John Cow dot Com » Market Research

Market Research and Content Creation Do Not Have to Suck!

Jason Katzenback — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:20:40 +0000

“Market research and content creation suck!”

That is pretty much the biggest complaint I hear day in and day out from my subscribers, members, customers and pretty much 99% of everyone else I talk to in this industry.

They struggle to find good profitable niches that are not already dominated by someone else or will actually convert into revenue.
They cannot seem to grasp how to effectively research the right keywords and domains that get traffic and conversions.
They cannot write good content that provides “value” and will actually give readers something to digest.
Then to top it off, they have no time to do all this and still manage life.

If you can relate to this at all… even the slightest bit, then you are going to want to check out this completely free offer from my good buddy Marc Quarles at…

http://bit.ly/bCCGpp

What he has put together in my opinion is one of the most impressive packages of research, content, templates and even niche action plans that I have seen. He covers all your bases and all you have to do is take what he gives you and take action with it.

Now, I am sure that you are sitting there and saying…

“Let me be the judge of that!”

Well of course and I can help make it easy for you to do that because…

Marc is giving away 100% free a niche pack EVERY month!

I am not talking about just one, one time… but one every month at…

http://bit.ly/bCCGpp

This is packed full of 100% fresh, unique and well written content, complete research with an action plan of how to attack the niche and even custom (not cheap or recycled) templates.

It is an extremely good value for the cost of an email address.

But then you say… “What if 500 people all get the same niche pack?”

Well then I say… “So What!”

I can guarantee you that first of all only 5% of the people that download it will take any action on it. That means only 25 people will do anything with it and only 20% of them will even know what they are doing. That now leaves you with only 5 other people that will do anything worth-while.

That means all you have to do is modify the content (which is very well written) and put it in your own words to make it unique.. and BANG you will have a profitable niche site up in no time…

Yes, it is that easy!

http://bit.ly/bCCGpp

Listen, if you struggle with time or just hate doing this part of the business (research and writing) then do yourself a big favor and check out the free niche pack and I know you will be impressed.

Even just check out the research and you will learn a great way to research your own niches.

Check it out at…

http://bit.ly/bCCGpp

Do me a favor and once you check out the niche pack, come back here and comment and let me know what you think about it.

Review of Google’s Search-based Keyword Tool

Jason Katzenback — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:35:49 +0000

Keyword research is one of the most time-consuming and often frustrating parts of using an ad campaign on Goggle AdWords. Putting together all of the data – from rates to search density to everything else – can be daunting. To further complicate things, once you’ve found a good keyword it can be challenging to find other relevant keywords to accompany it.

Google’s new Search-Based Keyword tool (http://www.google.com/sktool/) attempts to deal with that problem. The purpose of the tool is to look specifically at your site and offer new keywords ideas relevant to your site. It offers these keywords based on searches from Google over the last 12 months, so we’re talking about a solid history of data from which to work.

This tool helps site owners by giving them search query data that’s specifically relevant to the content on their site. In short, it provides site owners a way to take advantage of many advertising opportunities that otherwise have been missed.

Google’s Search-based Keyword tool is also useful if you’re not yet advertising on AdWords. You can use the tool to do research to find relevant keywords. An online pet supply store might use the tool to discover what sorts of pet amenities and accessories people are searching for online. If you run an MP3 player review blog, you can use the tool to identify what brands and models of MP3 players people are searching for, and focus your reviews in that direction.

One of the more exciting features of this new tool is the suggested bid data. What the tool does for you is to, for every search you make, make suggestions on specific landing pages on your site that seem to be related to that search. The tool then also offers a suggested bid amount that should be sufficient to get your ad into the top three spots of a search page for that keyword.

Like so many of the best Google tools, the Search-based Keyword Tool is currently in Beta. The good news about that is Google is still open to suggestions at this point. If you’ve ever struggled with keyword research, give the new tool a try and see how it does for you, then let Google know what they can improve.

PS – You can also check out the Google Blog for more info on this tool

How To Gain An Edge With Keyword Modifiers

Jason Katzenback — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:35:29 +0000

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

Keyword Research Has Never Been So Easy

Jason Katzenback — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:28:38 +0000

Keyword research is one of the most hammered subjects in internet marketing. Hammered to the point where it becomes nauseating after awhile. I say this because it’s a process that too many people over-complicate and really, it should be straightforward.

