After running my affiliate marketing poll, I see one of the biggest problems affiliate marketers run into is trying to get the traffic they receive to their web pages to convert into sales. It’s also one of the top questions I get from my readers. They tell me they are getting traffic, but they can’t get that traffic to turn into sales…. What are they doing wrong? I think this topic deserves some in-depth conversation, so grab a Coke or a cup of coffee and let’s get into it.

I’ve had this post almost finished and sitting in my draft folder for some time now. Life has been so crazy lately that I am just now getting to finish it. With the holidays…work… family… and that new awesome, wonderful, precious granddaughter…well, I’m swamped! (and a HUGE thank you to everyone for extending your congrats and well-wishes on her birth!)

The GREAT news is that the person who inspired this post is now making money! Ted contacted me via my help desk to give me the good news.

Hey Jen!!!

Just wanna tell you that I am your another living proof that OWM is totally awesome!!! I am making a living with this already!!! woohooo!!!!

I’ve a few sales already!!! yeah!!!!

and it just keep on coming!!! AWESOMENESS!!! Thank you so much!!!

I’m so sorry Ted for being late for you, but apparently you didn’t need my help after all! haha! I’m super proud of you!

However, I think there are still a few folks that suffer from the same situation Ted was in, so I am going to talk about this anyway.

Meet Ted

Ted is one of my One Week Marketing followers. He’s been working hard (has 7 campaigns out there already) and is getting traffic to his web pages – but, no sales. He contacted me to ask for some help and insight and since his questions were so good and so important, I asked his permission to re-print his message to me so we can all learn from it.

I have a problem with my OWM. The problem that I have is as below:

1. Product chosen – How do I know whether the product is converting? Any preference to choose clickbank product? looking into gravity? referred? or what? I have 7 campaign now and non of them are converting to sale.

2. Which leads me to the second and last problem. I am getting traffic from google and other various places but I don’t see any sales. So my question is, how can find a BUYING keywords and PROFITABLE NICHE KEYWORDS.

Is it true that PROFITABLE keyword is the keywords that is “problem-solving” keywords? like “How Can I”, What is the”, “Where Can I Find”, or what?

I guess if I have the solution for the above problems my OWM would be better I guess.

I am very determined to make this work for me and I won’t give up until I get my first sale! Once the first sale is made I will just rinse and repeat and eventually proceed to your wordpress niche!

Thanks for your help,
Ted.

PS-How long it takes for you to get your first sale when you started your FIRST campaign?

Great questions, Ted! Let’s take your questions one at a time and see if we can clear things up a bit.

Choosing Clickbank Products That Sell

This is always a tough one – how can you tell for SURE that a Clickbank product will sell for you? Well, you really can’t be SURE, but you definitely can take a look at some things to see if it might work for you.

About Clickbank Gravity –

Clickbank gravity, in a simple explanation, refers to the number of affiliates who have sold at least ONE copy of that product in the last 30 days. If an affiliate sells 100, it still counts as ONE gravity point just as if someone only sold one in the last 30 days, that would count as ONE gravity point, too.

I DO look at gravity…. but gravity does NOT make or break my decision of whether I promote that product or not. Yes, I like to see SOME gravity so I know that affiliates ARE able to convert leads to sales. However, I don’t have a “set” gravity number that I use as a rule of thumb. Some products are more popular, or have vendors that have more partners… some vendors have no idea how to attract affiliates. Some products answer the problems of a large group of people and some products are very, very niche-specific.

In short, for me, I look to see if there IS gravity…and then I look at the sales page. I want to make sure *I* don’t click to it and leave instantly, that it’s set up properly, no AdSense ads on the sales page (ugh), things of that nature.

Now, many ask me, “Do you choose a product to promote based on whether YOU’D buy it?”

No, I do not. ME buying it has NOTHING to do with it. I am looking for a product that answers the problems of a certain sub-set of people. Odds are good that I am not part of that sub-set. I can’t judge value for someone else.

Matching Clickbank Products With Buyers

To me, the most important part when looking as a sales page for a potential promotion is – WHO wants this?? WHAT is their problem and can this product solve that problem for them?

As the guys in Wealthy Affiliate always say, affiliate marketing is like being a match-maker. Find a group of people with a certain problem and match them up with the solution.

If the product you are thinking of promoting doesn’t solve at least one important problem of the target market, it’s gonna be tough to make sales. The more “troublesome” the problem is, the more sales you should make.

Travis, Mr Bum Marketing, used the phrase “Hair on Fire”. I love that phrase and I keep it in my mind whenever I am looking at products to promote. If the problem the group of people have is not like having your hair on fire, sales will be slower and you’ll have to work harder for sales.

Think about problems people go thru that are all-consuming for them at the moment. Think about things that have happened in YOUR life that you would’ve done just about anything to get the answer right away.

Anyone hearing me? {tap, tap, tap…. is this microphone on? Anyone hear me?}

Finding Buying Keywords

Learning how to identify buying keywords is a left brain/right brain technique. Sure, we have keyword tools that can help us identify good keywords in a competition sense – maybe even tell us the “commercial intent” of a keyword – but sometimes you just have to look at a keyword phrase and think about it. Think of what problem the searcher is having. If the keyword doesn’t imply a problem, but more an intent for something free or just some information, then it probably won’t lead quickly into a sale.

Unless…..

Yup, there’s an “unless”…lol. UNLESS you plan to bring people in with the “info searching” keywords and somehow get them to stay with you thru their cycle to get to a buying keyword. Good niche sites do this – they offer info to all cycles of the buying process. Good One Week Marketing campaigns do this, too =)

But this takes practice and learning how to identify if there even IS a product at the end of their search cycle. Sometimes…no, a lot of the times, you just have to get the content out there, see what keywords people are using to find you, watch their behavior, and take a good hard look at your own stats. There are NO stats better than your OWN.

Summary

Do you think someone who is looking to learn how to grow tomatoes is having a “hair on fire” problem? No, not likely…and the odds are really good that they will find all the info they need to satisfy them for free online.

However, what if some weird bug thing was eating their tomato plants? Hmmmm…. hair starts to sizzle a little now, doesn’t it?

The “problem” with most campaigns is not that our keyword research was wrong or the product was bad… usually the only problem is that we are “missing” with our match-making. Affiliate Marketers give solutions…we don’t sell =)

People come online to socialize, for entertainment, to get info….and to get solutions to their problems. Help them solve their problems and the sales will follow.

Oh, forgot a question…

How long it takes for you to get your first sale when you started your FIRST campaign?

It took me about a week to make my very first sale online. I have NO CLUE how someone found me or my site because I knew NOTHING about internet marketing or SEO or back links or ANY of that. But, through some grace of God, someone bought a $7 ebook from me… and changed my life. Once I saw with my own eyes that I COULD do this AND it really WORKED, well, I was all over this internet marketing thing.

As for my first sale with a One Week Marketing campaign…. See, the thing is, One Week Marketing didn’t exist back then. I created it as I went along learning. I didn’t even know I was creating a product – had no intention of it nor did it even cross my mind. I was just trying to turn the things I was learning and writing onto thousands of post-it notes into a plan of action that I knew worked and that I could repeat over and over and over.

No matter what you’d like to end up doing with internet marketing, One Week Marketing is the solid basics of just about all of it (excluding PPC).

Ted, THANK YOU for your questions! I love being inspired! Better yet…. CONGRATS on your sales! Keep up the great work!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Traffic But No Sales?

I was checking the stats and rankings of a few of my Squidoo lenses tonight and found one I wanted to do some work on. As I was about to make changes I thought, “Wow, this would make an awesome search engine optimization tutorial post for my blog!”. So, I took a few extra hours (on something that would have taken me all of 5 minutes to do) to take screen shots and walk through all the steps I take to get to the actions I take to make my Squidoo lens rank better in Google. Grab a cup of coffee because you are about to take a long trip inside the brain of PotPieGirl (be afraid…be very, very afraid…lol)

I Want My Squidoo Lens to Rank Better in Google

Tonight I found a lens of mine that needed some love. It’s not a money-maker, but it ranks well, gets decent traffic so I figured let’s see what I can do with it to make it rank better, get more traffic, and maybe see if I can’t turn it into a money-maker (which probably will NOT happen now that I am about to spill everything here on my blog…sigh).

I have this lens about worm composting. I made it in February of 2008 and hadn’t touched it since April of 2008 (yes, I have not “freshened” the lens in almost 17 MONTHS).

This is why I am always all about telling my One Week Marketing followers to get their lenses out there and simmering.  Once a lens ages and gains some Page Rank of it’s own, it has real power and it becomes a resource that you can leverage.

Sooooo…how has this lens been doing in all this time being left alone?

Let’s take a look at the traffic stats for the last 30 days:

Not too shabby, huh?

BUT, it can be better.

Next stop is to see how my lens is already ranking (I use a little online tool for this that I will link to – as well as other tools shown – at the end of this post)

Not too bad.  I know there are more keyword phrases I can work for now that the lens is older and more established.

Upon examining this, I see that I rank #1 for how to start a worm farm, but I am about #4 for how to make a worm farm.  I wonder which phrase is better… Could changing one word make a big difference in search volume?

Let’s hop on over to the Google keyword tool and see:

Well dang!  Changing just one word in that phrase could mean four times more traffic if I rank #1 for it!

I’ve read in a few places that a #1 ranking in Google means that you could count on about 40% of the search traffic, but for me, it never works out that way.  Seems 20% of the exact search volume is more like it for my lenses and other web pages so I stick with that number when I am “guess-timating” potential Google traffic.

In fact, 20% is about right for this lens, too.  Google indicates about 480 searches per month and 20% of that would be about 96 visits per month from that keyword at #1 in Google.  My actual Squidoo lens stats for the last 30 days say:

Yup, that’s about right.  I rank #1 in Google for that phrase and got 98 visits in the last month for that search phrase.

Based on that, if I could increase that Google ranking for how to make a worm farm to #1, I could guess-timate that I could potentially get 20% of THAT search volume which would be about 320 visits a month.  To me, this is worth looking in to!  A nice boost in traffic would be sweet!

I also decided that it was time to work this lens for a bigger and more competitive keyword search phrase. It’s well-established, sits on an authority site so why not? After poking around a bit, I came up with worm composting.

8100 searches a month… Yup, that’s what I’m talking about!  I’d like 20% of that search volume, too!

BUT – How Hard Will It Be To Rank?

This is the BIG question.  It is cool to pick keyword phrases you’d like to rank #1 for, but how hard will it be to get there?

This is where experience comes in for internet marketers to help us identify when something is “do-able” or not…and how much work it will take to achieve that ranking.  We stop looking as much at the results for a keyword phrase in quotes and look more at the sites we want to out-rank.  This comes with time, experience, and some good tools.

Starting out searching Google in quotes for the phrase competition is a great way to learn and to see yourself rank a web page.  If you find keyword phrases that have less than 10,000 competing web pages in quotes, odds are good that you will be able to rank your web page IF you target that one keyword phrase and learn to optimize properly.

This is not a part of your learning that you rush through.  When you’re new and you try to optimize one web page for lots of keyword phrases out of the gate, odds are good that your web page will rank for nothing worth talking about…and you won’t see results…and you’ll give up.

Start at the beginning and learn to do it properly.  Then, the sky is the limit!

The great thing about using Squidoo is that most of the work for on-page optimization is done for you… and the part you need to know I am about to share with you here in this case study.

Now, what I am about to show you might totally boggle your mind if you are new to all this.  For some of you, it could very well be an “A-Ha” moment where you can really see how rankings happen.  Now, if it boggles your mind and you don’t “get it”, that’s ok!  Really, it is perfectly ok.  No one is expected to ‘get it’ at first.  This is what learning is for  =)  Just keep all this in the back of your mind and then one day you will say, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…. I get it!”

Google Rankings and SEO Analysis of a Web Page

So, I wanted to know how hard it would be for me to get my lens to rank #1 for how to make a worm farm.  I used another tool I have to check out what it going in in the query space in Google.

Take a look at what I found out (you can click the image to see it bigger if you want to):

Highlighted in green you can see my worm farm lens.  What I am looking for are opportunities to optimize my web page for this keyword phrase and do it better than those above me.  Things that have a green check mean yes, that page has that – a red x means no, that page does not have that.

Now, one of the cool things about a Squidoo web page is that the Squidoo.com site is already listed in the DMoz directory and the Yahoo directory.  How much this really affects ranking, no one knows for sure – but this is a factor that most SEO analysis programs will look at.

Also, there are a LOT of back links to the Squidoo.com site, so all I really need to work on are links to MY page on the Squidoo site.  Remember, web pages are ranked individually in Google based on their own strength.  What site the page sits on has it’s benefits tho – especially when the web page is new.

