Keyword Research: SEMRush Review & Tutorial

April 23, 2012 By Lisa Angelettie 1 Comment

How To Use SEMRush To Conduct Keyword Research

At the foundation of every piece of carefully written content on the web is research. To be more precise, keyword research. If you are a member of my training program Articology or if you’ve followed me for a while via my newsletter, you know that I talk about keyword research quite a bit and actually offer it as a premium service in my business. It’s just that important. I do it everyday.

In previous trainings, I have talked about how to conduct keyword research using free tools as well as Wordtracker and Market Samurai, but today I want to talk about a new tool that I am using called SEMRush which is a web based keyword research and analytic tool. I am LOVING this tool for a few reasons.

FIRST – I really do prefer a web based tool because I can use it anywhere and it’s not a drain on any of my computer’s resources. This is a really robust one.

SECOND – It’s really easy to use because in one click you get a variety of search results that are pretty simple to interpret because of the explanations that SEMRush provides along the way (I’ll explain more about that later).

THIRD – There is a paid and free option enabling users at any stage in their business to use the tool and reap the rewards of major keyword research.

As a little background, I became familiar with SEMRush because this tool was founded by the creators of the plugin for Firefox and Safari that so many people use called SEOQuake — so I knew that they were quite familiar with keyword analytics and looked forward to seeing what their tool had to offer. As with any new tool that I test, I am doing so for myself of course but even more importantly for my community.

BEGIN THE SEARCH

SEMRush offers both free and paid research options. For our purposes, you can do everything you need to do with a free account but as with any service will benefit from more options and more query options with the paid (pro) option.

First you can start your search and get basic keyword information by typing your keyword in the top bar choosing to get either Google or Bing results. Go with the Google results as they dominate the search results.

SEARCH OVERVIEW

You will get basic Google trend information, search volume, and the cost per click for the keyword using Adwords. If you don’t know what a specific term means, you can hover over the ? image and get a brief description. This is a great feature for the new user.

PHRASE MATCHES

The second part of your results will show something called a phrase match report. In this particular search, I researched the term “keywords” and this report includes the keyword phrases that Google found relevant to my original search term. This information opens up my options for what terms I may want to also try and rank for.

The two most important areas you need to pay attention to are the Volume numbers and the Results numbers. Volume means how many monthly searches are conducted for this keyword and Results means the number of search results (pages) that Google returned for this search term.

*So one of your goals when making a decision about what keyword is a good one is finding one that has HIGH search volume and LOW results.

If you like one of the phrase matches, feel free to click on that particular keyword to drill down your search results even further.

RELATED KEYWORDS

The next sections of your research will show related keywords. This again is to option up options for me and shows me a variety of “synonyms” or other terms that Google believes are related to my original search term. Again you are looking for terms that make sense to your research, have high volume, and low page results.

Like with keyword phrase matches above, you can click on a particular keyword to drill down your search results even further in the related keywords section.

ORGANIC RESULTS

This section of your report shows the top 20 results that appeared in a Google search for that term. So basically, who your competition is for that search term, which is very important to know. For example, look at my results below. Some of the websites that I’d have to compete with for the search term “keywords” are heavy hitters such as Google, Wikipedia, and Wordtracker. So chances are, I’m not going to rank well for that term. So that let me knows right off the bat, that I should look at other options.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, as someone who conducts keyword research on a daily basis, SEMRush is a tool that I will not only use myself but one that I feel very comfortable recommending to my community regardless of what stage you’re at in your business and keyword research experience.

Feel free to give it a whirl at: SEMRush Free Trial

Then make sure to come back to this page as I plan on digging in a little deeper on how to conduct keyword research step by step. I will post those new tutorials as I create them. Until then, feel free to ask me any questions about SEMRush or keyword research in general over on Facebook.

