Mastering Keyword Research and SEO Competition
Today, I thought I’d mix it up a bit and publish a video post. I really enjoy doing them, especially when I get to use my “electronic whiteboard”, as you’ll see.
In this 10 minute video, I talk about how I do keyword research when it comes to the blog posts that I write, the articles that I submit to article sites, and selecting potential profitable niche sites. I also show you exactly how I do a bit of SEO “espionage” to scope out exactly what I have to do to out rank my competition.
I’ve included a rough transcription below the video for your convenience.
(Watch Mastering Keyword Research and SEO on YouTube)
Market Samurai Free Trial: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/market-samurai
Transcription:
[Intro]
Hey everybody! What’s up?! This is Pat Flynn from the Smart Passive Income Blog.
Today I’m going to be talking about something really important for your blog or online business, and that is keyword research.
Whether you’re doing keywords research on your own using tools like the Google Keyword tool from Adwords, or you’re hiring out someone else to do it for you, you have to understand what the number one goal is behind all keyword research, and that’s to rank on the first page of Google. That’s what really matters.
If you’re on the second page, you might as well be on the 30th page, because everything happens on the first page. It’s super, super, super important that you understand this, because that’s your goal. So, whenever you’re doing keyword research, which I’m going to show you how to do in certain ways in a second, you gotta analyze who is on the first page and know how to beat them.
Now this goes if you’re going to write blog posts, and you’re looking for keywords for your blog posts. Or, if you’re looking to get into new niches, for niche sites. And, if you’re doing articles like on eHow, or Infobarrel, or Squidoo, or Hubpages, or whatever…
You want to be on that first page. That’s where all the money is – that’s where the traffic is. If you’re on a blog, that’s where the subscribers are, your rss readers – everything.
So, if you’re doing any of these things (blog posts, niche sites or articles), you have to remember that you want to rank on the first page of Google.
So how do you do this? How do you properly do keyword research?
First you have to understand searches. How many people are searching and for what keywords.
Secondly, you have to understand everything about your competition. Backlinks, Page Ranks, Indexed pages, Domain Age – everything, so that you know what you have to do to beat them – then rank on the first page, and then be all good!
So, what tools can you use to do proper keyword research?
Well, there’s a number of free ones that you can use – the Google Adwords Keyword tool – that’s one that a lot of people are using.
But, there’s a paid one out there that I use every single day – when I’m writing blog posts, when I’m writing articles, and I’m about to do niche sites as well and it’s been helping me out tremendously to filter out all the crappy keywords out there that have no searches or are too competitive to rank for – and that’s Market Samurai.
[Market Samurai Segment]
[03:40] – In Market Samurai, I type in my primary keyword for smartpassiveincome.com (passive income)
[03:52] – Click on SEO Competition and click on Generate Results to get list of top 10 ranked sites in Google for the keyword. Each of the listings show relevant SEO data, including Domain Age, Page Ranking, Indexed Pages from Google, Page Back Links, Domain Back Links, Back Links from Educational and Government Sites, Directory Listings, Keyword in Title of the Page, Keyword in URL, Keyword in Description, and Keyword in Header.
[04:50] – I compare my site to the site above me, based on the above factors.
[05:30] – Market Samurai tells me that the reason I’m not ranking higher than some of the other sites is because my keyword is not in my header.
[06:15] – Page Rank Analysis – Market Samurai discovers all of the websites that backlink to my competitor’s website and their pageranks. Higher page ranks are worth more.
[06:45] – You can click on those backlinking websites and scope out where your competition is mentioned on those sites. On some sites, you can grab a link back to your own site as well. I go through a couple of examples – the first is a trackbank link, and the second is a comment on a dofollow blog.
[08:40] – You can use this technique to “catch-up” to your competition and eventually rank higher than them.
[09:15] – You can click on the link below to download your free trial of Market Samurai. If you don’t like it, no worries, but it’s a product that I highly, highly recommend that you try.
Market Samurai Free Trial: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/market-samurai
Thanks for your time everyone. Cheers!
Posted on : June 14th, 2010
Related posts:
- My FREE SEO and Keyword Research Webinar!