In this post, I want to show you an easy way to come up with laser targeted keyword phrases in a hurry without doing the complicated stuff. If you are doing article marketing, then this method will be just about all you need and the results you get will be productive.

All we are using is the Google search box. Google continues to improve it’s search facility and because it’s free, many overlook some of the powerful features it continues to add. Google also is a little lax in letting us know about them so it’s a matter of being aware and alert to them.

Have you noticed when you begin to type a search term into the box that a drop down menu will suddenly appear and you’ll get a list of suggested phrases? Do you ignore or dismiss this simply because it’s free and anything that doesn’t cost you you’re hard-earned can’t be too valuable? Well, think again. As far as keyword selection is concerned, this is one of the more powerful tools you’ll come across without outlaying any money.

The point is, Google is the king of search. When they give you these suggestions they are giving you real time data. Many keyword suggestion tools fall down in this area. Just think, Google is actually giving you terms people are looking for and in real time. For article marketing purposes, this is an excellent way to grab searched for long tail keywords on the fly.

Here’s an example. Let’s search for the term “dogs.” Now “dogs” itself is a term that gets 188,000,000 results so it’s not a good term to go after. But here’s what happens when you begin typing it into the Google search box. Google starts to give you a list of suggested terms related to the term dogs in the drop down. Google is actually pre-empting what you are looking for and they’ve become so sophisticated at doing this that they can just about read your mind.

I suggest writing down any three word terms or more that take your attention on the way to writing out the term “dogs.” Here’s the list I got when I did this exercise for the purposes of this newsletter for the term “dogs”:

“dogs”

dogs for sale 1,730,000
dog trust 664,000
dog breeds 810,000
dog names 1,480,000
dogs.com 1,610,000
dogs for adoption 488,000
dogs that don’t shed 2,620,000
dogs of the dow 323,000
dogster 1,620,000
dogs in heat 475,000

So we have a list of ten keyword suggestions from Google. These are the five I’m interested in…”dog trust”, “dog breeds”, “dogs for adoption”, “dogs of the dow” and “dogs in heat.”

So now I have five key phrases to work with. You can either write five articles around each of these terms or do some further analysis. I generally do further analysis and we’ll get into that in the next newsletter. For example, “dogs of the dow” is related to the stock market so it’s not one I want to keep.

But here’s the beauty of doing this. With the keywords you have, drill down again and type each one back into the Google search box. Bingo! More search term suggestions from his “royal highness” Google. Also don’t forget to test both singular and plural. What started out as typing one term into the search box suddenly grows to many. That’s why you’ll virtually never run out of keyword phrases to write around.

Love them or hate them, Google is actually on your side in this business but you’ve just got to be aware of what they have to offer. This facility in my opinion is priceless and worth every bit of the free subscription service we pay them.

Best Keywords for Blog Posts via KeywordCorral

Jason Katzenback — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:54:30 +0000

So why am I using the title “Best Keywords for Blog Posts via the FREE tool KeywordCorral“?

Because Keyword Corral told me that “Best Keywords” was the best keyword to use

I have just uploaded an upgrade to KeywordCorral that addresses a couple minor bugs and also the major bug for finding the competition. It is working perfectly now (for me anyway) and if you already have a copy you should receive an email today with a download for the upgrade.

If however you have not downloaded your own copy… CLICK HERE NOW to register you very own copy and start finding those “Best Keywords” –> Wow.. i feel like a keyword spammer here trying to fit that keyword in here so much

Below is a video I just recorded for you all that walks you through exactly how I used Keyword Corral to come up with the “Best Keyword” (oops I did it again) for this post.

I hope this video will answer a lot of those questions a few of you have been askign as well.

PLUS –> I am having a PDF made up with the exact steps I took in this video that I am emailing everyone as well. So if you want KeywordCorral and the PDF Click Here and get instant access now!

Best Keywords

Update… this post was published only 13 hours prior to looking in Google and I am on page one. YES.. that is the truth… page one for the keyword that KeywordCorral told me to use

Google Keyword Research with Google Insights for Search

Jason Katzenback — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:20:21 +0000

Here at Johncow we are always watching for new and better ways to do market research and if you have spent any time around here you will know I am a pretty big fan of Google’s free tools. One of the coolest new tools Google has come out with lately to its users is the new Insights for Search.