What I am seeing from this analysis is that I need my keyword phrase in my title, my H1 tag, and in my description.  Then, all that is left is building links TO my lens with my target keyword phrase in the anchor text (the clickable words in a link).

My lens already has a nice Page Rank 4 – which is because I built links to my lens and have links to my lens on the Squidoo site…and let it “simmer”.  Based on the Page Rank of the web pages that currently rank higher than I do, Page Rank is not a problem for me here.

Main thing I am looking at is Back Links to the web page of the ones that rank above me.  Can I beat that?  Without going too in-depth into back link analysis, the answer for me is yes, I can beat that.

What About My “Bigger” Keyword Phrase?

Then, I took a look at my bigger and higher volume keyword phrase that I’d like to start targeting.  How tough will THIS be  (especially since I don’t rank in the top 20 in Google at this time)?

Let’s take a look:

Hmmm… this one will be tougher. I did take a look at the back links for the web page that is currently #1 and there aren’t many (maybe one or two) links to the site with the anchor text of worm composting. I also noticed that a lot of links show because they have a few sidebar links on blogs. This means that every page of the blog links to the site and will show like a lot of links.

So, based on that, and on the potential rise in traffic, and based on my sheer stubbornness and my love of a challenge, I’ll give it a try.

Optimizing Your Web Page For Better Google Rankings.

We talked about what I need to do ON my lens to help with the on-page ranking factors.  I need my targeted keyword phrase in the title, the H1 tag, and in the description.

Squidoo makes this VERY easy.

This is how my lens looked before I made any changes to it:

The title you give your lens is also used as the H1 tag for the lens as well as what is put in the tag for your lens.

If you right click on a lens, then choose “view source” you can see the code that Google reads.

The < title > tag is here and is taken from the title I give my lens:

And then the title I give my lens is used again in the code as an H1 tag:

The description is taken from the first sentence or two that I add into my lens intro module:

…and just for fun, the keywords are entered into the lens code from the tags I choose:

All of this comes together to make my listing in Google:

So, a good title, a good opening sentence or two in your intro module, and some good tags can really, really, reallllllllllly help the Google ranking of your lens when it is mixed with good back links TO your lens.

My Lens After Making Changes For Google Rankings

So, I went in and changed my lens up.  I got my two targeted keyword phrases in the title, in the intro module and in the tags.  I also used a modified version of the keyword in an anchor text link.  I think that Google puts a little more weight on words it finds as a link on a web page so I do this on my web pages.

Here is how my lens looks now with the changes:

So, wonder how that made the SEO analysis of my web page look now that I made these changes?

Take a look:

Green checks, all the way across – perfect!

Next, I will take a little bit of time making some links TO my lens with links like how to make a worm farm and worm composting.

Now What?

After that, I leave it alone. Google will need to “read” the changes on my lens and they will need to find the new back links. It takes time for all this to happen and for it all to work together so I let it simmer and work on something else.

If this was a One Week Marketing campaign, I would print out my Mind Map and write the one keyword that each part is individually targeting and be sure to link TO that page with that keyword I wrote down for it or for that phrase with a modifier.

For example, I am now targeting worm composting, so I would make links to my lens with phrases like -

worm composting for beginners

worm composting for profit

learn about worm composting

etc, etc…

As you can see, the phrase I am targeting is still exactly in order in all of those phrases, but I added words to it so Google doesn’t find ALL the same anchor text for ALL my links. Make sense?

People ask me all the time what is the best way to keep track of your One Week Marketing campaigns. For me, it is by simply printing out a Mind Map for each one and writing my campaign details on it. Log ins, keywords for each web page, urls… the whole thing. You can keep track of your rankings over time on the back.

With the help from the tools I used here, you can also print out some reports to keep with your Mind Map so you have everything together. When it comes time to take your One Week Marketing campaign to the next level (ie, start using more than free sites to make money online), you can simply pull out your file and know where everything is when you get ready to make a niche website.

Get Better Google Rankings For Any Web Page

There you have it – inside my little pea brain. What I’ve shown here will work with any web page – not just a Squidoo lens. Thing is, Squidoo makes it easy for this to work, but once you ‘get it’ you will be able to apply this to getting any web page to rank higher in Google.

Tools I Used

I used the Google Keyword Tool. I always switch it to show me the “exact” search volume. I feel this is more accurate that the default “broad” results.

I used this software for the SEO Analysis. This software is really cool and does lots of great stuff – and, it’s FREE. Now, the paid upgrade is awesome and enables you to do so much more, but you don’t have to pay for anything to have the basics of this multi-purpose SEO tool.

I used this tool to see what my web page ALREADY ranks for. To me, this is one of the best tools I have. Being able to enter a url of a web page I own and see all the phrases my page ranks for is so great. And, for reverse engineering a niche or a web page that is ranking higher than you, being able to enter THEIR url and see what THEY rank for is absolutely PRICELESS. Here is an example report you can look at to see all this program can show you.

If you’ve never used Squidoo or have tried, but got too confused to actually make a web page there, you can click here and get my Free Squidoo 101 Guide – I’ll walk you through it =)

If you have used Squidoo and are wanting to take your earnings to the next level, take a look at my One Week Marketing Action plan here.

Hope this info sheds some light on how you can improve the Google ranking of your Squidoo lens or web pages. Guess this post coulda been an ebook because it is SO long and SO in-depth, but hey, why not put it here on PotPieGirl.com so everyone can see it and learn from it?

Any questions? Post them here in the comments area please. I’ll be out of town this weekend, but will try and answer and moderate comments as soon as I can.

If you liked this post or found it useful, please feel free to “tweet” about it or link to it. It would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great day!

(edited to add: You can click here to read the results of this Google Ranking Case Study )

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Squidoo Lens Google Ranking Case Study

Has this ever happened to you?  You’re sitting there with your keyword list and searching Google for each phrase in quotes to get an idea of the competition.  You search a phrase, get the number of web pages from Google, jot it down and then move on.  Then, maybe later that day, or heck, even a few minutes later, you search Google again for the SAME KEYWORD PHRASE and get a totally DIFFERENT number of web pages from Google.  Why oh WHY does that happen?  Did you do your search wrong the first time?  Which number is accurate?  Let’s take a moment to talk about this…

Google and Search Results – What the Heck Is Happening?

We internet marketers spend a lot of time doing our keyword research and then going to Google to check the phrases in quotes to see the competing pages.  Yes, it takes a while, but keyword research is a big part of what we do so we either do it, or get someone to do it FOR us. Anyway, folks are typing their phrase in quotes in Google and getting a number showing the amount of other web pages Google has indexed that contain that exact phrase.  I don’t know if you’ve ever clicked search again for that same phrase search, but it is VERY likely that the next time you search, the number of web pages will change… and sometimes it changes DRASTICALLY.

What the heck is going on???

This situation has been a big topic of conversation lately both in the Wealthy Affiliate forum and in help desk ticket questions asked to me.  In fact, I recently highly recommended a keyword service to my readers that is just awesome and SUCH a time saver. 

Thing is tho, when folks opened their daily list of hot niche keywords, they would check Google and get different results than what was shown in their daily list. In fact, if they checked again a few minutes after the first check, they would get a new number AGAIN. It’s crazy, isn’t it? 

What in the world is happening?

I answered a fellow Wealthy Affiliate member in a thread that was started out of sheer frustration over this situation.  I pretty much told him that NOTHING about Google is static.  The Google index changes by the second….literally.

Think about it for a minute…

Right now, at this exact second, do you think there is someone in the world who is bookmarking a web page?  Maybe making a blog post like I am?  Perhaps publishing a Squidoo lens or syndicating an article?

Do you think, that right NOW there is someone in the world who just typed a link to another web page somewhere on the internet?  Perhaps someone somewhere is typing a public forum post?  Listing an auction on eBay?  Typing a review on Amazon.com?

You betcha!

In fact, thousands and thousands of people all over the world are doing all of those things above every single second of every single day. What happens when these things happen?  The Google bots head out and find these new links and new content…and… the Google index changes.

When I stop for a moment and just think about the sheer volume of what Google is trying to index, I am AMAZED and in absolute awe.

Nothing about the Google index stays the same from one minute to the next.

So Which Google Result Is Right?

This is something I failed to mention in my forum post.  Thankfully, someone that I think the world of made a quick video for those that get the hot niche keyword lists that explains it perfectly. So, instead of me rambling on and on, I am just going to put that video right here for you to watch.

It just might be your daily “A-Ha!” moment.

So, did you say, “Ohhhhhhhhhh, that makes sense!” too? If you’re interested you can click here to learn about the keyword lists he is talking about.

On Another Note:

I am so super excited about tomorrow night.  Those of you that are on my subscriber list know that tomorrow night (July 30th at 8pm EST), I will be a guest host on a live webinar with Ryan Moran and Matt Davis! I haven’t done anything live yet and their invitation to me thrills me to death! 

Webinars are something I’d like to add to my own online stuff, but I’m totally NOT a tech person so I’ve shied away from it up to this point.  Hopefully, this experience with Matt and Ryan will go well and I’ll be comfortable to start doing my own webinars.

Tomorrow night should be really cool, tho.  It will seriously be a 100% help session for anyone who has questions about making money online.  Two hours of YOUR questions and our combined answers. How cool is that!??!

The webinar is open to everyone and anyone….and it’s totally free.  If you’d like to join in – or even reserve your spot early – just go to IM-Webinars.com and get signed up.  I’m hoping for a BIG crowd so we can all learn from each other.

The webinar is Thursday, July 30th at 8PM EST (New York/Atlanta time)  Hope to see you there!

I’m In The Mood To Celebrate!

This weekend also marks my one year anniversary of being a Wealthy Affiliate member.  Wow, time flies…feels like just yesterday I was sitting at oceans edge making the decision to join Wealthy Affiliate… and now it’s a YEAR later.

My personal anniversary with WA is very special to me and puts me in the mood to do something really cool for my subscribers.  I’ve been wracking my little pea brain to come up with something awesome that can really help some folks out….so keep an eye on your inbox for my anniversary celebration notice 

Ok, that’s it from me for today.  Thank you to Travis for that really helpful and insightful video! Hope to see everyone tomorrow night at the webinar!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Keyword Research and Google Results

Oh yes, this video totally shows how to find low-competition niche keywords for your One Week Marketing campaigns.  Not only that – this technique shows you how to find keywords for your Ezine Articles, Hub Pages, USFreeAds, BlogSpot Blogger blogs, GoArticles, or any other free-to-use website you can think of.  And we’re talking keywords you can actually RANK FOR in Google!!  I know there are as many ways to do keyword research as there are internet marketers, but here is how to find niche keywords PotPieGirl Style!

Keyword Marketing Research for Niche Affiliate Marketing

Throughout the last few blog posts, I’ve been sharing videos with some great pointers for getting your One Week Marketing lenses found in the Google index.  We covered a lot of important aspects of why your lenses won’t rank….why Google won’t keep them indexed (or index them at all)….and why Google won’t even show your lens as a search return.

If you haven’t watched these 3 previous videos here at PotPieGirl.com, do so now.  That way, you’ll have a clue what I’m rambling about today  =)

Intro:  The Basic Structure of Making Money Online For Free

1.  Squidoo Doesn’t Work Anymore (is Squidoo still effective?  Video)

2. Squidoo Keyword Research Video

3.  Web Page Indexing and You Video (Why Your Lens Won’t Rank in Google)

What good is a web page if no one can find it?

Seriously, why even bother making ANY web page if the number 1 source of traffic (Google) won’t send traffic to it?  We are affiliate marketers.  Our job is to create useful content online that recommends a solution to our readers (via our affiliate link, of course).

We don’t SELL – we get found and then we recommend.  However, it doesn’t matter what we recommend as a solution to someone’s problem if we can’t found, right?

Now, we COULD work our tails off dropping links and Twittering our lenses to death in attempt to get SOMEONE to come see it… OR…

We could just create good,quality web page content that Google falls in love with and then sends traffic TO us without any effort on our part.

Passive Traffic.  Passive Earnings.

That’s what I’m talking about!    =)

PotPieGirl’s Secret Keyword Finding Tool

Yes, I have a secret tool I use that helps me easily, and QUICKLY, discover keyword phrases that get my own One Week Marketing campaigns off to a healthy start to a love affair with Google.

