In Part I of this article, we talked about using Google’s External Keyword Tool to do keyword analysis. In this part, we’re discussing doing the same thing, but with WordTracker’s free tool.
The first thing you’ll want to do is to Google WordTracker’s free tool and get familiar with it. Then take your main keyword phrase for your web page and run it through the tool. You’ll get a list of sub-phrases along with daily search numbers. Once you get that continue reading this article to use this information to plan your new site.
The difference between WordTracker’s free tool is it gives you numbers for average daily search volume. Google doesn’t. They make you guess. So, if you’re just using free tools, you need to pick out the keyword phrases from your Google list that showed half a bar or more. Run these through WordTracker’s free tool to get numbers on them.
What you want to end up with is a list of a hundred or so keyword phrases with search volume numbers.
Using your spreadsheet, sort this list by search volume. Either highest to lowest or lowest to highest.
Make sure your main keyword phrase gets the largest or nearly the largest number of searches. If it doesn’t, change it.
Sort the others into two categories. I can’t do the numbers for you, because it’s all relative, but you want your main keyword phrase, then you want to get five to fifteen or so secondary phrases that are both a little more specific in nature and that get average daily search numbers that are between the lowest and highest.
Take the keyword phrases that are left and group them using your mid-range phrases as group titles.
Your main keyword phrase is generally called your Tier 1 phrase, your mid-range phrases are your Tier 2 phrases, and your smaller phrases are your Tier 3 phrases. You need to use your Tier 2 phrases as sub-groups and then group your Tier 3 phrases under an appropriate Tier 2 phrase.
Note: I usually print out a copy of my spread sheet, cut it up into slivers of paper, each with one of the keyword phrases along with its search volume number on it, then actually group these on my dining room table. Just doing this the old fashioned way seems to work better than using technology.
Once you do this you can actually use these words to plan out your site. Your Tier 1 phrase is what your home page should be optimized for. Your navigation buttons should link to your pages optimized for your Tier 2 phrases, and text links within the Tier 2 pages should take you to your Tier 3 pages. If you’re using a blog structure, then think of your Tier 2’s as either categories or separate pages. Your Tier 3’s would all be your posts.
