118 responses so far ↓

• 1 Dawn Rega Solar // Feb 1, 2009 at 2:55 pm

  why would you focus on the “how long to fry a turkey” keyword phrase on that list because it only had 210, less than the 500 you look for? Why wouldn’t you concentrate on the phrases that had in the thousands?

• 2 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 1, 2009 at 3:13 pm

  Hi Dawn -

  This is not a list set in stone (yet) - this is an example of how to get down into a topic and find the “long tail” (multi-word) phrases that will be both easier to gain traffic for and also will tend to be “buying words” because the searcher is getting very specific with what they’re wanting to find.

  Don’t get too hung up on the search numbers (PotPieGirl is happy with fairly low search ’cause it’s just one point of entry) - this is about finding what works for you.

  The next post explains competition … which is just as (or more) important.

  Read on - grin.
  Andrea

• 3 Pat Mason // Feb 4, 2009 at 9:57 am

  Hi Dawn, Andrea,

  I have a question about something that is driving me a bit batty.

  Let’s say that I’m doing research on keywords for a weight loss campaign, and I find that a good keyword phrase like “lose weight before summer” - has relatively how competition but is searched a fair bit, just as an example.

  Would that exact phrase be used (word for word) as a title for an article or lens? And would each of the words in that phrase be keywords when I am setting up a new lens and squidoo is asking what my keywords are?

  I think that is how it goes, but I’m just not 100% sure.

  Many thanks,
  Pat

• 4 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 4, 2009 at 10:08 am

  Hi Pat -

  For our purposes - “keyword” rarely refers to a single word. That’s just too broad for attracting the ‘take action’ traffic we’re wanting. For us, “keyword” nearly always means “keyword phrase” - often three words +.

  For titles, naming lenses and even each module within the lens, you want to use the whole phrase as is. Then within your text, some variation is smart so it seems more natural.

  I’ll leave it to Jackie to chime in on what to do with the Squidoo keywords area - but what I do when I’m setting up the lens initially is use my key word phrase and some of the others in my campaign if I know what they are. Then I go back in later and beef the list up after the lens is complete.

  Sounds like you’re making good progress
  Andrea

• 5 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 4, 2009 at 10:12 am

  Oops, better give you some examples of how to name the modules (I’ll use your sample phrase):

  lose weight before summer videos

  lose weight before summer - 3 tips to a slimmer you

  lose weight before summer - how to choose the right swimsuit

  lose weight before summer poll

  lose weight before summer reader comments

  etc …

  See?

  Andrea

• 6 Pat Mason // Feb 4, 2009 at 10:13 am

  Hey Andrea,

  Many thanks, that’s is how I was looking at doing it also. Really helps to have the feedback from a pro.

  I’m working on understanding the foundation, because once I have that down and feel comfortable with it, I’ll be moving a lot faster.

  Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

  Cheers,

  Pat

• 7 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 4, 2009 at 10:54 am

  Hey Pat,

  I agree with Andrea, that’s the best way to use your keyword phrase in your titles.

  About your tags ~ this has been a hotly debated topic in the squidoo community. The tags used to be “followed” by the search engines so you got some credit in the rankings for those tags. They are no longer like that.

  However, you do get a little credit for having an anchor text link off your site.

  So basically what I’m saying is use your main keyword again. It’s important to use it in your related keywords area as well as in the main box.

  Then simply add relevant keywords. I kind of go through and grab phrases that I used in my lens that people might use as well to search for my information.

  I would only add 5 or 6 at this point. (again a hotly debated topic). Because, once you start getting traffic you will be able to see (and add) the actual words people are using to find your lens. This is how I fill out my tags list, using real words people have used to find my lens. It will also provide a little support for my lens to stay in the listing for that keyword.

  I hope that makes sense. Keywords/tags are so complicated that it makes them a little difficult to talk about lol.

  So add your main one and then a few more. As you get traffic, add keywords that show up in your traffic dashboard (and make sure you republish afterwards).

  Hope that helps.

  Jackie

• 8 Pat Mason // Feb 4, 2009 at 11:38 am

  Hey Jackie,

  Thanks for your two cents, I appreciate it.

  I’m going to take a few minutes to review what you wrote, make a note of any questions I have and then I’ll probably post a “hey - when you said…did you mean…?” type question.

  Cheers,
  Pat

• 9 Pat Mason // Feb 4, 2009 at 3:14 pm

  Hey Jackie,

  Ok, as expected, I have a few questions:

  Here they are:

  YOU WROTE: However, you do get a little credit for having an anchor text link off your site.

  MY QUESTION: What is an anchor text link? Is that like an affiliate link?

  YOU WROTE: I would only add 5 or 6 at this point. (again a hotly debated topic). Because, once you start getting traffic you will be able to see (and add) the actual words people are using to find your lens.

  MY QUESTION: How will I be able to see (and add) the actual words people are using to find my lens?

  YOU WROTE: This is how I fill out my tags list, using real words people have used to find my lens. It will also provide a little support for my lens to stay in the listing for that keyword.

  MY QUESTION: What is a tags list?

  YOU WROTE: So add your main one and then a few more. As you get traffic, add keywords that show up in your traffic dashboard (and make sure you republish afterwards).

  MY QUESTION: What is a traffic dashboard?

  Sorry for loading you up with all of the questions, I know your time is pretty booked.

  Any input you can provide will be a great help, as usual.

