1.: Finding related popular keywords, search phrases

This article will assume that the webmaster or SEO knows the sector, niche, theme, topic of the website that is being marketed online. Either because it is actually managed by the same entity, or because sessions with the owners, copywriters, present or future editors who have explained the area to the webmaster in detail. Should this not apply to you, the very first and most essential step is missing, as this is the foundation of any marketing effort. For those who have confidence in their understanding of the topic they're marketing, you may skip the first paragraph, or perhaps 1.1. in its whole, although you might get some ideas from the following points all the same.

1.1.: Start with what you know.

No matter how little knowledge one might have on a certain topic, the content that was made available by the website owner, and the content that is readily available - to study(!) - on the Internet by others are a good hint on what to read up on. Make sure to ask. The editors, writers, owners will most likely be more than glad to explain their area of expertise in detail, but in case their schedule prevents them from being available to you all the time, you can always turn to others who are well versed in the topic. Doing a search on Google much like any interested user would do will not only allow to get familiar with the terminology of the specific area, but also provide insight for what seems to be the norm in the depth and amount of related keywords and phrases on a website. ( see the paragraph 3.3. Summary - Expert. ) Identifying patterns of what words / synonyms were likely to be present along what the query was made for will soon give a lot of ideas for people's associations, thus more searches, which will result in more websites to look at and study. Another pattern that might be interesting is when certain resources seem to be ranked prominently across many related searches. Which in case of similarly built publications might be the sign of a poplar and/or well marketed website. Seemingly lower profile domains might also produce high positions, and such are more likely to be doing so because of their often revolutionary content, or simply their good choice of words. Even without any previous education or skills in the topic, one could quickly catch up with the basics.

Those who feel they're well informed, and use the proper terminology, a different danger is imminent, which is using the expert- the 'inner-circle' language of a certain area/industry, without taking into account the fact that the public at large might not be looking for their content using such queries. Which might not be a problem with certain academic or even business to business online publications, but would practically bar any eCommerce, informative, or generic purpose websites from ranking well in organic search. Not to mention their (lack of) relevance to the more widely user words would raise their costs when applying for AdWords as well.

Both for those who are just learning of the theme-specific terminology, and those who believe they have it mastered, visiting community and hobby websites and even forums created on the topic might be essential. The current wording and terminology the public uses might not be all that different from which is used within the 'trade' but even slight differences can see a huge difference in the number of searches made, not to mention, the price one would bid for a keyword when using paid advertising.

A simple to-do list for the initial keywords for anyone doing online marketing.
Mixing some of the obvious generic technics used in any kind of research, and some of the less obvious marketing tips for both beginners and experts.

- If the webmaster has had no interest in or knowledge of the topic, research is necessary
- Those who do other marketing work, writing or editing for the website can always help

- Do a search on Google, and read up on the topic
- Make sure you've studied it well by choosing more than a single resource
- Keep track of words that you often see accompanying your initial keywords
- Do some follow-up searches with the terminology you've seen
- Keep track of websites that seem to be considered the 'norm' as for being current in their wording
- This doesn't mean you should copy them, but to know of the standards. You may (need) to innovate

Additionally, some off-line tips.
Note that Google has done a lot of research, and while automating its actual ranking process, initially all of the sample data they use are people's opinions and knowledge of different topics. The automation doesn't replace basic principles of knowledge, but tries to track them without experts - people - having to go through all documents on the Internet. Thus it's a good idea to:

- Ask people who know the topic well about the current terminology used among experts
- In parallel, be sure to ask people with only casual interest
- Write down an initial set, based on your knowledge on the topic after all of this is done
- Read offline publications that are known to be authoritative on the topic ( books, magazines, newspapers )
- Pay attention to the language used in other off-line advertisements where applicable (TV/Radio)


1.2.: Prioritize keywords by intent

Based on the purpose of the website to be marketed, you'll need to prioritize by the assumed intent of people who use different search phrases for different aspects of the same theme. It is only logical to do so, for you will show your website's intentional use. Your initial set might contain a lot of keywords which while related to the topic, essentially carry a different message towards people and Google, because years of user behavior analysis shows that people were most pleased with the results if they were shown a certain type of websites for certain types of queries.

The most basic difference in user intents are, but not limited to:

- Commercial ( buy, sell, rent, lease... etc. )
- Informational ( generic or specific interest, nothing to indicate buying intent )
- News/Entertainment ( specific interest and search phrases, fresh, not commercial, neither academic )
- Social ( basically fits into Entertainment, but popularity is the main driving force )

- A mixture of such ( e.g.. commercial and informational: reviews for products, product specifications )

Based on what the website would stand for, you will be able to determine what keywords on your list match the intent of the users. A commercial site that does not indicate in its terminology that it is commercial, will see a huge competition among the academic sites which are much more likely to be popular among a larger audience. Also this same website will not compete at all in the commercial sector, for it simply lacks relevancy.