Insights for Search offers all sorts of potentials to blogger, small business owners, researchers, and even corporations. Here are some of the things Google Insights for Search can do for you:

Tell you how popular a search term really is

Google Insights for Search takes a look at Google’s web searches from around the world. It compares how many searches have been done for your specific search terms, and tells you how popular that search is relative to other searches.

Tell you which searches are popular and where

The world heat map uses a graphical image to show you exactly where people are searching using your search terms. It displays the volume of searches by region, subregion, and even city. This lets you target your search terms for a specific geographic market, or consider specific new markets for places where your search term seems to be doing well.

Show you changes in search popularity

Google Insights for Search offers you trending information, as well. It can show you which search terms are increasing in popularity over time, which ones have leveled off, and even which search terms have slowed down significantly. This allows you to modify your strategies to meet customer demand as time goes on.

Help you choose the right marketing terms

With Google Insights for Search, you can actually compare search terms. You might, for example, be considering three separate keyword terms for your website. Google Insights can compare the three terms, not just in the past few days worth of searches, but over time.

Help you choose the timing of marketing campaigns

Some search terms are seasonal. Google Insights for Search gives you date information about your search terms, telling you when the peak time of the year is for your searches. This lets you focus your marketing efforts around those peak seasons, capturing as much of that seasonal search traffic as you can.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Google’s step toward allowing users access to its vast data regarding searches holds amazing promise for any person or business with an online presence. Check it out for yourself and make sure you create a free google account when using the service as they give you even more options as a free account holder.

So have you tried Google Insights for Search Yet and if so what do you think?

Keyword Research – What for may we ask?

Jason Katzenback — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:42:22 +0000

Before we start searching for keywords, we prefer to have a goal in mind and that means that we want to already have the product or service we are going to promote selected. We have been down the path of general market research to uncover a niche (pronounced neesh) and in our opinion it takes way too long and is way too complicated.

Instead we prefer to find a product or service that is already selling or at least starting to sell and then we figure out who is buying it and what words they are using to buy it. Once we know that, then we can figure out how to make a better offer. This does not mean we actually build a competing product (which is a possibility down the road) but instead we figure out a unique selling position (USP) that makes our offer better then the rest so people buy through us. But before we get into that, we need to find a product.

Finding the Right Affiliate Product

There are different ways this can be done and just today we were asked by a friend of ours, Sheena Brown, how do you find good products to sell. We asked her why and she mentioned that she came across a really cool gaming product, called the Razer gaming keyboard, that has an affiliate program and she was considering selling it.

Our response to her was… “that’s the first step.. look for products that you yourself would buy.”

This is extremely important because this shows through in your marketing efforts. People tend to be able to smell cow dung from a mile away and you may be able to fool a few people some of the time but you cant fool all the people all the time, so if you try promoting a product that you yourself would have no interest in buying, this often will show in your message.

OK, thats great if you already know a product you want to promote but what if you don’t… where would you find these type of products or services?

In our opinion the easiest place to start is with the main affiliate networks such as ClickBank, Commission Junction, Link Share and so on. These networks take a lot of the hard work out of the process because they act as the middle man between the sellers and affiliates. They manage the tracking, finances and all that good stuff and make it very easy to search through and find products to sell.

List of Top Affiliate Networks…

The other option is, if you know the product you want to sell then you can see what stores have affiliate programs available. To do that simply type in the keyword or product name and include “Affiliate Program” in the search such as…

razer keyboard “affiliate program”

Click Here to Enlarge

Or, if you know the site that sells the product and you cant see if they have an affilaite program, simply search using the google site filter such as…

site:www.thedomain.com affiliate

Click Here to Enlarge

This however does not really solve the problem of helping you find the right product to choose and the reason is, if you don’t already have something in mind then where in the world do you even start?

So, we need to back up a little… and for those of you that already think you know what you want to promote, don’t worry about it. We will get back to you momentarily.

So Where to Start?

If you are just starting out and do not already have a certain market you are involved in, this can actually be a stressful time for you. We can get so riled up over this that we actually give ourselves anxiety. Some of us just grab the first thing that crosses or path or we see some guru promoting and decide that is where to start, only to fail because the competition is so fierce. Others over analyze each product to the point where no product could ever satisfy them.