  Many thanks,
  Pat

• 10 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 4, 2009 at 4:04 pm

  Hi Pat -

  anchor text = the words you link out with (should be same as your keyword phrase)

  tags list = the keywords that you asked about earlier - related words that get listed on the side there

  traffic dashboard = stats tab on your squidoo lensmaster dashboard (where you look at your lens details) - there is a ‘traffic’ section to that stats area

  actual words your lens is being found for = a list that will appear on your traffic section for each lens - there will be a little “+” sign there that makes it easy to add to the ‘tag/keywords’ for that lens

  This will all come together along the way here

  Andrea

• 11 Brambles // Feb 6, 2009 at 6:54 am

  As suggested, I started looking for keywords on a subject that I am really interested in, - a health condition, but when I put various related keywords into Google, there are literally millions of pages on all the keywords and phrases I’ve tried so far. Should I forget this subject altogether and go on to one of my other ideas for campaigns, which might have fewer pages of Google, or can I implement some other plan to stick with the subject I am really interested in.
  Thanks for your help.

• 12 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 6, 2009 at 9:48 am

  Hey Brambles,
  When it comes to this situation you need to dig deep into the problem and find a sub niche within the topic.

  Here’s how you can do this:

  let’s say your topic is pregnancy. HUGE topic.

  you put pregnancy in the google search tool and get a TON of keywords, looking through I see pregnancy symptms. Interesting. So I put pregnancy symptoms in the search tool and hit go.

  I get a bunch of symptom related keywords. I see “first symptom of pregnancy” I put in google with quotes to check competition and lookie there ~ 3360 competing pages.

  THAT ROCKS!!! So I will probably base my campaign around that keyword. I’m pretty sure I can find some other pregnancy symptom related keywords for the campaign.

  So you see I still get to do pregnancy which I love, but I get very specific about what I’m talking about for pregnancy.

  I could have gone in any direction with this, but the point is to just break it down into a teeny tiny piece of the big topic.

  If you find you get stuck this is exactly what the coaching option is for. We can help you with the specifics of your niche/keyword/campaign with a coaching upgrade.

  Hope this has helped.

  Jackie

• 13 Joyce Thorburn // Feb 6, 2009 at 4:32 pm

  I don’t have a question but am just stopping in to thank you guys for what you’re doing. I sort of new the basics but you make things more clear to me.

  Joyce

• 14 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 6, 2009 at 4:34 pm

  Hey Joyce,
  you are quite welcome. Glad we could help.

  Jackie

• 15 Brambles // Feb 6, 2009 at 8:43 pm

  Thank you, I appreciated your example so much. I was able to follow that through on how you got those stats, and realized my mistake - I had omitted the inverted comas - a huge difference. I now have a keyword with 2460 pages on google.
  When all else fails, read the instructions I guess.

  I would just like to echo Joyce’s comment above. Providing this service is just soooo excellent. I haven’t even known how to start before, and although I am still just beginning, and making mistakes, following your steps so far has been very valuable to me. Thanks a lot Andrea & Jackie

• 16 Rebecca Fleckenstein // Feb 7, 2009 at 5:05 pm

  Wow! Hiding those 2 column in the Google Keyword Tool makes focusing on your keyword search a lot easier!
  Thanks for the lesson.

• 17 TY EVANS // Feb 8, 2009 at 12:53 pm

  Is it normal that once you do a keyword search on google adwords, that you have to close out of the site and then go back in to be able to do another keyword search? Because it would not allow me to do another search. I had to close the web site and then go back in, it just seems weird.

• 18 TY EVANS // Feb 8, 2009 at 1:07 pm

  You said : I really try to look for volume over 500 a month. So is 2000 a month better

• 19 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 8, 2009 at 1:24 pm

  it depends how long you spend on the google kw tool. It times out and you have to log in again.

  yes 2000 is better ~ however you still have to meet the competition standards, which can be more difficult for keywords with that much search volume.

  Remember we are playing in the “kiddie pool” here, going after smaller keywords with less competition. They will not have as many searches, but you are going to be doing 5 - 7 lenses to completely cover this whole little tiny niche.

  Jackie

• 20 TY EVANS // Feb 8, 2009 at 1:32 pm

  How did you ever figure this stuff out.

• 21 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 8, 2009 at 2:36 pm

  A lot of trial and error, never giving up. Taking a deep breath and trying something else when one thing doesn’t work. Finding a strategy ~ like OWM that works, and just sticking with it.

  Jackie

• 22 Judith Turner // Feb 17, 2009 at 11:40 pm

  Hi I am new here. I was going to ask if we should put quotes around the phrase to check competition for the exact keyword phrase you are targeting because if you don’t you will always get a high number such as in the millions.

  Maybe you could point out in the above blog post that you must use quotes when searching to see how competitive the niche is because a lot of people wouldn’t know to do this unless they read the comments.

  I don’t mean to stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong :-), I just don’t want anyone confused as I was at first. I also want to say that I really appreciate you offering this companion course to one week marketing.

• 23 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 18, 2009 at 6:14 am

  Hi Judith -

  Welcome welcome to Learnitstepbystep.com

  YES very important point - good looking out for everyone!

  The quotes trick is for when we’re researching the competition numbers. Today is about search/demand.

  Check out tomorrow’s lesson and we’ll cover the other part of the equation - competition/supply. Quotes are definitely needed - you’re so right!

  Appreciate your input and glad to have you with us

  Andrea

• 24 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 18, 2009 at 6:17 am

  Oops - I want to be a little clearer - the tool in this lesson is NOT for competition numbers.

  This tool is only used to identify an average number of searches per month - a nice number to shoot for is 500+ - quotes are not needed.

  Hope this helps,
  Andrea

• 25 Ingrid Palmer // Mar 3, 2009 at 6:15 pm

  Hi J&A

  When doing lenses do you recomend placing all your lenses in one major lensmaster lens or for each topic make a separate lens so the resource box can become apart of the keyword as well

  Ingrid

  PS: Thanks for this amazing service. I will definitel be upgrading soon need a little more one on one.

• 26 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 3, 2009 at 8:40 pm

  Hi Ingrid,
  right now we are just getting the groundwork built for the campaign. We will be discussing how to set up your campaign on squidoo a couple posts from now.

