Internet Marketing with Josh SpauldingMaking Money through Ethical Internet Marketing.

56 comments

1. Philip (5 comments.)
   21st December, 2009 at 3:45 pm 

   Great stuff again, Josh! I used to forget to check my keywords regularly, but now have the report sent to me weekly or monthly forcing me to look at things.

2. David (1 comments.)
   21st December, 2009 at 3:51 pm 

   Great info. I’ve actually done that for a very long time. I’m on a never ending quest for more and more keywords. I always go through my stats and even the low hanging fruit get attention from me. I get tons of traffic from keywords no one would even expect to have any. Internally and externally I try to rank for as many keywords as possible. I never focus on just one because that’s when I start to lose the easier traffic.

3. jonny
   21st December, 2009 at 4:02 pm 

   Great info there, something that i dont do enough of.
   The question i have though is, what is the best way to help you get the double indented listing once you have found the keywords to ‘laser target’ that have been landing on another page targeting a different keyword ?

4. Buddy (3 comments.)
   21st December, 2009 at 4:02 pm 

   Funny that you wrote about this. I also discovered new keyword phrases that people were using and then clicking on my site. I am in the process you are mentioning as of right now gearing more content towards what people are looking for. In my goal it is to retain my visitors longer. Great post as you are far more eloquent than I.

   Buddy

5. Josh Spaulding
   21st December, 2009 at 4:04 pm 

   @ Jonny – In most cases they will make the initial page a double listing because it’s related to the new page. If it weren’t related, it wouldn’t have ranked for that keyword in the first place.

6. Wendy
   21st December, 2009 at 4:14 pm 

   Thanks for the great info Josh! I know it’s probably somewhere on your site, but which stats program do you use?

7. jonny
   21st December, 2009 at 4:16 pm 

   Ahh…i see…would it help to link pages using the keyword targeted as anchor text or is it mostly dependent on the relevance? Or am i thinking about this too much!!

8. Jeff Mueller
   21st December, 2009 at 4:18 pm 

   Great stuff Josh!, I have two sites that I created last spring both of which sell an ebook. I have neglected these sites for past few months because I have been putting up 5 dollar mini-sites.

   Now I need to go back and look at my traffic on those sites and see what keywords are popping up. I suspect that once I do this and implement some changes my traffic will rise for both of those sites over the coming weeks and months.

   Thanks again for the tip

   Jeff

9. Cash Surveys
   21st December, 2009 at 4:28 pm 

   Josh…that is a very nice tip! Hey but I do have a question…is it good to change the title tag on a page that is ranking and getting traffic? I have read that it can have negative effects on your rankings. Tell me in all of the times you have changed your title tags beyond the one mentioned i this post, what has been your results?

10. Rahman Mehraby (9 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 4:30 pm 

    It’s interesting to take into account the importance of fine tuning the content elements to the requirements of the web surfers to gain more targeted traffic.

    Actually, it reminds me of the web analytics role in the process of search engine optimization that is vital to achieve the maximum SEO results.

11. Rob (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 4:46 pm 

    I’d just run into a similar circumstance the other day. A site with no business competing with one of mine was beating the pants off me because their title was just a little closer to the mark than mine.

12. Dr. Siuw (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 4:53 pm 

    Yes, absolutely true. Always watch your google analytics for new keywords that trigger traffic to your site and create more relevant content for your readers. It all come to the principle: give them and they will love you.

13. Paul Hooper (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 4:59 pm 

    Hi Josh,
    Great tips there, and perfect timing for me as i’m just launching lots of different niche WP sites and relying on search engines for my traffic.
    Can i just ask, where do you check for all of these keywords, is it through your Google analytic stats?
    Thanks Josh,
    Paul

14. Josh Spaulding
    21st December, 2009 at 5:19 pm 

    @ Wendy & Paul – I use Google Analytics.

    @ Jonny – Yes, anchor test is important, although it has nothing to do with what I’m talking about in this post.

    @ Cash – 1. Please read my comment policy. 2. As long as you’re not making a drastic change in the title tag it won’t effect the existing rankings too much.

