Keyword research is a science and an art.

And that’s why it’s one of my favorite topics to discuss.

There are tons of different factors at play.

You can’t just go after the biggest keyword in your industry.

Sure, search volume is important. You want to rank for big terms that people are already searching for.

But there are some problems with the biggest keywords.

For example, you’ll probably have to compete against massive brands.

That means your chances of actually ranking aren’t good. It might take you years and years to see any results.

Most people can’t wait that long.

I know I can’t. I’m impatient.

I want to see results immediately.

I want to make sure that all of the time and effort I’m spending on something is worth it at the end of the day.

And that brings us to the second problem with big keywords.

They’re often revolving around vague topics like “content marketing.”

That keyword might bring in a ton of traffic, but the number of buyers you get from a keyword like that will be low.

Most of the visitors will be interested in blog posts and information.

All of that is good. You can get them to sign up for your newsletter and other lead magnets.

But again, it won’t give you the results you’re looking for anytime soon.

So how do you fix that?

How do you find keywords that will help you rank in the near future while also building your bottom line?

Here are six of my favorite keyword research tools to start with.

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Has anyone ever told you that SEO is complicated?

Maybe it was a colleague or even an SEO consultant. They probably told you that SEO takes a lot of work and involves a lot of complex variables.

You’ve also probably heard that SEO takes a long time to work.

On the one hand, all of that is true to an extent. SEO can get deep, and it’s hard to navigate those waters unless you know exactly what to do.

And good SEO doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t just optimize for keywords today and rank on page one tomorrow.

But on the other hand, SEO can be easy and quick and still give you the kind of results you’re looking for.

You can rank higher in Google, get more traffic to your site, and practically own keywords in your niche. It doesn’t matter how big your business is or how much you can spend on SEO.

It won’t happen in a matter of days, but it won’t take months for you to see results.

If you do the right things, you can increase your ranking and get more traffic within the next several weeks.

And you don’t need to be an experienced SEO to get awesome SEO results.

I’ve met many SEOs who make it seem like only they know the secrets of SEO. It’s all part of their sales pitch, of course.

I don’t care what anyone has told you before. You don’t need to have extensive SEO knowledge or undergo some sort of secret, exclusive training.

You don’t have to master advanced SEO strategies like RankBrain optimization or audits.

You don’t even have to have any prior experience.

Your startup might be neglecting SEO for those very reasons. I see this happen all the time.

But you don’t need to be scared. There are simple SEO tactics you can use today that will take effect quickly, and I’m going to share with you some of my favorites. [click to continue …]

Are people finding your local business?

If you’re not seeing a lot of traffic from Google, you’re not alone.

This is a super common problem.

Whenever I consult for a local business, I almost always get asked about how to rank better on Google.

It’s an important question to ask because most people find local businesses through online searches.

If you’re not easy to find with a quick Google search, you’re missing out on a ton of visitors (who are all potential customers).

And it’s not enough to just optimize your site and hope for the best. If you’re sitting on page 3, you may not get any traffic.

It makes sense that the very first result gets a ton of traffic, but the numbers drop like crazy after that.

Many people never go past the first page.

Ideally, your site would rank on page one at position one, but you want to be on page one no matter what.

To do that, you need to rank like a pro.

Most of the local business owners I’ve met are scared that they won’t be able to rank well on Google.

They often think that you have to have a huge social media following and millions of fans to get on page one.

They’re surprised when I tell them that it’s actually pretty easy to rank on page one of Google.

It doesn’t happen overnight, of course, but it doesn’t have to take years.

I’m going to share with you 5 of my favorite methods for ranking on page one. I’ve used every single one of these strategies to rank fast, and they’ve never let me down. [click to continue …]

It’s no secret that link building is critical to success when it comes to ranking organically.

If you want better search engine rankings, you need more backlinks.

Your SEO guide won’t rank in the top 10 on Google if it has no links.

Links are one of the biggest factors in SEO today.

The top-ranking content on any given search engine results page will have tons of links.

Links give context and power to pages that Google considers authoritative.

Google will certainly see a page with 100,000 links as more authoritative than one with 1,000 links.

But therein lies the problem: Everybody needs links, and everyone campaigns for them every day.

So how on Earth do you get links when half your personal inbox messages are asking you for a link?

It feels almost impossible to campaign for links anymore.

In fact, many marketers I know have stopped campaigning because they believe it’s “annoying” or “disrespectful.”

But you need those links if you want to increase organic traffic.

So link building still needs to be a priority.

Thankfully, there are a few ways you can campaign for backlinks that are guaranteed to produce results.

Here’s why you need to be building links plus four link-building campaign tips that still work for 2018. [click to continue …]

They say that anything worth doing is worth doing well, right?

But they also say you should work smarter, not harder.

When it comes to SEO, both sayings are true.

You want to make sure you’re putting in a solid effort, taking time to find the right keywords, and setting yourself up for success.

But that doesn’t mean you need to spend countless hours of your day doing it.

Keyword research is a particularly important component of SEO, and you should be completely dedicated to finding the right keywords for your site.

By using the right tools and research strategies, you can make that happen in less time than you think.

This won’t be a comprehensive guide to keyword research by any stretch of the imagination.

But hopefully, you’ll see that keyword research doesn’t have to be cumbersome to be effective.

Here’s what to do to really boost your keyword research in less than 30 minutes each day. [click to continue …]