Keyword Research: Tips, Tricks & Tools

An article by Glenn Allsopp at ViperChill came to my attention this morning, about keyword research and a few neat tips about where to find useful keywords, how to unearth hidden keyword gems and how to find reliable data about keyword search volumes.

The article can be found here and is definitely worth a read. There’s a couple of little things I’ve taken away from it, sure others will find it helpful too.

NB: the article was shared originally by Hobo SEO – also excellent sources of SEO info, check them out.

SEO Powersuite Sale

Thought I’d share the good news: Link-Assistant.com are offering a 60% discount on their SEO Powersuite tools. If you’re into SEO then you probably know about the tools, and if you have just skimmed the surface then they will doubtlessly help when optimising your own website. Get the discount until 2nd August (or maybe earlier, according to the website. Get it while you can!

Google +1

Google recently launched +1, which looks like being a new factor in search engine rankings.

Not sure what this means for Google Buzz, but +1 looks like being a pretty useful (not to mention simple) tool for SEO.

+1 works by showing you what others have recommended in Google’s SERPs. If they like what they find on a page, they can now click a ‘+1′ button – much like the Facebook ‘Like’ button – registering their approval of said page. This shows up alongside search results, which will encourage users to visit recommend pages.

This could be a response to the Panda update issue of good quality content being penalised: allowing users to manually signal to the search engines what is good content, and what isn’t. Obviously its not a fix for that issue but it may help restore some credibility to your site in the form of rankings. It won’t be a huge help to rankings, but I can see traffic soaring if you get the right sort of content under people’s noses.

Anyone have any opinions on +1, good or bad, pointless or useful? Let’s hear them.

A Request…

I recently had a voicemail message from someone interested in my copywriting service. Unfortunately, no contact details were left other than a name, as the call came from a witheld number.

My request is twofold: firstly, for the person to contact me by email or phone again. Secondly, for anyone contacting me in future: please be sure to leave a number, email or URL in a voicemail, just in case!

How to find new Keywords and missed Ranking Opportunities

Google Analytics is one of the most useful and valuable tools around. Also, it’s free – so everyone should be using it really! There’s a good article on the SEOMoz blog today about how you can use Analytics to dig out new keyword opportunities, as well as checking how your current keywords are performing in terms of traffic and conversions.

There are some good tips and a walkthrough for users with Google Webmaster Tools accounts too – also invaluable for SEO. Really like this piece, as it’s nice and simple with actionable takeaways, but highlights just how easy it is to carry out deeper keyword research. It could also throw up some missed ranking opportunities, as there’s no better indication of what people are searching for than looking at your actual keyword visits via Analytics.

Google Panda update – were you affected?

Google’s Panda update happened this last week, and general consensus seems to be that this was to reward sites with quality content and penalise content farms and sites of that ilk (good article about this over at HoboSEO). However, there seem to be quite a few cases where genuine, quality sites have been penalised. Laying off your workforce due to traffic loss may be an extreme measure, but it can affect any business with any number of employees – so I am wondering if anyone else has seen a dip in rankings? Let me know!

Copywriting from a published author!

A few months ago, I wrote almost 40 entries for ‘The Complete Guide to British Birds’, including descriptions and information about a number of garden, woodland and wetland birds, as well as extended pieces about rarer species and a guide to providing a quality environment for birds in the garden. It sounds corny, but this project offered a fantastic combination of two of my passions in life: wildlife and writing!

I was delighted to receive a complimentary copy of the book from Igloo Publishing: I may be slightly biased, but the book is absolutely stunning. It looks of great quality, and the photography is beautiful. And the written work is beyond reproach..!

A few images of some entries:

Coincidentally, these images taken from Igloo’s website are all entries that I provided. I am delighted to have had some of my work published, and even moreso that is part of such a beautiful piece of work.

Font Friendly

I’ve been told about a cracking online tool (more for designers then copywriters) that allows you to check how text will appear in all fonts which are loaded on your computer. Its called Wordmark, and could save some people serious amounts of time on a very trivial task so I thought I’d share. Credit to Rachel at Design By Rach for the find (by the way, if you need web or graphic design, she is a designer in Newcastle who does some great stuff!).

Seven Stars’ SEO Success

After an initial phase of optimised webite content creation, one of our clients appointed us to take charge of the overall SEO for the site. Redler were looking to increase their rankings for a number of phrases, particularly ‘bulk materials handling‘. After only one month, Seven Stars achieved a first-page ranking within Google.co.uk for this phrase, which now holds third position:

Ranking Increase

As well as this excellent result, Redler also rank in 1st position for a number of other requested phrases such as ‘bridge distribution‘, ‘bulk reception units‘ and ‘container loading systems‘. Our continued work with Redler should see 1st position achieved over the coming weeks.

Why not contact us to find out how we can help your website rise to the top of the search engines?

After an initial phase of optimised webite content creation, one of our clients appointed us to take charge of the overall SEO for the site. Redler were looking to increase their rankings for a number of phrases, particularly ‘bulk materials handling‘. After only one month, Seven Stars achieved a first-page ranking within Google.co.uk for this phrase, which now holds third position:

Website Re-launch – New Stuff!

It’s been a while in coming, but after plenty of re-writes, scribbles out and shakings of the Etch-a-Sketch, our new website has finally been launched! After working closely with a local web designer in Newcastle, the new design now has the splash of colour which we think was missing from the old site. Of course, we still offer the same SEO Copywriting service, but are looking to make the new site a fresh, active entity which is as informative and helpful as possible to all visitors, whatever they’re looking for. Read up about the finer points of SEO and Copywriting, find out how we have performed or get in touch to see how we can help your online marketing as we approach 2011.