google adwords keyword research & seo tools setups

Hands-On Keyword Research, SEO Strategy & Tools Setups !  Items Covered: •  Keywords & keyword phrases; Strategies for what’s best •  Tools for keyword research •  Google Trends, AdWords & setups •  Hands-on keyword research options •  SEMrush for keyword research •  Using Bing Webmaster Tools •  Other Google Tools (Analytics, Search Console) •  Creating a sitemap.xml file •  Canonicalization for preferred domain name

Keywords & Phrases


Niche or “long tail” keywords

!  Keyword search results (&

search engine recommendations) are served based on:

!  Search history, cookies, sign-in info, location, context/semantics, etc.

!  And Bing has access to different personal history/data than Google.

Niche or “long tail” keywords

!  The big question is: What

problem is your audience searching online that your product solves?

!  So build your content starting from the long-tail keywords that are easier to compete for, and that you know represent your audience, your business and target location.

!  (because you should come up for your brand name automatically)

Hands-on Keyword Research & Tools


Google Tools & Setups

Google AdWords Account Setup

! 

As shown here, even in beginning to setup an AdWords “campaign,” before completion & prior to purchase, it still provides some keyword search volume data (however, other screens provide more holistic data).

Google AdWords Account Setup

! 

As shown here, once an AdWords campaign is setup (in this case I have setup a low-budget testing paid ad account; however that is not always required), the keyword research options we want (for both SEO &/or ads) are made available.

Google Trends for keyword research

!  As shown here, regardless of AdWords or KeywordPlanner accounts status, we can do valuable keyword research in Google Trends (google.com/trends). We can set time period of search volume & interest (up to 5 years), segment by regions & subregions, & get data on rise/fall & even calculate search volume. & get good keyword suggestions from Google.

Full Google AdWords KeywordPlanner keyword research

! When a Google AdWords account is properly or fully setup, the following options should be made available.

Google AdWords Keyword Planner

! 


! 

Note keywords listed in “Your product or service” and “Targeting” set to Atlanta, US.


! 

After clicking “Get Ideas,” then this data appears. I typically go straight to “Keyword Ideas” (right tab).


!  To see the keyword ideas’ results, I go to my browser menu and view no “Toolbars” (navigation, bookmark, SEO Book, etc.), as shown. Note the search volume results. Note I can click “Add All” (top right tab) to save to my “plan.” Beside that, I click “Download” to save my results as an Excel .csv file. I can also now re-sort data by clicking “Avg. Monthly searches,” or other options. I can also re-test specific keyword phrases that have appeared from the mix such as ‘garden inspiration.’


!  After previous research to start new keyword research, go to top menu and select “Tools” and “Keyword Planner.” Or select the button to the right for “Search for Keywords.”


!  Many of the settings there exist for Google to promote advertising; since we’re not advertising, we can ignore them to get raw keyword search results.


!  Next, we can temporarily ignore the “Ad Group Ideas” to click on “Keyword Ideas.”


!  Once we get the keyword data we want, we can export, open in Excel, re-sort data based on search volume or anything we wish. (Note that Google’s data itself gives us options to re-sort data based on criteria; it defaults to sorting by keyword relevance).

Other Tools for Keyword Research


SEMrush.com allows keyword & competitive website keyword analysis. It shows keyword competition (low is good), search volume (high is good) & CPC (estimated cost per click; low is good for ads, high is good for SEO where you’re not paying for it).

!  When you build your website, or add pages, or whenever you desire a Google “boost,” generate a sitemap.xml file. Then upload it on your server. And notify/submit to Google in Search Console. Xml-sitemaps.com is one option as a free sitemap file generator (it reads your live website).

Bing Webmaster Tools for Keyword Research (when a Bing Webmaster Tools account is setup properly)

! 

•  To setup website SEO, both Google & Bing Webmaster Tools are important.

•  For Webmaster Tools on a Wordpress website with Yoast SEO plugin installed, you can insert both Google & Bing verification code snippets as shown in the “Dashboard” tab for “Webmaster Tools.”

