Brainstorm It! -- The Google AdWords Keyword Tool
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is an excellent preliminary brainstorming and keyword research tool (you can even do research in other languages).
If you're planning on having Google AdSense be an important part of your monetization plans, this tool gives you a superb "high level snapshot" of how profitable your Site Concept(s) could be. This makes it easier to identify your top three choices before you actually start using Brainstorm It! (BI!) at Step 2 of DAY 2 (to pick your best Site Concept).
The AdWords Keyword tool is actually intended to help advertisers decide which keywords to buy. It tells how much demand there is for keywords by those searching at Google (they call it "Search Volume") and by those advertising at Google AdWords ("Advertiser Competition").
This tool even provides the "monetary value" (optional) of your keywords (i.e., what advertisers can expect to pay).
So what do you (a publisher, not an advertiser) look for? More on this later, but remember this for now...
- the more relevant keywords that are generated by this tool,
- the greater the "Search Volume" for the keywords,
- the greater the "Advertiser Competition", and
- the more the keywords cost advertisers...
... the better for you!
What's It For?
Use it to generate a list of keywords for each of your Site Concept possibilities. Select one idea and complete the process outlined below. Save that window to your desktop (File > Save As). Then repeat the process for your next Site Concept option.
When you have finished brainstorming the possibilities you wish to assess, you'll compare results and choose your top three choices. Let's get started...
If your target market is global, change your results to "English, All Countries and Territories." If your market is local/regional, or you'd like to see what the numbers are for a particular location or language, select from the choices Google offers.
You'll notice two choices on the left, Descriptive words or phrases and Website content (see the screenshot below). Click on Descriptive words or phrases and enter one of your Site Concept keywords (see 1 in the screenshot below).
You can also click on Website content. We'll cover this second option below, after completing the Descriptive words or phrases option.
In Descriptive words or phrases, enter "anguilla" (1 in the screenshot below). Now...
Uncheck the "Use synonyms" checkbox (2) to do a vertical brainstorm. Checking it will add a "lateral brainstorm," and this action sometimes gives better results. Try both ways.
Two Kinds of Brainstorming
Vertical Brainstorming generates keywords that contain the Brainstorm Seed Word (ex., if you enter "anguilla," all brainstormed words will contain "anguilla" in them).
Lateral Brainstorming generates keywords that are related to the Brainstorm Seed Word but do not contain it (ex., if you enter "anguilla," an example of a lateralized word is "caribbean"). We will do our first "official" lateralizing brainstorm on DAY 3. If you want to play with this concept here, the help below shows you how.
The keyword that triggers any brainstorm is called a "Brainstorm Seed Word" because it "seeds" a storm of keywords.
OK, you've entered your Seed Word (1) and unchecked "Use Synonyms" (2). Enter the characters that you see in the picture (3 in the screenshot below, "woongh").
Choose "Keyword Search Volume" as the data to display (3). This provides you with the previous month's "Search Volume" and "Advertiser Competition" (both of which are forms of demand for your keyword, the former by searchers and the latter by advertisers).
Now it's time to get your keywords! Click on the Get keyword ideas button (4), as shown in the screenshot here (1, 2, 3, 4)...
The page will refresh, displaying a list of keywords, including a bar graph that indicates "Advertiser Competition," "Approx Search Volume" for the previous month, and "Approx Avg Search Volume," as shown here...
Advertiser Competition -- the number of advertisers bidding on the same keyword.
Approx Search Volume for the previous month -- user searches for that keyword on Google during the month indicated by Google.
Approx Avg Search Volume -- user searches for that keyword over a recent 12 month period.
Choose Exact as your "Match Type." You do not want to use Google's definition of "broad."
Optional Tip
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Choosing "Broad" can be a useful way to determine the total Search Volume for your Site Concept. It gives you the Search Volume for all keywords that contain that keyword. Think of it as the total Search Volume that you would get if you added up the Search Volumes for all the keywords generated by a vertical brainstorm on that word. For example...
If you select Exact as your "Match Type" for the keyword "Anguilla," you'll find an Average Search Volume of about 110,000. Do a quick switch to Broad and the Average Search Volume jumps to around 1,220,000. This gives you an indication of the number of searches using keyword phrases that contain the word "Anguilla," with "Anguilla" in any order in the phrase.
A Broad count of 1,220,000 is a nice, solid number. This Site Concept keyword may be worth pursuing as the concept for your site. Compare it to the Broad count for each of your other Site Concept Keywords for a quick "overall demand comparison" of each niche.
Sort words according to Approx Avg Search Volume by clicking on the Approx Avg Search Volume heading to sort the best to the top. Ditto for Advertiser Competition.