  Jackie

• 27 Russell Hart // Mar 13, 2009 at 4:04 am

  Hi Jackie & Andrea

  I’ve recently received emails from Jennifer (PotPieGirl) info on varying IM strategies
  i.e. PPC, and today, Articles. Should we adopt these various strategies from outside the OWM Plan? If so, when? Do we just slot them into your step-by-step program when they fit into an appropriate place?

  Regards,
  RUSSELL

• 28 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 13, 2009 at 6:40 am

  Hi Russell -

  PPC is it’s own learning curve and is better not mixed in till you get a real feel for how niche markets ‘function’.

  You also want your own site in place before you go paying for traffic - wouldn’t make much sense to pay for someone to go to Squidoo, right?

  It’s also pretty important in PPC that you capture contact info and set up autoresponders, etc … - all good stuff, just too soon.

  Article marketing is included in OWM. And if you find you get the hang of it and want to do more - you can never have too many articles out there linking back with your keywords.

  Andrea

• 29 Andrea Kalaydjian // Mar 27, 2009 at 9:36 pm

  Hi Jackie and Andrea

  WHat happens if I look at a keyword and says not enought data, But then when I look for competition in Google, it founds around 9000 searches. Is this a good keyword to sue, or I shoudl look for something else.

  Also I am confused. Do all keywords need to be related?
  Like

  weight after preganacy - will be one
  weight afetr baby - will be anoher one.
  weight loss plans - will be anoteh rone.

  These are examples, actually they have lot sof competition, so I need to become more specific.

  Thanks
  Andrea

• 30 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 27, 2009 at 11:07 pm

  Hi Andrea -

  Be sure that you’re looking at the second column of search numbers (as in video above) - and if there’s a “not enough data” in that column for a given word, then it’s not meeting our preferred 500+ minimum avg searches/mo. So you keep looking.

  If it doesn’t make this cut, then it doesn’t matter how much competition there is ’cause no one’s looking for it.

  And for the related-ness of your phrases - consider your audience. If you want to attract people who are wanting to lose weight after giving birth (for example) - using a broader phrase like weight loss plans might be okay but the men you draw for that phrase won’t be too excited about your pregnancy lens - see what I mean? Better to aim to draw all ’similar’ visitors per campaign.

  Plus drilling down is where you’ll find the better comp numbers (next lesson).

  See what I mean?

  Andrea

• 31 Ingrid Palmer // Mar 28, 2009 at 5:38 pm

  Hi guys
  Is there a maximum no to look for in the keyword search volume. Since 500 is the minimum what would be a good cut off for search volume?

• 32 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 28, 2009 at 8:16 pm

  Hi Ingrid -

  Nope, the more searches the better - as long as the competition numbers fall below 30k (10k is ideal), you’re good to go.

  Andrea

• 33 Andrea Kalaydjian // Mar 28, 2009 at 9:25 pm

  Hi Jackie and Andrea

  I just want to say something that may help others. I am in South AFrica and when I use the google keyword tool I only get results tailored to South AFrica unless I change the option:
  it Says:
  “Results are tailored to the languages and countries you choose below”

  Then I chose ALl countries and territories and the amount of keywords it brings it is much higher.
  I was starting to lose hope when looking for keywords. I don’t know if you mention this in the tutorial, I cannot remember reading it.

  Thanks
  Andrea

• 34 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 29, 2009 at 7:37 am

  Aha! - great tip Andrea. Super important since this is a global group. We’ll have to add your tip to the lessons - thanks!

  Andrea

• 35 Sonja Davis // Apr 17, 2009 at 10:13 am

  When searching for keywords I am finding that the difference between the singular and plural of a word makes a huge difference in searches and competition.

  For example, regarding the word cat (just an example) - “my cat meows” verses “my cats meow” could have a huge difference in numbers.

  My question is do I consider these two separate keywords towards the 5 0r 6 we are collecting?

• 36 Jackie and Andrea // Apr 17, 2009 at 10:22 am

  supposedly plural is not supposed to make a difference, however, in my experience it does. So yes I would include them as 2 separate keywords.

  Jackie

• 37 Sonja Davis // Apr 17, 2009 at 10:49 am

  Thanks Jackie…that was fast!

  Yeah I think I had heard that also about plurals…but then the only way to truly know the answer is to test….or just ask it here

  A couple of more question regarding this same scenario.

  Can you optimize for both keywords at that same time by only using the singular of the version since it will already contain the base keyword? If I didn’t use just one keyword then, fictitiously, I would have a two lenses named “my cat meows” and “my cats meow”.

  What about keywords that add another word to the base word; should I treat them as two separate keywords? For example, “blue dog collar” and “blue dog collar for small dogs”. Can I use “blue dog collar for small dogs” to get two keywords for one? If yes, Is there any pros and cons to this technique?

  My mind is swarming around right now and I might be loosing focus with these little details. A problem that I admit I need to work on

• 38 Jackie and Andrea // Apr 17, 2009 at 11:05 am

  You can use blue dog collars for small dogs as one and get the benefit of two ~ yes. Assuming that blue dog collars and dog collars for small dogs were your keywords or something like that.

  yep yep yep. That’s a great way to work 2 keywords in the same space.

  On the plural ~ it’s a toss up. IF the plural is really close I’d add them both into the lens. I recently read that google can pull a singular out of a plural but not the other way around. So if your keyword was cats meow, they would be able to see the cat in that, but if you used cat they may not be able to create cats.

  I hope that makes sense. So I guess what I’m saying is if they are very similar ~ not like goose and geese, I’d probably go with the plural as the major keyword and make sure to throw the singular in the lens as well a few times.

  Jackie

  ps you are right. testing is really the ONLY way you will find out the answer.

• 39 Sonja Davis // Apr 17, 2009 at 11:26 am

  Yep, that makes total sense….thanks again Jackie for your support!