How My Blog Traffic Increased by 33%

March 4, 2012 By Lisa Angelettie 9 Comments

One of the major ways that you can and you should be attracting more clients and customers is by leveraging the power of the web. Ultimately what that means, is that you should be taking advantage of the free traffic that the search engines will send you when you give them what they want–content.

How I Increased My Blog Traffic By 33%

On February 13th I got the highest amount of traffic ever on my site and most of it was due to several articles I had written over two years ago on February and Valentine’s Day related article ideas. I saw similar results last year, but this year the increase was even higher probably because Google has ranked those articles pretty high for me with related keywords.

For instance, if someone is searching specifically for Valentine’s Day Article Ideas, they will find that two of my articles on this site come up in positions #1 and #2 in Google out of over 49 million results!

Keep in mind that I wrote these articles two years ago — nothing this year around this topic because I was busy promoting Articology. So my point here is that the real key to consistent traffic that will only get better as long as it still is relevant is to just do it! Create it, publish it, rinse and repeat. And realize that you will reap rewards from your efforts immediately when you push your content out in social media AND for years to come as the search engines rank your content higher and higher in a search like the above example.

You can replicate these types of results as well when you follow a few simple rules:

Do Proper Keyword Research
I didn’t accidentally come across the term valentine’s day article ideas. I did my research and knew that there was a select group of people searching this topic using these keywords. So I made sure that I wrote optimized articles around them. I talk about this a lot in my article marketing training program Articology.

Keep Stacking Content
It’s important that you continually publish content to your blog. Not only to keep things fresh for your clients, but for the search engines, who will rank your older content based on how relevant you continue to be with your new content. Simply put, if I hadn’t continued to build my site and stack it with relevant content, I doubt that those articles would hold the #1 and #2 positions. They would get ranked, but probably not that highly.

Keep Sharing Your Content
One thing that I did do differently this year, was to casually remind people through my ezine and social media that if they needed article ideas for February or Valentine’s day that I had a few articles around that topic. I really think that this helped my traffic rise for not only the 13th but the entire month of February. Remember that while you are always sharing new content, it’s important that you remind folks of all your great older content found deep inside your site.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
Remember that content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy. It serves as the foundation for your business and you should ALWAYS be doing something content related in your business. This is not a quick fix strategy. Once you adjust your mindset around that fact, you will do the work necessary to see REAL results like mine as you grow your business.

Are You Going To Hit It & Quit It?

I want you to stop thinking about the pursuit of search engine traffic as a one hit wonder, a one night stand, or a quick fix. Sure there are a lot of marketers out there trying to sell you WordPress plugins, software, and “systems” that will assure you a HUGE avalanche of traffic (can you hear me being sarcastic?), but the truth of the matter is that I am not here for a quickie. I’m in it for the long haul. I can stay committed. I am faithful. I want a long term partner and therefore long term results. That is why I consistently feed the search engines what they want:

Content that is original
There is little tolerance for duplicate content by the search engines and rehashed content by readers. The search engines are getting smarter and smarter each day to all the duplicate content tricks, PLR mess, etc. and the readers are getting a little sick and tired of reading something they know that they’ve read somewhere else. Be original.

Content that is high quality and useful
I’m going to be totally transparent here. There are definitely days where I have written articles that I just wanted to get done and rushed it. Or there were articles I’ve written where I didn’t really have a lot to say and perhaps should of saved them to include in a more meaty article — but I didn’t. Ultimately I will pay the price for those so-so articles because people won’t read them or they certainly won’t convert. Not when there is a higher level of content out there on my topic. Now I’m not putting a word count on that content – I’m putting a quality meter on it. If it’s highly informative or entertaining, then publish it. If it’s not really something that you would read yourself, forget it, and go back to the drawing board.

