank for single keywords. The keywords with the highest search volumes. Now, yes, ranking for those 5000 search volume to 1 million plus search volume single keywords sounds awesome, but the competition to rank for those single keywords is nearly impossible. You need backlinks, an aged and trusted domain, a ton of relevant content, and you still might not rank for these highly competitive one word keyword phrases. It's the 2 to 3 keyword phrases and longer that you want to target and that I target for my clients. Look at this graphic. Don't even try to rank for that generic search phrase. Rather, create a blog or a page with titles and meta descriptions using these long tail keywords such as men's shoe size, insert size or read Nike men's running shoes. There's a great long tail keyword. These are longer keyword phrases that, yes, are searched less than the keyword shoes alone, but these long tail keywords are easier to rank for in Google. Now think about long tail keywords for a second. When people search for shoes online, do they just type in the keyword shoes? Sometimes, yes, but for the most part, that is just one keyword from the longtail keyword most people search for. For example, cheap red converse shoe size ten. Now that's a great long tail keyword that we can go and research and find out if it's worth creating an article around worth creating a product around and worth ranking four in Google. So step number two generate keywords. Now that we know we need to rank for long tail keywords, how do we generate them? This is one of the most common questions I get from clients at course envy. How do I generate keywords? I first respond to them with, you know, your business best. Let's start with the names of your products, the name of your services, and input those into Google Search. What keywords do you see in the titles and meta descriptions? This is where you should start these top ranking organic listings. And even Google AdWords obviously did something correct to rank on the first page of Google search for these keywords. But Google search is not enough. Go ahead, pause the video. Take a screenshot of this. This is how you generate keyword ideas. Some may seem super simple, but you will be surprised at how many keyword ideas you will generate from these look up forums in your niche. Go to your library. See what book titles and subtitles are used. Use Uber suggest or use Google Autocomplete. Search your initial products and keywords in Wikipedia or again, put your keywords into Google and see what those top Google ads. Usually the top 3 to 4 listings. What keywords are they using in their descriptions in their ad titles? Look at newspapers. What are the headlines that are catching people's attention? Look at your competitors. What other niche sites are ranking for these keywords? Go into Amazon and eBay. Use the autocomplete function in the search field. Browse affiliate networks like JD.com or ClickBank. Use sites like Google Trends to see if you're getting any search volume for your keyword and to get ideas for other keywords. Go shopping, what products are like yours and see what the packaging uses for keywords. Watch TV. Don't fast forward through the commercials. Watch infomercials late at night. You'll be surprised at all the branding you'll see and usage of various keywords. Subscribe to some magazines within your niche or simply look around your house. There's plenty of products that you use every day, so start to notice the words branding and subtitles on all of them now. Two of my favorite things from that graphic are Amazon and Google Search, but I use the autocomplete function, so let's type in a keyword we want to rank for. We think we want to rank for meal planners. Maybe I'm a fitness coach and I've created a great meal planner to keep all my clients on a strict diet. So as you can see, as I start to type in, look at the autocomplete. Meal prep meals on Wheels. Meal prep ideas, meal plan. That's a good sign. It's the fourth autocomplete. A lot of people are searching it. Meal plan, meal planner, meal planning app, meal plan template. We can take all of these keywords and use them in articles we create. Next is Amazon. They have the same feature of autocomplete. So as you can see, keyword suggestions all day, meal prep containers, meal prep meal replacement shakes. I can create my next product around these suggestions, so let's just click this prep containers. We'll click the first one here. Now a great thing I pull from these actual Amazon listings for keyword ideas. Scroll down to the bullet points. Look at these bullet points because Amazon sellers use keywords within each one of these bullet points that are related to this Amazon product title. So best keywords in the title, supporting keywords in the bullet point. So when I brainstorm keyword ideas, I like to break it down into two niches of common Google searches. The first being buyers. What words do buyers pair with keywords when they search within Google? This is a great way to extend a single keyword into a long tail keyword. So common keyword add ons I use best than the keyword. So best laptop computer. Top rated PC. New Samsung phone. Next, use your keyword. And then who is it for? Halloween costume for dogs. Survival kit for hikers. Next reviews. If I'm going to buy something, I'm definitely going to type in my keyword I'm searching for and then reviews. Next where to buy that keyword or simply buy Dell laptops, buy iPhones. Next. I like to pair my keyword with what's the price look like? Cheap, luxury, expensive. This is a common word paired with a keyword cheap hair curlers. This next one pairs with that, well, keyword on sale. Keyword coupon code. You can flip this either way. Promo code keyword next keyword under money amount. So a common one here are higher end items. I like to build affiliate sites around these higher end items and people will find them via this lead funnel. Such as? Best laptop under $500, best men's shaver under $50. Next buyer's like to compare things. So Sony versus Samsung. And then you can get even more specific with those two keywords, including, say, a specific model number. The second niche of online searchers I target are info seekers. So pair your seed keyword with some of these terms to create long tail keywords. First, how