Thoughts on Keyword Research

I could get lost in keyword research all day. One word leads to another word, which leads to another word…… You get the point.

Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I love digging through knew niches and discovering new keywords. Not knowing whether a keyword will be profitable is like gambling to me—addicting.

Over the past few years, I’ve read numerous articles, blog posts, ebooks and tutorials about keyword research to see what type of approach different Internet marketers take. When I pulled up the Mastering the Keyword Research Process tutorial, I honestly didn’t think I would learn a thing. (I read about the Alphabet Soup Method a long time ago. It’s unique, but I had already read about it.)

I was wrong. (Lesson #1 - Don't be an arrogant ass.)

While I only took away two new concepts from the tutorial, (Lesson #1 excluded) it was well worth the read. (I knew there was a reason I promised myself I’d start from scratch and re-learn it all.)

First of all, I have to say that while I have read about the Alphabet Soup Method of keyword research, I didn’t remember the part about putting the letter at the beginning of your broad keyword. This simple concept will open up many new keywords for me to explore. (Thank you Kyle)

The second thing I that I learned is probably the most important. It’s more of a “way of thinking” than it is a process to follow. Like I said, I’ve read a lot of guides about keyword research and I have never heard an Internet marketing guru tell you to consider keywords that have at least 50 searches per month. (Only 50!?!?!)

I thought it was a typo. (After all, I’ve already spotted a couple—I’m a writer, it’s in my nature to proofread anything I read) Then, I went to the next page and I saw the number again.

I was just about to send Kyle a private message and ask him why he was recommending keywords with such a low search volume, when I flipped to the next page and he explained it. (The fact that Kyle and Carson know what questions I’ll have before I even begin to read the tutorials is something I love about this website.)

Kyle suggested that people look at keywords with low search volume because every click counts. He explained that it’s better to have a site ranked on page one for a keyword that has only 50 average searches per month, than it is to have a site ranked on page three for a search that has over 10,000 searches per month. He said that if you have 50 small websites ranking on page one, for a term with only 50 average monthly searches, then you’re looking at 500 possible clicks per month.

Simple math. That works for me.

Now I’m revising my plan. I’m still going to work on my 4 authority sites, I’m still going to explore the keywords in the smaller niches that I’ve been researching. But, I’m going to go back and find some of the keywords that other marketers ignore and see how well they perform.

Of course, I’ll share anything that I learn. :)

Does anyone have any thoughts on this concept?

Oh, there’s one more thing I’m trying to determine that involves keywords. I already have a few opinions, but I would love to hear from more people.

If you come across a keyword that has a good amount of searches and a low QSR, but it’s grammatically incorrect can you alter the keyword and still rank for the grammatically incorrect version? For example, if my keyword was “Things Do San Francisco,” could I change it to “Things to do in San Francisco” and still rank for “Things Do San Francisco?”