| Keyword research often starts with a seed list - a | | | | provide email updates of key stories. |
| quick brainstorm of keywords that might be important. | | | | * Google allows you to subscribe to keyword based |
| The better your keyword seed list, the greater your | | | | news search results and blog search results. Their |
| opportunity to generate a comprehensive keyword | | | | news product also lets you search archived news to |
| portfolio. Aaron Wall, author of shares his secrets for | | | | view old news stories, and recommends new stories |
| generating a fantastic seed list every time. | | | | to you. |
| Key points | | | | * Google mixes popular news articles in their organic |
| * Keyword research starts with a seed list. The better | | | | search results for broad related keywords. |
| your seed list, the better will be the results of your | | | | * Social news sites and social bookmarking sites like |
| keyword research. | | | | Digg and Del.icio.us surface new and interesting stories. |
| * There are numerous sources of keyword inspiration | | | | You can also search their archives to find information |
| both online and offline. Use them to build a good seed | | | | that was bookmarked in the past. |
| list before you start. | | | | * Topix.net aggregates news from a variety of |
| * Once you've got your seed list, follow a clear | | | | sources and makes it searchable by location, source, |
| methodology to get detailed keyword research from | | | | or keyword. |
| Wordtracker. That way you'll build a keyword portfolio | | | | 5. Blogs and Buzz |
| that will keep you ahead of your competition. | | | | Individual blogs are stealing market share from larger |
| The process of keyword research usually starts off | | | | news outlets. |
| with a seed list - words that send you down interesting | | | | * You can subscribe via RSS to popular or |
| paths and trigger deeper research. The better your | | | | trustworthy related or competing editorial channels. |
| seed list, the better your ability to generate a | | | | Some ideas become important, viral, and newsworthy |
| comprehensive keyword portfolio. | | | | because a well read person talked about them. |
| Here are the general steps in keyword research: | | | | * Some services like Techmeme automatically track |
| 1. Create a seed list. | | | | current popular stories. |
| 2. Use Wordtracker to find the most popular terms in | | | | * Technorati shows what bloggers are searching for. |
| your seed list and reject low volume keywords. | | | | 6. What's hot right now? |
| 3. Dig deeper into the long tail - e.g. chocolate, | | | | Most major search engines give searchers a glimpse |
| chocolate gifts, corporate chocolate gifts. | | | | into what is popular. Yahoo offers their Buzz Index, |
| 4. Broaden your search to related terms and dig deep | | | | Google provides their Zeitgeist, and AOL offers Hot |
| again. | | | | Searches. Google also offers Google Trends, which |
| 5. Organize and prioritize what you find. But many | | | | estimates seasonal search volumes, and allows you to |
| people give scant attention to developing a really great | | | | filter by Geographic regions. |
| seed list. If you just do the obvious, you'll end up with | | | | 7. Hot commercial keywords |
| pretty obvious results - just like everyone else. To get | | | | Amazon allows you to search through their current |
| outstanding results from your keyword research, | | | | best sellers by category, and eBay offers a paid |
| you've got to apply creativity and hard work to the | | | | Marketplace Research service which allows you to |
| very first step, generating your keyword seed list. | | | | see what items are frequently searched for on eBay, |
| Aaron Wall, author of is a prolific writer on all things | | | | and at what price points the related auctions closed at. |
| SEO. In this article he shares his top 10 secrets for | | | | Amazon customers review products and eBay also |
| generating a fantastic seed list every time. | | | | offers a reviews section. Reading through their guides |
| 1. Junk mail | | | | and reviews can help you uncover patterns to how |
| To sell something, your advertising offline or online | | | | people compare and classify things. |
| must relate to things that people understand - you | | | | 8. Question answering services |
| have to know and use the words that people are | | | | Many search engines and other large internet |
| familiar with. So the junk mail that drops through your | | | | companies offer question answering services. You |
| letterbox is a rich source of the words that people use | | | | can search through sites like Yahoo! Answers to see |
| - in other words, keywords. | | | | what types of questions consumers in your |
| I recently picked up a credit card application envelope | | | | marketplace have. Start with broad keywords and |
| and wondered about the words they used. I saw the | | | | they will lead you to more specific keywords. |
| words 'introductory 0% APR for cash advance | | | | Most topics also have related community forums |
| checks and balance transfers until April 2008'. On the | | | | where people ask questions and keep up with industry |
| back side it said "no annual fee". Take some of those | | | | related news. You can search through Google Groups, |
| words, search on Wordtracker and you'll trigger lots of | | | | use BoardTracker to search through forums, or use |
| keyword phrases. Here's a sample of related | | | | your favorite general search engine to search for |
| keywords from hundreds on the envelope: | | | | keyword + forums. |
| Credit Card Keyword List | | | | 9. Directory link structures |
| Once I opened the envelope there were thousands of | | | | If you know a particular page or section of your site is |
| additional keywords to be discovered. The fake credit | | | | doing well but do not know how to expand on the |
| card had the words instant, platinum, and points on it. In | | | | topic leverage someone else's research. Look at the |
| some spots they went out of their way to even put | | | | internal link structure and page content of competing |
| the keyword ideas in a bulleted list! | | | | sites, the structure of major directories like the Yahoo! |
| So scan your junk mail, subscribe to direct mail | | | | Directory, DMOZ, or Business.com, and the table of |
| marketing, catalogs, and magazines that target your | | | | contents of related books. |
| industry or consumer base. | | | | 10. Other fun keyword tools |
| 2. Television programs | | | | * Visualize it: Quintura and Visuwords create graphical |
| Some of the most popular online keywords come | | | | representations of related keywords. |
| from popular cultural experiences. Anything that makes | | | | * Competitive Keywords: KeyCompete lets you view |
| the Oprah Winfrey show is going to get serious | | | | what keywords competing sites are bidding on. Spyfu |
| search traffic and reality TV is amazingly popular. The | | | | shows keywords they are bidding on and organic |
| Yahoo! Buzz Index tracks popular search queries, and | | | | search rankings. Also, check out * Read Ad Copy: |
| has a category devoted just to American Idol. | | | | Read the ad copy of competing sites and read the ad |
| 3. News articles | | | | copy of the ads that Google AdSense would target to |
| Some things make the news because public relations | | | | your page. |
| firms pitched them, but those that are there outside of | | | | * Related Searches: Many search engines and meta |
| public relations pitches are typically there because of | | | | search engines show related keyword clusters. |
| significant public interest. | | | | Google Suggest auto completes searches based on |
| I was recently interviewed by Forbes about Google's | | | | popular related searches. Google also offers the |
| Supplemental Index. When I checked my server logs I | | | | Google Sets tool to help you come up with keyword |
| found that hundreds of people searched for related | | | | sets, and Microsoft offers a search funnel tool, which |
| keywords to find my site. Now that the issue made | | | | shows the keywords that were searched for before |
| Forbes there will be even more people talking about it | | | | or after a particular keyword. |
| and even more search volume. Headlines, sub | | | | And don't forget your analytics and server logs. If you |
| headings, and key points in news articles are great | | | | already rank for something then search engines |
| keyword sources. | | | | already trust your market position for that keyword. |
| 4. News tracking | | | | Use keyword research to expand the areas where |
| There are a near infinite number of ways to track | | | | you are already trusted. |
| news online. | | | | For a comprehensive list of Wordtracker articles go to |
| * Many top news sources, like the Wall Street Journal, | | | | the Wordtracker Academy page. |