I’ve talked about this software a few times, but I don’t push it.  First off, people yell at me when they think I am trying to :::gasp:::: sell something….lol

Secondly, this type of software is only for those that are serious about their affiliate marketing campaigns and ready to invest in their online business.  I totally understand when people aren’t ready to invest whether it’s due to financial constraints or lack of belief – and I am not asking anyone to do anything they are not prepared to do or cannot afford to do (that is my super nice way of asking some people to PLEASE stop yelling at me when I talk about or recommend something that costs money.  Thank you!)

Now, if you are in a place in your affiliate marketing efforts where you’re ready to roll AND you do have the resources to get things that leverage your time and effectiveness, you will love this.

Who Will This Keyword Research Technique Work For?

If you make online content, this software is for you. Especially if you are using free-to-use websites like Squidoo, HubPages, Ezine Articles, USFreeAds (Bum Marketers, are you listening?), GoArticles, Zimbio, Blogger blogs and on and on and on.

For One Week Marketing Action Plan followers, this software is a DREAM tool.  It is the one tool that I would not be without when creating a One Week Marketing campaign.

Just watch and see what only one LITTLE feature of this software can do for you.

Perhaps now you’ll see how I can crank out my campaigns so quickly….(yup, the proverbial cat is now out of the bag…haha!)

Finding Niche Keywords – FAST (the video)

Pretty cool stuff  there, isn’t it?  While keyword research is always part guessing-game, this software gives me even better educated guesses and gets me creating my online content SOOOOOOOO much faster.  And THAT is the part that makes me money.

That video was 5 minutes long.  In it, you saw me pick a VERY high gravity Clickbank product and find a handful of keyword phrases that I can rank for using free-to-use websites like Squidoo.com.

During that video, I went thru over 200 keyword phrases and was able to pick one AND find an available Squidoo url to be able to start making my lens.  All in 5 MINUTES.

Trust me, I remember the days of typing away and searching til my eyes hurt on Google – and I don’t miss it one little bit.

You can try the software I use for FREE for 7 days thru this link – SENukeFree.com.

If you are a One Week Marketing user, take the free 7 days and at least TRY IT.

This software does SO much that goes hand-in-hand with One Week Marketing.

Do You HAVE To Have This Software For One Week Marketing to Work For You?

No, of course not.  I stand by the One Week Marketing Action Plan as-is 125%.

I made a new campaign last night because I came across something I wanted to try.  It was about 3:30 am (yup, I’m a nightowl…lol).  By about 11 am this morning when I checked, everything I did was already in the Google index.  I went straight by the One Week Marketing guide – well, I kinda half-assed it because I was super tired – but even half-assed, it still works like a charm IF you pay attention to the things I’ve been talking about in the previous videos.

Site saturation is VERY important to check BEFORE starting a OWM campaign.  It can make a B-I-G difference in the ultimate success of your free marketing campaigns.

SENukeFree.com cuts down on your research time majorly.  I’m not hard-selling here.  I truly don’t think there is any need to.  Just that quick 5 minute video speaks VOLUMES about the time that you can save and the ultimate potential of your campaigns.

Ok, ’nuff said from me.

I have GOT to do some laundry.  This past week or so has been crazy busy and the laundry is less like a pile and much more like a MOUNTAIN.  In fact, I coulda swore I just saw a golf shirt walk by and put itself in the washing machine!

I wish they made software for laundry!  hahahahahaha!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Finding Niche Keywords FAST – Video

The past couple video posts at PotPieGirl.com have been regarding the effectiveness of Squidoo.com and getting those lenses indexed. I showed how doing a little research before ever making a lens on Squidoo (or a web page on ANY site for that matter) can really help your chances of getting your web page indexed. One of the questions I am getting is, “Why should I care how many OTHER lenses are already targeting my keywords?” Today’s video will show you why you should REALLY care about other web pages on the same site that are already indexed – and they are targeting your keywords.

Google and Web Page Indexing of Squidoo Lenses

Lots of great feedback and questions from the previous video posts – thank you! And a BIG thank you to all who actually liked my very unimpressive graphic and video skills =)

Thank goodness I don’t have to be a hi-tech computer genius to make a living online or else I’d be in a world of trouble!

Alrighty…

Today we are going to talk about WHY you should really care how many other web pages on Squidoo.com are already in the Google index for your keywords. In fact, this is true for all web sites, but it is most important when trying to rank a web page on any free Web 2.0 property that relies on user-generated content to build its site.

Before you watch this video, make sure you’ve watched the other videos in this series so you’ll know what the heck we’re talking about.

1. Squidoo Doesn’t Work Anymore?

2. Squidoo Keyword Research Video

Keyword Research and User-Generated Content Sites

*** The keyword research technique I use that I talk about in this video (the one that gives me the rankings you saw), is the keyword research technique I showed in this blog post – read Keyword Marketing Research (Keyword Research – How I Do It).

*** A bunch of questions about this technique are answered in this post – and the keyword research tools I use can be found in this post (My Top 5 Free Keyword Research Tools)

*** My entire method of researching keywords is shown in great detail in my Keyword Research 101 guide that is available at LuLu.com.

*** Since researching keywords is SO important to the success of online marketing campaigns, there is a special offer to get my Keyword Research 101 Guide at a big discount when you get my One Week Marketing Action Plan.

Wait! What IS a User-Generated Content Site?

A user-generated content site is a website that is built entirely by other people adding their content. Think YouTube, for example. That site is free for others to use and is built entirely from others submitting their videos. Each video submission creates a web page on YouTube.com

Squidoo is a user-generated content site, too. The site is free for us to use and make our own web pages. In exchange, we are building a website that belongs to someone else. HubPages and many other sites are out there that work on this same platform.

Article directories, like EzineArticles.com and AssociatedContent.com, are also user-generated content sites.

While any of the above sites could have thousands and thousands of web pages on a similar (or the same) topic, Google will still only pick one or two pages from these sites to show for a search result. In order for YOUR page on these sites to be shown by Google, you need to check the keyword competition on that site BEFORE making a web page.

Not doing this could very well mean your new web page gets lost in the masses never to receive Google traffic.

- Check the site you are using for keyword competition
- Check Google for keyword competition
- Decide on your keyword(s)
- THEN create your web page

You will find life online to be MUCH easier if you find windows of opportunity instead of walls of resistance.

I’m not saying it is impossible to rank for popular keywords on Squidoo. It IS possible, but it will take a lot more effort and a lot more time. Remember, you are competing against web pages on that site that already have authority with Google, are already indexed in Google, and already have back links to them.

However, if you give Google something new…and something that might be their only choice when returning a page from the Squidoo site, you could see more immediate results.

Note to One Week Marketing Action Plan users: This is REALLY important for you to do before creating your campaign. I have had many emails from folks who are having a hard time with Google and their campaigns. Most of the time, I can do one quick check (the site:squidoo.com check) and see what the problem is.

Now, if you already HAVE a campaign that is in one of these super competitive keyword markets on Squidoo, don’t do something crazy like delete the lenses or something. Instead, be sure to get good back links and be patient.

I’d also like to mention that the best keyword research in the world won’t do a thing if your web page isn’t a good experience for the reader – and it isn’t TARGETED to what the user is looking for.

Web page indexing is all cool and fun, but it still comes down to how your page appeals to the reader who finds you.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this video up and posted. We have had HORRIBLE weather in Atlanta today and I’ve had to stop a few times due to lightning and storms.

Have a great weekend!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Web Page Indexing and You (Video)

Yesterday, I did a quick video about the effectiveness of Squidoo these days since I have been hearing lots of “Squidoo doesn’t work anymore!” comments thru-out my travels on the internet. In that video, I showed a technique I use to get keyword ideas for Squidoo lenses that are original to the Squidoo site (which should help the chance of your lenses being indexed…and STAYING indexed). Now that there are over 1.5 MILLION pages from squidoo.com found within the Google index, it more important than ever to give Google something unique from the Squidoo site. Prepare to be DAZZLED by my incredible video and graphic skills once again…

How To Find Keywords For a New Squidoo Lens

Before we start, if you have NOT watched yesterdays video about the death of Squidoo, please watch it first (or else this video may not make as much sense to you).

First…. I get to ramble about my emergency today….

I meant to post this video earlier today, but I had an emergency. Yes, an EMERGENCY!!!

The TV in my office just stopped working. Blank screen…nothing..nada… a goner.

Now don’t laugh… this is serious (said in my best “mean mom” voice…haha!)

Yes, this IS an emergency…at least THIS week it is. This is Masters Week. If you follow PGA golf at all, you know this is THE week that golfers wait for all year long. No TV in the office meant I either work… or watch The Masters…but I couldn’t do both.

During this one week of the year, golf would totally beat out work , so I knew I had to take immediate action. Ok, golf beats work most of the time anyway…but very rarely golf on TELEVISION =)

Nobody panic! All is right now. I went and got a new flat screen for the office….and now I may NEVER come out….haha!

OK – my rambling is over now…

Let’s talk about keyword for a Squidoo lens.

Better yet, let’s talk about finding keywords that give you a better chance of getting and keeping your lens in the Google index. Squidoo is a BIG site…. 1.5 million pages or more. We have to find a way to get keywords that DON’T bore Google… we need to give Google something unique.

In short, we need to give Google a REASON to index our lenses.

Here is a more in-depth look at one keyword research technique I use before ever making a lens on Squidoo.

Squidoo lenses still work, IF you’re not doing the same ol’ thing that has already been done thousands of times on the squidoo.com site. Not only is this better for the Squidoo site, it will also make your effort of getting indexed and ranked MUCH MUCH easier.

For those of you that have lenses that are having a hard time getting love from Google, have you looked into what kind of competition you have within the Squidoo site?

Does Squidoo Still Work?

Squidoo is still PLENTY effective, BUT – only as effective as the keyword research put into making the lens and the uniqueness of the content. A little research before ever making a lens can go a long, long way.

In fact, this same concept happens on many big sites that have user-generated content. This is not unique to Squidoo.com. I remember doing this same basic concept for my research when writing articles for Associated Content. The articles that had topics/keywords that were NOT already covered on the AC site did much, much better.

Your thoughts?

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Squidoo Keyword Research Video

For anyone working online in the organic market (the “make money online FREE” market), it is imperative that you understand back links and utilize an effective and an efficient back linking strategy.  I can’t tell you how many emails and forums posts I read with questions about this.  Bottom line is – if you are going to make web pages on the internet, you MUST understand links and how they work… and most importantly, what they mean to Google.

Back Links and Google

Here is a VERY common scenario, whether it is a forum post, an email to me, or anywhere within the internet marketing arena…

“I made a great Squidoo lens.  It’s really good looking….reads nice, too.  I spent a LOT of time making it, but it still won’t rank in Google!!!  What did I do wrong on my web page??”

Did you know that getting a web page to rank well in Google takes about 20% effort ON that page and 80% effort OFF that page?  Yes, you have to get OFF your web page or lens to do things to help your lens rank highly.

So, let’s back up for a minute, ok?

Let’s all STOP being internet marketers for a moment.

You are now a restaurant owner

POOF!  I just waved my magic wand and made you the proud owner of a brank new Italian restaurant ( for the record, I am using an Italian restaurant here because I am hungry and I am SO in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs! Yum!!! ==>>>>)

So, you have your business plan, you hired a contractor to build you the BEST Italian Restaurant EVER.  It is a FABULOUS eatery with all kinds of whistles and bells…. great service…the whole she-bang.

You open the doors on your Grand Opening day and…

No one shows up.  Yup, total ghost town with tumbleweeds blowing by and all…

Well what the heck happened?  You spent all this time making the best restaurant EVER…and no one comes to eat?  How can that be?

Even in the “real world” you have to get OUT of your place of business and go TO the customers….or else they don’t ever know about it.  For our example restaurant, we’d probably put something in the paper, advertise in other local publications, call our friends, put flyers on cars, and maybe even doing a neighborhood mailing, too.  You have to get out there and TELL people about your business or else they will never know it is the best Italian Restaurant EVER – and then tell OTHERS about you.

Now, if you can follow along with my weird way of thinking here….  each ad you placed, every phone call you made, every flyer you put out and each postcard you mailed is like a LINK to your restaurant.  It enabled people to know about you…to FIND you…. and,best yet, to be able to tell OTHERS about you.

I can’t tell you how many SEO clients I have talked with that have spent 10’s of thousands of dollars for someone to build them a FANTASTIC website…..and it’s gets absolutely NO traffic.  These clients think their web developer ripped them off or something when nothing is further from the truth.

Just like you would hire a contractor to build your restaurant, you hire a web designer to build your website.  Neither the contractor nor the web designer is in charge of getting customers for you, right?  Right.