to guide to how do you. Then the keyword how to tie your tie. Next, easy, easy way to clean a stove. Next, I like to use top tens or best five. Just insert your number of choice and then you can test and see if anybody's searching that. So top ten men's suits next. You can flip that first one. How to and do keyword tutorial keyword training. Keyword course how to guide instructions. So in that same vein. DIY do it yourself. Then the keyword. This is great for recipes or instructions. Or how to build a table DIY, DIY office desk. Then again, we see a repeat of the verses for info seekers, this keyword versus this keyword next. In the same vein of how to eliminate get rid of prevent fix then your keyword. And finally, just like the verses one compare or comparison of keyword. So now that you have your keywords generated, now what? How do you collect the data you need to see which keywords are worth ranking for? Enter Longtail Pro to the rescue. I personally use this keyword research software for myself and all my clients, so head over to course MTV.com slash Longtail Pro to learn everything you need to know about this software. We need to input our keywords into Longtail Pro and evaluate them. So first, input your seed keywords. Those keywords we generated in step two, then click the retrieve button. Next, just scroll down to see your keyword results. Here you'll see the monthly search volume, the competition and more metrics. Step four is picking the winning keyword. My first priority when picking a keyword I want to rank for in Google is keyword competitiveness. This is a number from 0 to 100 that measures how difficult it is to rank on the first page of Google for that keyword. This metric is calculated using the page title Majestic Trust Flow and citation flow. Backlink Site, Age and other factors of the top ten results found in Google for the keyword you searched, a higher keyword competitiveness score equates a higher level of difficulty to rank for that keyword. I like to target an average Casey below 40, but less than 30 is optimal. So back to our keyword search results. Look at the column labeled Average Casey. This is the keyword competitiveness rating. All of these high search volume keywords are very difficult to rank for. I'll let 40 to 50 Casey and above. So let's click that average Casey column to sort by the lowest, Casey to greatest. Now, this is much more interesting. There's several longtail keywords here. We can rank four in this list. Notice all these cases are 40 and below. The most interesting one that jumps out at me is the Keyword Meal Planner's printable. It's below that 40 Casey rating. It has a nice monthly search volume of 3500. So just looking at this right now, without any further research, I would actually suggest this to my client, who owns a health blog to create a blog post and possibly even a product around this long tail keyword. It could pay as low as $0.21 for the Google ad clicks, which will lead people to their website. And there they can set up a ConvertKit lead, capture form and exchange for people inputting their email. My client will give them a printable meal planner. Then my client can remarket their health products and other items to this list of people who claimed the free printable meal planners. This is why Long Tail Pro is so awesome. All the data you need is in one location, so make sure to check out that link to learn more about Longtail Pro. Next is YouTube search. Suggest type your main topic into the YouTube.com search bar and write down all of these suggested keywords. As you can see, I typed in Facebook ads and I got a great suggestion from it. Facebook ads for local business. You can add an asterisk before your main keyword to add suggested keywords in front of your main keyword. This is a great hack for finding long tail keywords. So I added that in front of Facebook ads and look at these suggestions how to create Facebook ads, retargeting Facebook ads and so on. Next, do the same thing in Google Search. Type your main topic into Google.com search bar and write down all of these suggested keywords. Next, I use the free tool Google Keyword Planner. Just create a free Google ads account. And in that top nav bar under tools and settings in that menu, select keyword planner. I will use Google Keyword Planner to not only find new keyword ideas, but to also research the monthly search volume. As you can see this example Facebook retargeting average monthly searches in Google. Now, if you're not familiar with this tool or if you've never used Google AdWords, totally. Okay. But if you're like me, you're going to be using this tool daily. It's an amazing tool, and it's provided for free by the biggest search engine on earth. So basically what this tool does is you input a keyword and Google does a search and outputs what the average monthly searches are. The competition, the suggested bid on Google AdWords and various other variables that you want to seek for that keyword. So in order to use the Google keyword planner, you will need to create a Google Ads account. So just go to ads Google.com. Create an account, log in to your Gmail account or create one. Then Google ads will force you to create your first ad campaign. They'll lead you through step by step and then have you input your billing information. But don't worry, you don't have to launch that ad. Once you create that first campaign on the campaign dashboard, you can just pause that campaign. So you actually never spend any money on that campaign if you don't want to. So once you've created your account and pause that campaign, just go to tools and then keyword planner. So there's two options here. If we already have keywords, we can search the past volume of those keywords via this. But if we're looking for new keywords to target, we'll use this option, find new keywords. So I'll click this. So it's here, I can input competitors URLs or my seed keyword ideas. So best online courses, let's try that keyword. So here we go. This has roughly 1000 monthly searches. And some other ideas are best online. Mbaye. These are some great ideas we can write down. Let's sort that by volume. Cheapest online. Mbaye So we're getting some ideas we can input here and use for our future blog posts or keywords for our product listings and so on.