15. Kris (2 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 5:24 pm 

    Josh, great advice. Not only do thse small nuggets add up over time, but its these small targeted keywords that usually end up being more profitable.

16. Carey (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 5:53 pm 

    Thanks Josh, I am new to key word optimization on my site, but find your info very easy to understand.

17. Rahman Mehraby (9 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 5:57 pm 

    @Rob – You’re right as such things could happen to anyone. That’s why it’s better to be equipped with SEO methods so that such sites cannot push you down the result pages of search engines.

    Your competitor has been playing the game by its rules. You need to do that too.

18. Lisa (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 6:10 pm 

    I create entire huge sites this way – write a little bit, see what traffic comes in for what keywords, write a post or article for everyone of those keywords, see what traffic NOW comes in for what keywords, and on and on. People type in stuff you’ve never dreamed of and stuff you’ll never see on any keyword tool.

    This is how all newbies should operate with content sites, imo.

19. T Sims
    21st December, 2009 at 6:41 pm 

    Froehe Weinacht und einen guten Rutsch wuensche ich dir!

    Nothing like a good glass of Gluehwein, eh Sergeant?

20. Carlos (12 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 6:45 pm 

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts Josh. Right on!

    The only problem is if your sites don’t have much traffic to begin with. The technique you mention here won’t do much to help one drive more traffic if there are hardly any keywords by which searchers are finding one’s site there to begin with.

    I suppose that a general “rule” if you will to this is if one’s site is still too low on the traffic generating curb it pays to focus on more standard SEO strategies to start driving that traffic first before using the technique you mention here.

    What you said is excellent though and the example you gave from your own site was very illustrative.

    I applaud you for your willingness to share an example from your own site given that some people will undoubtedly now start targeting “German Christmas Food” or some such possibly taking away some of your traffic.

    Carlos

21. Josh Spaulding
    21st December, 2009 at 6:52 pm 

    @ T Sims – Vielen Dank! ich wuensche Dir auch ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und alles Gute fuer 2010. Yep, I love me some Gluehwein

    @ Carlos – Yes, this tip would be very useful for new sites, only those that are established. And I’m not too worried about others targeting that phrase. It’s no different than the millions of other phrases out there.

22. Carlos (12 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 7:43 pm 

    Josh,

    I understand what you are saying about not being too worried about competition but it’s also true I think that for newer sites such a concern is more relevant.

    Once one’s site become as successful as yours apparently have letting the competition in on what you are doing is not nearly as risky as doing that when one’s site is much newer.

    If I had a newer site I would never give out the keyword phrases I am targeting or the url of my site. Too easy for the competition to jump on board and steal my position.

    Your sites are just too tough to outrank I think. At least not very easily which makes what you graciously did in giving out your info much less risky.

    Kinda of a nice place for you to be at I think .

    And all the better for the rest of us to learn from by hearing of your practical examples.

    Carlos

23. Online Marketing (1 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 7:46 pm 

    Great post as usual, Josh. I’m amazed at how many of my business clients don’t monitor their blog or website stats.

    Quite often they can give me pages of analysis on their “brick and mortar” business but they either don’t like marketing or “don’t get it” and ignore their blog and website stats.

    I check my stats once a month. That way, if I make a change to my website or blog, it gives the search engines a month to scan the site and revise their SERPS.

    You should never change anything on your site unless you’re willing to give it time to work itself out in the search engines. Otherwise, you never know if any change in your traffic was due to your “modification” or not.

    Bob McClain

24. Rahman Mehraby (9 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 7:58 pm 

    @ Carlos – I think once you start out on the web, you cannot hide certain things. I realize what your concerns could be, but if your ranking is top, your competition will find out about you. If it’s not, they won’t care.

    On the other hand, I wonder how you could hide the keywords as there are methods and softwares to discover you, as a competitor, and your keywords.

    If I begin a site and know that I should set off for some competition, I would start with long tail keywords and proceed to more difficult situations. Once my competitors realize that I’m on top of the search engine result pages, they should think about how to surpass me. It’s kinda their own problems.