The best place to be here is in the middle, you want to look for products that are being promoted… but not by every person under the sun and you also need to understand that there is no perfect product out there but you want a product that is not a piece of junk.

The very best place to start for anyone just beginning is with ClickBank. Yes, we know you have probably heard this before and maybe even tried to promote ClickBank products before, but trust us… if you do it right, ClickBank can be a goldmine. The reason we like ClickBank the best for starting out is once you are registered, you can then promote absolutely any product in their database. Unlike other programs, where you still have to apply for certain products and unless you already have a presence online, your chances of getting approved are pretty small.

The downside to ClickBank is it is 100% digital products (ebooks, software, videos and so on) and there is a lot of crap products in there. On the bright side however, there are also many solid products also.

Finding The Right Product

If you do not already have a ClickBank account, sign up for one now at ClickBank, the process is extremely easy.

Once you have signed up, to find products simply go to the ClickBank marketplace at http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm

Once there, the first step is to pick a market that you have somewhat of an interest in or perhaps you already have a site on. Don’t get too hung up on this however, if you really are not interested in anything or have no real care in the world as to what market to start in then just pick a the first category to start with and work your way down.

It is nice to start with a market you are knowledgeable with but this is also a cause for analysis paralysis because we try to find the perfect fit. Over analysis is the enemy.. remember that!

Lets for example just pick a random market… we will start with the the first category “Business to Business” and the first subcategory “Education”. Keep the settings with “Sortby” at Popularity and the “results per page” to 20.

Click Here to Enlarge

Now ClickBank will list for you in order of popularity, the most popular products in their database but they also give you some other fantastic information. What we personally like to do is scroll down the page and look at the titles but we also look at the “$sale” number that ClickBank provides. This is the estimated revenue you can expect to make per sale from that product after refunds, chargebacks and clickbank fees are taken into account.

This number is very important because you want to make sure that the product you are promoting makes at the very least $15 per sale. This is the absolute lowest we will go and the reason is, we want to spend our energy where the money is, so why spend time researching and promoting something that makes you $5 compared to the same effort that can make you $25.

So we scroll down the list and a few products stick out to us right away. The first is the “Instant Forex Profit System“, this pays out over $40 per sale, which is excellent.

The next number we look at is the “%refd”, this tells me the amount of sales that are made by affiliates. In my opinion the higher the number the better here because if no affilaites were making any of the sales there would be a cause for concern. This particular product as over 90% of the sales coming from affiliates.. which is a good thing.

Now we look at the gravity. This is basically a representation of the amont of affiliates promoting this product. Now it is not a direct 1 to 1 relationship, clickbank takes things like time since last sale and more into account for the calculation but personally we like it when this number is not too high because it tells us there are not a lot of competitors to fight against. There is no magic number here because there are so many variables that you have to take into account. For example, if the product is brand new then this number would be very low… personally we like between 10 and 50 but we have promoted products lower then that and higher then that.. but that is the average we look for.

So for this product the $sale is good, the %ref is good and the gravity is not too high… this is looking like a potentially good product. Now is the time to check out the sales page itself. To do that, click on the “create hoplink” in the directory.

Next, enter your ClickBank ID and click create. Now copy the URL they provide and paste it into your browser. This is important because you want to see exactly how the page appears to the end user and you also want to test the links on the page. The first things we look for are…

A nice clear headline: We want people to get their attention grabbed right away and be sure that it is compelling.
Clean design and nice graphics: Is the page professional looking or like a mid 90s college student page.
Social proof (testimonials, screenshots): Prove to me the solution works.
Up to date (no old copyright date or 3 year old screen shots): You will be amazed how many people click off a site just because of an outdated copyright date.
Clear call to action: Do they do a good job of showing the visitor how to buy the product.

Once we have looked at these elements we then will click on the buy now link to ensure that our affiliate ID is correctly used. Simply click on the “Buy Now” and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and make sure you see [affiliate = YourAffiliateID]

One thing to watch for as well is an opt in form. These can be very beneficial to you but make sure you opt in and see what the message is they send you. Some people can be real scumbags and will actually put a different affiliate link in the email message so when you click on it, it overwrites your cookie with theirs and you lose the sale. Make sure they link directly to the page and your affiliate ID still shows up on the bottom of the order form.

