Keyword Research Advice

Hi
I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding keyword research. I know it's a very general question but how do YOU go about it? I'm looking at the gooogle keyword tool and it's good but I feel like a bit of a headless chicken.... like I'm not in any sort of rhythm. What keyword research tools do you guys use? Or what tools would you recommend? Any tips on when using the keyword research tools?

I know my question is a bit wishy washy (non specific) but that's where I am regarding keyword research. And I know it's a vital part of my campaign but I want to get it right.

Thanks

Definitely make use of the Google keyword tool. Enter 2-3 top level keywords that are most related to your site and the traffic you are after. Then, enter your site and see what Google comes up with, this will also give you an idea about how relevant your site is to the keywords you want to advertise on. Good to know for Quality Score!

Your can try some of the other keyword tools out there and competitor spy tools, like SpyFu, Keyword Spy, etc.

Aim to keep the scope of your campaign tight, you can always expand things as you go and as you see traffic trickling in.

Make use of excel and mash keywords together. Like "find+mortgage+brokers", "mortgage+brokers+cleveland", "local+mortgage+brokers". This is a manual process, but it'll be worth it.

Take a good amount of time to properly sort your keywords in to themes and groups that make sense. This helps when you create your ad text and helps maintain a relevance traffic process from keyword >> ad text >> landing page.

Also, create an extensive negative keyword list. The keywords you avoid are as important as the keywords you advertise on.

Maybe my head is where the sun does not shine, but..... with Google dominating search like she does... I would think that the Google keyword tool is linked to Google's success. Unless one is stupid, I think the one to rely upon above all others is the Google keyword tool. Use any other you want, but the gold standard is likely Google, i.e., Google wants to make money off of your keyword choices.

I often search for terms in "quotes" to help me see how many sites are physically targeting the term in question. This returns results that find the quoted search term on a website.

While there could be a valid argument that Google's Keyword Tool is linked to Google's success, I do think that some of the data is misleading and not always a great gauge for terms to go after. It is definitely a great asset (free mind you) to develop key term lists and expand on a core term.

Synonyms are also something to explore. Open up the trusty Microsoft Word and type in a term and go to Review > Thesaurus. This will help you find less competitive terms.

Lastly, use post data to determine the terms that are actually delivering traffic and build off of these terms. Develop content around the successful terms and try to maximize the traffic as much as you can. Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are good for seeing post data.

This is an excellent tip (post data) - it also means that you are more likely to be targeting terms which are actually related to your website/content, not trying to manipulate high traffic keywords into your content.

This is likely to improve user experience as well as bringing you a higher conversion/sales rate for your time and money invested.