    Maybe that’s why SEO should become an ongoing campaign. Only this could keep you on top if done properly!

25. Carlos (12 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 8:38 pm 

    Hi Rahman,

    You make some valid points but I guess a lot of where I am coming from has to do with the kinds of sites I am focused on creating.

    My aim is to build an Adsense empire, God willing.

    That entails going for keywords that are less competitive but still plenty attractive to a whole host of others trying to do the same.

    Like every successful Adsense person I have ever encountered I keep the keywords I am targeting and my site url’s completely private.

    Not that I am super successful yet…I am just starting out with Adsense but still…I have achieved some measure of success.

    If another Adsense person found out what keywords I was targeting and what my url’s were they would target my niches in a heartbeat to save themselves the hassle of doing their own keyword research.

    True…they may see my sites anyway but only on the tail end of doing their own work in keyword research.

    I guess what I am saying is that the type of site and how successful one is (or not) can make a big difference with respect to whether and when one should be concerned about competition.

    Aside from keyword research and some key SEO knowledge, quality Adsense sites are no big deal to build.

    As such and unlike with other types of sites….competition is more of a concern for Adsense publishers than with sites that might require a lot more work to rank well in more highly competitive niches.

    Carlos

26. Nando (7 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 8:48 pm 

    Hey Josh,

    Thanks for the reminders, I’ve done this before and you’re 100% right, once the SE’s spider the page after changing the title tag, traffic increases every time.

    Especially when I create a page targeting the searched for keyword.

    Good Stuff as always,
    Cheers!

27. Rahman Mehraby (9 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 8:56 pm 

    Carlos,
    Now, I see what you’re mainly concerned about. I just have a question regarding the secrecy of keywords usage at a page:
    Is it possible to have some keywords to focus on at a page and still keep them a secret? I mean aren’t they visible?
    I’ve not been involved in such competition to know how it’s done. My question isn’t about how, as it may be a secret, but I want to know if it’s possible at all.
    … and the reason I ask this is the fact that something may sound like using different keywords for the search engines (which is misleading them). As you know we may have to be cautious not to be deceived to spam search engines for the sake of higher targeted clickthrough rates.

28. William (3 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 9:38 pm 

    Thanks for a great post

    I like the way you stated that its common sense which it is. We now install google analytics to track exactly that but I have to admit that we do get lazy at times to create keyword related content.

    Thanks a lot & a merry christmas to you & family

29. Carlos (12 comments.)
    21st December, 2009 at 9:54 pm 

    Rahman,

    As far as I know it is impossible to keep the keywords we are targeting with a site page a secret. Especially not with small site pages like Adsense web sites might have (I am referring to site pages that are specifically created to target Adsense through a targeted emphasis on low competition phrases…not the big sites that put on Adsense as an afterthought).

    There are tools that will sniff out our keywords.

    When I say I am concerned about competition such that I don’t want to reveal keywords and site url’s I am referring to the kind of competitor that will just take what we freely share and run it with themselves without adding their own keyword research work into the mix.

    I did not refer to keeping our keywords and url’s private as an absolute. Something that I don’t think can be done.

    If an Adsense competitor comes along and sees our sites and then runs some spy software on it to uncover our keywords (putting aside for a moment the fact they found our site through their own targeted keyword research to begin with ) all the more power to them.

    But that takes work. I don’t mind competitors having to work for what they get. No less than I must work to beat others.

    When I say I keep my keywords and url’s private I mean I don’t publicly make them known over the internet. In other words I don’t give competitors a free hand out to beat me at the Adsense game.

    My guess is that Josh probably does not have to concern himself with competition in the sense that I am talking about as much if at all since his sites are probably not the mini-sites that I am building for Adsense (please correct me if I am wrong Josh). Mini-sites that are relatively easy to set up once you find the niche being targeted.

    The other reason to keep things private is that a competitor can also begin to do things to try and knock us out with Google once they find our Adsense code (which is publicly viewable and downloadable by all).

