keyword research & website analysis

Keyword & Website Analysis

(Plus, you might find a thing or two to improve your website.)

Who is Chris Wechner?

• B.S. Math from Western Michigan University• Understands Analyzing and Selling– Several Analytical Positions: Quality Control, Data

Analysis, and Insurance Underwriting– Retail Sales Positions: earned top sales honors in a

couple of them• Advises and Consults Business Owners• Internet Marketing since June 2009: Mark

Maupin, Darnell Tolbert, Diana Masuoka, David Pifer, Ardis Barnes, several other sources.

Disclaimer

• I will do my best to tell you the facts; however,• Everything I tell you is MY OPINION—not

Wayne County Community College’s!– Nobody (outside of Google) really knows Google’s

algorithm– We can only make observations and connect

patterns to our best ability• Listen to everyone’s thoughts• Make your own decisions.

Quick “Facts” about the Internet

These statistics keep changing, but roughly• About 80% of People Trust Organic (Free) Search

Results over Sponsored (Paid) Results• Between 60% and 80% of people use Google• Less than 90% of people see anything past Page 1 of

Google (or any other search engine)• Nearly 40% only select THE TOP POSITION• Nearly 60% never get past Positions 1-3

Orgainic (Free) Search Results

Sponsored (Not Free) Results

About 3/5 of all people click on one of these TOP 3 Search Results—Where YOU want to be!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)– Nothing more than “optimizing” your situation to

get noticed by the Search Engines (like Google)

– Goal: Doing things to get HIGHER rankings in the Search Results (Position #1 vs. Position #101)

{Doing the BEST you can to get as HIGH as you can.}

Internet Marketing vs. Website Design

• Internet Marketing (Online but Off-Site)– Site Traffic Generation– Company Branding– Website Positioning: Attracting Search Engines

(Off-Site SEO)

• Website Design (On-Site)– Appearance– Functionality– Copy: Prompt Targeted Action (sale, lead, call, sign, etc.)– Website Positioning: Attracting Search Engines

(On-Site SEO)

Keyword (Phrase) Analysis

Finding and Evaluating Keywords

Keywords: Quickly Explained

• Keywords (or Keyword Phrases) are words that you use to find whatever you want on the Internet.

• Keywords might have– Just one (1) word, or– They can have MORE than one (1) word—no limit.

Example: Keyword (Phrase) Search Term:internet marketing michigan

Internet Searcher Types

• Entertainment: – Motivation: They come to play on the Internet or simply

to “surf the web.”

• Informational: – Motivation: They came to get information, either specific

or general.

• Preparatory:– Motivation: Gathering information for eventual purchase

• Commercial (or Transactional): – Motivation: These people are here to buy NOW!

Searcher Type: Market Approach

• Entertainment and Informational: – Maybe get an impulse purchase—tough to predict.– Perfect for Branding—plant a seed for later.

• Preparatory: (Eventual Buyers)– This is for relationship/trust building sales. – Branding can be done here since they are “looking.”

• Commercial: (Buying NOW)– One time sales; ONE shot at these folks, usually. Need to

make an immediate impact.

Searcher Type: Keywords They Use

• Entertainment and Informational: – Very general, non-specific words– Examples: movies, history, board games, cars

• Preparatory: (Eventual Buyers)– Words have more description WITHOUT implied action– Examples: cars with best resale value,

best board games to play, neat historical places to visit

• Commercial: (Buying NOW)– Words are descriptive with IMPLIED BUYING ACTION– Examples: purchase model cars, buy online games, Southfield

Hilton reservations, nikon coolpix S8000 for sale

Keywords: How People Search

• Keywords: If you do not understand THESE, you DO NOT understand your market.

• Goals (for Internet Sellers)– Want to go where people are going– Want to go where those people are spending money– Want to be in a location these people will see you– Want to be where competition is limited

• Strategy: You need to provide good…– Keywords (Categories) so that the computer finds you– Content for PEOPLE so that they read your page

Suggestion: Website Keywords

• MAIN Keyword(s) should be on website home page.• Related Keywords should also be on website: – SIMILAR WORDING (Variants)

Examples: movie/movies, buy/bought, auto/automobile, etc.