Why sort on Approx Avg Search Volume?
Because the more relevant and specific keywords there are with users searching for your keyword, and the more keywords there are with high Search Volumes, the better! Sorting makes this "big picture" easy to see.
Don't worry about seasonality (Approx Search Volume for the previous month). If you know your niche, you know about seasonality already. The 12 month average is much more useful and helpful in determining the viability of this potential Site Concept.
The same reasons apply for sorting on Advertiser Competition... sort of! Remember, while a high number of advertisers bidding on a keyword is a good thing, it also means there is more competition.
So an Approx Avg Search Volume sort is the more useful of the three.
Bottom line? You're looking for a potential Site Concept that has...
- the most relevant keywords generated by this tool
-
the greatest "Search Volume" across many keywords -- lots of people searching for lots of keywords
- the most keywords that pay well (i.e., have high advertising cost).
In short, look for the best blend of lots of relevant keywords and good Search Volumes (and reasonable-to-high monetary values if you do the CPC option -- to see the CPC option, click on the "Show/hide columns" menu and select Show Estimated Avg. CPC).
Advertiser Competition is an interesting concept. It could also be thought of as a kind of competitive "Supply," since each of those advertisers has a site with a landing page for each keyword they bid upon.
So, in a sense, as you're considering concepts, you can think of high "Advertiser Competition" numbers like this...
- Good news! They want your keyword, big-time.
- Bad news! They likely have a page with some content about that keyword.
But the best news of all? Since they're advertising for these keywords, they likely don't know how to build truly excellent content pages that will score well at the engines. You will!
We'll cover a better way to discover the real Supply lower down.
TIP! Need More Ideas for Site Concepts??
Repeat the above process, except this time check the Use synonyms box, like this...
Then repeat the steps you did above. You'll receive some of the same words, and you'll receive other words related to the keyword you entered but that do not contain it (ex., you enter "Anguilla" and you get back "Barbados").
A useful idea stimulator!
Put a $ Tag on Each Keyword
This "CPC $" step is strictly optional. It's kind of "fun to know," but the data is not critical to your decision-making and can in fact be misleading.
Remember, just because a maximal CPC is $10, it does not mean that a page about that keyword will make you that amount. The DAY 2 goal is to choose your niche, not to nail down every last detail.
So if you tend to become data-overwhelmed rather easily, you can safely skip this step. If you want to "push the envelope," the "Optional box" below this one is more useful for the high-level DAY 2 purpose of "niche-choosing."
Click here to skip this option.
Continuing with the CPC option? Let's go...
We talked about the monetary value of your keywords above. It's time to get those numbers. Choose Show Estimated Avg. CPC from the drop-down...
OK, you've chosen Show Estimated Avg. CPC. The "Estimated Avg. CPC" column appears next to the Keywords column, with amounts in your default currency. To change the currency, select the one you want from the drop-down menu. Then enter a high number, an amount you'd never pay for a keyword, into the Max CPC box, say $100 as shown below (1)...
Click the Recalculate button. You will get a list with the Cost Per Click (Estimated Avg. CPC column in screenshot below) that advertisers are paying for the #1 spot for those keywords.
Here's what it looks like, sorted by Estimated Avg. CPC...
Tip
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Sorting by CPC gives you "Cost-Per-Click" values, which is, of course, useful information. But here's a helpful technique that gives you an excellent indication of keyword value...
Click on Approx Avg Search Volumne again. That will sort your keywords by search volume. Then view the Estimated Avg. CPC for your sorted keyword list. You get to see what the most in-demand keywords are worth monetarily. The higher the Search Volume and the higher the CPC, the more each keyword is worth to you.
Bottom line? You now have a list of keywords generated for your potential Site Concept keyword. You know...
- how many relevant keywords you have (up to 150-200, depending on the Site Concept keyword you entered)
- the approximate average the Search Volume (how often users search for each of your keywords) over a recent 12 month period
- the Advertiser Competition (how in-demand each keyword is by Advertisers!), and
- (if you did this optional step) you have the estimated CPC each time someone clicks on an ad when searching for your keywords.
In other words, you have a solid overall sense of the strength of the set of keywords generated by your Site Concept keyword.
Optional -- Try the "Website content" Option
Now that you're familiar with the first option, Descriptive words and phrases, try the second option, Website content. This can be especially useful to help you decide if the data from the first option does not give you a clear-cut winner among the Site Concepts you're considering.
Enter the URL of the home page of the best competitors in your niche. (A quick way to find solid competitors? Search Google for your Site Concept keyword and visit each of the Top 10 sites.)
Complete the rest as shown...