- A Keyword Position and Search Engine Optimization Experiment – Day 0
- How to Find Your Google Keyword SERPs Ranking
- Keyword Search Engine Position Experiment – One Week Report
- A Step By Step Plan To Rank Higher in the Search Engines
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44 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)
Hey pat,
Nice article pate as usual. I’ve never used market samurai but I have heard many good reviews about it. Will Going To try it out.
Thanks for the awesome video. Good Job.
~Dev
Hi Pat,
Excellent guide to keyword research. Keyword research is very important to do if you want to appear in the SERPS and harness the power of Google.
I use Google keywords tool too, but Market Samurai is recommended by many people. I have not used Market Samurai yet.
But I think I should start using it!
Kindest,
Nabeel
Can give a big thumbs up for Market Samurai. It has helped my business a TON. Great suggestion and cool video format by the way!
Just started my trial. Looks fantastic.
Hi Pat,
Great info and enjoyed the e-blackboard. I’m jumping over the Market Samurai now.
Cool man thanks so much going to check it out right now!
Thanks for sharing this tool, Pat. I’m going to check out the free trial (at the very least) and look forward to seeing some really positive results.
Thanks for sharing this article Pat, it’s very helpful. I’m trying market samurai and will buy after the initial trial.
Excuse my ignorance regarding backlinks — I’m a newbie — how does anchor text fit in for blog commenting? Do you need to include it? Also when you list your website – do you list different pages (I have an ecommerce store)
thanks,
Excellent post, Pat.
I have been spending more and more time myself looking into keywords, etc., recently, and have found that it makes a MASSIVE difference.
There are certain posts, particularly on lifestyle design, that I am now ranking really well for – just because of the play on keywords that I used on the title and first paragraph of the article itself.
And dude, your virtual whiteboard is awesome… How do you do it, seriously…? Could be really cool for training videos with my staff here…
Chris
Hi Pat. I’ve never heard of Market Samurai until I got your newsletter. I’ve never been one to really do keyword research. I just post about my niche and Google does a great job with it. But, I feel this may be worth checking out. I could go back to some previous posts and tweak them for better results. I will check this product out. Thanks!
A quick update.
All the links showed in the program include nofollow links. I created a program that takes the output of marketing samurai and produces a list of all the dofollow links instead, also with anchor text. I may release this if it’s useful.
Wow Pat, I have Market Samurai and I didn’t even know you could do some of those things. The tool is even more powerful than I thought!
Thanks for the video, I really appreciate it!
Jeremy
Thanks for the post, Pat. I enjoyed the electronic blackboard. Very cool. I have used Market Samurai before as part of Ed Dale’s 30 Day Challenge and thought it was a pretty nice tool. I was too cheap to buy it at the time. However, I’ve learned the value of tool for SEO and was thinking of making the purchase. You’ve added some more justification.
Wow. That competition feature is killer. Wordtracker has a KEI that’s calculated by the intended keyword in the page title and inbound anchor text which is a pretty good, but nowhere near as good as scraping the SERPS page.
A note on your link count being higher than people above you in the SERPS- Anchor text plays a big role here. If people link to you with your name or URL you do get that ever-so-addictive link juice, but no help for the intended keyword.
To prove my point, my name is obviously not “Grow Your Online Business”, but one of my keywords is. Additionally, doing this in a blog comment stream is super cheesy, and I never recommend it, but hopefully you and other readers will get the idea and use this when getting links elsewhere.
Thanks!
Kevin
PS- Your links are nofollowed anyhow so I guess I don’t have to feel bad for the comment abuse.
WoW, thanks for the great post Pat. Nice to have someone find all the great programs out there to help us with our businesses. Saves me a lot of time and I like the in depth tutorial you put together. Very helpful!
Thanks Again.
I’m giving this thing a shot Pat, looks useful. I’ve been using Yahoo Site Explorer for awhile to figure out how many backlinks other websites have and if they’re relevant or not, but this software seems to alleviate a lot of the “grunt” work.
Top notch stuff as always.
Cheers,
Hey Pat,
Thanks for the tip! Been meaning to give this product a shot…since I seem to keep hearing about it.