Content that is shared with others
This is a relatively new concept for many business owners but it makes perfect sense. The quality level of any piece of content can generally be judged by how many people share it with others. Think about an article you shared with someone recently. Or a video you “liked” or “tweeted”. If you’re not totally sold on social media yet, think of “old school” sharing. Comments. Or reviews (like Amazon). Anything that gives your content the thumbs up or the seal of approval is of great importance to the search engines and helps them determine where they will rank your content. For example, if you’ve enjoyed this article, I’d really appreciate it if you would comment, Tweet it, share it on Facebook, or give it a G+.

Your Turn!
What strategies have you used to increase your blog traffic this year? What are your trying? What’s working for you? What isn’t?

How To Optimize Your Blog Post Images For Top Google Rankings

February 16, 2012 By Lisa Angelettie 10 Comments

One of the things that I find that most entrepreneurs drop the ball on is basic seo for the images on their websites. The reason why this is a BIG mistake is that Google sends websites traffic from images too. In fact, when I check my website statistics I can see what images are sending me traffic, and there are quite a few! The images that are sending me traffic to my sites typically are ones where I got the keyword phrases REALLY right. Watch this video to see how to get it done in under 4 minutes!

Only The Cool Kids Need Apply — Are You One?

February 1, 2012 By Lisa Angelettie 3 Comments

The Big Shift

In a recent teleclass that I led on The 5 Biggest Shifts That Entrepreneurs Must Make When Writing Articles That Attract Clients, I talked a bit about the dramatic SHIFT that is happening on the web right now. Search engines like Google are now taking a very close look at whether or not your content is being shared via social media and ranking your content based on those factors. This shift will significantly shape your online reputation.

Uh-Oh Is This High School Again?

Okay, so this sounds a little bit like a popularity contest right? Well sort of. The more folks who share, like, retweet, and comment on your content the more IMPORTANT that Google thinks you are. So essentially it comes down to the more people who like you — the better you will do in the search engines, BUT there’s one great advantage you have…

You Have MAJOR Control Over Becoming A Cool Kid

Unlike actual high school, you don’t have to depend on an arbitrary hierarchy to decide whether your content fares well in the search engines. YOU are on the same playing field as all of your competitors and you are probably 2 steps ahead of all the “Big Boys” in your niche, because everyday people make the decisions on whether to share, retweet, and like content.

If your content is good, if it’s inspiring, if it’s compelling, if it’s entertaining — it will be shared, regardless of WHO you are. When Google sees this, they ASSUME that you are important and rank your content accordingly.

Okay Lisa – So How Important Is This?

This shift towards more importance being paid on social media influence is critical if you want to remain relevant — at least in the search engines. If you are not on social media or created an account a year ago and haven’t been active, it’s time to get on the grid.

If you must choose just one to start with, I’d go with Facebook because it is the largest social media network and it has undergone tremendous growth over the years and continues to do so. If you are a rapid implementer. then I’d sign up with the power 3: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you’re active in social media and want to check just how well you are doing in social media (your social media influence), then a great place to check is: Klout.com. *I have a little disclaimer here though. Don’t get real crazy over your numbers in Klout. Use your Klout number as a frame of reference for how you’re doing in social media and what you need to work on. Then leave it alone.

This Still Sounds Like An Uphill Battle

No, it really isn’t. Sure, there are always going to be leaders who were already powerhouses offline like Oprah and will do great in social media — but when it comes to shining in your niche — social media really does level the playing field. The #1 key is to make sure that you are sharing kick-a@#! content. Get that right and everything else will fall into place. I recommend that you get started by building a strong foundation with articles.

Okay, Now You…

First, if you found value in this article, I’d appreciate it if you tweet or share it with your community or comment on it. Pay it forward please:)

Now for my question of the day: Do you think it’s a good idea for search engines to use social media as a factor for ranking content? Do you believe it puts you at an advantage or disadvantage?

Updating Your Amazon Profile Page

December 12, 2011 By Lisa Angelettie 1 Comment

A Tip For Updating Your Amazon Profile Page

One of the first reasons why I started surfing around the web years ago was to buy my daughter’s Christmas gifts on Amazon. When I had my first daughter Autumn, I admit that I became sort of a hermit. I breastfed her for a year and then I got pregnant again with my second daughter, so I started shopping online:) I bought a LOT of stuff for the girls on Amazon and pretty early on in my online practice (GirlShrink), I completed the profile page for myself at Amazon.