IMPORTANT THOUGHT –> Should you buy the product before you promote it? In our opinion, Yes, but not yet. Until we are sure this is the right product and the keywords look good, there is no sense in buying it. This is not a mandatory step for everything you promote but it is wise, as you can then do videos about the product and really explain in details the advantages to the end user. You can also contact the vendor after all your research is done and ask for a review copy… most will be more then happy to oblige if they see you are serious.

We personally feel that too much time is spent on over analyzing products. If the initial data looks good and the sales page looks good then chances are you can make a couple bucks from that product.

What about non ClickBank products? … how do we decide if we should move forward with those?

Not all, in fact very few, affiliate programs give you details like ClickBank does. The biggest thing we look at for non Clickbank products is the % commission we can make. If we cant make $15 per sale at the bare minimum, then we don’t bother. Also, we check out the sales page, the same as we do with ClickBank. So with the initial example of the Razer keyboard, we would look at the commission rate and the price of the product. If we could make at least $15 per sale, then we would consider looking more into it. If not, then we move on.

Time to Contradict Ourselves –> We would not always not move forward with something if it is less then $15 but we would already have to have a related site set up that we could just write up a promotion for. But for full blown market research, it must be $15 or more per sale made.

Once we have the product or service that we want to move forward with, the secret is now to find out how others are making money with it…. so it is time to start digging for keywords!

>> Remember to sign up for our RSS Feed to stay up to date on the next lesson we post!<<

What is your feedback on this lesson…other then the fact that this is freaking long!

Keyword Lesson Series:

Keyword Research – The Cart before the Cow

Jason Katzenback — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:05:46 +0000

One of the toughest parts of creating a new blog or some other type of website, is knowing what niche to start in and what angle to take in that niche. We can spend countless hours banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out what market to start in. We actually become perfectionists before we even know what we are doing!

The process that we are going to walk you through is targeted at building a blog or website that focuses on promoting affiliate products. The reason is, it is our feeling this is by far the easiest and fastest way to get started and you do not have to worry about customer service, technical support, shipping, credit card processing or any other of these business headaches. You simply promote the product or service and get paid a share of any sales that happen. Its beautiful!

The challenge with this however is it always comes back to the question… Where do we start?

Do you research potential markets and then search for affiliate programs that fit?
Do you find the programs already running and figure out what keywords to use to promote them?
What type of affiliate programs do you start with?
…and the list can probably go on and on.

The way we look at it is, why reinvent the wheel?

We do not want to spend countless hours looking at different markets and then having to try and find appropriate affiliate programs to match up with them. What we recommend is to actually put the “cart” before the “cow”.

START OF COW RANT —> Please understand that there are many different ways you can do market research. We will probably get some anal retentive person in here arguing about this process but the bottom line is…

Show me the Money!

We have tried many different methods and this process is the one that worked the best for us. This is important to know as well because it all comes down to understanding facts and not theories. If all you do is read and research but never put things into practice, then what are you doing thats tangible?

We strongly believe that you need to make your own plans and strategies, but use what you learn from others and work it into your plans and strategies. Every time you screw up, remember what you did and improve on it… and every time you succeed do the same… remember what you did and improve on it. When you have something that works for you, do not let some theory munger come in and say you shouldn’t do that… YES YOU SHOULD!

If it is working for you, then it works! <– END OF COW RANT

Ok, so why the cart before the cow?

In the 1970′s, the Japenanse car manufacturers were the joke of the world. They were tin cans that no one took seriously… but in the 80s this changed and in a HUGE way.

What happened was instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, the Japanese realized they needed to change the focus of their energy and instead of trying to invent things, why not instead take what is already working and simply make it better. It was this mindset change that skyrocketed Japan into becoming an automative giant in the world.

They figured out how to make a better mousetrap and the results were more reliable vehicles that they could make more effeciently and they were even able to charge a premium for it which exploded their profits.

So now let us ask you this.

Do you want to reinvent the wheel and try to uncover new territory or would you rather take what is already working and use that to your advantage?

Both have there pros and cons but the big difference is time commitments and chance of success.

Here is how we see it…

Option #1 –> If you want to break new ground, then great, good luck with that. You are going to need to spend your time finding potential keywords, then figure out what people are looking for with those keywords, then try to find products that people are buying and see if there are affiliate programs available, then hopefully after a while some of your words will be profitable and after a few months you can have a site making some money.

