Three Mistakes to Avoid in Keyword Research

Today we’re going to talk about keyword research. Research is hands-down the most critical step you will take in deciding on a niche to promote in your niche blog.  If you don’t spend time doing this properly, unfortunately all of your blogging efforts could be a complete waste of your time. Keyword research is the backbone of SEO. SEO of course is search engine optimization.

Mistake number one  – choosing the wrong niche

Before I talk about keyword research I want to make sure that you don’t make the mistake of choosing the wrong niche. A great trick that you should use is to look in Google Trends to see a snapshot of overall traffic volume. You want to make sure that you choose a niche where the volume is at least steady, preferably increasing in the overall volume count.

Mistake number two is not building a keyword list that’s broad enough

Newbie marketers often make a mistake when they don’t build a broad enough keyword list to start with. When you start doing your keyword research, you need to take a funnel approach. You should start with as many keywords as you can possibly think of, then refine them down. Internet marketers have usually been told that the magic is in the long tail keyword.  It can be, but you shouldn’t exclude broad phrases.  The free Google keyword tool can help you to do tests, as can the free Word tracker keyword tool.

Mistake number three not paying attention to what adwords pay

When you’re using the free Google keyword tool,  always make sure that you use the little drop-down box that’s going to allow you to choose extra columns.  There’s a column that’s called CPC — that’s cost per click. If you want to make money off of people clicking on your adsense ads, then you need to pay attention to this column. If your main goal is to make money off adsense clicks then you don’t want to choose a keyword that’s only going to be paying you pennies per click – and that happens a lot.

Internet marketing is certainly not a get rich quick system. I like niche blogging because it allows me to build up my blog over time and generate lots of traffic – which of course leads to lots of adsense clicks and also affiliate sales. A lot of your success online will be determined by how much effort you put into your keyword research. If you don’t put enough effort initially into this piece,  in the end it’s going cost you a lot of time,  and of course a lot of frustration as well.

Stick with it, do the proper keyword research so that you can select the correct niche for your niche blog,  and you will become a successful niche blogger – and that means make money blogging!