Time and again I see little niche sites using trademark brand names in their url’s. This is a truly reckless and a very stupid thing to do.

Here you are spending valuable time, working hard on your site designing, promoting, link building and your site has high search engine rankings and making you money and then the brand name company notices you and it’s over. At the very least your site will have to come down and at worst the brand name will sue you for copyright infringement.

It is illegal to use any copyrighted brand name trademark within the url or as the name of a site, many people do not even think of this fact and find great keywords that include brand names and use them.

Most of the big companies have a long page of legal terms that list all their trademark names and their variations and they clearly state how they can be used.

When doing keyword research for Internet marketing we inevitably come across tons of great keywords that use trademark names and especially within the electronics and computer niches, Apple ipods, Dell laptops, Sony, Acer laptops, the list is endless and it is really tempting to use them in the url because the ranking power increases greatly when using keywords in the url, but for the long term this is way too risky.

I was reading a blog post the other day, I didn’t save it or I would link to it, but the marketer made the mistake of using Dell in his url and Dell had contacted him and demanded he take his site down. Of course, the site was ranking on page  1 for the keyword, which is how Dell noticed him, and making money and now that’s all over.

Did he have regrets? Of Course! It’s just not worth it.

Can You Rank Without Using Keywords in the URL?

Yes, but it will usually take more keyword anchor text backlinks, how many depends on the competition for those keywords.

So there are two choices:

1. Choose similar non-trademark keywords for the url and do all the on-site optimization for the trademark kw, such as h1 tags, keyword density, title tags etc… and focus your link building to get lots of anchor text links with the trademark keywords.

This is the best option when you come across really highly searched for trademark keywords that have low competition, well worth the effort.

2. Choose completely different keywords within that niche that do not have trademark names.

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!

By, JR

Google has launched a new keyword research tool intented for Adwords research, to find more PPC keywords, BUT, this tool can be used to find relevant and longtail keywords for any website pages or blogs and blog post titles.

This keyword research tool is different BECAUSE it is based on YOUR SITE, not just on general words.

Lots of Research Options:

1. You can just enter your URL

2. Enter you URL and enter specific keywords to research

3. Set up additional filters, like monthly searches, competition amounts, like low and high and more.

The results are:

• Based on actual Google search queries
• Matched to specific pages of your website

Just log in with your Google info, enter your information and get:

1. Set of keywords related to the pages of your sites/blogs

2. Actual number of monthly searches

3. Competition

4. Cost of PPC bidding for each keyword, this can tell you how valuable that keyword phrase is.

How to Use This Information:

This tool is not meant for researching new site keywords but the best way to use this tool is to get good keywords and long tail keywords when writing blog posts and adding additional pages to your websites using keywords that people are searching for.

This tool is new and still in beta, but I found some cool keywords for this blog, check it out: GOOGLE SEARCH-BASED KEYWORD TOOL

By, JR

How cool would it be to have your websites ALL OVER THE SERPS? (search engine rank positions also known as search engine result pages).

Thanks to article marketing this is fairly easy to achieve. Article marketing brings direct traffic and provides quality one-way backlinks, for search engine optimization and lots of them, if like me, you are using Article Marketer for article submission.

BUT, did you know that article marketing provides the unique opportunity for a large amount of exposure to your websites by dominating the SERPS?!?!?

Doing comprehensive keyword research is crucial for the success of websites, not only for search engine optimization, but also to hone in on popular niches and what people are searching for. Website keywords play a crucial role in gaging demand and facilitating success in the Internet marketing world.

While, many of us spend a lot of time on keyword research for our websites, we do not always do the same for the articles we write, or we just use the same keywords for articles as for our websites. This is a big mistake!

First, if you are using the same keywords then you are basically competing against yourself. Second and most important, you are limiting your website exposure within search engine page results (SERPS), which should always be the goal of any search engine optimization campaign.

Article marketing provides the unique opportunity to be all over the SERPS by using different keywords for each article, and thereby giving searchers access to your sites from within the articles.

Website Keywords vs. Article Keywords

Website Keywords

For example, if my website’s MAIN KEYWORDS are: buy digital camcorders, cheap camcorders, used camcorders and I have correctly optimized my site for these keywords then my website will rank in the SERPS for these searches.

Article Keywords

Then, for all my articles, I will research additional keywords and find: how-to buy a camcorder, camcorder review, top digital camcorders, camcorder buying guide, etc… And I will use these to write articles.

Following this technique will give your website massive exposure and allow you to DOMINATE THE SERPS! The more articles with different keywords you write the more exposure to your website!