    I’d just as soon not make it easy for my Adsense competitors to engage in that type of thing by giving away my keywords and site url’s.

    Carlos

30. Golffan
    21st December, 2009 at 11:43 pm 

    Hey Josh,
    Always good content mate, I usually forget to check my stats, not that there is much to check yet, it’s a new site.
    Plus I wasn’t quite sure what to do with those stats anyway, but a light bulb just went off in my head while reading your post.
    Der! I wil pay more attention now.
    Thanks

31. Mark (1 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 12:14 am 

    Josh,

    That is so true.

    We run a small organic pet health site that has probably less than ten pages, but during the whole of 2008, there were over 4,000 different keywords used to find that site on the three major search engines, which is way more than we thought even existed.

    Mark.

32. Sandra (1 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 2:33 am 

    Hi Josh,

    Sounds totally logical but the fact is many of us don’t look at our stats. re. keywords and even with such a glaring example of creating a new page/article re. German Christmas Food – many of us don/t take that simple step. As you said, it’s all about those little details.

    Thank you so much – I’ll be checking my stats in more detail now.
    Frohe Weihnachten
    Sandra

33. Philippe (1 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 2:48 am 

    You did it again; little things do make a big difference when you pay attention to them.

    One other thing that people tend to do a lot is to work really hard on their websites and do what they have to do with their on page and off page SEO but what they fail to realize is that to keep traffic coming they have to constantly continue to monitor (track, track track) and adjust… like you did

    Like you said Josh, if people pay attention to their stats and understand how there traffic got there and from which keywords, they could simply tweak their site a little bit to maximize their SEO thus getting more traffic.

    I did have that haha moment a few months back but it is really nice to see that Josh, a successful Internet Marketer, know it and feel that it is important enough to share it with his readers.

    I personally use Google Analytic to track my stats. It’s free and it give a lot of info.

    Thanks Josh for that piece of free advice.

    Keep them coming they do us good. I’m out

    Good luck everyone.

    Phil

34. Michelle Adams (9 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 6:41 am 

    Josh I review my analytic’s data regularly although I haven’t really looked closely enough for patterns but I will be now.

    Thanks for the tips!

35. Rahman Mehraby (9 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 10:28 am 

    @ Carlos – Anyway, thank you for the explanation. I wish you all the best.

    @ Sandra – I looked at your site and liked it. It’s simple and professional. I think it’s got plenty of potential to grow much more powerful.

    @ Philippe – I also use Google Analytics both for myself and my clients. It’s getting better and better with the features constantly added to it.

36. Heather Villa (1 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 11:12 am 

    Great reminder! I think sometimes we get so busy that we forget the reason why we check analytics. It’s not JUST to see the numbers, but to make the necessary tweaks needed to increase the numbers. Of course that takes a bit more time and effort on our part.

37. Franck Silvestre (16 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 2:06 pm 

    I like this way of thinking. Don’t trick the search engines.

    2010 is going to get tough for people who try to game the online world. It’s time to build real businesses, and really help people to get what they want.

    It’s also time to stop focusing on just one form of traffic (like seo for example). It’s time to get ALL the traffic possible.

    Franck
    the Body Guard marketer

38. Eruwan Gerry (1 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 3:19 pm 

    Great stuff here Josh! thanks for sharing.

39. Mighty (2 comments.)
    22nd December, 2009 at 11:32 pm 

    Thanks for this info Josh. You keep sharing advice that reveals what exactly you’re doing. that’s why i like reading your blog posts. keep it up.

40. Ann @ How To Make A Website (12 comments.)
    23rd December, 2009 at 12:08 am 

    You are so right, I am guilty of neglecting to look at my stats more closely. It is not something that I find easy to do, but I know it is necessary.

41. Linda (7 comments.)
    23rd December, 2009 at 12:39 am 

    Thanks for this excellent advice Josh. It makes more sense to give the searcher exactly what they are looking for via the keywords they search with than just use the keywords you find in keyword tools. I have started checking the keywords used in webmaster tools and using those for post titles – rather than change around the title tag of an already published post. Will see how this helps with traffic over the next month or so.

