Hands-On Keyword Research, Strategy & Content Plans

1. Hands-On Keyword
Research, Strategy &
Content Plans
J. Aull | GSU

2. Hands-On Keyword Research,
Strategy & Content Plans
!
TOC:
1. Keywords & keyword phrases; The long & short tail of it all
2. It's not just about your brand name, & it's not just "software."
3. The best tools for keyword research
4. Hands-on keyword research
5. Fitting keywords to your marketing objectives & positioning
6. SEO strategy: What can you do, what can't you?
7. Creating a sitemap.xml file
8. What is SEO blogging & should I do it?
9. Content is king: Your overall digital content for SEO
10. Specifying your digital content assets
11. Content plan tactics, themes & schedules

3. Keywords & Phrases

4. Keywords & Recommendations
!

5. Keywords & Recommendations
! Even your search engine
gives you keyword
“recommendations.”
! Shorter keyword phrases
= “head” or short-tail
keywords.
! Everyone competes for
head words (& the biggest
websites with most traffic
or longest history win).
! So start niche; with “long-
tail” keyword phrases.

6. Niche or “long tail” keywords

7. 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.

8. 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 and your
business.
! (because you should
come up for your brand
name automatically)

9. Hands-on Keyword
Research & Tools

10. Easy research with KeywordSpy
!

11. Easy research with KeywordSpy
! 1 of many “spy” tools
! Analyze domain names
(URLs) or keywords
! Free, quick & easy
! Analyze both organic
(SEO) & paid (PPC)
! Also: keyword
recommendations
! BUT: different data than
Google – not as good.
! Other spy tools include:
SpyFu, SEMrush, MOZ,
iSpionage (can be seen
on SEO Book Tools)

12. Google Ads Keyword Planner
!

13. Google Ads Keyword Planner
!
Note keywords listed in
“Your product or service”
and “Targeting” set to
Atlanta, US.

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

15. Google Ads Keyword Planner
! 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.’

16. OR

17. Google Ads Keyword Planner
! 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.”

18. Google Ads Keyword Planner
! 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.

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

20. Google Ads Keyword Planner
! 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).

21. Fitting Keywords to your
Marketing Positioning

22. 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?

23. Marketing Strategy Questions
!
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:

24. Marketing Strategy Questions
! 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.

25. SEO (search engine
optimization) Strategy and
Social Media: What Can &
Can’t You Do?

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Google Tools
Jake Aull | Zen Fires Web Marketing | Websites & SEO | Social Media & Branding
404.259.5550 | ZenFires.com | jake@zenfires.com | @jakeaull

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

30. Overview of Google Search Console
(after code snippet is installed within your home page code & verified)
!
Google Search Console is an additional tool to tell you more important data, from an SEO perspective,
about your site. Such as crawl errors, sitemap.xml file recognition, 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).

31. Content Strategy & SEO
Process
Jake Aull | Zen Fires Digital Marketing | SEO & Websites | Social Media & Branding
404.259.5550 | ZenFires.com | jake@zenfires.com | @jakeaull

32. The importance of good Keyword drivers
• Good copywriting is vital – and can be used in conjunction
with good keywords!
• Copywriting can be built on primary keywords for a
page/post.
• Find the junction of readability, SEO, copy hooks and
website usability
• Link bait:
• Good writing intrigues readers
to read on and share your link
• CTAs:
• You need good calls-to-action –
ensure your reader takes the next step
and links to where you drive them!

33. ! Web page titles and relevant copy (semantic content)
! You can search for your blog phrase in search engine…
! Web writing with keywords
! Writing for audience or writing for search engines?
! Tone and positiveness
! No stealth blogging
! Target 500 words/page or post (minimum 350)
! Clickstream and customer journey
! Why Blog?
! “Blogging” for both search engines and purchase decisions
! Social media content and relevance
Writing & Keywords

34. SEO Web Page Plan

35. Example: Meta Description
Zen Fires Digital Marketing | jake@zenfires.com

37. Where to Get Content?
Identifying Your Digital
Content Assets

38. Brandname (or Keyword) Search via
SocialMention.com

39. What are your digital properties?
!

40. Where to Get Inspiration?
Content Curation

42. SEO Strategies for Content Generation
! What is Content Curation & How does it help?
! Rationale and Strategies for Content Curation
! Blogging and inspiration
! Press Releases
! Social sharing
! Traditional channels:
! RSS
! Digg
! Paper.li
! RebelMouse
! Reblog

43. SEO Strategies for Content Generation

44. Blog Search via Digg.com

45. More Blog Search Resources
! Google blog search
http://www.google.com/blogsearch
! Sphinn
! Technorati
! Also search trade pubs and forum activity

46. Content Subscription Channel Reddit

47. Additional Bookmarking Resources
! Xmarks
! Google Bookmarks
! Bit.ly

48. Content Aggregator Paper.li

49. Paper.li

50. RSS Reader NetVibes.com

51. RSS Reader NetVibes.com

52. SEO Blog/Content Plan

53. Sample Blog/Social Media Content Plan
CALENDAR - TACTICS (LIST SPECIFIC CHANNELS/SITES; BELOW ARE EXAMPLES ONLY):
Hours Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Blogging
Social Sharing
PR/Press Releases
Bookmarking/Backlinks
Content Curation/Research
Online Video
Photo sharing/Google Images
Mobile/Local/Directories (Yelp/YP/Maps)
Advertising
Website revisions
e-newsletter
Search Engine Tools monitoring/tweaking

54. Review

55. Hands-On Keyword Research,
Strategy & Content Plans
!
Review:
1. Keywords & keyword phrases; The long & short tail of it all
2. It's not just about your brand name, & it's not just "software."
3. The best tools for keyword research
4. Hands-on keyword research
5. Fitting keywords to your marketing objectives & positioning
6. SEO strategy: What can you do, what can't you?
7. Using Google Search Console (webmaster tools)
8. What is SEO blogging & should I do it?
9. Content is king: Your overall digital content for SEO
10. Specifying your digital content assets
11. Content plan tactics, themes & schedules

56. Thank You!
J. Aull | GSU