Lately, I have been hearing from a lot of people who are struggling with getting higher search engine rankings. Mainly this is happening to them because while they find highly searched for keywords, they are not evaluating the competition correctly. Any Internet marketing campaign starts with keyword research, but doing the proper evaluation of competing sites for those keywords is crucial for rank success.
In a nutshell if you want higher search engine rankings you need to identify the competition for respective keywords in the right way as part of an overall keyword research strategy.
It is not a crap shoot and luck has nothing to do with it. It is true that higher search engine rankings depend a lot on keyword anchor text backlinks, but higher search engine rankings are also closely related to the proper gaging of competition for those keywords.
Higher Search Engine Rankings with Keyword Research
Once you find a keyword, you must look at the competition in two steps, both of which are crucial for higher search engine ranks.
1. Google that keyword like this: allintitle:"keyword". Many people are not doing this, they just search for keyword, this is a mistake.
Searching with the allintitle “keyword” gives you much more precise results of the true competition for the keyword, because it only includes those sites that are trying to rank for those keywords and the results show you those sites that have the keyword in their header/meta/title tag.
But when you search for just the keyword alone then you get all the sites that just mention that keyword on their site in some way and they are not using it site-wide as their main keyword. Those sites that just mention the keyword are easily overcome, as the SE's, and especially Google will give your site much more relevance and weight as your site uses the keyword site-wide.
So those sites that just mention the keywords will not be your true competition. The allintitle:”keyword”, will show you the true competitors for those keywords that you will need to overcome for higher search engine ranks.
Example:
laptop = 202,000,000
vs.
allintitle:"laptop" = 18,300,000
Big difference there that can make or break the decision to use a certain keyword and how easy it will be to rank for it.
2. Look at websites on the 1st page results. Many avoid doing this, another mistake! See what sites are sitting on page 1 of SERPS and specifically their Page Rank. If they are mostly PR0 - PR3 then the job to get to page 1 and achieve higher search engine ranks will not be very difficult. But, if page 1 is full of PR4, PR5 + sites then it will be difficult to outrank these sites.
First, time is on their side, they are aged and have authority and logistically it will be difficult to catch up. Second, it will take tons more effort and many more backlinks to get to page 1 because you will have to outrank those those sites. I am not saying it can't be done, but, it is very hard and any seasoned honest SEO will tell you to look elsewhere.
Also, look at their Yahoo backlinks, age of domain and number of indexed pages, all are good indicators of their strength and how difficult it would be to out rank them.
If you look at page 1 results for allintitle:"laptop", you will see that it's all authority sites and no way that a small niche site could ever get to page 1 for that keyword.
These steps should be taken not only for your site-wide keywords, but also for the keywords you will use on your inner and sub pages, that is if you want higher search engine rankings for all your website/blog pages.
Tools for Evaluating Page 1 Results
There are two great browser add-ons that will give you all necessary information to evaluate those sites on page 1 directly from the SERPS. These tools are also vital for any Internet marketer to have because they show all possible information about any websites on the web, including your own.
SEO Toolbar for Firefox - Aaron Wall's (of SEOBook) SEO Toolbar for Firefox browser shows all pertinent info for whatever site you are viewing, like highlighting no-follow links and pages, page rank, number of index pages in major search engines, site age, Alexa, DMOZ listed, Yahoo backlinks, MSN links and lots, lots more. Must Have!
SEO Quake Toolbar - Similar to the Firefox SEO Toolbar, shows pertinent SEO and Internet Marketing information for any website but this one is available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Both of these when enabled (one click on their icons from the browser status bar) will show all selected information in SERP results under each website listing.
They are both similar, however you really need both, because only the SEO Toolbar highlights all no-follow links in red on any website. And, only Seo Quake places the information toolbar at the top of any website page you are visiting and not just in the SERPS so you can view all those stats on a page by page basis.
Make sure once you installed these, to activate them by clicking their icons in the browser bottom status bar, when they are on they will be in color, when off, they are black and white.
Now go get some higher search engine ranks!
Hi JR,
Good post. It’s an important topic since everyone is spending so much time trying to get to top search engine ranking, you should do it right. You’ve shown how this can be done. Thanks for sharing.
Peter Lee
Peter @ Passive Income Ideass last blog post..10 Tips To Increase Page Views On Your Blog
@Peter
Thanks Peter!
@Peter @ Passive Income Ideas, Yup yup JR, I agree with peter alot here. You’re doing well!
Ben Pei @ Make Money Onlines last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
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I liked this so much I bought you a cup of coffee! Of course, it’s McDonald’s but these days they brew the best. Really this is an excellent post. Thanks for sharing.
Eunice@Simple Internet Strategiess last blog post..Coming Up With Profitable Blog Ideas
@Eunice
Thank you Eunice, I appreciate it! Glad to see you again!
@Eunice@Simple Internet Strategies, Lol Eunice.. Great sense of humour here.
Ben Pei @ Make Money Onlines last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Thanks for sharing….keep up the good work!
I totally agree that proper keyword research is essential to the success of your niche site or blog. Seo Quake is definitely a good tool to use. Also check out Brad Callen’s PPC Webspy. I have a link to a FREE copy on my blog. Anyway, good post!
Thanks,Randy
Randy Drummonds last blog post..Niche Marketing-What Is It And What Niches Are Right For You
I’ve been using ‘allintitle:”keyword phrase” for a long time now – but I never thought to check the PR rank of sites on the first page of Google for my selected long-tail terms… what a simple concept!
I agree with the Firefox addons – they are definitely a must have… being able to quickly figure out PR rank, incoming/outgoing links, and whether or not they are Dofollow is critical, IMO.