Ok, Now.. Let’s Talk About Google

If you’ve ever read the history of Google (and you SHOULD read this), you will learn some things about the original intention of the (now-called) Google algorithm and it’s patented Page Rank formula.  I want to point out one very important little snippet from that history:

“Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant Web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine”

Google is a very fancy, and very complicated, popularity contest.

So, answering why your lens or web page isn’t ranking well in a very simple way…

You don’t rank well because you’re page isn’t popular enough in the eyes of Google.

Ranking Well in Google

If you want your lens or web page or article to rank well in Google, you gotta get some back links.    Here is a simple rule:

1. Think of the keyword phrase you want your lens or page to rank for in Google.

2. Build links TO your lens or page with those words as the anchor text (the words someone clicks to get TO your lens or page).

If we take away everything complicated, it IS as simple as that.  Build a page, put 20% of your effort into that page.  Get OFF your page and go get some back links.

How Many Back Links?

Naturally, the next question is… “How many backlinks do I need?”  Sorry, but there is no ONE answer for that question.  Every single individual search query has a different answer.  As I talked about in Keyword Research – How I Do It, when doing my keyword research I find out who my real competition is.  Then, like I showed about in Did Google Drop Your Lens?, I let you see how I figure out how many back links I will need to rank well for a specific search query (keyword phrase).

I do it like this:

1. Keyword research

2. How Many Links Do I Need?

3.  Make Lens

4. Get Links

5. Move on to next project

Yes, it is that “simple” if you don’t over-complicate it….and if you’re patient.  Very little happens over-night in Google-land.  Set your pages up and let them “simmer” while you work on something else. I can 100% pinky promise you that staring at a lens, staring at Google, or cleaning up your lens over and over will NOT work to make anything happen faster.

I Uncovered The Bigger Problem

Thing is, I say how “simple” this is… and tell you to “go get back links” and many, many of you are still lost.  The basic fundamental understanding of backlinks is missing.  This is absolutely necessary knowledge to cut it in internet marketing – you must understand back links – all the types of them.  You must understand WHY you are doing them and how to do them properly.

Terms like:

1 way links

2 way links

3 way links

Natural Links

Web Directory Links

Link Exchanges

Social Bookmarking Links

Article Directory Links

Blog Network Links

Buying Links

Press Release Links

Link Bait, and

Linking Services

should ALL be part of your vocabulary – and you need to know which are good links… and which are BAD links to have.  You also need to really understand anchor text and deep links and internal links.  I can’t even put words on how important it is that you have this education.

It will carry you a LONG way and make ranking in Google so much more understandable….and easier.

Best Way To Learn About Back Links

I went on a hunt to find the absolute best resource for learning this very important information so I can be assured that all my readers have access to it.  Nope, I can’t make you read it…and I can’t make you learn it, either…haha!

BUT, if you email or contact me asking:

a. Why won’t my lens/web page rank in Google? , or

b. How many back links do I need?

I will simply refer you to this post  =)  So, if you got this post as a response from me, know two things – one, this is the answer to your question, and two – the solution is right here.  Up to you what you do with it.

I found the best link information I could get my hands on – something that takes you from basic understanding all the way through how to do it properly, and you can get it right here in this link building report.

This is knowledge you must have.  I can’t make it anymore clear than that 

No matter WHAT kind of web pages you are putting online – whether it’s Squidoo lenses, blog post, articles, or your own websites, you need to know this in order to succeed with Google.  And, considering Google has what, 85% or so of the online search market, you need Google.

If you’re doing all this as more than a hobby, get the education you need.  I PROMISE you that it will make a world of difference!

Get the link building report here.

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Links, Links, Links…

I am officially a published author!  How cool is that?!?  My first “real book”,  Keyword Research 101 – Understanding Keywords and Uncovering the Hidden Gems, is now available online.  I received my own copy in the mail yesterday and I have to tell you, it is a real “rush” to hold in your hands a book you wrote and created.  (Yes, I know I am very strange…lol)!  This keyword research guide got some GREAT feedback so I decided to do something special with it.

Finding Keywords for Your Squidoo Lens

One of the hardest things to grasp (AND one of the hardest things to TEACH) is keyword research.  Know why?  Simply because keyword research is not an exact science.

I know that some folks say, “search with quotes and get the ones with less than __________ results” and fill in the blank with many varying numbers.  I’ve never been comfortable teaching keyword research techniques that stop there.

There is SO much more to it!

This keyword research guide teaches you how to find your real competition – no matter WHAT market you are in.  Having a clear perspective on what you’ll need to do in order to rank for a certain search term is priceless.  I don’t know about you, but when I was learning all this, I spent HOURS looking for some illusive “perfect keyword” – and they don’t exist in the way many teach us to find them.

I am so proud to offer the keyword research guide to the community.  It’s funny, *I* wrote the thing, but when it came in the mail, I found myself opening it up and reading it again.  There is something about books…turning pages…holding it in your hand… I love it!

With all the modesty I can muster, I have to say, It is a REALLY good guide  =)

What Others Are Saying About Keyword Research 101 From PotPieGirl

“Awesome…Awesome…Awesome!”

“Girlfriend,

I wanna to kiss ya and choke ya at the same time! ;o)

Now that the much needed keyword help is here, how am I supposed to get any sleep tonight!? ;o)”

“OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! … it is worth so much than any price you could put on it!    Thank you so much!  This is awesome!  Great job once again!”

“Hey Jen,

Finished reading the keyword research info you just sent out. I cannot tell you what a HUGE help it was!

You cleared it all up! I sit here calmy typing this on the outside but on the inside I’m jumping up and down screaming ”OH! MY GOSH! I can’t believe how drastically my understanding of this changed overnight!”

This was the perfect supplement to “top off” the OWM Action Plan. THANK YOU!”

“Hello Jennifer,
I just wanted to “Thank you” for putting this keyword research guide together for us. It is an excellent addition to the OWM plan. I learned a few new tricks and found out something I should have checked on before creating my lenses. It worked out in the end but it was nice to be sure about it. Thank you! I hope you are feeling better and Thank you again for this guide. It truly rocks!”

“I love your from-the-heart, refreshing, natural approach.  Guess whose email I open first even if I have 137 of them? I enjoy your spirit even more than your great content.

Keep writing, encouraging and teaching. You are a breath of fresh air on a stodgy Internet.”

“PotPieGirl,

Wow!  Great info as usual. You really overdeliver!.  The OWM course was great and set me on the right path I believe, but this really helped me pick up a couple of nuggets I missed.”

“What a guide!!   You did A Great Job!! From the NewBies out here a Great Big Thank You, from all of us! You have been a wonderful person and I hope this will bring more to you for helping people. I have spent a lot of $$ just to get started and could not find what you really need to succeed online. Then I found You. I know that I wouldn’t have a chance if it wasn’t for YOU!! Thank You Again”

“this guide is so full of valuable information…we are just extremely fortunate that you are even offering it.  For that THANK YOU VERY MUCH.”

“Love the keyword guide. Your attention to detail and explanation is so helpful. I’m looking forward to using it in a new project this week”

“FIRST OFF I HAVE TO SAY  OOOHHH MMMYYY GOOODD !!! … Keyword research as I think you know is the most difficult little beast people struggle with – including me of course,  that stops people from successful campaigns online.  I have thrown away hundreds of pages of information and gone down to quite a few less pages thanks to you.  Since my time away from work right now is very limited and I need real information that works, you have made this more understandable to begin making money.

I have been following your guides etc… for a little while now and starting to use your One Week Marketing Guide and other things.  After a little over a year of using the useless crap from people out there who call themselves “Guru’s” and have scammed me out of tons of money – yes tons, I am so glad to have found you and your honest information to help me get started.”

“I just wanted to thank you for releasing the keyword research guide because I am now confident that I will be  able to achieve my dream of making this IM stuff work! I was actually reading over it AGAIN and it hit me that I should drop u a line just to say thanx! I’m very glad that I bought your OWMP because now I don’t feel lonely. I don’t feel like I’m the only one out there having problems. Your ebooks and correspondence have been nothing short of inspiration for me and eventually I will be able to realize my dream of quitting that 2nd job that I told you about! Thanks PPG!”

“Jennifer,

All I can say is thank you, thank you, and thank you.  I just checked my click bank account and found 2 sales AND finally my first check after 1 year at this.  I am speechless.

I hadn’t checked my account in so long because I was tired of all of the zeros I saw everytime I did check it.  And I didn’t want to keep getting disappointed.  Wow!  I can’t believe it and it only helps me to keep believing that my dreams can come true.  I know this happened in large part to all of the teaching you are giving at pot pie girl and definitely you’re OWM product.  You are a great mentor and I appreciate all you have taught me.

That is enough for right now as I have to get back to creating more lenses..  =)   (I know God’s got a special place planned for you because of how generous, inspiring, and thoughtful you have been to all of us marketing newcomers.)”

You can get either a “real copy” of this keyword research guide delivered right to your door, or an immediate download pdf version here:

http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=2227125

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Ultimate Keyword Research for Squidoo

Needless to say, the past two posts about how I do keyword research and keyword research questions, have caused a good bit of email to me lately. There seems to one big question amongst the majority of these emails – “Jennifer, which keyword research tool do YOU use?” I figure that as long as we are on the topic of keyword research, that this is a great time to spill the beans on the tools I use and love.

Fact is – I Use 5 Keyword Research Tools

For me, keyword research is all about getting to the BIG picture of a small niche market. No one tool tells me everything, but when I use my 5 tools together, I get a lot of information. Not only are keyword tools good for finding these phrases, but they are also AWESOME at brainstorming for related keywords.

I LOVE tools that help with my niche marketing. I tend to spend a lot more money on tools than I do on systems or plans. To me, if I can find a tool that saves me time, it will, in turn, make me money. When you’re a one-woman show (or a one MAN show), time IS money.

Now, it might take a while for someone who is new to all this to know which tools are right for them. I highly suggest learning how to do keyword research by hand (ie, the old-fashioned way) before ever looking to pay for any tool that claims to do it FOR you.

Internet marketing tools don’t make money for you – they help you make more money by improving the results and making your research more efficient. ie, they should make your life easier.

Ok – so, let’s take a look at what keyword research tools ol’ PotPieGirl uses every day (yes, if I am working, I use these every day.)

My Top 5 Keyword Research Tools

1. My Brain (free)

Yes, my brain. 80% of the time, my brain works well for me. The other 20% of the time, well, I don’t know WHAT the heck happens, but it refuses to participate…lol

The best part of your brain is that you already know what keywords you should be looking towards. Know why?

Because we were all consumers long before we were online marketers.

When we turn off the marketer and ask ourselves, “Ok, Self, If I was looking for this product or information about this topic online, what would I type into Google? Would I type in something different if I was new to the topic as opposed to what I would type if I was looking for some place to buy it?”

Then, simply make a brain-storm list of the words that come to mind. Don’t worry about competition or any of that at first…. just write ‘em down.

Your brain is a darn good tool if you let it be =)

2. Google Keyword Tool (free)

Google gives PLENTY of free information about keywords. You can type in a seed word and get tons of related phrases and synonyms. Or, heck, you can just as easily put the url of the sales page into the tool and let Google tell you what THEY think the page is about.

3. SEOBook Keyword Tool (free)

Yet another wealth of information for keyword research. These 3 tools so far are plenty for the beginner internet marketer and offer a TON of information on their own.

4. FreePPCSpy.com (free)

This is a VERY cool little add-on for those that use FireFox (dosn’t work for Internet Explorer, but you shouldn’t be using Internet Explorer anyway…lol).

Once this is easily installed, you can click a little button when you run a Google search and instantly see what keywords each PPC/AdWords advertiser is using. Now, this is really great for those using PPC, but it is also great for we “organic marketers” too.

Here’s the thing…. if someone is PAYING for traffic from that keyword, it has a very high chance of being a well-converting keyword.

There is an optional upgrade for this that I do have (and it’s very, very good), BUT you do not HAVE to upgrade. You can just use the free version for as long as you like. The video on that page shows exactly what this does. It’s pretty nifty.

5. SENukeFree.com (free trial)

This software is THE BOMB! It is so powerful and does SO many things, but it also can be dangerous if used improperly or unethically. It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed this software in my internet marketing tool box.

What’s it do? Lordy, it does EVERYTHING…lol!

Imagine this…

You know that intitle/inanchor keyword research technique I showed you the other day? Well it does that behind a proxy so you don’t get that nasty 403 error from Google.

Big deal right?

Ok, imagine this….

You go to the Google Keyword Tool and get this huge list of keywords. Then, you click a button and all those keywords get put into a new window. You click a button and it starts TELLING you which keywords you should use and which you shouldn’t bother with. Literally – the results say things like “Easy!” or “Don’t Waste Your Time” and other variations.