– WORD ASSOCIATION: different keywords that you’d expect to see within a website covering this topic Example: Main Keyword-luxury carRelated Keywords: luxury auto, high end auto, Lexus, Mercedes, wheels, engine, leather interior seats, car alarm

Keywords: Ways to Find Them

• Top Competitors (of your keyword search phrase)– Titles, Headings, and Categories (that you see on their pages)– Meta Keywords

• Google– Searches related to…: Check on the bottom of your search– Suggest: See what Google suggests when you type (dropdown)– Wonderwheel: This tool lets you branch from its related category– AdWords Keyword Tool: This will provide plenty of keyword ideas

• Basic Brainstorming– Company: Name, Owner, Management– Products/Services, Components/Ingredients– Suppliers, Customers– Problems Creating Demand

• Let’s check the Top Competitor

Example: Checking Top Competitor

Check Categories and Anchor Text

• Categories/Pages: – Thanksgiving, Quick & Easy, Healthy Eating, etc.

• Anchor Text– Easiest Thanksgiving Stuffing, Apple Crisp, Homemade Pumpkin Pie, etc.

Checking Meta Keywords:Getting to the Source Code

• Internet Explorer– Hit the “Alt” button once (for the Menu bar to show)– Select View Source

• Mozilla Firefox– Without SEO Quake: Select View Page Source (or type Ctrl-U)

• Google Chrome– Click on the Picture of a Wrench (on the upper-right corner of the

screen)– Select Tools View Source

• SEO Quake (with Firefox)– Click on “Info” in the upper-left corner of the screen

Checking Meta Keywords:Searching within the Source Code

• All Browsers without SEO Quake– Hit Ctrl-F (to activate the “Find” command)– Type “name='keywords' “ into the find box

(If there is an error = There are no meta keywords!)– Potential Keywords are within the “quotes”

• SEO Quake (with Firefox)– Look at “Meta Keywords” in the top section– If that section is blank, then there are no keywords

Source Code: Meta Keywords

• See the “Find” Area at the bottom (could be a Pop-up window)• See the Highlighed area to match the Find Search• Meta Keywords = words within Quotes (“”) after “content =“

cccc

Source Code: NO Meta Keywords

• See the “Find” Area at the bottom (could be a Pop-up window)• See the RED Highlighed area within the Find Search Box?• This means there ARE NO Meta Keywords!!!

Source Code: Meta Keywords(with SEO Quake)

• See the “Meta Keywords” Area• Those are the Meta Keywords

Finding Keywords: Using Google

• Let’s take a quick look at these Google Tools…• Searches related to…:

– Check on the bottom of your search

• Suggest:– See what Google suggests when you type (dropdown)

• Wonderwheel:– This tool lets you branch from its related category

• AdWords Keyword Tool:– This will provide plenty of keyword ideas

Example: Google Searches Related to

• At the BOTTOM of your search, you will see Google list searches that are related to your search (“Searches related to cooking”)—just in case you did not find what you needed.

Example: Google Suggest

• As you type, notice how Google literally suggests different possible topics. Not only does this make it easier to type, it also tells you which topics are chosen most often.

Example: Google Wonderwheel

Example: Google Keyword Tool

• In this example, “cooking” is the search term.• See the different but similar terms beneath it.

(You can see up to 100 terms without having a Google AdWords account.)

Traits of Ideal Buying Keywords

• High Search Count– Many people are visiting (searching for that phrase)

• High Online Commercial Intent– Many of these people are BUYING

• Low Competition Amount (nearly non-competitive)– These people here have relatively few choices

• Even or Upward Trend– The market is (probably) not shrinking

• Competitive Vulnerability– You can (possibly) overtake your competition

Keywords: High Search Count

• You will not get the exact number of people searching. Every number you get is an estimate.