Amazon’s profile page is for Amazon customers and are typically utilized by folks who want to buy and review products, books, and more. I would casually and randomly review products over the years until I realized that when someone searched for my name, my Amazon profile page would come up on page 1 of those results. The positions have changed over the years, now it is currently #8 on page 1 for a search result of my name. That position is good enough for me to pay a little more “personal” attention to my profile page.

So the other day I decided I’d update it because it really had outdated information on it from when I was a full time psychotherapist. When I went to update the profile, I ran into a glitch, and that was in the “In My Own Words” section of the profile.

When I first added a small bio/introduction paragraph there I also added urls to a few of my relevant websites. Well, Amazon doesn’t allow that any longer but I didn’t know that. And they don’t tell you anywhere on the site (which is a little nutty)!

So every time I tried to make an edit to the section it would tell me that I couldn’t use “profanity” in the section — when clearly I hadn’t. S#!$$ 🙂 I mean it drove me crazy! I called customer service and while they tried, the first rep I spoke to didn’t even know what an Amazon profile page was. Need I say more?

Quick Note – when you call a customer service number for many major online companies such as an Amazon or a web hosting company, you often get the Level #1 support rep. When you run into major trouble, you always need someone at a level #2 or better. Typically you’ve got to get to those people via email.

So that’s what I did. Problem solved.

Adding the url addresses in that section was the problem. Once I deleted them, all was well and I was able to update the page.

There is a place for you to add a live link to one of your sites in your profile page by the way. It’s right above the “In My Own Words” section. I’m actually going to talk a lot more about how to take advantage of profile pages on major websites in my updated, revamped, made over foundational article marketing program — Articology in early 2012.

Your Content Marketing Assignment:
So if you have ever bought something from Amazon, it’s a good idea to go in your account this week and complete your profile page. Search engines rank ’em high! So it’s great to have and add to your visibility platform.

Google Will Announce Duplicate Content Issues To Webmasters

December 5, 2011 By Lisa Angelettie 7 Comments

News: Google Will Announce Duplicate Content Issues To Webmasters

I have written extensively about how to avoid penalties by Google a.k.a. The Google Filter, but if you haven’t been paying attention you’re in luck. Google has recently announced that they will now notify webmasters when they have made a cross-domain URL decision involving your site.

What this means is that when similar or duplicate content is present across more than one domain, Google will choose one of the URLs to index. When this cross-domain URL decision is made, some of your content may not be getting indexed in favor of another URL. The decision is typically made in favor of the more “important” domain. (It’s more important than ever now to get your social media content game on!)

While there are multiple reasons for there to be duplicate information on more than one site, it’s never good when you’re on the losing end of the deal. This is why Google has decided to send you a notification when they need to make this decision. That’s cool right? At least we know and can make some sort of movement to make the changes necessary if we end up with the short end of the stick.

Currently, Google only sends the notification to you within Webmaster Tools. Which you will find in the admin section of your Google account. Remember that if you have Gmail, Adwords, Analytics, or some other Google product that you automatically have a Google account. So, be sure your site is claimed within Webmaster Tools and have it set up to send you an email regarding all new notifications that come in.

Google Can Now Block Specific Search Results

November 9, 2011 By Lisa Angelettie 2 Comments

With Google’s Help You Can Block Specific Search Results — Is This A Good Thing?