Important! Be sure to check the box labeled "Include other pages on my site linked from this URL." If you do, Google does the whole site instead of just the page you enter. You'll be amazed at what Google brings back from your top competitors!
Click here for more info on this as outlined by Google.
Tip
- First try it on your own site (if you already have one) to get the hang of this. Then try it on a competitive content site. Your site will be interesting. But a competitor's will be revealing.
All you need now is a true measure of the Supply, an indication of how much competition you face for each keyword. A high Supply for a keyword means that many pages exist about each keyword. And that's not a good thing. Low Supply values are good, of course.
The lower the Supply, the better!
Get Real Supply
To get the supply (content competition) for your keywords, go to Search It!. Once in Search It!, select...
Competition > SiteSell Multiple Keyword REAL SUPPLY, as shown here...
The "SiteSell Multiple Keyword REAL SUPPLY" tool features a very special part of Site Build It!, an invaluable and unique function...
No other company or Search Engine provides accurate Supply values. Here's how to get SiteSell's Real Supply for your keywords (let's just call it "Real Supply" from now on)...
Get your list of good keywords. Enter them into a text file, separated by commas only (no carriage returns -- see online help in Search It! for details).
Got your list?
If you don't, here's the quickest way to build your comma-separated text file...
In the AdWords tool, you sorted your keywords by Search Volume and are looking at something like this...
The higher each word is in the list, the better! Click on "Add Exact" to add the valuable keywords to a "keeper" list. For example...
This SBIer (both of the above ways) is adding "anguilla" to her list. Why? She knows it's her highest Search Volume keyword (since it's sorted to the top).
She'll go down the list, adding keywords that have sorted towards the top. She will not add any terms that are not relevant to her site.
Once she has added all the good words, she clicks on the "text" link (not the "csv" link or the csv (for excel) link.
This exports a text file of keywords ("keywords.txt") to her computer.
Double-click on the file ("keywords.txt") to open it with Notepad (TextEdit on a Mac).
The window should contain all your keywords, one per row. You have to turn this list of keywords into a comma-separated list with no line breaks before you can use it with Search It!.
The easiest way to do this in Notepad is to use the "End" button to get to the end of the first line, add a comma, and then press the "Del" button on your keyboard once or twice to move the next phrase up to the first line. Then repeat the "End," comma, and "Del" until all of your comma-separated keywords are in one row, separated by commas.
In TextEdit (Mac), click to the end of the first word. Click and hold down the mouse button. Then drag the mouse to the beginning of the next word. Press Command-C to copy the highlighted area (you won't see anything highlighted, but the return will be copied).
Press Command-F to open a Find window. Paste the highlighted return into the Find box. In the Replace with box, enter a comma. Click on Replace & Find to replace the first one. You should see the first word followed by a comma followed by the second word. If it works as expected, click on Replace All to complete the process.
Now that you have your list, copy-and-paste the comma-separated list into STEP 3 of Search It!, as shown above. Then enter your Order Number into STEP 4 -- you'll find your Order Number in the initial e-mail you received after purchasing SBI!. (This ensures that you're an SBI! owner since this search is for SBIers only.)
Click on the Search It! button to get your Real Supply numbers for your list of keywords...
Repeat the Process for Your Other Potential Site Concept Keywords
OK, now that you've gathered all the data you need for your first possible Site Concept keyword, do it again... and again. It will go much quicker the next time...
As you "do" each potential Site Concept, it's a good idea to save all the browser windows (File > Save As) to your desktop. You can refer to them for comparison, which is the next step. Or you can just keep the browser windows open and compare everything when you're all done.
You've Completed Your List of Potential Site Concepts
You're now ready to make a decision. What is important when picking your top three Site Concepts (or even narrowing right down to your top choice)? Let's take a look...
#1) Number of Relevant Keywords
A Site Concept that delivers more keywords is better. It offers the ability to create more Content. Bottom line? The more relevant keywords you have (in the list of good keywords you added) for a Site Concept, the merrier!
#2) Search Volume
Consider how often users search for all your relevant keywords, not just the top few. The more keywords that have higher Search Volumes, the better. Again, use your judgement.
#3) Advertiser Competition (and/or CPC) (only if you did this Optional step)
Consider the intensity of Advertiser Competition and/or the CPC monetary value (if you did this) across all your relevant keywords, not just the top few. Again, use your judgement.
Some folks really have trouble freeing themselves from "just the numbers." For example...
If a Site Concept is a new and growing area, accept lower Search Volumes and CPCs, sometimes substantially lower (depending on your passion and estimate of future potential).