• Speaker’s Opinion: Best Estimate is found on the Google AdWords Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

• Search Quantity Limit depends upon what you are selling:Smaller Sales Price Higher Search Count


• Notice how this gives you– LOTS of possible Keywords– Estimated Search Count

NOTE: Local Monthly Searches are US; Global is the Entire World

Keywords:High Commercial Intent (OCI)

• Microsoft Online Commercial Intent Tool adlab.microsoft.com/Online-Commercial-intentionGoal: Want High Online Commercial Intent

• Micro Niche Finder (Not Free)Checks OCI for many keywords at one time

• Qualitative Methods• Currently, the above-mentioned Microsoft OCI

Tool website is NOT working.• Regardless, it never hurts to use common sense.

Example: OCI Tool

• For this phrase (“seo services” in this example), the probability that someone types in this keyword phrase for the purpose of buying something is 0.94, or 94% chance that person is buying.

Keywords: Indicate Buying Interest

• Specific Description Words– Colors– Model Makes & Product Numbers– Sizes

• General Buying Words– Buy, For Sale, Purchase, Get– Deals, On Sale, Sales, Discount

• Tip: The more Descriptive the keyword (phrase), the more likely they are looking to buy.

• BONUS TIP: Check “Competition” within the Google AdWords Keyword Tool…No (AdWords) Competition = Nobody Buying


• More GREEN = Higher Competition(More WHITE = Lower Competition)– More Pay Per Click-PPC (Sponsored) Advertisers want this– People will not pay where there are not any buyers– Probably a good “Buying” phrase

Keywords: Competition Level

• Lower Competition means that it is easier to compete and cheaper to “win.”– Competition Quantity: How MANY sites are

competing with your site for that keyword?– Competitive Vulnerability: How good is the

competition on Page 1, especially the top few spots?

Keywords: Competition Quantity

• Exact Search (only includes ENTIRE phrase)• Google Modifiers– inTitle: Some of the Keyword is in the Title– allinTitle: ALL of the Keyword is in the Title– inAnchor: Some of the Keyword is in Anchor Text– allinAnchor: All of the Keyword is in Anchor Text– allinURL: All of the Keyword is in the URL

• Note: The “All” portion does not require that the words be in the same order or connected.

• The keyword (phrase) is in Quotes (“”)

• Notice how the ENTIRE phase “exact search count” is CONNECTED. The MUST be TOGETHER!

• This could be either in the– Body Text– Page Title– Page Header

Example: Exact Search

• The keyword is NOT in Quotes (“”)

• This just needs to contain “exact” OR “search” OR “count”—NOT all three words.

• These in the Title or anywhere else on that page.

Compare: Regular (Broad) Search

• This checks each Page Title ONLY.

• The page just needs to contain “exact” OR “search” OR “count”—NOT all three words.

Example: inTitle

• This checks each Page Title ONLY.

• The page MUST contain ALL “exact”, “search”, AND “count”—NOT just one or more.

• BUT they do NOT need to be connected.

Example: allinTitle

• The text anchoring a backlink (the anchor text) just needs to contain “exact” OR “search” OR “count”—NOT all three words.

Example: inAnchor

• To see…Let’s check the 1st search result.

Example: inAnchor (Cont’d)

• “Google Search Engine” contains “search” AND “engine” (although NOT “count”)

• This link could take you to– Another Page within the website– An Entirely Different Website

• The text anchoring a backlink (the anchor text) MUST contain ALL “exact”, “search”, AND “count”—NOT just one or more.

Example: allinAnchor

• To see…Let’s check the 1st search result.

Example: allinAnchor (Cont’d)

• This phrase contains “exact” AND “search” AND “count”—They do not have to be in order

• This link could take you to– Another Page within the website– An Entirely Different Website

• This checks each URL ONLY.

• The URL MUST contain ALL “exact”, “search”, AND “count”—NOT just one or more.

• BUT they do NOT need to be connected.