• 40 Linda Servis // Apr 27, 2009 at 7:47 pm

  I do have a zillion ideas, but before I start researching keywords, how do we know we can promote certain physical products????

  I know I can promote the CB products, but what about the others?

• 41 Jackie and Andrea // Apr 27, 2009 at 8:23 pm

  Hi Linda -

  Right now you don’t. You can always assume something is available to sell through Amazon.

  Lessons 8-10 deal in finding affiliate products at either CB or Amazon. There are many independent businesses that offer affiliate commissions and also larger affiliate networks that have many many offers available.

  We start with these two ’cause they are broad in their offering and always pay.

• 42 Carole Rowland // Apr 28, 2009 at 12:15 pm

  Hi Jackie and Andrea,
  When I am doing the KW searches, there is the first section that says “KW related to term entered” and then below that is a section for “Additional KW’s to consider. Should we just be focusing on the top section at this point, or both?
  Thanks,
  Carole

• 43 Jackie and Andrea // Apr 28, 2009 at 12:45 pm

  Hi Carole -

  Both.

  The top section is where you’re more likely to find niche phrases that you’ll be able to work with, but the bottom may have some synonym of your main phrase that you hadn’t thought of so it’s always worth a quick glance.

  People search for the same info with all sort of phrases - that bottom section can be a great place to mine those that you haven’t already thought of.

  Andrea

• 44 MaryBeth Roberds // May 5, 2009 at 12:44 pm

  Hey Ladies:

  Just when I think I have a handle on keywords…I read something I feel like I have NO CLUE.

  PPG wrote in the WA forum that you should keep your keyword list and write an article on every keyword in that list.

  Well, I was under the impression that you wrote your articles based on the long tail keywords that you chose for your lenses…is that not correct?

  How else would you get on the first page of Google with your lenses if you just wrote on every keyword and not specifically on the keywords you chose?

  Am I not understanding something?

  Thanks ladies for your help,

  MB

• 45 Jackie and Andrea // May 5, 2009 at 1:05 pm

  Was she specifically talking about one week marketing when she said that?

  There are a lot of different kinds of sites you can build, and that is a fine strategy if you have a bigger site targeting multiple keywords.

  You actually want to write articles that are related to your lens, but make sure you use your main keyword in the resource box to link back to your lens and/or affiliate page.

  Jackie

• 46 MaryBeth Roberds // May 5, 2009 at 1:29 pm

  She was going thru her “process” of what she does for article marketing. She was asked 10 questions for her 1000th post.

  This is why I get soooo confused with keywords.

  Ok…do the keywords for a campaign need to be similar or do they need to solve the same problem:

  FOR EXAMPLE:

  get rid of acne
  cure zits

  They both solve the same problem, but have no keywords that are similar…kinda see what I am asking?

  Or…do the keywords need to be similar…

  FOR EXAMPLE:

  dog behavior issues
  dog behavior problems

  Same keywords, to solve the same problem

  This is why I am getting confused…I see posts from PPG saying different things…I need to know what to do…so I can have one game plan…and stick to it.

  Thanks,

  MB

• 47 Jackie and Andrea // May 5, 2009 at 1:37 pm

  Here’s the thing ~ she may not be doing article marketing for OWM ~ in fact, she probably isn’t so her process is going to be different than what you are doing.

  Just because she’s PPG and wrote OWM doesn’t mean that’s all she does.

  Keywords for your campaigns are a whole different question than keywords for your articles.

  The article marketing process looks different depending on what you are promoting, so just stick with what you’ve learned in OWM and work that for OWM.

  You may find down the line that you are doing something else and have to look at it all a little differently.

  Jackie

• 48 MaryBeth Roberds // May 5, 2009 at 2:05 pm

  ok…just to be clear

  do the keywords for a campaign need to be similar or do they need to solve the same problem:

  FOR EXAMPLE:

  get rid of acne
  cure zits

  They both solve the same problem, but have no keywords that are similar…kinda see what I am asking?

  Or…do the keywords need to be similar…

  FOR EXAMPLE:

  dog behavior issues
  dog behavior problems

  Same keywords, to solve the same problem.

  Thanks for your help.

  MB

• 49 Jackie and Andrea // May 5, 2009 at 2:30 pm

  IF you are trying to help someone cure a slice they all need to be about cure a slice ~ that’s the way it’s taught in OWM.

  Jackie

  PS. Pow wowed with PPG and she mentioned that post had nothing to do with OWM. She was asked what she would do withOUT any money so she put together a post of what she would do if she couldn’t buy OWM or join WA ~ just another way to make money online.

• 50 MaryBeth Roberds // May 5, 2009 at 2:37 pm

  So, then the keyword list is useless for article marketing?

  When I do the article marketing, I write the articles based on my keywords only, right?

  Sorry for being so difficult!!!! The English language is hard sometimes!

  I really appreciate your patience with me!

• 51 Jackie and Andrea // May 5, 2009 at 2:55 pm

  Your articles can be about anything related as long as you use your keywords for the anchor text in the bio box.

  However you do want to try to use keywords people are searching for so you can get some traffic to your articles.

  So let’s say your lens keyword is “train dogs”

  you also find there are a lot of searches and not much competition for “training bull dogs” you could write your article about that and then use “train dogs” to lead people to your lens in the bio box.

  hope that makes more sense.

  Jackie

• 52 Jackie and Andrea // May 5, 2009 at 2:56 pm

  We will also be covering article marketing in a few posts, that may help things become more clear. Best to find your lens keywords now and worry about article writing when the time comes.

  Jackie

• 53 MaryBeth Roberds // May 5, 2009 at 3:00 pm

  sounds like a plan…thanks so much!

  You are very patient…it is most appreciated!