@Ben Holmes
Thanks for commenting Ben! Oh yeah, you’d be surprised how many Page 1′s are full of PR4+ sites that are almost impossible to beat. I could not work without the addons myself, used them all the time.
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
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I actually unchecked the SEO bar (not tool bar) aspect of quake as it made pages look funky. I’ll reinstate it now, but only on a case by case basis when I need it.
Dennis Edells last blog post..February Link Review – Blog Review Winners – TC Contest March – Guest Posts Wanted – I’m Outa Here!
@Dennis Edell, Yup it drops the header by abit and it is kind of irritating. For me at least..
Ben Pei @ Make Money Onlines last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
JR I don’t get it. Why do care who is ranking for the keyword in quotes? The only people who search that way are internet marketers. Buyers looking for a product don’t search that way. When the buyer does a search and is looking at page one of Google, on THAT page is where I want to be, as close to number one as possible.
@Beth
As Ben Holmes said, the sites that are listed with allintitle are the only true competition because they are trying to rank for those keywords, all the other sites that are listed without using alltintitle are not using those kw sitewide just mention them somewhere on their site, either on an inner page or in a paragraph so those sites are not true competition and your site that is using them sitewide will over power those easily so they are not relevant. It is not about how visitors are searching it’s about the rank weight given to individual pages in the the SERPS by Google and the sites that use the kw sitewide will easily overpower those that just mention them on their site.
It is confusing, but believe me, it’s true, just think if you were a search engine and you had to choose between showing your customers who are searching for laptops a website whose only focus is laptops or an article site that has a laptop article, which would you choose?
Beth@Soy Candles, You wonder why you should care who is ranking for the keyword in quotes – you misunderstand – it’s precisely *those* websites that *WILL* be found on page one (searching by allintitle:”keyword phrase”) – since they are precisely targeting that long-tail key phrase. So in order to land your article or webpage on page one – you have to know how much competition there is, and how likely it will be that you can overcome them with good SEO practices & backlinks. (I hope JR doesn’t mind me jumping in…)
By the way – Google lies to you. If you see how many websites Google tells you that there are with an ‘allintitle’ search, go to the bottom of the page and click over to the last page of results – then you’ll see the *real* number of websites that are competing for that term.
@Ben Holmes
Thanks Ben, I am not sure what you mean by “real number” I just checked that on several searches and the number stayed the same, except when there is the “omission of duplicate results” message.
Also, G has several different databases and not everyone is using the same one.
@JR, I’ve given an example at an article I recently wrote… search for ‘Google Lies Khadaji’ and you’ll see it.
By the way, I incorporated your idea of Page Rank into that article. Perhaps I should have given you credit! When I move that article over to my blog, I will.
@Ben Holmes
Thanks, I will check it out!
@Ben Holmes
Yes they are just condensing the similar/duplicate url results because there is the message: “In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 742 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.” In essence, they are omitting the same urls all ready listed for those kw’s.
That message does not always come up in SERPS, but in essence you are right since when it does the competition will be smaller, probably may be a big difference for some kw.
LOL, however G is not lying because the SERPS are for their customer the searcher who could care less at how many sites are in the SERPS, not us marketers who are looking for an edge!
Fantastic post!! I will be sure to use some of these techniques for my future projects
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Need help….when I was doing this, Goggle popped up a window after I had researched about 10 keywords this way and said I couldn’t do it anymore because my searching activity seemed to be from a software program. I can’t remember the exact wording but it wouldn’t let me continue for a while. Is there any way to get around this?
Eunice@Simple Internet Strategiess last blog post..Coming Up With Profitable Blog Ideas
@Eunice@Simple Internet Strategies, I suspect that if you clear any Google cookies, and change IP’s using a proxy, you can get around this.
I know what you’re referring to – I get hit with it from time to time myself.
Follow Me on Twitter @: EuniceCoughlin
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@Ben Holmes @ Affiliate Marketing, Thanks for
the tip, I’ll give it a try next time.
Eunice@Simple Internet Strategiess last blog post..Coming Up With Profitable Blog Ideas
Many people overlook the importance of keyword research, and then there’s some who know it’s important but are doing it incorrectly.
But, in the end, that makes it easier for us who do know what we’re doing, to find niches we can dominate.
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it’s a good tip but you didn’t really tell us how to get higher search engine rankings but how to do research? can you write an article about how to get higher ranking?
@Albert
If you browse through all posts and especially the SEO category and link building categories there is tons of info there for getting higher rankings.
Also, this post does show research, but the point is, if it is not done correctly the result is a much lower chance of high rankings, this research is very important to getting those rankings, make sense?
Follow Me on Twitter @: yansusanto
(4 comments)
You are right on money, JR. The part when most people fails to analyze is look at the authority of the competition and obviously PR is one of them.
Take the average PR of the top 10. If it’s 3 or below, we’ll probably go for it. Anything beyond is tougher, so to speak.
Yan
Yan Susantos last blog post..5 Ways to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Blog
I agree, PR will definitely get harder after you have reached 3 because there is a lot of competition, and really it will be relentless work to get higher. That is when you will tell the difference from actual page ranks to self site promoting page ranks.
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Really good stuff JR. I Need to spend more time here gong back to read older stuff.
Ned @ Baltimore Investings last blog post..How to Negotiate a $1.5 Million Home
@Ned
Thanks Ned, yes please do, there is lots of good stuff here
This article is great. Proper keyword analysis is very important. In the start i only used to look at the total trafffic of any keyword to choose. Thats why i chosed the keyword SEO for my very first website
Now i know that it will take my 50 years to rank higher for that keyword and my decision was wrong.
Thanks for your post.
Imran
Follow Me on Twitter @: marketingtucson
(4 comments)
I really enjoy your post. I have did the spinner thing but you have convinced me to give it another whirl
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