How To Gain An Edge With Keyword Modifiers
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This is a continuations of yesterdays post on keyword research
Now let’s look at another simple way to find those keywords with clout. Clout being in the fact that we want phrases people are typing in with an actionable mindset.
I’m talking about keyword modifiers and also spelling mistakes. In other words, you have a phrase you like after doing some research but are still a little worried that the competition is a little high. Most times, you can solve this by adding a modifier.
For example, let’s use the example dogs again and choose one of the keywords we mentioned above. We’ll take “dogs that don’t shed.” Hmmmm…it’s got 2,620,000 results which is a bit high for our liking. But you want to promote a source which deals with this issue. So how do you narrow down the search numbers and give yourself a chance of ranking for this key term? Add a keyword modifier.
Here’s an example. For “dogs that don’t shed” we simply add the word buy. So we end up with “buy dogs that don’t shed.” Our search count has suddenly been narrowed from 2,620,000 to 359,000 which is much more comfortable when we go out and try to rank for it.
If you’re still not happy then revert back to your Google search box and start typing in “dogs that don’t shed.” In this example, we didn’t even have to finish typing the entire phrase. We got as far as “dogs that don’t” and Google has ingeniously figured out what we’re looking for. Here’s a list of extra keywords to think about.
“dogs that don’t shed”
- dogs that don’t shed much 2,690,000
- dogs that don’t shead 9,360
- dogs that don’t mault 84,200
- dogs that don’t malt 280,000
- dogs that don’t sheed 49,600
Can you see the power of this. Suddenly, we have extra keyword phrases to optimize for. All bar “dogs that don’t shed much” look pretty easy pickings to rank for. Also notice the variations on the word “shed.” People actually search for this by also typing in “shead” and “sheed.” The same applies to the word “malt” as a related term to “shed”…the word “mault” is also used.
To take it even further, what if we leave the apostrophe out of the word “dont.” More good news. We get more juicy long tail phrases which we can optimize for such as:
- dogs that dont cast hair 279,000
- dogs that dont shed their hair 410,000
And even better news is “dogs that don’t cast hair” with the apostrophe put back in only returns 262,000 results. There is almost no limit to the amount of keyword phrases you will come up with by using Google as your foundation for search. Instead of trying to game them, let them help you find the keywords people are actually looking for.
Here’s a list of common keyword modifiers you can add to your keywords to narrow them down. Use these when you want to narrow your search even further. Google does a great job of adding these into many of the search terms but if they don’t, try them and see what you come up with. This is only a short list and over time, you can build this group with even more words. Just make sure they make sense but any one of these will be a good fit for most search terms:
- fast
- cheap
- ideas
- quick
- buy
- quickly
- guide
- best
- discount
- free shipping
- buy online
- coupon
- buy now
- compare
- review
- compare prices
- cost
John Cow dot ComHow To Gain An Edge With Keyword ModifiersPosted: 12 Dec 2008 05:35 AM CST
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Is there any example website that proves this claim?
Proves what claim… or is that a simple spam comment lol
Other good words to add to the search are “top” and “cheapest”.
“Cheapest” is simply “cheap” with the “est” modifier. It seems you learn very quickly and caught on to exactly what John is trying to teach. Great job!
This is a killer post. Thanks for the great list of modifiers. I have been using some of these concepts on LinkMoney when I am doing keyword research but this gives me a lot of new ammo.
Rich Hill
ps: I copied the list of modifiers to a text file open on my right hand monitor all the time.
Thanks Rich!
Great Tips once again.
I love learning about these keywords as more knowledge = easier time to rank for my niche site that I plan to make.
This is good; thanks. It has made me think of new ways to help a client’s pages rank better for the hospitality industry.
I kept avoiding the words ‘cheap’ and ‘low-cost’ but there are a lot more to try.
I will pay more attention to the results Google is showing me using more and more modifiers.
For adsense sites, I like the modifier “best” because lots of advertisers think they are the “best” and use it in their adwords campaign LOL
AL
just had a quick look at this new tool and think this could be very useful indeed -Thanks John
hey Mr Cow,
Not only is this a great list, but it’s also a good reminder to think of as many modifiers and adjective for one’s product or service and then include these words in your blog or website’s copy. You may not rank well for “lawnmowers”, but you might easily be #1 for “cheap green lawnmowers”.
~ Steve, aka the trade show guru
[...] John Cow – How to Gain an Edge with Keyword Modifiers [...]
Modifiers are the secret sauce to ranking with long tails. And if you can build links, you get a 2-fer…ranking for the long tail but also edging your way to rank for the other long tail sans the modifier.
This is for everyone else out there who might be like me – you think you got the point of this post the first time, but you really didn’t.
It took me approximately 24 hours to figure it out. I went through a quite a few phases, so I’ll try to walk you through them (quickly).
Finished reading post -> Excited about potential for making me money online -> Copy/Pasted modifier list for re-blogging -> Twittered post (others have to know about this great resource!) -> Dedicated myself to using “Keyword Modifiers” from now on -> Found something else online that caught my limited attention span -> Moved on -> Slept -> Blah blah blah daily routine -> Checking Twitter -> BAM, it hits me.
Keyword modifiers are basically what my teachers kept telling me to do with my papers in school – expound on your ideas, give adjectives, be more descriptive!
Ideas are nothing without Action – DO MORE! Feel more, write more, describe more, define more.
Alas, it would seem that while trying to simplify something, I have ultimately made it more complex (that should be a famous quote, if it isn’t already). At the very least, I hope I helped to clarify the idea of being more descriptive with your titles, your ideas, and your blog posts in general.
TIP: Once you think you’ve finished writing something for the web (or whatever), go back and re-read it slowly, inserting adjectives (hopefully added-value keywords), phrases, etc… to support your statements. Then do a final read to make sure it still makes sense.
Sorry for the long comment, best of luck to everyone!
adwords coupon…
Well spoken. I have to research more on this as it is really vital info….
Proves what claim… or is that a simple spam comment lol
Any ideas for keywords modifiers or buying keywords for service businesses?
words like shipping, buy, order etc doesnt always fit into services