• 54 Judith Turner // May 7, 2009 at 1:03 pm

  Hi Jackie and Andrea,
  I was wondering if you could comment on the following blog post and video on Potpiegirl.com http://www.potpiegirl.com/2009/04/squidoo-keyword-research-video/

  Here is a comment that left but I haven’t gotten a response yet:
  I feel like I am still missing a piece of the puzzle here. Watching your video you say that the keyword phrase “natural treatment for panic attacks” was a good one because there was only 3 competing sites with this phrase on Squidoo. However, according to the Google keyword tool the approximate search volume showed “not enough data” for March. Even if this gets ranked well for that phrase I wouldn’t think it would bring much traffic to the lens.

• 55 Jackie and Andrea // May 7, 2009 at 1:46 pm

  Hi Judith,

  This video was specifically speaking to finding keywords with minimal competition in Squidoo.

  I would add this as an ADDITIONAL meter of competition, but go ahead and make sure they fit the criteria for search volume and competition first, then test this one last.

  Jackie

• 56 MaryBeth Roberds // May 8, 2009 at 10:42 am

  Good Morning!

  I will eventually get this… I hope anyway!

  Ok…

  “work from home” has tons of competition

  So, I have narrowed it down…

  But how do I get product specific…when nobody is searching for that specific phrase…

  FOR example:

  tons of people search for “work from home”
  but nobody searches for “work from home with wealthy affiliate”

  How can I use that phrase and still get people to find me in Google? I think this is what I am missing?

  Thanks!

  MB

• 57 Jackie and Andrea // May 8, 2009 at 10:47 am

  if there’s no search volume you can’t.

  You may have to look at a problem people are trying to solve by using the product you are recomending ~ and find words that solve that problem ~ does this product really teach you how to work from home ~ or does it help you figure out some other important pieces?

  maybe think about the smaller problems your product solves and see if you can find kw on that topic.

  Just fyi ~ specific campaigns and keywords are the stuff of Personal coaching ~

  Jackie

• 58 MaryBeth Roberds // May 8, 2009 at 11:26 am

  How much are ya’ll charging for private coaching?

• 59 Jackie and Andrea // May 8, 2009 at 11:28 am

  The price is currently $97 per month and going to increase in the near future.

  Jackie

• 60 Mathew Horsley // May 28, 2009 at 2:33 pm

  I see that it is important for the keyword in the title to be at the beginning. I was checking how many other Squidoo articles have my exact keyword and one does and is on the first page. Now normally I have chosen not to submit a Squidoo article if an article from the same directory is already is on the top page. But the thing here is this particular Squidoo lens has the keyword at the end. In your opinion, do I have a good chance of beating it out if I put the keyword at the beginning? How much weight is on this issue in your experience? Thank you so much for the help!

• 61 Jackie and Andrea // May 28, 2009 at 2:39 pm

  Hey Matthew!

  What a great question ~ thanks for asking

  are you saying you have chosen not to create a lens if there’s already one on the first page for your keyword?

  If so ~ that’s probably smart.

  google will generally pick 2 lenses to show in the top 2 pages on any given topic. If the site is using your exact same keywords, don’t think the fact that the kw are at the back or front is going to make that much difference.

  Take a look at the lens ~ see if they have used the kw in anchor text, and titles of the lens itself ~ if it is not a well optimized lens I’d say go ahead. If they have followed the optimizing rules I’d say find another kw. There’s plenty available no need to fight over it.

  Jackie

• 62 Mathew Horsley // May 28, 2009 at 3:07 pm

  Thanks Jackie. Very helpful. One more question. Lets say the person has a Squidoo lens on the first page but the keyword is NOT in the title. He does have it in the content. Should I go ahead and try to outrank him if he doesnt have it in the title? Thanks so much!

• 63 Jackie and Andrea // May 28, 2009 at 3:15 pm

  I would really worry about it when it’s exact keywords and there are 2 lenses on the topic. Google will usually pick 2 on the same topic.

  Jackie

• 64 Mathew Horsley // May 29, 2009 at 5:46 am

  Is it possible to use specific product related keywords for the one week marketing method. I have learned that people who search for keywords like this are ready to buy and the conversion rate will be high.

  Only problem is, Ezinearticles isn’t fond of specific products and they wont like the keywords. Will probably get flagged for advertising. So is the one week markething program possible without using articles to link to your lenses.

• 65 Jackie and Andrea // May 29, 2009 at 7:52 am

  Hi Mathew -

  Sure you can use product keywords if you find that the numbers are right.

  I’m not sure whether EZA would take a review type article or not, but you’re right they’ve been tough on perceived advertising and are getting tougher.

  Though they’re the grandaddy and get quickly PR’ed - they’re certainly not the only path. You just will have to do some extra backlinking.

  Andrea

• 66 Mathew Horsley // May 29, 2009 at 6:03 pm

  Ok, just one more question. I read the conversation with Nick by PotPieGirl and she tells Nick to use personal stories to sell the product. What if I haven’t used the product. I don’t want to lie so is there any other methods I can use to have success with one week marketing. Thank you

• 67 Jackie and Andrea // May 29, 2009 at 6:13 pm

  You can provide tips related to the topic ~ ie. if you topic is dog training ~ you can give tips related to dog training. You can gleen these from looking at articles on Ezinearticles.com or watching videos on youtube ~ looking at the sales page for your product.

  More ways to create content will be discussed in future posts.

  Jackie

• 68 Jackie and Andrea // May 29, 2009 at 6:23 pm

  Hi Mathew -

  You might also look to see whether there are any testimonials on the sales page that you can ‘quote’. That can work well sometimes …

  Andrea

• 69 Barbara Paine // May 30, 2009 at 10:08 am

  I could use a little clarification on keyword selection.

  The 5 - 6 keywords we select — are we going for highest search volume with lowest competition? I guess I’m not sure what the goal is actually supposed to be.