42. Val
    23rd December, 2009 at 3:46 am 

    Thanks for reminding us how important checking and evaluating your stats is. I have been giving all of my attention to the keywords that are bringing me the most traffic. I have never thought about using related keywords to build a link building page. Great idea.

43. Anxiety Cures
    23rd December, 2009 at 6:04 pm 

    Great job Josh,this is an unfamiliar way for blogger like me.I normally concentrate on SEO,but your advice would be more helpful to drive traffics to my site.

44. Portable Photo Printer
    24th December, 2009 at 12:45 am 

    Good call dude. Im going to have to dig back into my analytics and seeing what traffic im letting get away.

45. Jose Anajero (1 comments.)
    24th December, 2009 at 1:13 am 

    You have a way of presenting SEO to a technophobe like me when you said, “Don’t try to come up with ways to trick the SE’s. Just look for patterns and think “What can I do to give these users exactly what they’re looking for.” Do that and you’ll start seeing increased traffic right away!”

    Thanks Josh for your usual insightful post.

    Jose

46. David @ Computer sales and support (8 comments.)
    24th December, 2009 at 2:02 am 

    Great info.

    Do you use Google Analytics to get this information or something else?

47. Gary (11 comments.)
    24th December, 2009 at 3:23 pm 

    I know this is a good common sense tactic, Josh, but I just wondered, what sort of monthly keyword search volume would merit building a new page – thousands, hundreds? Do you have a ball-park figure in mind or just wait until it’s pretty obvious, like thousands in your ‘German Christmas Food’ example?

48. John Shull (3 comments.)
    24th December, 2009 at 6:43 pm 

    Josh, I love the common sense of it all . Good user experience… no substitute for it. I am starting to get my head around the immensity of it all… articles, backlinks, press releases, blogging, emails — and as I am doing it, I see the interconnectedness of it all. Now, where is that program that creates more time? Ah, the outsourcing program !!

49. Curtis N (1 comments.)
    25th December, 2009 at 2:32 am 

    This is exactly right, finding traffic is 90% of the hassle of creating a successful blog. There are tons of great common and uncommon ways to increase traffic.

50. Joe Falcon (1 comments.)
    27th December, 2009 at 12:44 pm 

    That site on Germany is super clean. How did you make the header and footer?

51. Dan Pressler (3 comments.)
    27th December, 2009 at 6:13 pm 

    Happy New Year Josh!

    Being new to all this I’m just beginning to check on my stats and it’s good to have input about what to do with them & what methods/techniques to use to leverage my stats into more traffic…Thanx again Josh!

52. Jo Tito (1 comments.)
    27th December, 2009 at 6:53 pm 

    Thanks heaps Josh. I really appreciate your “common sense” knowledge! I also appreciate that you respond to questions and you are one of the most consistent online marketers I know

53. Arun Pal Singh (10 comments.)
    28th December, 2009 at 6:04 pm 

    Common Sense!

    Not everybody uses that anymore.

    Nice article BTW and terrific examples.

54. Rika Susan's Juicing For Health (5 comments.)
    12th February, 2010 at 1:38 pm 

    Great article, Josh. Thanks! I have been looking at keywords in this way for a long time and it really works. Many newbies assume that they have to go for the BIG ones – the ones that don’t have any chance of ranking. A good spread of the smaller keywords can be well worth your while.

55. Learn affilate marketing
    18th February, 2010 at 3:47 am 

    Great point its always the keywords your not shooting for that achieve top rankings. Was German christmas food targeted to whatever you were promoting? If not oh well even non targeted traffic is better than no traffic.

56. Steve Hippel (1 comments.)
    3rd March, 2010 at 9:49 pm 

    I can relate to your story.
    I built a little site for my kitchen business.On my appliances page I had a range cooker that delivered over half of the traffic for that site.
    It turned out to be exclusively branded for my supplier and there was just no one listing it and loads of people searching for it.
    .