Example: allinURL

Competition Quantity: Rough Guide

Modifier Low (Less Than) High (More Than)

Exact Search Count 10,000 30,000

inTitle 5,000 20,000

allinTitle 500 5,000

inAnchor 20,000 1,000,000

allinAnchor 2,000 10,000

allinURL 500 2,000

Note: This is not any sort of official guideline. It serves as a rough estimate based upon the speaker’s experience to this point.

Keywords: Competitive Vulnerability

• Goal: Find whether the Top Competitors(Page 1, especially Positions 1-3) will be truly difficult to overcome.

• Toughest to Overcome– Targeted Title & URL– Backlink Count to Site (BLS) is high.–>10,000 is treated like an “authority” site

– Backlink Count (BL) has several links to it.–Higher BLS Lower BL Needed to get a good

search ranking

More on Competitive Vulnerability

• Toughest to Overcome (Cont’d)– Domain Type– .com & .org (.net is right behind those)

– Domain Age–4 Years or Older

– TIP: Traffic Travis is a good tool to check BL/BLS and Age(Free Download at www.TrafficTravis.com)

Keywords: Analyze Competition

• All are Targeted to Keyword• All have a lot of Backlinks (High BL)• All are part of much bigger sites (High BLS)• All Have Older Domains (>3 Years)


• Few are Targeted to Keyword• None have any Backlinks (BL=0)• Most are part of much bigger sites (High BLS)• Few Have Older Domains (>3 Years)


• All are Targeted to Keyword (in URL, not Title)• Most have few Backlinks, if any (Low BL)• Most are part of much bigger sites (High BLS)• A Few Have Older Domains (>3 Years)


• Several are Targeted to Keyword• Most have few Backlinks, if any (Low BL)• All are part of much bigger sites (High BLS)• Several Have Older Domains (>3 Years)

Keywords: Categories for Site

• Main Keyword: This answers the question, “What is the PURPOSE of my site?”

• Secondary Keywords: These are major categories of the Main Keyword.

• Supporting Keywords: These are words that relate to Main and Secondary Keywords, but you are not necessarily trying to earn a high search ranking result with these.

Keywords: Grouping Organization

• Goal #1: Make your content good for PEOPLE FIRST. Then adjust your content for GOOGLE.

• (You want people to FIND you AND STAY!)• Goal #2: Keywords– Main Keyword: have a lot of buying traffic

with a reasonable level of competition– Secondary Keyword: act as a category and have a lot of

any type of traffic with low competition– Supporting Keywords: Do not pay attention to Search

Count or Competition Level: support only

Example: Grouping Organization

Cooking

Cooking Breakfast Appetizer Cooking Dessert Cooking

Cooking Breakfast Eggs

Cooking Breakfast Pancakes

Cooking Breakfast with Fruits

Scrambled Eggs, Eggs Over Easy, Bacon, Egg and Sausage Muffin,

Runny Yoke, Corned Beef and

Hash

Blueberry Pancakes,

Pancake Batter, Spatula, Maple

Syrup

Knife Sharpener, Sliced

Strawberries, Blueberries, Kiwi

Peeler, Fruit Storage

Container

Keywords: Even or Upward Trend

• Goal: You want to make sure that you do not depend upon a negative trend—especially for your main and secondary keywords.

• 3 Free Google Resources– Google AdWords Keyword Tool

• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

– Google Trends• www.google.com/trends

– Google Insights• www.google.com/insights/search

• You can see the general trend with this tool.

• Also, you can compare the trends of more than one term.

Example: Google Trends


• Notice how this gives you the general trend direction for each keyword (phrase).

Example: Google Insights

• You need to adjust to– An appropriate Region (to United States, Michigan, etc.)– A shorter timeframe (2004 – Current is the default)

Website Analysis

Finding Ways to ImproveOn-Site Optimization

Website Analysis: Purpose

• There are two (2) major reasons to analyze a website:

1.Improve YOUR Website2.Identify Weak Competition

Website Analysis: Items to Check

• Title Tags– Contain 1 or More Keyword Phrases– Ideal Length = 60 to 70 characters

• URL– Keyword (Phrase) contained within URL?– Is it connected or scattered?– Is it part of the Main Domain? How far from there is it?