•  Note that Yandex is Russia’s search engine, & happens to be (give or take) the 4th largest in the world.

•  However unless the website is global, there is little need to optimize for Yandex.

Bing Webmaster Tools for SEO &/or Keyword Research

! 

•  When you setup a Bing Webmaster Tools account, you can do so either for client website SEO, &/or for keyword research.

•  Bing Webmaster Tools can be started with a Yahoo! or MSN.com email address account.

•  Note that if setting up client SEO, add the sitemap file (should be at example.com/sitemap.xml), & check that you are “an agency, not a site owner.”


! 

•  When you setup a Bing Webmaster Tools account for website SEO purposes, it will provide you a code snippet, which you will want to integrate with your site.

•  Similar to Google Analytics or Search Console, Bing provides a few options for website code validation.


! 

•  To setup website SEO, both Google & Bing Webmaster Tools are important.

•  For Webmaster Tools on a Wordpress website with Yoast SEO plugin installed, you can insert both Google & Bing verification code snippets as shown in the “Dashboard” tab for “Webmaster Tools.”

•  Note that Yandex is Russia’s search engine, & happens to be (give or take) the 4th largest in the world.

•  However unless the website is global, there is little need to optimize for Yandex.

Other Google Tools for SEO


Google Analytics Dashboard Overview (after Google Analytics code snippet is installed within your home page code & verified)


Overview of Google Search Console (after code snippet is installed within your home page code & verified)

! 

Google Search Console is an additional tool to identify important data, from an SEO perspective, about your site. Such as crawl errors, sitemap.xml file recognition, preferred domain name for canonicalization, keywords people click on to access your website, etc. If you are actively doing SEO for your website, you want to use Search Console. (Note that Bing’s comparable tool is Bing Webmaster).

Sitemap.xml Files


Generating Sitemap Files


More vital SEO points – These are NOT all the same: ! 

It’s called “canonicalization” – you want it set correctly for your website and entered into Google Search Console.

Fitting Keywords to your Marketing Positioning


Marketing Strategy Questions

! You know your target audience – or do you?

! Your existing primary customer base may not be your best target for new online searches.

! So who doesn’t know you but is searching online for the problem you solve?


!  Primary Online Target Audience (new searchers):

Target definition: Target characteristics:

Current Target Behavior: When & where for online search:

Secondary Online Target Audience:

Target definition: Target characteristics: When & where for online search:

Marketing Objectives: Drivers/Problem (the “why”): Primary Message (USP): Key Selling Points:


! Now… Get your mind OFF your company. ! Using what you’ve identified about your primary online target: ! What words would they search for?

!  (&/or ask your friends, customers, etc.) ! Now create a list and use that as a starting point to do your

keyword research based on.

SEO Strategy: What Can & Can’t You Do?


SEO Strategy: What Can & Can’t You Do? ! Watch your online reputation (reviews and responses). ! Watch your “page not found” errors. ! Ensure no duplicate content. ! Want new customers? Use keywords relevant to them. ! Want more retention? Keep using social media, and new

product offerings keywords, to come up for existing customers.

! Want to be known as the “experts?” Create expert-level content (videos, white papers) and make available to Google.

SEO Strategy: What Can & Can’t You Do? ! More tech/programming savvy? Rely on your developer for SEO

code implementations ! More content generators? (copywriters, social media posters,

videographers). Integrate keywords into content – and output online content all the time (just not duplicate).

! More PR? Integrate keywords into press releases along with backlinks to your website.

! More presentation/event based? Create videos of events, upload to YouTube and website & ensure events have backlinks to your website.

! More email marketing? Integrate keywords and post newsletters to your website to come up in Google and email newsletter backlinks to specific pages of your website.

! DO NOT resort to black-hat SEO tricks to hurt other websites and attempt to boost your own.

Thank You!


google adwords keyword research & seo tools setups

Business