  Also — for the keywords we decide on, do these become our module titles within our lens or will each of these keywords become it’s own lens? If they will become their own lens, I would think we would want them to be slightly different from each other?

  If each of our keywords will become separate lenses, how do I come up with content (mostly module titles) within each lens? I think what I mean is how do I know what information to include in the lens and then how do I keep the keyword in the module titles?

  I’m feeling a bit stuck on this and I know it’s crucial to have a solid understanding of this as I move forward. I hope you can clarify this for me and make it all a bit more understandable!

  Thanks

• 70 Jackie and Andrea // May 30, 2009 at 11:01 am

  Hi Barbara -

  Yes - high search (lots of people looking) and low competition (as fw people as possible with pages on that phrase) is the goal.

  Each phrase gets its own lens.

  You might check lessons 18 & 19 for content and title guidance:
  http://www.learnitstepbystep.com/toc

  Hope this helps

  Andrea

• 71 Barbara Paine // May 30, 2009 at 11:15 am

  thanks — that helps immensely. I will check lessons 18 and 19 as well.

  I think part of my problem is that I’m using multiple resources to try to make sense of all this — OWM, CWN, this program, PPGs keyword guide, niche-hunting, etc. … and there are sometimes conflicting or different suggestions made in each. It seems to be getting all jumbled together in my mind. Maybe too much of too many good things for my sanity

• 72 Jackie and Andrea // May 30, 2009 at 11:43 am

  Yep I’d pick one and follow it through to the end.

  Then you can modify to your own style and tweak once you’ve “done” it once or twice.

  Andrea

• 73 Barbara Paine // May 30, 2009 at 1:04 pm

  Another question has come up as I’m trying to whittle down my list of possible keywords. Several of my “contenders” contain a word that is part of a longer (I assume) phrase. Examples would be “AND keyword phrase”, “OF keyword phrase”, “TO keyword phrase” … should these be eliminated as possibles? I’m thinking the keyword phrase should be able to stand on its own and have meaning — yes?

• 74 Jackie and Andrea // May 30, 2009 at 1:10 pm

  Yes - a whole phrase is important … especially when it comes to the title making; your phrase goes first.

  Andrea

• 75 Barbara Paine // Jun 1, 2009 at 1:56 pm

  And yet a another question!

  As I look at PPG’s example of keywords chosen for Nick’s lenses, they are all pretty similar — all focus on curing a slice. When I look online at a couple of PPG’s campaigns I see that she has several lenses on the same basic topic but then each lens has a different spin. I.E. “Causes of XXX”, “Symptoms of XXX”, “Home Remedies for XXX”.

  I am finding that my keywords for my first campaign all seem to just be another way of saying the same thing — solutions for XXX, XXX remedies, how to stop XXX …

  Am I on the right track or should I be expanding my keywords so that they cover a wider range such as the example above of PPG’s campaign?

  Sure hope this makes sense!!

• 76 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 1, 2009 at 2:13 pm

  You can pick either way, whichever works best for your niche. They will both work.

  Jackie

• 77 Sonja Davis // Jun 1, 2009 at 7:45 pm

  I have found some great keyword phrases with optimal searches but they aren’t sentence friendly. For example, “start car company”, “how to start car company”, “starting car company” (these are all fictitious).

  I am having a hard time trying to weave these into any content since they are all missing a vowel. For example, “start car company” would be easy if it said “start A car company”.

  But…people are searching for these words just like I have shown above.

  At first I thought well, if people are searching for the words just like this that I will put them in my content the same way. But it will read weird.

  How do you work around something like this?

• 78 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 1, 2009 at 7:51 pm

  It’s tough. But you can depending on your keyword work between phrases, like your first word is the last word of a sentence, and then the rest of the phrase begins a sentence.

  I wanted to buy a car, I was ready to start. Car company discounts are much easier to find in this economy ~ or something like that.

  Jackie

• 79 greg baker // Jun 1, 2009 at 10:34 pm

  Hi Andrea, it’s me the book writer. I was setting up a bench mark for KW research and to quickly “qualify the KW” to use it in a campaign.

  A KW tri-vecta so to speak: So if I understand this lesson on KW research and competition correctly these would be the 3 elements:

  #1. Search Volume higher than 500 but under 5,000 (could go higher but only if the competition is low)

  #2. Competition is under 30,000 pgs. the lower the better, as long as it has a SV above 500 and includes #3

  #3. Sponsored Ads

  Would that be it?

• 80 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 1, 2009 at 10:46 pm

  Hi Greg -

  There’s no limit on searches and not sure that #3 is an absolute must - but yeah that’s a workable guideline.

  Andrea

• 81 greg baker // Jun 2, 2009 at 7:47 am

  Thats what I meant by to much info. I picked up that 5000 # from somewhere regarding KW’s. I just scanned through OWM and didn’t see it there. Not sure where I got that # from maybe Travis… but that’s why this works so well. Can ask and get answer quickly.

  I was going to ask you about #3 as I was questioning it myself. In the video I think it was you mentioned “are there ads”? I’ve been seeing lot’s of good KW’s that don’t have ads and from a PPC point of view that can be a very good thing. Nobody there yet…but then….why aren’t they? More research and test ads would answer that question. But later when making money not spending it!

  Thanks

• 82 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 2, 2009 at 7:51 am

  Yeah the benefit of having ads on the page is that you know people are spending money on the keyword so that can give you a little confidence, that if people are spending money on it, they are probably making money on it.

  But it isn’t necessary for our purposes.

  Jackie

• 83 carolyn collins // Jun 11, 2009 at 11:13 am

  Ok, I have 3 keyword phrases I think will be good. Do I try to limit the linked words in a particular lens to just one phrase? Include more or all in each lens, or what?
  If each lens is written with one phrase, does that mean fewer back links for each lens?