The keyword/niche research part of this tool makes it awesome by itself, but that is only ONE little thing it does.

Have a video? One click and watch as it submits it to all kinds of video sites.

Have an article? Watch as it submits unique versions of your article to all kinds of places – including making blogs with it!

Want to get those articles indexed? The software keeps all the urls of the new blogs and articles it just posted so you can then go to the social bookmarking area and watch as it bookmarks all your new articles and blogs.

Rss feeds? Yup, it remembers them too – and you can watch as it submits your RSS feed all over the place.

Want to use a pen name? Click a button and watch it create a pen name and a gmail account for you. Then click another button and watch as it creates new accounts for you at TONS of 2.0 type sites. Then, click another button to verify your new accounts.

When you use the article area or the bookmarking OR ANY of it, the software logs you in to your accounts and handles ALL that. You get to watch the software do all that work FOR you… literally.

Since this post is about keyword research tools, I’ll hush and get back on topic. Before I do, I want to add that I do not provide training for this, nor do I provide support for this software. There is EXCELLENT training, support, and a forum available to all who use it. This software is not for the faint of heart, but it is a MEGA tool when used properly (AND a REAL time saver, too!)

There is a free trial and if you’re curious, I recommend getting it and playing around with it so you can decide if this is something you could use. Check it out here

What About Back Links?

Yes, knowing good keywords is awesome in itself, but you need to be able to determine how many back links you’re going to need to rank where you want to rank in Google. As I demonstrated in a previous post, I use back link analysis tool for this. It’s a quick and easy tool that gives you a speedy snapshot of what you’ll have to do to rank for a certain keyword query.

I like it a lot. While it is not really a keyword tool (tho it has a research function), it is something I use to get the BIG picture. You can find the backlink analysis tool here.

Ok, kids, there you have it – PotPieGirl’s favorite keyword research tools. I am SO excited because NicheQ is going to be released Tuesday at noon EST. I know I am supposed to get busy promoting it, but honestly, I just can’t wait to get my HANDS on it! (What Is Niche Q? Click here to read my post about it.)

I plan to be VERY busy creating new sites and projects the next few weeks. Since One Week Marketing was released, I’ve felt too busy (and a bit over-worked/over-whelmed) to even THINK about starting something new.

As of tomorrow at noon my time, I am making it a top priority to put creating my passive income streams BACK on the front burner. NicheQ will be a HUGE time saver for me…. I can’t wait!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

My 5 Favorite Keyword Tools

Well, my keyword marketing research post sure got a lot of attention AND a lot of questions! Thank you! Looks like we need to stay on-topic here at PotPieGirl.com and continue the discussion about researching keywords. Sounds good to me – let’s get started!

Keyword Research – It’s NOT “One Size Fits All”

First things first – let’s back up a step or two and really talk about keyword research.

Folks, this is a BIG topic. Not all keyword research is the same. Someone looking for keywords for a Squidoo lens may not follow the same tactics as someone looking for keywords for a site that monetizes primarily with AdSense.

An authority site will not try to locate keywords the same way someone with a small niche blog would.

Why? Because the requirements of the keywords are different.

What Kinds Of Web Pages Need What Kinds Of Keywords?

Themed Authority Site – I want ALL the keywords I can find that relate to the theme of my site. Over time, I will slowly get my foot in the door for every Google query that relates to my topic. I am in this for the long haul and know it will take time. I will work hard to promote this site and will constantly be building links to its pages.

Small Niche Blog – I want low-competition keywords so I can get my foot in the door with this small site. I will leave the door open to expand this site into a Themed Authority Site in the future. For now tho, I want in the market query space as quickly as I can. I am most likely filling this small site with tightly-targeted content all around one specific subject and have some sort of affiliate offering or my own product as the offering.

AdSense Niche Blog – I want not only low-competition keywords, but I want high-paying keywords for my site to attract the contextual ads AdSense will show. I want this site to rank well for many long-tail keywords that pay well per click with AdSense ads. I count heavily on organic traffic to this site. I may or may not add to this site in the future, but I want to set it up to be a long-term passive income stream.

Squidoo Lenses/Article Marketing - These are what I call “one-hit wonders” in the website world. You are adding a page to a NON-themed Authority site that already has a lot of trust from Google. It is ONE web page that is NOT on a site that is all about the subject your lens is about. You can “piggy-back” off the authority of this site and get organic exposure quickly. Your “one-hit wonder” WILL earn it’s own Page Rank with Google over time, but it will never have the same power as a Themed Authority Site. It is very hard to compete with a site that has HUNDREDS of pages of content all on the same topic that is constantly building back links and promoting.

Whew! THAT Was a Mouthful!

Ok – ALLLLLLLL that said – let me add one more thing. Search Engine Optimization (which keyword research and back link building IS a part of) is a very complex and very dynamic topic.

I KNOW the stuff y’all read in forums and the like – not all of it is accurate. If you want to learn the really DEEP complex stuff about SEO, start reading what I read – SEO Theory. Thing is, a lot of SEO is just that, THEORY. Testing SEO procedures and ranking and back links and internal linking, etc etc etc, is truly hard to do.

Just think about it…. How hard would it be to test whether something “works” or not SEO-wise? The Google index is CONSTANTLY changing. There are factors effecting your targeted query space every single SECOND. A link is found, a link is dropped, a competing site adds a page, a social site talks about a page….. Google changes their algorithm. Nothing about Google stands still to allow for testing ONE THING.

Be careful what you read online. Even the things *I* say! Test them yourself…. try things. I am not an expert nor am I some “guru”. I am a student of internet marketing – constantly learning, constantly trying things. I look forward to a life-time of being a student, too.

Do I have ALLLLL the answers? Heck NO. And anyone who claims to have “all the answers” is someone you need to do an about-face and get away from quickly….lol. However, I have learned things that YOU may not know – YET.

That’s why I ramble endlessly on this blog…..lol!

Keyword Research Questions & Answers

Ok – some questions I received in the comments area:

1. “If I’m doing article marketing for my squidoo lens, what kind of keywords do I look for? Should it be the same or different?”

Good question. I like doing the keyword research technique I showed in the previous post. For these “one-hit wonders” you want to get in there quickly, and you don’t want to have to work so darn hard to stay there (ie, link building)

2. “When using the keyword tool at SEO is it better to use a lower search term than say using the top searches?”

Depends on what type of web-page you are researching keywords for.

3. “It is still important to look at the sites you are competing with, correct? For example, let’s say you use this technique and there are only 20 competitors for your keyword. Great! But…all the top listed ones are high PR sites that will outrank you every time.

If you optimize your Squidoo lens right, will you have a chance to outrank the big sites? Or should you just do more research and pick keywords with easier competition?”

Yes, I DO look at the sites in the top 10 using that keyword research technique. While a Themed Authority Site will be VERY hard to over-take with a one-hit wonder lens, there’s nothing saying your lens can’t come in at #2 or #3 and do very well.

This next part is gonna sound silly, but heck, it’s my blog, I can be silly if I want to, right?

Keywords = Brownies?

I love brownies. Seriously, I could hurt you if you are in between me and a pan of freshly-baked gooey brownies.

I look at that keyword research method (intitle/inanchor) as this -

“Who is in my way of MY brownies?”

Naturally, the less people in-between me and that chocolate dream, the better. Now, there COULD be a big guy there – and I’ll have to work at taking over his spot. But all in all, the less folks in my way – the less people that could get hurt – hahahaha!

Set your lenses up so you can get IN the market. The bigger Squidoo.com gets, the more important it is that you know HOW to get your foot in the door of a niche market and gather passive organic traffic to it. (passive= not have to work your butt off to get in the door or STAY in)

Those that are following The One Week Marketing Action Plan know how I personally gather lots of traffic streams to my lenses. So what if one lens only gets 20 visitors a week? I have MORE lenses working for me that are in other little corners of my niche. Together, as a whole, they do well.

Change Adds Up – So Do Keywords

Reminds me of this change bank my hubby has. Each coin has to be pushed separately thru the top. It’s a REAL pain in the bottom! There I am, cleaning out the old purse and finding tons of coins in the deep, dark (ewwwy) bottom of it. And I stand there, pushing each (ewwwy) coin into that slot at the top of that bank.

But- here is the cool part – as each coin goes thru, this little LED display adds up and shows you how much you have in the bank. Nifty, huh? (yes, I am easily amused…lol)

Thing is, sometimes you take the time to push a penny thru and the darn total barely moves. Other times, tho, you get to do the same amount of work and push a QUARTER thru – and then the bank total takes a nice jump!

Your lenses – your “one-hit wonders” – your individual blog posts are just like that. Some will push a little traffic to your offer or site…. some will push a lot. Each will probably take the same amount of effort to create, but they will have different results.

That’s OK! It’s the TOTAL we are working towards, right? RIGHT!

4. “My first search and google give me a 403 forbidden error. Here is what popped up on the return page:

We’re sorry…

… but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now.”

Google HATES automatic queries of their index. If it even SMELLS like an automated query, you will see that 403 Forbidden error message. Yes, this can happen by searching Google way too quickly and un-naturally. As soon as you see a message to enter a capcha code to continue – STOP and take a break.

5. “if I have a website page that I optimize for “red flowered size 8 tennis shoes” (not neccesarily in quotes)does that mean I would not get any traffic from the search “tennis shoes” or even “size 8 tennis shoes”? “

Good question! What kind of site is this web page on? If it is on a Themed Authority Site about tennis shoes, then yes, over time you will build ranking for that big phrase (ie, your back links will have the phrase tennis shoes in the anchor text).

What about a Squidoo lens? COULD you rank for tennis shoes? I suppose. How hard do you want to work to get to those brownies? =)

Me? I want to make a lens about one very targeted keyword and get targeted traffic to it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I do NOT want to bust a$$ to get ONE web page (lens) to rank. Heck, it’s not even my site….lol I’ll spend that energy on MY sites.

6. “So if you go through all the steps for intitle and inanchor as you suggest, how long do you think it takes to get your articles to show up?”

No definitive answer for that. Every search query space is different and moves at different paces. Let me ask – have you ever WATCHED a query space? Seriously, do a intitle/inanchor search in your market and click search every 30 minutes or so. How often are those web pages on the first page jumping around?

Let’s Use An Example

Let’s take the post I did on keyword marketing research as an example.

Now, first off, this little blog of mine has a little authority with Google. When I publish a post, this blog pings the proper services and they come to me and index it – usually within 30 minutes or less (like Domino’s Pizza…lol). So, I don’t have to go out and build links to lead them here – they come on their own (yet ANOTHER reason why each of you should be taking a little time each day to create your own blog. Sure comes in handy! lol)

So, I published that post. Within 15 minutes or so I got a Google Alert telling me that they got it. I went back to my “intitle/inanchor” search and took a look (targeted keyword was – keyword marketing research).

I was on like Page 3.

Then, I went and did some social bookmarking making sure my targeted keyword phrase was in the title and then went back to watching my intitle/inachor search.

Slowly, thru-out the span of about 10 hours, I watched my blog climb to #1 for the intitle/inanchor query. This took me to #3 of a normal Google search for ‘keyword marketing research’ (no quotes).

Why didn’t I get to #1 if my page was the “most-optimized” for that phrase?

Because the #1 and #2 sites were Themed Authority Sites. While they may not have heavily optimized for my targeted keyword phrase, they DO have many, many pages optimized for all kinds of keyword research type keywords.

Where is My Post Now?

POOF! As of today when I looked, it’s gone. Google is playing hide and seek with me….lol That’s normal tho, and I am not concerned. I know that a few really good blogs linked to my keyword research post and Google will find them and bring me back. That’s just the way it works.

I could sit here and watch it like a mad woman who can’t find the brownies – OR, I could get to work on other things.

Bottom Line About Keyword Research

Don’t make your work harder. Don’t over-complicate what you’re doing – just be clear on WHY you’re doing it (ie, I want a lens to rank, I want high-paying AdSense clicks, I want to be there for every search within my niche, etc etc etc)

For Squidoo lenses and Article Marketing – you want to get in there and STAY in there with the least amount of effort.

Now, I’m going to admit that I am REALLY tired. It is almost 3 am my time, but I am determined to get this post done and ready for y’all. If something here doesn’t make sense, please ask. If I stated something incorrectly, please tell me (I won’t be offended…lol).

Thanks again for the FANTASTIC response to the previous keyword research post!!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Keyword Research Q&A

Keyword research…what a BIG topic that is! While I am far from a keyword research genius, I do have my own way of doing longtail keyword marketing research to find phrases I CAN rank for fairly easily. To me, it’s not only about how many web pages Google returns (either with quotes or without) – It is more about finding out how many web pages are my REAL competition. Keep reading and find out how to do keyword marketing research – PotPieGirl style.