A very simple - and rather unlikely - example would be the presence or missing of the words buy / sell. If from nowhere else, at least from the page titles.

If a website with commercial intent does not include either or both words in its title, and/or on its page, and/or in the navigation, Google will unlikely be able to rank it for searches such as "buy [certain item]", while it will also be unable to match the link popularity of an informational website, and thus not able to rank for a query on just "[certain item]" either.

Even websites that would like to provide a blend of different content for different audiences will need to indicate which is which, and attract people for both with the right terminology.

As a reminder, the idea to rank well for any and all keywords related to the industry is while understandable, it is not too sympathetic to users or other webmasters, and recent / not so recent changes in ranking calculations will make it proportionately hard to do. In other words, choosing the proper keywords right up front requires much less effort, time and resources than trying to market a huge spectrum just because the website doesn't target its audience properly.


1.2.1.: Adjusting relevance on the go

For already established websites, webmasters can later fine tune the wording by looking at data Google itself sees, and makes available for them to study. Google Webmaster Tools provides top 20 statistics for both what the website would appear for in the search results ( things people search- and then site is displayed for ), and what phrases people use when they actually click on the site's listings ( when they not only see, but also, choose your site over the rest ). Also the data set is different for the different Google search platforms, vertical searches and regions, thus in effect provides hundreds if not thousands of analyzed keywords.

By matching up the data you'll learn when users are, and when they aren't finding your site to be a match for what they thought they were querying. Of course this is all based on the page title, and its description, however it can provide valuable clues on a badly targeted audience that is not interested in your services, products or information.

On the other hand, when a certain keyword isn't specifically targeted, yet it shows up in both the query list and the click through table ( likely at lower positions, yet prominent compared to other search phrases of better rankings ), it's probably a good idea to consider whether it is related, and if so, providing a separate section, rewording an existing section, or just including it as well in the navigation/title of the document.

Google Analytics and other website statistics available freely on the Internet may also be used in this regard. You will be able to track users after they have landed on your website, for example what keywords they used, what page they have landed on and whether they were satisfied with what they saw, how they proceeded from there, and see if they eventually ended up on the page that was designated to serve them the information they needed.

High bounce rates might indicate that while people thought your page would be what they were looking for, they were disappointed with the content and left immediately. Unless of course your page did serve its purpose in itself, in which case the Time Spent on the page will hold the answer.

Funnels might also prove to be informative - especially for eCommerce - as they show where people went within the site, and whether they gave up at some point or contributed to your conversion rate in a positive way. Setting up conversion goals in Google Analytics or tracking your sales back to the website statistics ( comparing the keywords used to find the site based on conversion rates ) can either compliment or criticize the way you've built the pages. In other words, whether it easy enough for users to find the specific information/products/services or whether they eventually gave up. Which also might be an indication of other problems in marketing ( like prices, services ) but that is another issue.

Related websites:

Google Webmaster Tools
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

Google Analytics
http://www.google.com/analytics/




Keyword popularity tools,
top searches in Google and major search engines

1.3.: Prioritize by popularity / competition
This is probably the part which is the hardest without insider knowledge of SEO / SEM and the industry. With a few exceptions, data by one needs to prioritize which of the many keywords are most popular is simply not at their disposal.

But since Google, and all major search engines are in fact interested in providing the proper marketing tools with their advertising services to help target specific audiences ( and also interested in helping webmasters with the best content to get listed in organic search ) many of such are available to do research on your topic. Some of this data can be used both for researching advertising keywords, and keywords used to optimize for organic search.

Important to note that most if not all of these tools use data that are slightly ( Google Trends ) or greatly ( Overture ) diluted with the queries made for researching keywords, and also, searches by SEOs checking the rankings of their websites. In popular areas this problem is much less prominent than in niches, where the competing websites are almost as numerous as the targeted audience. Depending on the popularity / projected ROI equation ( Return On Investment ) the 'noise' which the webmasters generate may skew the data so badly that any newcomer would think the industry is promising, while in fact the situation is the exact opposite. This affects micro and macro niches, very specific areas of interests only, where popularity is low, yet competition is high ( for example, very expensive services/products ).

Some of the tools will be more of an inspiration on doing additional research, considering additional closely related material that people would be looking for on your website, while others will help prioritize which of the keywords are most popular.

Also, never forget to check whether any of the keywords and phrases have any other meaning that is related to your theme, as trends, numbers and competition may be reflecting the 'other' topic in an uneven way