• 84 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 11, 2009 at 11:29 am

  Hi Carolyn -

  Yes each lens needs to be keyword focused as far as links - that’s what tells Google what the page is about.

  The backlinking starts on lesson #24 - you can ask that second question there?

  Andrea

• 85 Kerry Mason // Aug 10, 2009 at 10:57 am

  are you trying to focus on the benefit in the keyword or the product itself? i can focus on saving money, or building a solar panel.

  What do you think?

• 86 Jackie and Andrea // Aug 10, 2009 at 11:18 am

  Both ~ the benefits of the product as it relates to your keywords.

• 87 Pat Lukaskiewicz // Dec 13, 2009 at 10:02 am

  I’ve just started to try the Google Adwords Keyword Tool but I can’t find the Approx Average Search Volume. Am I having a senior moment or is it missing?

• 88 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 13, 2009 at 10:40 am

  Hi Pat -

  No it’s not you - grin.

  They changed the column title to “Global Monthly Search Volume”

  

  Andrea

• 89 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 24, 2009 at 11:30 am

  Hi Andrea & Jackie:

  I have been using Micro Niche Finder (MNF) to identify keywords with low competition. However, when I cross check with Google there is large discrepancy.

  I would like to use Micro Niche Finder b/c I paid for it :), and it saves time, but now I am unsure as to its reliability. (ex. I just identified a hot keyword in my niche using MNF. When I cross check with Google search to see current competition, I find many keywords identified as desirable are way over 30,000 searches when done in quotes.) Thoughts?

  Should I just stick with Google (adword tool and search) for now?

  Thanks, Laura

• 90 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 24, 2009 at 11:41 am

  Hi Laura -

  Hmm - haven’t used the tool (though I’ve been meaning to). But Google IS the final word.

  Maybe you could kinda juggle between both - narrow down candidates with MNF and then cull the list further by getting your in quotes numbers?

  Andrea

• 91 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 24, 2009 at 1:16 pm

  Hi Andrea:

  Yes, what you say makes sense. I will do that.

  Thanks a bunch.

  Laura

• 92 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 25, 2009 at 9:11 am

  I use MNF and I love it. The discrepency you are seeing is probably because MNF uses the exact match in the search results as default. The google tool uses the broad match search. You will find your results are much better if you can find the numbers you want on MNF.

  Happy holidays.

  Jackie

• 93 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 25, 2009 at 9:12 am

  You don’t really have to worry about doing the number in quotes, since that is what MNF does with the SOC. This will save you tons of time. For Squidoo I recommend you look for an SOC of under 20.

  Jackie

• 94 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 25, 2009 at 3:57 pm

  Dear Jackie,

  Ohhhhhh! Thank you Jackie. It is great news to learn I can rely on MNF. Now I just have to learn how to use it better. From what you write I think there is something I need to learn about SOC that I do not now know.

  I was just simply looking to see whether SOC was checked or not, but did not look at the number.

  Not sure what you mean about “doing the number in quotes”. Did you mean doing the keyword in quotes as we do when we are searching out competition on Google?

  Or is this something I need to learn about MNF?

  Thanks!

  Laura

• 95 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 25, 2009 at 9:16 pm

  When you do the keyword in quotes in google you are just trying to determine the level of competition. That is what SOC is in MNF. (it uses a variety of different factors in determining the level of competition of your keyword) If you check the soc for a number of keywords you will see they go from green check to red X. The green check covers a pretty big range. I look for a number below 20 when it comes to SOC for lenses. When it comes to other types of sites I look for a wider range of SOC, but you can bet with a 20 or less SOC you will be ok as far as competition goes for a lens.

  Jackie

• 96 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 26, 2009 at 11:08 am

  Hi Jackie,

  I just pulled up MNF to see the SOC number. Never looked at it before! Just looked for the green check off on right.

  Now I know what you mean. Thanks! So much clearer.

  Thanks so much!

  Laura

• 97 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 26, 2009 at 4:54 pm

  Hi Jackie,

  I double checked the SOC numbers under 20 from MNF against google with quotes around the keyword. Some of the results I get in Google for competition are in the millions.

  Wondering if I should just ignor Google and go with MNF assuming there is more to determining competition than just the number of sites found.

  Your opinion is valued.

  Thanks.

  Laura

• 98 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 26, 2009 at 4:58 pm

  Just so you know if you click the “exact phrase count” column in MNF that’s what that column does. Shows you the number with quotes in Google.

  I try to find keywords with a low SOC and a low exact phrase count. That way you’re covering all your bases.

  Jackie

• 99 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 27, 2009 at 11:23 am

  Hi Jackie,

  Thank you! I just went back to MNF and saw I could automatically get exact phrase count. That coupled with SOC does save a lot of time.

  I was ready to give up on using MNF altogether. Was very time consuming to switch back and forth between Google and MNF.

  Thanks, thanks and more thanks!!!

  Have a blessed holiday.

  Laura

• 100 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 27, 2009 at 1:02 pm

  Dear Jackie,

  Can you comment on this?

  1. It seems that Google keyword tool is bringing in a more diverse set of keywords than MNF.

  2. The “good” keywords I am finding using MNF, with correct SOC and exact phrase count, are not the ones which will bring in buyers.

  Ex. (not my niche) I am finding keywords for best laundry detergent, but not washing machine keywords (they are all saturated with competitors).

  Should I change my niche?

  OR

  Should I just go back to the simple Google keyword tool measured against the search phrase in quotes? This seems to be bringing me more possibilities, although it might be so simple it is overlooking critical elements of choosing good keywords (like PR of competing sites, for example).

  Hope this makes sense. Thanks.

  Laura

• 101 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 27, 2009 at 6:39 pm

  You can do a couple of things.

  1. Why can’t you sell laundry detergent? If you’re finding laundry detergent keywords why not use them? (yes I realize that’s not your niche) have you checked the “oci” column for your keywords in MNF? That will tell you the level of commercial intent (how likely people are to buy if searching for that keyword) ~ the closer to 100 the number the better.