Keyword Ranking Research

When you are optimizing a web page to rank highly for a certain keyword phrase, you do certain things TO that web page to help get it to the top, right?

Let’s take a Squidoo lens as an example.

On a Squidoo lens, we make SURE our targeted keyword phrase is:

1. In the Title. In the Title. In the Title.

Gee, did I repeat that THREE TIMES? My bad, I meant to say it FOUR times! Make sure your keyword phrase is in the title of your Squidoo lens (or article title, or blog post title, etc etc etc). That title area is a VERY important piece of real estate on your lens (or article, or blog post…). Use it.

The words you put in the title of your lens are the words people see (and CLICK) when they find your web page in Google.

2. Within the first sentence or two of the intro module of your Squidoo lens.

Many times, Google will return those first few sentences in your intro module as the description people see in Google when they find your lens. We want it to be relevant to what they are looking for, and we want it to be interesting enough to entice them to click and visit the lens or web page.

3. In the anchor text of links ON your lens or web page.

Google puts weight on the words it finds ON a web page that are a “clickable link” (ie, hyperlink, anchor link, text link, etc). The benefit of having keyword optimized anchor text links ON your web page go for your web page, too – not just the page you are linking to.

4. Sprinkled throughout your content on your webpage -

Using the keyword phrase you are optimizing for naturally on your web page or lens is very important to helping Google understand what your lens is about. Try and get that phrase and related phrases into the module titles and subtitles as well as in your Squidoo tags.

Don’t obsess over some magical number for keyword density… just try and get the phrase in there about once per every hundred words or so. Don’t force the phrase in there… make sure the readers experience is a good one or else they’ll hit the ol’ back button and it won’t matter WHERE you rank!

5. In the links you create TO your web page or Squidoo lens.

Yes…. make sure your links to your web page, article, blog post, or lens have the keywords you want to rank for as the anchor text linking to that lens. In other words, make sure the words people can click to get to your lens are the words you want to be found on Google for.

I will add that having your keywords in your url can help, but I don’t think is as important as the 5 places I just listed.

Your title and the anchor text of links TO your page are probably most important, in my opinion

Ok, PotPieGirl, What The Heck Does This Have To Do With Keyword Marketing RESEARCH?

Oh, this has a LOT to do with keyword research!

How in the world do you find keywords you have a chance at ranking for without too much effort?

By putting the phrase in quotes and then searching Google? How many competing web pages is too many? What is the right number? Should you be looking for less than 5,000 results in quotes? What about without quotes?

Make you nuts? It does me, too!

I don’t go into depth about keyword research that much. Personally, I think it can be a bit over-rated when there is more time spent on searching for the magic keyword instead of making a web page and getting it online.

BUT- I still gets tons of email asking me how to do keyword marketing research. How many pages they should “compete with”, etc.

So, I’ll share what I do to find out my real competition and decide whether or not I will tackle that keyword phrase in many cases. Now, for some of you, this may be WAY over your head right now. But I promise, if you stick with all this, a light bulb will go off one day and it will all click.

LongTail Keyword Marketing Research

The beauty of using a site like Squidoo.com is that you can rank fairly easily for a long tail keyword phrase. You can also rank much quicker than if you made your own new site.

Why?

Because Squidoo already has built authority with Google – your new website has not.

Now, we just talked about how WE optimize our Squidoo lenses and web pages, so how do we find out who the true competition is?

We find out how many OTHER web pages are doing what WE are doing to optimize for a keyword phrase.

We know that we must have our keyword in our title and in the anchor text back to our lens to rank well, so why not find out how many OTHER web pages there are that are optimizing that way, too?

Instant Keyword Marketing Research

As many of you know, I use the keyword tool at SEOBook.com and/or the Google keywords tool. Both are free and between the 2 of them, I feel I get all the info I need.

After finding what phrases people are using to find info on my niche, I go to the next best of the keyword research tools – Google Search.

Let’s say I want to optimize a web page or lens for the phrase learn squidoo. All I really want to know is how many OTHER web pages are actively optimizing for that phrase, too?

How many other pages have that phrase in the title of their web page and in the anchor text TO their web page?

Who cares how many are in quotes? I want to know how many pages are WORKING to rank for that keyword phrase the way I intend to.

Interesting way to look at it, isn’t it?

Ok, so this is what I do:

I go to Google and use two special search operators (search functions) and get Google to TELL me who else is optimizing for that keyword search phrase.

I’m tellin’ ya – once you learn how to fully use Google, you can find ANYTHING out online! haha!

So my search would look like this:

Google tells me that there are only 32 web pages that are also optimizing their page for the exact phrase ‘learn squidoo’. This means that as far as Google is concerned, there are currently 32 web pages that have both ‘learn squidoo’ in the web page title tag AND in the anchor text linking BACK to that page.

THOSE are the web pages I am truly “competing” with.

I typed this into Google:

intitle:”learn squidoo” inanchor:”learn squidoo”

Please note that there is NO SPACE after the colon for this particular search function, but there IS a space between the two searches.

Now, I will also peek at how many have those terms without quotes, ie, who has the words “learn” and “squidoo” in their web page title and the anchor text of their back links.

Now, that search is just an info gathering technique for me. The first search, with quotes, is what I really go by. This second search (without quotes) will return pages that might have something like Learn how to make a Squidoo group in the title or something that is not totally relevant to me.

Keyword Research Example

So, let’s take a “real life” example. Let’s say we want to promote Fat Loss 4 Idiots. It’s a hot Clickbank product and we want in on the action.

We head on over to SEOBook.com and punch Fat loss 4 Idiots review into the keyword tool to see if people are looking for that phrase. We find this:

Cool, people ARE looking for that! So, now we check Google:

Now that doesn’t look so bad for a search without quotes, does it?

So, we go for it. We work and we work…. and nothing. We can’t get our Squidoo lens or web page on that first page for love nor money… What happened?

Here’s Why Your Lens Won’t Rank:

There’s your problem! There are 263 OTHER web pages that are actively optimizing for that same keyword phrase! You’re gonna have to really bust it to break into that top 10.

How Many Web Pages?

Now, I know this question is coming…

“How MANY web pages, when using intitle and inanchor, should I try and limit my competition to?”

Ready for my answer?

How many web pages do you WANT to compete with?

How hard do you want to work in order for your web page or lens to rank highly on Google?

Look, no matter how perfect the keyword is, it is highly likely that your lens or web page will NOT come out of the gate swinging and hitting high rankings right away.

Google will have to find your web page. Google will have to find your back links. This takes time. For back link reporting tools (like the Squidoo health check), Yahoo will have to find your back links and that takes MORE time.

Me? I would say that anything over 100 results returned for a search like the intitle/inanchor technique I showed is gonna be tough.

My best advice – ESPECIALLY if you are new – is to start with the lowest competition keywords you can find and optimize ONE lens for ONE keyword. Don’t set yourself up for frustration by trying to optimize for tough keywords or by trying to optimize one piece of content for MANY keywords.

You know what my Grandmother used to say?

“When you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one”

So, to twist her wise words into internet marketing advice –

if you try to rank one web page for many keywords, you end up ranking for NO keywords.

As you get better, take on more competitive keywords. Not only will you know what you’re doing – you will also have seen PROOF that what you’re doing IS working.

Personally, I don’t obsess over it anymore.

I pick a long tail keyword, optimize my web page or lens for it. Set it up with the steps in One Week Marketing to get it indexed. Build some back links – and then let it go….and build MORE web pages and lenses. Google will eventually find them, I know that from experience. All the parts WILL come together to make a whole – I KNOW that, too.

Just keep moving forward =)

If you’d like to learn about my favorite keyword research tool that saves me a TON of time by automating the process I outlined above, stop by my Niche-Keywords.org site.

Hope that helps! Any questions… ask away in the comment area!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Keyword Research – How I Do It

Off To The Beach!

That’s right, Ma and Pa PotPie are taking all four PotPie kids (AND two of their friends) for a week long trip to the beach! We have all been looking forward to this trip for months…and now the time has come! The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind of wonderful things here at our house.

My 16 year-old daughter (will be 17 at the end of July) decided to kick it into high-gear for school. She was determined and driven (have no idea where she gets THAT from haha!), and the school let her take a big load for summer school classes. Yesterday, I took her for her final exams…and guess what? My 16 year old daughter is now a High School graduate!!!! That’s right, she is DONE! While she will get her diploma when we return from the beach, she won’t actually do the graduation walk/official ceremony until the rest of her class walks in the spring. She will start college classes after the first of the year. It is all SO exciting and I can’t even begin to express just how proud I am of her!

My son (who is 20) already graduated – so, two down… two to go. It will be quite some time for the younger two… they are 8 and 4 =)

Yesterday, we also FINALLY decided on a new family vehicle and it is set to be delivered here to the house in a few hours. Funny how things work out just when you need them to – the bigger vehicle will be wonderful to have for this trip =)

Joking with my hubby last night, I told him that in true ‘guru style’ that I should post pictures of me with new cars and sipping umbrella drinks on the beach….. hahahhaha! Totally NOT my style, but maybe a picture of me sipping a juice box while playing with the kids on the beach… or a picture of the new car with sand ALL in it… would be a LOT more realistic – and more my style!

I may or may not be posting to this blog while we are gone. Any of you that have been working online for a while KNOW that your family is ‘the reason’. My family has tolerated moms face at the computer for a LONG time… and the reason my face was stuck to the monitor was for all of us, and for moments like this next week. If the opportunity arises where I have time (ie, kids are ignoring me), I will post. I will be checking email, but please bear with me if it takes a little longer for me to respond. I really appreciate everyones patience!

Ok, enough about me…. I have found some great stuff for you to read while I am away. Since I haven’t done a PotPie Post in quite some time, I figured now would be a great time to have a totally UNfocused blog post that gives you some cool tools and tips.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool Improvements

First off, the Google AdWords/Keyword tool now has a wonderful addition of ACTUAL NUMBERS for search volume. Yes, REAL traffic numbers straight from Google! How wonderful! And how USEFUL! A big hat tip to Jim Morris for letting me know this from an email. You can read all about it thru that link. You can also read what WebProNews had to say about the traffic volume stats now being shown on AdWords keyword tool here or just go try the AdWords keyword tool directly here:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Should Big Time Bloggers Help Newbies?

Monika, over at Court’s Internet Marketing School, made a very insightful post about ‘big time’ bloggers and returning emails from those that ask for help and direction. I really liked this post AND the discussion that followed in the comments area.

Article Marketing Advice and Tips

Over at my own 6StepNicheSites.com blog, I have made two posts recently on the topic of article marketing (also known as Bum Marketing to many of you).

How To Get Affiliate Links In Article Marketing Articles

How Long Should an Effective Article Be?

Will Your Niche Be Profitable?

On the same blog, I also made a post about testing the potential profitability of a niche. When you start out building niche websites, you might have concerns about whether or not you should even bother with a niche market. This article could help some of you with that question when you wonderful if you have a profitable niche.

Also on the topic of niche websites, I came across this little gem of a case-study. The author is quite successful online and produced a very low-key blog that details his whole process of building a niche website. I enjoyed the read and I think it is good reading AND good learning.

Niche Research

This handy, dandy free niche research tool I found is just wonderful. Ever have to research and learn about a niche before you could write your content? It takes a while to sort thru all the Google search returns to get to the ‘meat’, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could summarize and page or search results and just get the gist of it all?

You can!

Try these neat tool that will summarize the content of a web page:

Gist a Web Page – just drag the little tool link to your bookmarks and you can simply click ‘gist it’ for any page you are on

Gist Search Results – THIS is WONDERFUL. Go ahead, type a keyword in and see what it gives you!

Ok, that’s it from me for a little bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I’ll be back before you know it. MAYBE by the time I get back, my locked Squidoo lens will be UNlocked! haha!

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Heading To The Beach – A PotPie Post Of Great Stuff

Keyword Research For a Squidoo Lens

The topic for the day is ‘ear infection’. Why? Simple. The past few days a nasty ear infection has just about brought me to my knees and it has been all I have been thinking about…haha! So, for the sake of example in this keyword research lesson, we will pretend I have found a great ebook on Clickbank that I want to promote via Squidoo. I now need to find the keywords that I can rank for in Google…those wonderful keywords that will bring me free traffic to my lens.

The first step I will take, before I even choose a url for my new Squidoo lens, will be to do some basic keyword research and pick 3-5 main keyword phrases that I feel I have an opportunity to have my lens rank highly for. There are many keyword research tools available online (some free, some not), but I have a favorite free online keyword tool that I use again and again. I use the keyword research tool at SEOBook.com.