This option can be incredibly profitable, but it takes a lot more work and there is a lot less chance of success.

Option #2 –> Look at what is already making a few people some money, find out what they are doing to make money (spy on them.. bwa hahahaha), easily uncover the keywords that people are actually using to buy the products and then offer a better reason to buy through you (your unique selling position).

This option takes the view point of look at what the customers already are saying they want and give it to them. After all isn’t it easier to give people what they want instead of convincing them they need something new.

OK, I know, I am not covering the whole big picture with these options, but we feel we are covering the main points and it really comes down to how to best spend your time and effort… always focus on ROI. Is what you are doing now giving you the best return on investment.

In tomorrows post we are going to get into finding profitable affiliate products to start this process with. Once we have the product, the rest of the research is VERY easy!

Whats your opinions on options 1 or 2?

If your interested in learning more, then subscribe to our RSS Feed and follow along as we lay out this step by step process with the exact tools and techniques we use.

Keyword Lesson Series:

Keyword Research – What Are You Basing It On?

Jason Katzenback — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:58:08 +0000

We have a question for you and we want you to really think about this.

What are the most important metrics that you use when doing keyword research?

1. Traffic

2. Competition

3. KEI

4. ___________ (Fill in the blank)

There are lots of fantastic tools online today and each one has their good points and bad points… but one thing that 99% of all these tools have in common is they simply give you a calculated guess using their own custom algorithim, that simply tells you how many competitors there are and how much traffic you can expect. Some make up a fancy term to use, such as KEI, but the bottom line is it is simply a traffic and competition ratio.

Now this seems logical doesn’t it?

Of course we want to know the amount of traffic a keyword could expect and hopefully we can find those hidden golden nuggets that have virtually no competition and lots of traffic.

But why is it then, when we find these keywords, research and create good solid content, build back links and work our asses off to dominate the search engines, are we not making any money?

The traffic is great!

The rankings are fantastic!

The content is stellar!

What could be wrong???

This is where keyword research gets tricky and was our biggest discovery in transforming our affiliate marketing business. The discovery was that there is a gigantic difference between “traffic words” and “buyer words”

You need to understand that just because certain words get lots of traffic, this does not mean at all that the people searching with those terms are even remotely interested in purchasing anything.

A good example of the is the “dirt bike” industry. There are loads of traffic to be gained from this market but the demographics of this market tend to be generally teenagers who really cant afford to be spending a lot of money. Their searches are for interest… because they are fans of the market but few are spenders.

Does this mean there is no money to be made in this market?

Not saying that at all. There may be potential profits from AdSense and other revenue streams but not (in our experience anyway) a lot in the affiliate side of things. Now there are probably some of you out there making a killing in this industry online and if so.. good on ya! We are not debating whether a profit can be made but pointing out that depending on the revenue model you are going for, traffic and revenue do not always go hand to hand.

For those of you that have experience in PPC, you see this a lot. You can have two words that are almost identical yet one converts into sales like crazy and the other does next to nothing.

Why is this?

There are lots of guesses and theories as to why but honestly we don’t know all the reasons. What we do know however is that it is a fact that there are certain words that are more often used by money spenders then just general interest surfers. The challenge however is how do you uncover these keywords?

Well there are two ways this can be done.

1. Slow and Painful

Build lots of pages focused on lots of keywords, get lots of backlinks, record and track everything and wait months to figure out what is working.

2. Fast and Furious

Find out what is working for others and use that information to get your research time reduced to only days instead of months.

Come on now… you can’t be serious cow?!

Oh but we are!

Traditional keyword research is great. There are loads of tools to use and they tell us some fantastic information but the problem is they are only using “traffic” and “competition” to tell you what to focus on.

What about “Sales”, “Revenue”… PROFITS

Would you not rather focus on a keyword that only gets 20 visitors a day but converts 2% then 100 visitors an day that converts 0.01%?

But how now John Cow?

There are no keyword tools that know what kind of profits people are making, they don’t know what words are making sales and what ones are not… do they?

Yes and we are going to prove it to you over the next few days. We are going to walk you through step by step, the exact process we use to uncover “Killer” keywords, that not only have good traffic and little competition, but are also already proven by others to be fantastic money makers.

If your interested in learning more, then subscribe to our RSS Feed and follow along as we lay out this step by step process with the exact tools and techniques we use.

Keyword Lesson Series: