In this post I am going to tell you about keyword research.But before I start, Let me give you a quick recap of things I have said in Pat-1 of search engine optimization series.In part-1 of this series I have written an introductory post on SEO.I have told you about on page and off page optimization and factors to be considered for on page and off page SEO.Now in this post I will tell you about 1st factor of on page SEO, Keyword research.

Why Keyword Research is important?-

Keywords are the basis of search engines.The algorithms or programs may differ for different search engines but the basis remains same for every search engine.Infact keywords are the most important factor which should be considered in organic search engine optimization.If you have done everything right but ignored correct usage of keyword then it is unlikely that you would be ranking high in SERPs.

How one should do keyword research

Although there are many keyword research tool available on the internet but most of them are paid.Here I will tell you a method to research your keywords yourself without investing even a single penny.

You can do your keyword research with two free tools- Google Adwords keyword tool and google search.In the paragraph that follows I will exactly tell you how to do it?

Once you enter a keyword in Adwords keyword tool , the tool presents you with a big list of related keywords,with last month search volume,average search volume and search volume trends as shown below in the image.

(Click to enlarge the image)

Now, choose keywords with high average search volume and increasing or uniform search trends.Increasing search trending will show up as increasing height of bars in search volume trends column while in uniform trending the height of bars will almost remain same.

Choose as many keywords from adwords keyword tool as possible.Once you have finished choosing keywords you should analyze those keywords.

Analysis of keywords-

Analysis of keywords is a bit tricky thing to do.But once you learn it will become easy for anyone.For analyzing keywords google search is single best tool.Make a search using each of your selected keywords.The search page looks like as shown below- (click on image to enlarge)

Look at the top right of the page showing the number of webpages that are competing for that keyword.Note down the number for each selected keyword.In addition to number of webpages competing for each keyword ,you should also analyze following things-

1)Whether the webpage ranking on the top of SERPs for a particular keyword is a home page or some inner page.

2)The pagerank of webpage on the top of SERPs for a particular keyword.This can be done by google toolbar.Install google toolbar if you have not done so yet.

3)Whether the webpage on the top of SERPs is using exact keyphrase or semantic words.

4)Whether the keyphrase is enclosed in heading tag-h1,h2 etc. in top ranking webpage.

5)What anchor text the webpage is using in its external links.

Make a chart of your findings on a excel sheet or a piece of paper.Now you are ready to select your keyword.

You should select a keyword which has-

1) Lower competition as shown by number on the top right side of SERPs.

2)The top webpage for that keyword is an inner page,has lower pagerank and doesn't usees exact keyword phrase in its heading or anchor text in its external links.

With this your keyword research is complete and you are ready to place those keywords in your posts.In the paragraph that follows I will tell you about the proper keyword placement.

Keyword Placement-

Keyword placement is as important as keyword research because if you are not able to place your keywords in your posts properly then all your effort of keyword research will be wasted.

Remember the following points while placing your keywords-
1) Place your primary keyword/phrase in the title.
2)Always use your primary keyword in the starting of first paragraph and in the last paragraph.
3)Use your secondary keywords in sub headings.
4)Sprinkle all your keywords within your post ,maintaining a keyword density of 3-6%.A keyword density of 3-6% means for every 100 words roughly use your keywords for 3-6 times.

With this I have come to an end of my post on Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Part-2 which was about keyword research..Now, I am sure ,you have got very good idea about keyword research and placement.In the next post ,I will tell you about internal linking pattern.So, just check back soon or subscribe to my feeds for my next post of organic search engine optimization series.





Next posts of this series are-

Organic search engine optimization (SEO)-

Part-3 (Internal linking) ,

Part-4 (html tags) ,

Part-5 (Blog architecture) ,

Part-6 (Sitemap and Navigation) ,

Part-7 ( Off-page optimization-link building) and

Part-8 (Anchor Text)

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In my previous posts on 'How to write articles??' series I have already told you about Article pathway , selection of topic and researching.Now I will move on to step-3 of article pathway that is keyword research and selection.

Before I tell you about keyword research and selection I would like to tell you about importance of keywords and what comprises good keyword.

Keywords are basis of search engines and they help you in catching your target audience and thus getting targeted traffic.It is absurd to write an article when you are not read and it is also absurd to present your article to someone who is not interested in a subject on which you have written.

This is where keyword help you.By using best keywords for your article you ensure that your article will be read by a target audience.

Now let us talk about what is a good keyword.A good keyword is one which is-

1. Frequently used by people to make searches in search engines.
2. Is less competitive ,i.e.,relatively lesser number of websites are targeting that keyword.
3. Can be used time and again in the article/posts.
   

For finding such keyword you have to go through a series of steps which is called as keyword research.

Keyword Research

Keyword research process involves a series of three steps which when followed in proper way can help you choose your best keyword/keywords.The three steps are-

• Keyword discovery
  
• Keyword analysis
  
• Keyword selection

Keyword discovery-

Keyword discovery involves identification of as many keywords relevant to theme of your article as you can.In my post How to write Articles??-Part 3 (research) ,I have said you should make a list of 20 keywords that other websites /blogs are using while you are researching for your content.

Next get other 30 keywords from overture,wordtracker and Adwords keyword tool.So,now you have a comprehensive list of 50 keywords.This completes the first step ,i.e. ,Keyword Discovey.Now lets jump to the second step-Keyword analysis.

Keyword Analysis- Keyword analysis is the most important step in keyword research process and should be done with utmost attention.In keyword analysis you analyze what keywords are most used by people to make searches in search engines and how many websites are using those keywords.

This is important as you have to choose a keyword which frequently used to make searches and relatively lesser no. of websites are targeting those keywords.
Thus,Keyword analysis involves analyzing two things-

1. Analysis of Search volume



2. Analysis of Competition

Analysis of Search volume - In this you analyze the frequency with which a particular keyword is being used by people to make searches in search engines.More frequently a keyword is used more better it is.For analyzing search volume I use two tools-

1. Overture


2. Adwords keyword tool

When you open the overture keyword tool site and make a search for a particular keyword then overture produces a list of suggested keywords and to the left of each keyword there is count column which shows how many times that keyword has been used in the past month. More is the count better is the keyword.Make a list of keywords that have high counts.


When you open the adwords keyword tool, you will see a page like this-

You should particularly focus on average search volume out of the three columns I have encircled.The bar in that column shows the amount of search volume.More filled is bar more search volume that particular keyword has got.This gives a basic idea of what keywords are being used by the people.

Now the question is,which tool should be used, overture or Adwords?The answer is both.This is becuse by using both tools you have avery refined results on keyword analysis.

Based on search volume stats gathered through overture and adwords keyword tool make a list of 15 keywords which generate more search volume out of 50 you have discovered in previous step.Once you have selected your 15 keywords you would now analyze thes 15 keywords for competition.

Analysis of Competition-There is a very good method for analysis of competition.This makes use of google search.Whenever you make a search in google then the results page looks like this-

Look at the top right side of results page (which I have encircled).The number shown (in this case is 887000) is very much important.This no. shows how many websites are using the keyword that has been used to make the search.Lower is the no. lower is the competition.Now make a search for each of your 15 keywords which you have selected after 'analysis for search volume' step.Let us suppose you get the no.s n1,n2,n3........n15 for your 15 keywords after making search in google.

Now you are done.Choose the keywords whose values are minimum.Choose 10 keywords whose values are minimum as compared to others.These keywords are the best keywords for your article or blog as they have least competition.

What next??You don't have to use all 10 keywwords in your article.You have to select 5 out of 10.This comprises the next step, the keyword selection.

Keyword Selection-

This step is probably easiest step in keyword research.Out of 10 keywords you have selected choose five keywords which you think you can use time and again in your article.And keyword selection is done.

This ends my topic on keyword research.In the next post of this series I have discussed the next step of "Article Pathway" ,

In next post of this series I have written about, How to write the title of article?Check out this article which answers many of the questions related to titles.

Other posts in this series are- How to write an article Part-6 , Part-7.

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