I just enter my topic – ear infection – into the search field, click submit, and get a TON of great information. While this keyword research tool returns a TON of information, for the sake of this post we are only going to focus on researching keywords for Google. Naturally, I can go much deeper into this whole process, but I want this to be a basic lesson on keyword research and not get too confusing.

After typing my topic, ear infection, into the SEOBook keyword tool, I see a screen like this:

The words on the left are the words internet users are actually typing into search engines to find related information. The numbers to the right reflect how many times a day these words are being used by searchers. We are going to focus on the numbers I have highlighted in yellow. These are the numbers that show how many times a day these words are being used on Google exclusively. If you click these numbers from within the SEOBook keyword research tool, a new window will open showing the Google results for that search term. I find this feature VERY handy.

As the next step in the way I get the right keywords for my Squidoo lens, I scroll thru and scan the keyword phrases the research tool returns for me. I am looking for about 3 phrases that when I click the searches per day number those phrases will have less than about 400,000 other pages on Google competing for that phrase.

As I check the phrases, I will then put quotes around each phrase in the Google search to see how many other web pages have that EXACT phrase on their web page. I like that exact number to be less than 25,000 – anything under 10,000 is great.

While there is not set rule as to how many competing pages a keyword should have in order to be a ‘hot’ keyword, for the sake of this lesson, I would like you to keep it as low as possible. What I want is for each of you that are struggling with getting organic traffic from Google, to learn how to find keywords and then see your lens rank for the keyword phrases you choose. Once you have gotten positive feedback from your work and have learned the basics of keyword research, the sky is the limit and you will be able to shoot for more competitive keywords as time goes by.

Ok, so I have scrolled the search results that SEOBook’s keyword tool gave me. I have found three keyword phrases that interest me. Each has less than 400,000 in a general search (without quotes), and each has less than 25,000 in an exact search (with quotes).

My chosen keywords are:

home remedies for ear infections – 150,000 general/4,610 exact

ear infection symptoms – 339,000 general/14,500 exact

treating ear infections – 271,000 general/20,200 exact

Where Do I Put Keywords On My Squidoo Lens?

There are definitely strong places to make sure your keyword phrases are within your Squidoo lens. For this lesson, I will refer you back to How to SEO Optimize a Squidoo Lens. This article goes over the entire process of properly inserting your keywords on your lens. The ‘hot spots’ on your lens are your lens title (VERY important), your module titles, your intro module, your tags, your anchor text for links, and your bio (yes, make sure you optimize your bio!)

What Else Do I Do With My Squidoo Keywords?

After your lens is created you will need to build links TO your Squidoo lens. This is really, really important and helps with your rankings and the performance of your lens within Google. Whenever I build a link to my lens, the link will have one of my above chosen keywords within the anchor text link TO my lens. (Don’t know how to make a HTML anchor text link? Read this how-to make live links post).

That means, that if I book mark my lens, at least one of my keyword phrases I chose will be in the title of the bookmark. If I write articles to promote my lens, those keyword phrases will be the words in my article bio box that readers click to get to my lens. If I blog about my lens, I will make sure the words I use to link to my lens include one of the keyword phrases listed above.

Between a simple process of having my chosen keyword phrases ON my lens, and having those keyword phrases as links TO my lens, my Squidoo lens will do well in Google and will receive organic traffic.

What Difference Do The Right Keywords Make?

One of the keywords I chose for my fictitious lens is ear infection symptoms. That phrase only had 339,000 competing pages on Google. Now, what if I chose the phrase symptoms of an ear infection? Those two phrases mean the same thing, right? Right. However, symptoms of an ear infection has over 1.5 MILLION competing pages on Google. Which battle would you like to fight – Against 339,000? Or Against 1.5 MILLION? Use the keyword phrases that give you a chance to rank your lens highly.

Basic Keyword Research For Squidoo – Summary

While I can go on and on about other more advance metrics of keyword research, my intent here is to keep it basic. I want each new lensmaster to not only learn how to get their Squidoo lens ranked well in Google, but for them to also SEE free organic traffic coming to their lens via Google search.

Any questions or additions – please feel free to add to the conversation. I imagine some of this post may be unclear ( darn ear infection) and I want to be sure all that need to understand this process DO understand this process.

Keyword research is not an exact science – it is more of an educated guess. As you learn more about researching keywords, your guesses will become even more educated.

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

How To Get The Right Keywords For Your Squidoo Lens

Keyword Research – From the Beginning

When people come online and want to find out information, they will go to some sort of search tool. These search tools are referred to as search engines. Common search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, AOL. I have no doubt that you have used a search engine many times – you may have actually used one to find this page you are reading right now =)

The words you typed into the search bar of the search engine are called keywords. Keywords are the word or the phrase that people use to find the information they are looking for through a search engine.

The Importance of Knowing Your Keywords

Here are some internet usage stats for you. There are 1.4 BILLION internet users in the world – that accounts for only 21-22% of the population (naturally, this number will increase). Research shows that 84-85% of internet users will use a search engine to find the information, websites, or products they are looking for.

84-85% of 1.4 BILLION people are using a search engine to find information online – to find information YOU put online.

Now, there are a LOT of search engines available online, but there are only a few that are considered the big players in the search business. Out of all the searches performed online, 77-78% will use Google.

What does that mean to you and your web page? That means this:

For every 100 people that are looking for information you create and put online, 77 or 78 of them will try and find your information via one source… through Google.

Understanding Google

I’ll be honest with you, trying to understand Google is kind of like trying to understand your spouse =) Yes, day to day, you ‘get’ them…. but sometimes they totally throw you for a loop!

Exactly HOW Google works will never be made public… and how it all works is very complex. Simply put, Google is a computer program that has ways of ‘reading’ a web page, deciding what it is about, and then ranking it in the Google index. There are BILLIONS of web pages in the Google index. (Just for fun, go to Google and search for: .com – There are 25.5 BILLION pages that are in the Google index as a .com or have .com on their web page!) The pages that are in the Google index change in quantity constantly. The Google index is highly dynamic and ever-changing… just the nature of the beast.

When creating content online (ie, writing a web page, making a Squidoo lens, writing an article, etc), you will need to learn how to ‘tell’ the search engine what your page is about.

Enter Keywords

Remember that the search engines read your page with a computer program (also called a spider, or bot, or crawler etc). These programs read your page, but they don’t see pictures or videos — they read words. The words you put on your web page, and WHERE you put those words, help the search engines understand what your web page is about. In turn, when an internet user types their search words in Google search, your page will be returned for them to see. The closer to the top of a ‘answer’ from Google your web page sits, the more likely an internet user will click thru and read your page. ( The pages that are returned for a search engine search are called Search Engine Results Pages – or SERPs – and where your page sits on those pages is called your ranking. If your web page is returned as the first ‘answer’ from Google, you have a #1 ranking)

Remember all those 77-78 people out of the hundred that are looking for your information? Research shows that folks searching for information on Google will only look at the first page of ‘answers’ – maybe two. Therefor, in order to get the most of those 77-78 people to see your web page, you need to have your web page ranking as close to #1 as possible for best results and more organic traffic to your web page. Organic traffic is free traffic that finds your web page via a search engine. Organic traffic is good… no, it is GREAT. Organic traffic means you have a web page that is working for you. While you sleep, work on other things, golf, or hang out with the family – the search engines are still sending traffic to your web page.

Because the search engine bots are computers, they read your words fairly literally. Meaning, they don’t understand reference or implication. If you type, “It ran up the tree”, the bot does not know what ‘it’ is. However, if you type, “The cat ran up the tree”, the bot gets what you are talking about. Your goal is to make it clear to the search engines what your page is about while not messing up the user experience for your readers.

How Do I Know What Keywords To Use?

Wouldn’t it be cool if you knew what internet users were looking for online? And cooler yet, what exact words they were typing into Google to find it?

You can.

This is called keyword research. There are many tools available that can show you words that users are searching for, how many times a day they are typed into Google each day, and other phrases like it that searchers are using. By finding the words that people are really looking for, and having these words on your web page, you can greatly improve your chances of getting more organic traffic to your web page.

The Goal of Keyword Research

The main goal of keyword research is to find words and phrases related to your topic that internet users are using, and have these be phrases that don’t already have a large amount of web pages already in the Google index. For example, if you want to rank in Google for the phrase black bag, a Google search will show you that there are already 5.1 million web pages in their index that rank for that phrase. Also, black bag is very broad…. what kind of black bag? Be more specific. What about black bowling bag? A Google search for black bowling bag has just a little over 1 million pages for that keyword phrase. Now we’re getting somewhere. However, 1 million pages is still a lot of pages to be competing with – and we don’t even know if people online are looking for a black bowling bag.

While that was just an example off the top of my head, that was an idea of how this is going to work. The typical searcher online will use 3-4 words to search for the information they need. Internet users are getting smarter as the internet matures. They know that if they want to find a black bowling bag that they will not get the search results they want by simply typing bag into Google…. or even by typing black bag into Google. They will at least type black bowling bag into their search… probably even more descriptive such as black bowling ball bag, or discount black bowling bags. You get the idea so I can stop with the bowling bag thing now…haha!

Your goal with keyword research is to:

• Find the words people are using in Google to find information about your topic – these are your keywords.

• Use the keywords you find that have the least amount of competition in Google so you have a better chance of ranking at the top for a Google search – you will do this with your keyword research.

• Give the searcher who clicks thru to your page the information they were actually looking for. In the long run, you still have to have quality content for your web page to be successful AFTER a searcher gets there.

Keyword Research For Squidoo Lenses

Squidoo.com is getting to be a very large website. Many topics have been covered – and many topics have numerous lenses covering it. Google will only return two Squidoo lenses for a search request on the same topic. Proper keyword research, and proper use of those keywords, can give your lens an ‘edge’ that leads to more organic traffic.

If you are creating a Squidoo lens, you will take these steps:

1) Decide what your page will be about. Like the lens on a camera, your Squidoo lens will focus in on a subject. Don’t be all over the place… pick a topic.

2) Perform Keyword Research to decide HOW to word your content on your lens and where to put your keywords on your lens for best results.

3) Create good, unique content on the subject. Keywords will help get your lens found – relevant, useful content will help your lens be successful.

How Do I Do Keyword Research?

While typing this post, I tried very hard to go back in time and remember the things I didn’t understand when I first came into internet marketing. Hopefully, for those that are in that place right now, this post was a helpful introduction to how keywords work and why you need them. However, this post has become VERY long! So How To Do Keyword Research will be the topic of another post here at PotPieGirl.com – stay tuned!

(Note: when that post is made I will link to it here)
Added 6-18-2008

How to Get The Right Keywords for Your Squidoo Lens

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Keyword Research 101

Keyword Country is a “Keyword Search Engine.” Obviously, that is right up my alley so I was more than curious to test whether or not the product stands up to what it claims. Here is what I found:

Just type in a keyword in KeywordCountry, and you have LOADS of relevant keywords within a few seconds, each with important details like:

• Max CPC
• Number of Advertisers
• Number of Clicks per month
• Estimated EPC
• Number of competitors
• KEI Analysis
• R/S Ratio
• Number of Searches (according to Overture)
• Traffic on Google (estimated) …and much more!

Keyword Country is really user friendly. More importantly, what impressed me a lot is the way Keyword Country produces thousands of high paying keywords and niche keywords so darn quickly.

Keyword Country allows you to search for keywords in 3 different ways using Basic Search, Advanced Search, or the Price Range Search. At first, I thought they were “shuffling” the same keywords in the three different searches. But they’re not. The results are actually search specific, and enable you to choose the best keywords that suit your needs.

As a test, I tried the keyword – “loan,” I just typed the keyword in BASIC Search and I got 21,086 relevant keywords within a few seconds, each with key details like Max CPC, Number of Advertisers, Number of Clicks per month, Estimated EPC, Number of competitors, KEI Analysis, R/S Ratio, Number of Searches, and Traffic on Google.

I was really impressed by the relevancy of the keywords that I found. The results are so relevant that you could probably export the list and use it right away in your website without even filtering any out. However, the results become a bit irrelevant as you get to the bottom of a big list (just like in a search engine) so I would always do a “read-thru” first.

After searcing for “loan” keywords, I had the option of choosing high paying keywords from 200+ different sub-categories for the search term of “loan”. I picked “Auto loan”, and Keyword Country listed 1,200 or so keywords for that sub-category. Impressive.

Price Range Searching is another nice feature. This search enables you to search for the keywords within a specific price range. One of the key advantages of this kind of a search is that it brings forth lots of low priced, hidden keywords that are really profitable. Besides, you can brainstorm new ideas for AdSense as well.