#4) Real Supply
How much competition do you have? Again, rate Real Supply across all your relevant keywords. If you have a few "unwinnable" keywords (super-high Supply), but many winnable ones, great! Generally, if your Site Concept Keyword has a Real Supply over 200,000, your niche may be too broad (more on this in DAY 2 of the Action Guide).
You need a nice mix of...
- high Search Volume words, even if they have fairly high Supply
- a few gems (medium Search Volume, low Supply), and
- many interesting "narrow niche" words (low Search Volume and low Supply). Those "narrow niche" words usually provide the opportunity to deliver great content. And they will be the first words with Top 10 rankings at the engines (unless you get lucky!). They "prime the traffic pump."
When looking at your first potential Site Concept, you won't know what's a high Supply and what's not. But you can get this framework quickly by looking at Supply for your General Keywords and the narrow niche ones -- that will give you a good idea of the range of high-to-low Supply.
And, of course, this is ultimately an exercise in comparison. So as you compare to other possible Site Concepts, a frame of reference will start to form in your mind.
And remember... if your Site Concept Keyword has a Real Supply of over 200,000, it's likely too broad. Of course, no single number determines. Use your own judgement for the entire collection of keywords, and for your own circumstances. See DAY 2 of the Action Guide for more on this.
#5) Knowledge
How well do you know the Site Concept, really know it first-hand? If you've "been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt," it will show. Review the keywords -- do you already know what you would write for those words? Obviously, lean towards the Site Concept that you know the best.
#6) Passion
Just as important... which Site Concept excites you the most? Choose a less profitable Site Concept if the thought of building a site about it excites you much more! It will be fun to create interesting Web pages about the subject area and to do the necessary research to stay current.
#7) Theme "Sexiness"
It's not just your excitement that counts. Some Site Concepts are more apt to excite visitors. Trust your gut feel about which would excite visitors the most -- it makes PREselling, building your "Brand of One," easier.
Exactly how intriguing/unusual is your subject to your target market? Some themes are just naturally more exciting.
#8) Monetization Potential
Look for a Site Concept that offers the potential for you to build multiple streams of income. You must be able to Monetize your PREsold traffic. And the more ways to do that, the merrier (ex., affiliate programs, sell an e-book or services, finder's fees, store, etc.).
How much money could you make with the Site Concept? Advertiser Competition (and/or CPC) is merely one indicator of value (if you plan on using AdSense). There are many other ways to skin the money cat.
There's simply no way to reduce the choice of keywords to a formula or magic rule. Human judgement, knowledge of your subject matter, and gut feeling are also important...
But we're going to do our best! In the next step, for each potential Site Concept that you have, you will "score" both "soft guidelines" like "knowledge" and "passion" and the hard data that you've accumulated using the Google Keywords/Real Supply process... and feed it all into "Niche Choose It!."
Time for Niche Choose It!
Let's set up a special grid for this "Google Keywords/Real Supply" method of picking your top Site Concept choices. Rank the 8 factors out of 100 for each Site Concept (do a lot of back-and-forth comparing between Site Concepts, to get the relative scores for each category right)...
| Caribbean | Anguilla | Antigua | |
| Number of Keywords | 100 | 90 | 95 |
| Search Volume | 100 | 90 | 90 |
| Advertiser Competition (and/or CPC) |
100 | 95 | 90 |
| Real Supply | 50 | 80 | 70 |
| Knowledge | 30 | 90 | 50 |
| Passion | 60 | 100 | 50 |
| Theme "Sexiness" | 70 | 95 | 85 |
| Monetization Potential | 80 | 90 | 80 |
Once you have your grid set up and scored like this, you're ready to take it to Niche Choose It!. Click on the Quick Tour Me Through An Example button...
That automatically takes you through a sample niche-choosing exercise. Follow the exercise through to its conclusion.
Then do it "for real." It's easiest to simply re-use the example and change the entries as you go along.
In Step 2, enter your possible Site Concepts. Although there is room for five (and you can even add more to compare), only enter three if that's all you have.
In Step 3, add extra factors and weight how important each one is to you.
In Step 4, enter all the scores from your grid above. By now, Niche Choose It! should look like this...
A final click takes you to the fifth and final step which answers your all-important question, "Which Site Concept should I select as one of my choices?"
And the winner is Anguilla! This Netrepreneur has done the perfect research, analyzed it, entered her analysis into Niche Choose It!, and emerged with her top Site Concept choice.
Time for you to do the same.
Go to Niche Choose It! and find your top three choices for your Site Concept (or cone right down to your top choice, if you want!). Then you'll be ready for Step 2 of DAY 2 where Brainstorm It! will help you pick the best Site Concept (or brainstorm your top choice if you use this process to cone all the way down).