I was conducting a Google search for a client while creating her Content Makeover and came across something really interesting. I saw her name in a Google result for what looked like a Mompreneur business site and wanted to check it out. When I did I was taken to a generic holding page. One that you would see if you purchased a domain name but haven’t set up a set yet on it. So that mompreneur site that she was on – was now defunct. But what happened next was even more interesting…

When I returned to the original search results, Google asked me when I scrolled over that same result if I wanted to block this url from further results. Funny thing is – I did! I mean the site no longer exists so there’s no need for me to see it while I’m conducting a search for this client. So I clicked yes – and so this is what I saw:

Then I thought about it again and realized that if I did another search for another client that I wanted to at least be able to see if the search engines were returning results for this site and my client. I need to know if this result was taking up valuable space on page 1 for any of my clients. So I wanted to undo the block. Instead of Undo, I clicked on Manage Blocked Sites just to see what would happen and I saw this site listed as well as the search term I used to get the result. Plus there was this from Google:

If you don’t like a site that appears in your search results, you can block all the pages within that site. Then you won’t see any of those pages when you’re signed in and searching on Google. If you change your mind, you can unblock the site later. Sites will be blocked only for you, but Google may use everyone’s blocking information to improve the ranking of search results overall.

You may block up to 500 sites.

So these are my initial thoughts:

1. I like this feature for my own use, but only temporarily. I don’t want to really ever totally block a site unless it’s pornographic, racist, or violent.

2. I don’t like this feature as a business owner. If my site comes up for a result and another and another — I want the person searching to see that yes I am the totally relevant business for the term you are searching for. You must recognize!! If someone can block me, then I am off their radar. Perhaps for forever because how many people are really going to “manage their blocked sites” or “undo” what they did. Most people are going to forget that they even blocked a site.

FYI – I was logged into one of my Google accounts when I was performing this search but it will ask you if you want it blocked whether you are signed in or not.

Bonus Tip – Not sure who owns this domain at this point since there is no longer a site but there is a holding page — but if this is your niche, this may be a domain name you want to investigate buying or back ordering it over at seodomainhosting.com because it still is returning MAJOR rankings. You can capitalize off of it’s PR ranking and search engine juice by snatching up the name.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this feature from Google?

What Is User Generated Content & Do I Need It For My Business?

October 30, 2011 By Lisa Angelettie 6 Comments

What Is User Generated Content & Do I Need It For My Business?

User generated content is any content on the web (articles, video, audio, images, social media content, reviews, forums) that has been contributed by the users of the website and not the administrators. So for example, in Amazon’s (Amazon.com) case, their product reviews are a HUGE part of the user generated content you will find on their website.

If you notice, not only does Amazon ask for you to review products that you’ve bought from them, but they’d love it if you added a video review and/or your own product images. So why do they do this? Well, it’s really simple.

1. User Generated Content Builds Trust

User generated content builds trust between the site owner (in this case Amazon) and potential customers (you). If Amazon and another site are selling a product at the same price point, same delivery charges, but Amazon has 10 reviews on the product and the other site does not — which site are you more likely to purchase the product from? Statistics prove that most people will trust the site with the user reviews more than the site that has nothing.

2. Search Engines Love User Generated Content

Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing all love user generated content. Google even admitted that they now add user generated content (such as social media content) as a factor when weighing the importance and relevance of a website. That’s BIG!

3. User Generated Content Makes Your Job Easier!

We can use Amazon as an example again. It’s up to Amazon administrators to set up the products and pages, but it’s up to users to create reviews, ratings, user lists, wish lists, profile pages and more. And let’s face it, it’s the reviews and all this other content that really seals the sale. This makes Amazon’s job so much easier. We the users make the sale for them!

Okay so we’re not Amazon, but let’s look at how we can use user generated content in our businesses. Take a look at some of the leaders in your niche. Do they have a lot of comments on their blog, do they permit guest blogging on their site, do they have a strong presence on social media sites like Twitter & Facebook? This is all user generated content and this is an area where solopreneurs have a real chance to shine.

So should you use user generated content in your content marketing plan? Heck yes! Can you do it all — probably, but it’s better to pick one thing, run with it, and do it well.

Have more questions about user generated content? Leave ’em below and let’s talk!