One of the most unique things is the Advanced Searching option. This tool allows you to do in-depth research for each keyword – each offering a variety of searching options. Kinda like ‘Wild Cards’ on Google, Advanced Searching can sort results on the basis of Max CPC, Average CPC, Searches, Sponsors, or anything else you like.

After going through Keyword Country videos, Advanced Search started making a lot more sense and I really got a better grasp of the abilities and options of KC’s Advanced Search tool.

Sort the results by “Rating,” and KC will give you only profitable keywords. Sort the results by “Clicks per month,” and you will get the keywords that attract the most clicks for Google. Just integrate these keywords in your website, and you will increase the chances of getting more CTR. Furthermore, there are many more types of keywords that you can find out with Keyword Country.

There are also a LOT of free videos at Keyword Country – they have taught me a LOT about Adsense:
Finding Top Paying Keywords Video

You can customize your search any way you want. Whether you type in a search query, or you search the keywords without typing in a search query – Keyword Country generates tons of keywords.

One really cool feature of this software is “Blank Search.” Now, this is one feature that I have not seen anywhere else. Blank Search allows you to reach the most searched and most clicked keywords that exist, the highest paying keywords, and most low competition high value keywords. Just leave the keyword field blank in Advanced Search, and Keyword Country will give you such amazing lists. This feature makes Keyword Country really unique.

Keyword Country is a pretty nifty little tool. What I really like is that you are not forced to pay for more time than you need. Only need to do keyword research like this for one day? You only have to PAY for one day.

I was really impressed with this keyword research tool. Worth a look if you’re in need of something like this for niche sites or Adsense earnings.
Check out Keyword Country

More good articles on keyword research:
AdSense Secrets: Choosing the Best Keywords for AdSense
How to increase AdSense CTR?
AdSense Optimization: Content That Search Engines Love

Brand New to Internet Marketing? Read my four-part blog series – How to START Making Money Online

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

KeyWord Country Review – Keyword research on a new level

Once you get past the flaky title, you’re bound to find someone…something yummy inside!

Welcome to the PotPie Post #1

Squidoo Stuff…

So, as we all “patiently” await this next Squidoo payday, I got to poking around on my lenses. Now, I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit of a slacker on Squidoo lately. I have spent so much time on my niche sites and other projects that I haven’t devoted the time my baby lenses need.

Anyway, I hopped on over to SquidUtils and took a look at my lenses since I know ol’ Google did their big song-and-dance lately.

Holy Smokes! Baby got PR!

Two of my lenses are a PR5 , there are 10 lenses with a PR 4, a TON of of PR 3’s, and a handful of PR 1’s and 2’s.

Amazing! Wanna see? Go to SquidUtils and log in a PotPieGirl (really, it’s ok)…then click on “advanced dashboard” and you can see ALL my lenses and their PR, etc. Heck, if you want to click the little RSS looking icon after each lens, that will ping them. I would certainly appreciate that

Speaking of “Pinging”…

Yup, my buddy CaptainSquid has some awesome tips and tricks for pinging your Squidoo lenses. That Captain is so smart =)

Speaking of Smart…

Some of you may have heard of a woman by the name of Amy Bass. Amy has a blog where she discloses her earnings and her process of making money online as she attempts to support her beautiful family and pay off debt. She is one smart cookie!

I love reading Amy’s blog – especially since I found out just how much she makes from GPT sites… She is like a GPT Goddess! ANYWAY – Amy has put an affiliate link cloaker/redirect program on her website that is wonderful. It is a BIG help for those of those that just don’t get that whole thing. Thanks, Amy!

Speaking of Affiliate Links…

I don’t know how many of you checked out the list of free keyword tools I posted, but you really shoulda. Did you know that one of those free tools allows you to SEE the keywords that other affiliates are using to promote the same products you are? I was absolutely blown away. You seriously need to go play around with this free keyword tool. It is totally different than anything else. Absolutely amazing!

Speaking of Keywords….

Wow, all this work and research I’ve done on niche sites and niche blogging has really been paying off. I can already see a HUGE improvement in my Adsense earnings alone. I thought I would be stuck earning 4 cents a day from Adsense forever! Now I’m at a few DOLLARS a DAY. I’m on my way to BIG money from Adsense! Wanna know how I got it going? Check out how I drastically improved my Adsense earnings.

There really is a method to the madness of making money with Adsense. If you want a copy of a great ebook that is an awesome case-study of Adsense earnings stuff, scroll on down to the bottom of the blog…somewhere on the right, you’ll see my FREE eBook gift to you. Nope, no email needed…no nuttin’ honey =) Just download and enjoy.

Speaking of earnings…

Little Miss PotPieGirl is celebrating! I had my best earnings yet on Clickbank this past payperiod (ended 11-01). I was squealing like a girl! Wait, I AM a girl. Anyway…

Speaking of S-P-A-M…

Ok, no one was actually speaking of that, but I like to play the game of – “Whats in YOUR spam folder?”

Seriously, the junk mail that gets filtered in my email account is always good for a laugh each day. Just today, I was offered a way to grow my hair back, enlarge the size of my…. well, you know…. I also found out that some Nigerian Prince is sending ME a LARGE sum of money! I can’t wait to tell my boss to take this job and shove it!

Wait, I AM my boss.

Life is Good =)

Brand New to Internet Marketing? Read my four-part blog series – How to START Making Money Online

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Still Rambling – We’ll Call This PotPiePost #1

As we start a new month, I’d like to share a few cool things I’ve come across in my travels on the internet.

Wordtracker Keyword Research Tool

I cannot even begin to stress strongly enough just how important, and how profitable good keyword research is. Not just knowing HOW to do keyword research, but having the right tools to perform your research on. Wordtracker is the bestest ever. This small investment in your business will be returned to you ten, twenty, thirty… a hundred fold. Wordtracker is offering a great deal this month – it’s worth taking advantage of their free trial to see what I’m talking about. Click here and use promo code us-annual-15 to take advantage of this deep discount. Offer ends November 30th.

If you’d still like to use free keyword research tools, I came across the most complete list of free keyword tools to use for your research over at websigity.com. Check them out – it’s great stuff!

Free Stuff and an Awesome Affiliate Marketing Blog

I am a big fan of Zac Johnson’s Super Affiliate Blog. His blog is FULL of solid affiliate marketing advice and direction, and he somehow mixes in his fun side. A definite must read. Zac announced that he is giving away free “I Make Money Online” bumper stickers…. drop by his blog to get yours.

Google Adsense on ABC News

Are you a “Gray Googler”? Check out this great news clip on ABC News about the Google Adsense program. Interesting stuff…. guess the “secret” is outta the bag now, huh? =)

Squidoo for Christmas

Yes all you good boys and girls…the holidays are coming. We are now officially entering the holiday shopping season. Get you Squidoo lenses freshened up and ready for business! Don’t let your sales opportunities slip by you. Spend an extra 5 minutes on your lenses to make sure all your links work, your images are appropriate and your holiday decorations are up.

Speaking of Squidoo….

Captain Squid has a great Squidoo-related blog. Great tools and advice. Highly recommended.

Final thoughts from my exhausted state

And for a great laugh, read this blog that offers a copy of one womans eBay auction for Pokemon cards. Sound silly? If you have kids – this will make you laugh til you cry! Poor woman had to take all 6 of her young children to the grocery store and one of them slipped a box of pokemon cards into her cart. Funny, funny stuff. Read “Adventures in Grocery Shopping”

Ok, to bed I go. Here’s to a great November!

Brand New to Internet Marketing? Read my four-part blog series – How to START Making Money Online

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Exhausted and Rambling…But I Found Cool Stuff!

In my last email to Joe, I asked him about his knowledge of proper keyword research and if he knew how to use that research within his online content.

Here is Part 2 of the email exchange between Joe and I:

Jennifer,
That was by far, the best reply I have EVER received to an inquiry. By all means use my name and email, at least I’ll be read some where…;) As for keyword research, I don’t know if I actually know how to research keywords, but my 1st Len’s that I made called The Affiliator was #1 on Google when I searched specifically for The Affiliator. But I guess the name was unique enough to make it so. However, when I put in just the keywords affiliate, or other words of that nature?…NOTHING. So I changed the whole lens around (keyword wise) and haven’t even sniffed Google ever since. But my lens’s where listed maybe 2000-5000 (my main one is still at #6234) over-all on a daily basis for a long time. In there respective category they were either in the top 100 or less many times. My main lens, Affiliate Advertising from The Affiliator is still at #148 in Seo & Affiliate Marketing and I haven’t touched it in over two weeks. I have no idea if any of that means squat, and I am not trying to impress you, I guess I’m trying to say that I think I understand keywording.
But I do get what you are saying about how to earn with Squidoo, but I don’t have time for that many lens’s. I love to write (can you tell?) so maybe that is the direction I need to be going…but doesn’t it help to know what you write about? I know a little about a lot of things, but not a lot about specific things.
Thank you so much again for your response, I will re-read it for retention purposes. lol.
Joe T

Here we go with my “insightful insight“:

Ok, Joe – heeeeeeere we go.

let’s talk keywords.

Ranking high in Google for a keyword or keyword phrase is AWESOME….. BUT, if no one is LOOKING for that keyword or phrase…well, it don’t mean squat =)

I went back and looked at your lenses -

Two things first off -

1 – You, sir, have a beautiful family, and
2 – You certainly have put a lot of work into your lenses – that is obvious.

Keywords are the words that people type in Google Search to find what they are looking for.

I want you to mess with this keyword tool:

http://www.homebizfactory.com/RESEARCH/index.php

I have no clue if I’m supposed to give that out or not, but oh well … lol. It’s the best free one I’ve found and the results are VERY close to the expensive super keyword tool I use with the guys that contract me out.

With this tool, type in a main word or two about what you want to write about.

For the sake of an example, type in “puppy training” (without the quotes)

It will take a few seconds to give you results – and if you haven’t looked at results from a tool like this yet – it may seem like a whole bunch of gibberish at first.

The top phrase (keyword) puppy training has 213,304 searches for it a year – then it breaks down into how many per month, per week, per day, and per hour as you read across. The last number , under “google results” is how many sites come up on Google when someone types in “puppy training” – 761,000. That number is your competition. You’d have to beat all those sites to get to the top of Google for this search term.

For me, using my free methods of Squidoo, blogs, and articles, I find it VERY hard to beat out any search term that has more than 20,000 competing Google results.

If *I* was going to do a blog or a Squidoo lens on “puppy training”, I would look at these results and scan down the “google results” side and look for results that are under 1000. Those search terms are money for a free marketer like me. My key to getting “found” online.

I would pick keywords like – “crate puppy training” and “puppy training pad”, etc.

My Squidoo lens title would be something like

Puppy Training – Crate Puppy Training Your Pooch (or something like that)

I would be sure to use a dozen or so of those good keywords within my text exactly as they come up on this tool. I would also be sure to use these keywords as my module titles. Your into module and your module titles are SUPER important as far as SEO.

This way, when one of these many people types “crate puppy training” into their friendly Google search tool, MY site will come up for those terms.

Learning to write for the search engines and still make it a good human user experience takes practice – but to write online for any type of income, ya gotta learn it and LIVE IT.

Remember, too, that a Squidoo lens should be like the lens on a camera — it should “focus in” on a subject (such as “puppy training”).

Any of this make ANY sense?

~jennifer

And Joes response back to me:

Jennifer,
Are you a teacher? I have received replies from a few folks who have asked me what I would need to make it in Internet marketing, bla, bla, bla. When I told them SEO, they have all responded in hieroglyphics. Thanks for typing in English and laymen terms. I’m not a dummy, but unless I learn something, well…you can finish that sentence easily enough.
Thanks for explaining it correctly. And thanks for the compliment on my family. Never a dull moment here.

Joe T

The bottom line about creating content for Squidoo, or for ANY web presence, is proper keywording. If you write what people are looking for, they will find you. If you present those keywords in an enjoyable user experience, they will KEEP finding you.

I hear “Content is KING” all the time during my travels online. I’m sorry, but I disagree.

I think of online writing like it is a royal dinner party. King Content knows WHO to invite (proper keywords), but he relies on his beautiful partner, Queen Content, to present it all so that all the guests have a wonderful time (guest being readers AND Google).

Yes – I AM a bit weird…but that image helps me create complete content for both the search engines AND my readers.

Brand New to Internet Marketing? Read my four-part blog series – How to START Making Money Online

Post from: PotPieGirl.com

Keyword Research for Squidoo – Content is the Queen to King Keyword