  2. You may find MNF gives you a wider variety of options when it comes to keywords than the google tool does. You might want to put in a more specific keyword into the mnf. You may find adding a brand name or model number of a washing machine can bring up more specific keywords and less competitive keywords for you. That’s why I like to look at Amazon to start ~ find a specific model that has a lot of reviews ~ and then take that very specific model and put it into mnf and see what happens.

  Just remember while kw research is important if you spend you whole life trying to find the perfect keyword you’ll never make any money ~ money is made by making and promoting sites, not researching them. Just try a few things ~ the more you do the more you get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. You can research til you turn blue and you may find that even the “best” keywords don’t do what you expected and some random keywords that look like they should be awful turn into great keywords.

  So … don’t get stuck in analysis, pick something and go for it.

  Jackie

• 102 Laura Mendelsohn // Dec 28, 2009 at 9:17 am

  Thanks Jackie,

  Makes so much sense.

  Will get going on it.

  Laura

• 103 Arthur Dalton // Jan 26, 2010 at 11:43 am

  Hi Jackie and Andrea,
  I Am trying to do something with RV repairs.
  I have tried to try typing in things like repair your own rv, technical advice for rv repairs, technical advice for rv electrical repairs, Save money by repairing your own rv.
  Each time I get under Keywords related to term(s) entered “Not enough data”
  And under Keywords related to term(s) entered
  I get just general keywords related to rv’s but what I am looking for.

  I know I must be doing something wrong but have no idea what it is..

  This is a great program you girls have going here, it is a big help.

  Thanks
  Art

• 104 Jackie and Andrea // Jan 26, 2010 at 1:32 pm

  I’m assuming you’re using the google keyword tool ~ have you tried being a little more general like using rv repair ~ I found some interesting keywords when I tried that.

  Jackie

• 105 Jackie and Andrea // Jan 26, 2010 at 1:39 pm

  Another direction to poke around could be Make/model specific phrases - beginning the filtering from the manufacturer down.

  Andrea

• 106 Arthur Dalton // Jan 26, 2010 at 3:56 pm

  Thanks Jackie and Andrea,

  I guess I was trying to make it harder then it really is.
  Thanks for the help
  Art

• 107 Sharyn Mathieson // Feb 3, 2010 at 8:15 pm

  Hi Jackie and Andrea,

  I am new here and I have just purchased OWM, which I think is great but I am soooooo glad you are here as well. Anyway my question is. I have picked homemade candles as my keyword and then when I dug a little deeper it came up with how to make candles ect, ect. Now is this what I base my squidoo lens on?

  Thanks for a great site,
  Sharyn

• 108 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 3, 2010 at 9:18 pm

  Hi Sharyn,

  Congrats on finding some keywords. There are some more measures you need to look at before finally deciding on keywords for your campaign. Go ahead and complete the next few lessons. It should walk you through the process.

  Jackie

• 109 Gary Materra // Feb 4, 2010 at 12:47 am

  Hi Jackie,
  You said you like to find specific model numbers in Amazon sometimes and go from there. But if you have product/brand names in your keywords and therefore in your article titles, etc, doesn’t that mean EZA in particular won’t approve those, and article directories in general will have trouble, because it’s now commercial, not impartial information? All the examples I’ve seen in Conversation with Nick and elsewhere do not use product/brand names in keywords and such, but I know it’s done, I’m just fuzzy about how.
  Thx, Gary

• 110 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 4, 2010 at 6:28 am

  Hi Gary -

  You can do review type articles of most anything. Think of it as an editorial piece.

  Andrea

• 111 Kirsten Collins // Feb 12, 2010 at 7:13 pm

  2/12/2010
  Hi, I used the Keyword tool and found that it looks different than what is in the video on this page. Should I use Global Monthly Search Volume or the Local Search Volume?

  Thanks, Kirsten

• 112 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 12, 2010 at 7:50 pm

  Hi Kirsten -

  Global

  Andrea

• 113 Lisa Hayslett // Mar 8, 2010 at 12:16 pm

  Hello Jackie and Andrea,

  Jackie I have been following your blog closely and have completed several lenses for Christmas Cash and am now back to OWM. This Learn it Step by Step is awesome!!

  My question is, I am pretty sure I remember reading we should do “exact match” and not “broad” in Google keyword tool. Is this correct? The volumes change significantly with each.

  Thanks for your help!

  Lisa Hayslett

• 114 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 8, 2010 at 12:52 pm

  I’m not sure that PPG specifies one way or the other for OWM. I like to use exact match for squidoo lenses.

  Jackie

• 115 pinomi naidu // Jul 7, 2010 at 6:11 am

  Hello Jackie & Andrea,
  I just started with the lessons and I am stuck at lesson 1 no.5 ….appreciate your assistance

  I just put in my campaign words into Google adwords and follow the three steps…put in the keyword,fill the captcha & get the keywords, however that column Approx avg search volume does not appear,how do I get that column?

  Thanks
  Pinomi

• 116 Jackie and Andrea // Jul 7, 2010 at 7:20 am

  Hi Pinomi -

  See if you don’t have a link in the top right of your screen that says ‘Previous Interface’ and then use the ‘Global Monthly Search Volume’ column.

  Welcome!
  Andrea

• 117 Valarie Miller-Corl // Aug 18, 2010 at 8:58 am

  OK, my adword keyword tool does not look like the one in the video. I get that things get updated all the time. But, I can’t tell what was last month’s searches or what to delete? Am I looking to keep local monthly searches, global monthly searches???

• 118 Jackie and Andrea // Aug 18, 2010 at 9:33 am

  Hi Valerie -

  Here’s the link for the non-beta version:

  https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?forceLegacy=true

  Andrea