The Advantage of Using High Competition Keywords with Articles

I advise in, Step-by-Step Niche and Keyword Research, that you look for lower competition keywords, as this will help your websites to rank higher and faster. But, because many quality article sites, such as Ezine Articles, rank very high in search results, you can safely go to for the more popular/highly competitive keywords, like 1,000,000 plus competition, for your articles, because you will piggyback on the article sites ranking ability.

Keyword Optimizing Your Articles For Better Ranking

The same as with your websites, it is crucial to help the search engines to relate your articles with the keywords you want to rank for, remember, it is not humans who crawl the web, but algorithms.

1. Make your article title interesting, engaging and clickable but be sure to have the keywords in it.

2. 3-5% keyword density throughout the article body.

3. Use the keyword at least once in the first paragraph and the last paragraph.

4. If possible, bold the keyword, maybe once or twice (at most) within the article body.

Following such simple search engine optimization techniques will lead to great Internet marketing success for a long time to come and eternal SERP domination!!

What do you guys think? Are you writing articles? Are your articles all over the SERPS?

By, JR

I’ve written before about step-by-step niche research and the importance of choosing a niche you know and have interest in, along with other important guidelines.

Today I want to address the importance of the commissions you can earn with the niches you choose.

I was doing some marketing today and it reminded how much is involved in getting traffic, promoting websites and all of the tasks involved in Internet Marketing. Just building the niche website can be a huge task for those of us who are not pro web designers.

So here is a bit of advice, that may help some of you who are just starting out in affiliate marketing, or anyone looking to expand online campaigns.

When choosing a niche, consider the commissions you will receive from the affiliate programs that you will be participating in.

AN AFFILIATE MARKETING PAYOFF SCENARIO

Look at it this way, let’s say I build a website around some niche, and then I choose an affiliate program or two with products I will promote. My commission is 5% of each sale I make and that will equal about $5 per sale. Then I spend lots and lots of time and effort to promote my sites. Then some weeks later I start to get some good traffic, and then slowly sales trickle in, let’s say I get 5 sales a month, this means I earned $25. Now, I will be very excited at first since I did get sales, and in today’s competitive Internet market place THAT IS GREAT!

But, then I may look back at all the effort and wonder, $25??????? Is it worth it? Maybe in the long long run, when and if my site really hits big and there is a huge amount of converting traffic when I have 1,000 sales a month that brings in $5,000, but that could take some time.

Now, let’s say, my commissions averaged about $20 + dollars per sale, then 5 sales would give me $100, or $30 per sale, then I would have made $150 for those few sales! That is certainly a much better payoff and as more sales trickle in, is a much bigger motivator to keep going!

Now it is true that there are several ways to monetize websites besides affiliate links and products, like Adsense, Yahoo Ads, relevant banners, but these sources are not usually the greatest money makers, they are often supplemental money sources on a niche site, and really only pay off well once there is a lot of traffic coming in, which takes some time.

All I’m saying is that if you plan to sell golf balls, and make a few cents per sale, it may NOT be worth the effort! Maybe 7 years ago, small commissions were explosive, because the competition was so low that you could get all the traffic, but unfortunately, not anymore!

MAKE THE MOST YOU CAN FOR YOUR INTERNET AND AFFILIATE MARKETING EFFORTS!

When looking at commissions, remember there are lots of different affiliate programs and some may pay better than others for the same niche products/services, so be sure to do the research.

Commissions of the main affiliate products you will be promoting is just another factor to consider when choosing your niche, considering the amount of work involved in getting sales it’s a worthwhile consideration.

What do you guys think? Have you experienced this? Do you go for the big bucks? Is this a consideration in your niche decisions?

By, JR

I wanted to let you guys know about Google Insights, a new tool that gives online search trend information for niche and keyword research for Affiliate Marketing and niche website research.

Google Insights Offers Several Search Filters:

• Country/Region and Sub Regions, like US states
• Categories
• Time frames, like last 30 or 90 days, certain years

Niche Research Results:

Shows a graph of searches to see interest of the niche over time. Also shows trend and niche popularity results by US states!

I think the best data is the Top Searches and Rising Searches, which can give you ideas on the volume and therefore popularity of searches, as well as the searches that are rising.

By the way, this tool works with broad searches only, so no quotes or allintitle. It is more geared for general niche ideas and the trends of their popularity on the net.

Google Insights is not a tool that should replace your regular keyword research tools that give you more detailed information, such as number of searches BUT, it can be used to enhance your niche research and offer more insights into the trends of what people are searching for.