Post on 21-Jan-2017
“PLEASE don’t start with keywords!” and 5 other keyword research steps to never skip again
Tylor HermansonSEMPO Cities Kansas CityOctober 27, 2016
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keywords are dead… right?
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What are we really saying?
(not provided) - The old way of tracking keywords are deadHummingbird - Google’s older, less sophisticated way of understanding entity relationships and search intent from keywords are deadvoice search – Typing as an exclusive way to input keywords are deadgrouped volumes – Google’s metrics for keywords that can be trusted area dead
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What are we really saying?
(not provided) - The old way of tracking keywords are deadHummingbird - Google’s older, less sophisticated way of understanding entity relationships and search intent from keywords are deadvoice search – Typing as an exclusive way to input keywords are deadgrouped volumes – Google’s metrics for keywords that can be trusted area dead
#SEMPOCitiesKC
sempo.org
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What are we really saying?
(not provided) - The old way of tracking keywords are deadHummingbird - Google’s older, less sophisticated way of understanding entity relationships and search intent from keywords are deadvoice search – Typing as an exclusive way to input keywords are deadgrouped volumes – Google’s metrics for keywords that can be trusted area dead
#SEMPOCitiesKC
sempo.org
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What are we really saying?
(not provided) - The old way of tracking keywords are deadHummingbird - Google’s older, less sophisticated way of understanding entity relationships and search intent from keywords are deadvoice search – Typing as an exclusive way to input keywords are deadgrouped volumes – Google’s metrics for keywords that can be trusted are dead
#SEMPOCitiesKC
sempo.org
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Google just wants to help, right?
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2017 buick
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2017 buicks
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missbehavingclothing
personal blog
yacht
yacht
yacht
female racing team
scrapbooking
US Magazine
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missbehavengift shop
gift shop
gift shop
WoW character
artwork
racing horse
hashtag search
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More Google Keyword Grouping Fails
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Keywords aren’t dead BUT a lot is changin’
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sempo.orgHow we- Research- Optimize- Track
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And some things haven’t changed#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgIt uncovers- User problems- Brand perceptions- Unanswered questions
It sets- Trajectory of tactical plan
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Wait. Now I’m confused#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgIf keyword research is- definitely not dead- definitely subjective- definitely important
Why don’t we focus moreon it?
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This is the part where I pretend to understand behavioral economics
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sempo.orgRecency biasAutomation biasBasic skill bias
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This is the part where I pretend to understand behavioral economics
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sempo.orgRecency biasAutomation biasBasic skill biasAuthority bias
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6 keyword research steps to never skip again
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PLEASE don’t start with keywords!
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If your first step in keyword research involves an SEO tool, you’re doing it wrong.
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Who gets sued for malpractice?#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.org“In other words, patients don’t file lawsuits because they’ve been harmed by shoddy medical care. Patients file lawsuits because they’ve been harmed by shoddy medical care and something else happens… What comes up again and again in malpractice cases is that patients say they were rushed or ignored or treated poorly.”
-Malcolm Gladwell, Blink
Should I start Spencer Ware? How much will Charles
play?
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#SEMPOCitiesKC
sempo.orgpersonas
competitive researchproduct/service information
net promoter scores
existing customer interviews
social listening consumer niche sites
brand guidelines
existing marketing collateral
website copy
business objectives
stakeholder interviews
focus group transcripts
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When you do get to keywords, don’t start with Keyword Planner
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Google purposely limits suggestions#SEMPOCitiesK
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100123456789
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Advertiser CostKeywords Availabile
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Build an absurdly humongous list of keywords
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Best keyword generator tools on the planet
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sempo.orgMoz Keyword ExplorerKeywordTool.ioAnswer the PublicSEMrushInfinite SuggestKeyword Shitter
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Choose primary keywords & choose them well
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Personas and primary keyword parallels#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgDefined target, not a limiting endpointSupported by qualitative and quantitative dataSpecificity & reach directly relatedThey’re both on this slide
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Narrower focus often leads to bigger gains
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 20160.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
020000040000060000080000010000001200000
Focus Word Percentage & Organic Search VisitsNomadicMatt.com
Focus Word % Visits
http://www.frac.tl/content-marketing-tactics/
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Volume & competition only half of the battle
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sempo.orgVolume- SERP Visibility
CompetitionRelevance
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Volume#SEMPOCitiesK
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Crappy Google dataHates small businesses
Crappy Google data + realClickstream dataDoes not appear to hate small businesses
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SERP Visibility#SEMPOCitiesK
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Competition#SEMPOCitiesK
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Based on PPC spending- $$ intent- Even less reliable with
grouped volumes
Based on off-site indicators of ranked pages- An imperfect
indicator
Don’t Use Keyword Planner for SEO Competition
Based on ranking visibility of ranked pages- An imperfect
indicator
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Relevance#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgclothing
personal blog
yacht
yacht
yacht
female racing team
scrapbooking
US Magazine
gift shop
gift shop
gift shop
WoW character
artwork
racing horse
hashtag search
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Add semantic and long-tail support
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Why long-tail matters#SEMPOCitiesK
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122%
224%
320%
414%
59%
6+ 12%
# of Words in Google Queries
Over 1/3 of queries contain 4+ words
Moz Clickstream Data, Summer 2016
15% of searches every day have NEVER been seen before by Google
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Long-tail casts a wider net#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgQuestion-modifiers:- why, can, does, what
Geo-modifiers:- city, county, state, region (Westport, south Florida, the Midwest, etc.)
Feature-modifiers: - free-range, cloud-based, S Pen compatible, water-resistant, compact, low mileage
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Semantic - of or relating to meaning in languageSynonym - a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language
Semantic support – what it is and isn’t#SEMPOCitiesK
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Semantic - of or relating to meaning in languageSynonym - a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language
Semantic support – what it is and isn’t#SEMPOCitiesK
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George Clooney ????? DC Comics
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Rough semantic research without NLP technology or expertise
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Translate your ugly spreadsheet, data-heavy geek speak
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Be your own interpreter#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgDigestible outputHave a conversation
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Sources#SEMPOCitiesK
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sempo.orgconcur video here we go what I want to do not provided count Hakeem Hummingbird Trump Bob Dylan young Bob Dylan older skeleton wine gif hindsight bias doctor distracted doctor iPad overwhelmed I got you good three-legged table I speak SEO long tail - Moz clickstream data summer 2016 15% of searches never seen Taboo