• Meta Description– Not considered by search engines– However, people see this for your site’s description. Have

your keywords in place for the user to see.

More Items to Check

• Meta Keywords– Might not make a big difference but easy to change!

• H1 Headings– Are there any?– Do they have relevant keywords within them?

• H2 & H3 Headings– These MIGHT help your search ranking.– They DEFINITELY will help your reader, making him/her

more likely to stay on your site to read it.

Example: H1, H2, & H3 Headers

• H1 Headers DEFINITELY NEED Keywords• H2 & H3 Headers probably do, also.

Even MORE Items to Check

• Images• Are there any?• Do they have ALT Tags? If so, do they have keywords?• Do the image filenames have keywords?• Are they Flash? (Flash is bad for us.)

• Text• Are there keywords? First paragraph (50 words)?• Do the keywords flow within the content, or does it

seem overused and possibly spammy?• Are the keywords spread or clustered?• Any of the Keywords have BOLD or Italics?

The Checking Fun Continues

• Anchor Text– Is there any?– If so, do they contain keywords?– Are any in BOLD or Italics?

• Additional Pages– Are there any?– Are they related?– Page optimized? Good title? Keywords in Headers?– Are they easy to navigate (or even find)?– Are all of the pages indexed?

Example: Checking Page Indexing

• To see whether a site is indexed, use the “site:” operator with the website URL.

• If there is, at least, one (1) site, that page is INDEXED.

Example: Page Not Indexed

• Notice how it tells you that your site does not match any documents in that search engine.

• This means that particular page is NOT INDEXED.

The Fun Might NEVER End

• Internal Links– Are they any?– Is the anchor text usage appropriate?– Are any in BOLD or Italics?

• Outgoing Links– Are they related to the topic?– Is the anchor text always related to the topic?– Are there too many links?

• Site Map– Is there one?

Example #1: Site Map (Informal)

• Unofficial Site Map, but it lists the categories clearly.• Site crawlers can easily find the other pages on this

website.

Example #2: Site Map (Formal)

• This has a link to a Site Map.• Notice how the Site Map is not visually appealing to

OUR eyes, but it looks great to the crawlers.

Website Analysis: Good Resources

• Traffic Travis-Page Analysis– www.TrafficTravis.com (Free Download)– Keyword to Website “Grade” (A-D)– Not Overly Technical but specific to Keyword– Can check several websites and keywords at one time.

• Website Grader– www.WebsiteGrader.com (Free Website)– Overall Website “Score” (0-100)– More Technical but not specific to Keyword

• Neither will give you a perfect analysis, but you can get some ideas by using these.

Website Analysis: Traffic Travis

• You can check several websites against multiple keywords at one time.

• You see the summary page, showing the grade for each website-keyword combination.


• This site gives a Grade for the Page against the Keyword.

• You see the beginning of the report.


• Notice that this identifies more areas that, it thinks, could use improvement.

Website Analysis: WebsiteGrader.com

• You see the beginning of the report.• This site gives a Score for the Page and other

rankings.


• Here are a few of the sections that it checks.


• Like Traffic Travis, WebsiteGrader.com provides suggestions to improve your site.


• This gives a quick score summary at the end of the report.

Keeping My Promise

It’s time for me to share!

Drawing: Keeping My Promise

• Let’s analyze someone’s site—LIVE.• We need a VOLUNTEER with a….– Website– Targeted Keyword (Phrase)

Drawing: Keeping My Other Promise

• FREE Website Analysis—3 Prizes Tonight– Value: $50 - $125

• FREE Consulting Session—2 Prizes– 60 Minutes– Value: $140

• FREE Beginners’ Workshop—1 Prize– 8 Sessions, 16 Hours– Value: $800

Contact Info: Chris Wechner

Chris Wechner (WEK-nuhr)(248) [email protected]

keyword research & website analysis

Education