I’m all about SEO and in particular keyword research, so it would be cool to try a product that can expedite this stuff and not doing things the old school way
How do you choose a niche, as this will determine the keywords you research? Are you only looking at the IM niche?
Andrew
Thanks Pat, Sound and clear post. I’m a follower now. I’m going to test market samurai.
Oh i had a chance to play with this over a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it, I was planning on purchasing it this week, now I have someones affiliate link to buy it from, Awesum!!
This is a great video Pat! I first used Market Samurai a little less than a year ago and for some reason never purchased it. You are right it is amazing! I am downloading the trial now and will most likely go ahead and purchase it.
Thanks for this awesome video! I’m going to check it out!
[...] 3. Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income [...]
Good video Pat, I can tell you like that medium
I especially like your points on keyword espionage. Truly appreciate your text transcript Pat!
Definitely an some interesting stuff. You reminded me to go back and make sure the headers were setup right on my sites. Sure enough my early ones were not.
Thanks again!
Hi Pat:
I just started reading your blog a couple of weeks ago and I love it. Thank you for explaining a product like Market Samurai so well.
I clicked on the link to the website and I’m having difficulty finding the price. I read through it and from what I see it is a one-time cost of $149. Is this correct? This is probably my only complaint when researching these types of products…these long-scrolling sites with repeat information on them. It usually turns me off, but after your review I would like to try it. Thanks!
Hey Melissa! Sorry for the confusion.
When you download the free trial, you have 5 days to pay for it (if you want it!) at the $97 discount
After 5 days, it goes back to $149.
Cheers!
That does sound like one hell of a deal. I’ll definitely check it out today. Thanks Pat. Looking forward to your future posts!
Thanks for sharing another great article with great advice. SEO and keyword research is something I really need to do my research on and try to figure it out fully. I’ll definitely be checking out Market Samurai.
Really great post Pat!
I haven’t used market samurai but I am used to Google Adwords keyword tool.
I will be giving it a trial.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
I had no idea that market samurai was so thorough. I’ve been a Google keywords guy forever and use a few other tactics to find great keywords, but this seems to take a lot of time out of the process. Me likey. I’m going to check it out.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
I’ve been using Market Samurai since Ed first launched it in 2008. It’s a great product. One of the things I really appreciate is that once you buy it, you get all future upgrades free. I paid like $49 bucks for it and in hindsight it would have been a deal at $499.
Thanks for sharing Pat, looking forward to the webinar
Eric
Hey Pat, I heard of Market Samurai a few weeks ago and signed up for the free trial two days ago but havent reall had a chance to check it out. So when I droped by your site there it was again. I have also been looking at another product call Micro Nitch Finder have you heard of theis product I first saw it on Mark Masons site. I was wondering how these two compaired and which one you thought was better?
They are both about the same price? Just thought I would get yur scoop??
Thanks Ford
Hey Ford – I also heard of MNF through my buddy Mark Mason’s site as well, and even watched a few of his videos. It’s not bad at all – it’s a very decent product in my opinion, but MS seems to just have everything worked out so well, and they keep adding new features that are just to die for, like DomainSamurai, Rank Checker and the Promoting Products section. I honestly can’t say one is better than the other though, because I have yet to experience MNF myself.
Pat,
I ‘ve started looking at Keyword Research as a skill that I just have to get better and better at, if I want to be a better blogger. Market Samurai is simply the best tool in the box when it comes to all aspects of SEO, market research, etc. It should go a long way in saving time as well.
Take Care,
Mike
Market Samurai is a great keyword research, It is worth for recommending.
Flynn!
This actually made me get Market Samurai, thank you. I have been using it now and realized that the niche sites I have been creating lack the deliciosly golden nuggets that they promote…
But fear not, I will overcome this!
Cheers
Patrick
Hey Patrick! Keep at it, and you’ll get a hang of exactly what you should be putting your time and effort into. Glad I could help you find a quality product!
Thank you for bringing Market Samurai to my attention, I really liked your eboard setup this was a very helpful post.
Thanks Hilekaan – I love working on the eBoard – it’s tricky but it’s fun! Cheers!