Keyword Research Question

Hey there,

In terms of monthly search volume, how do you guys weigh
broad match #'s versus exact match #'s?

For example, one of my articles is based on the keyword
"fish oil for bodybuilding"... This keyword gets 2900 broad
match searches a month (global) but only 91 exact match
searches. 91 is obviously very low, but if my article ranks
high for this keyword I would also probably rank high for
all the variations of that keyword too... ie... best fish oil
for bodybuilding, top fish oil for bodybuilding, fish oil
for bodybuilding diets etc etc...

So in this case would you say 91 is too low to target that
keyword, or would you say since it gets 2900 broad match
then it's still worth targeting? Just confused on how to weigh
the 2 numbers to determine if a keyword is worth targeting.

Another example is "how to eat to gain muscle"... It gets
22,200 global searches but only 170 exact searches. But if
I get ranked I'd assume I'd be up there for how to eat
to gain muscle fast, how to eat to gain muscle mass, how
to eat to gain muscle quickly etc etc.

BobbyG

To be honest I'm not exactly sure what the diff is between broad and exact. I *think* broad means that if you're keyword is "cat bed" then the monthly search volume would include searches like "brown cat bed". Whereas an exact search would only be the phrase "cat bed".

Yeah, that's what it is, but I'm asking people how they weigh the 2 numbers to decide if a keyword is worth targeting.

I don't know if "cat bed" monthly searches would include all variations for the word "bed" and all variations for the word "cat" all inclusive. I think it would be pretty useless if it did.

"pink bed sheets" and "brown cat bed" are two totally different niches.

Hey!! why you are confuse?just chose medium competition keyword, example :- if you chose 10 keyword so i will suggest you, first five keyword chose medium competition and other five chose supported keyword (who's supporting to first five keyword).

Don't bother with "broad" at all. Focus on exact and look at local only as well. Highly unlikely that You will be ranking in google.es for anything that's ranking in google.com. Spyfu is a good tool as well. Use keyword smartseach. Tends to give a much more accurate count than regular google keyword tool. The count there is daily traffic I believe so multiply accordingly.

There are plenty of threads in here for keyword research and selection, however, generally speaking a keyword with less than 1000 exact local searches per month is considered pretty low search volume. They are also generally much easier to rank so take that for what it's worth. Lots of exceptions though and what is really the most important is finding keywords that produce action. Example: "Big Fat Red Balloons" might get lots of traffic (I doubt it, just making an example) but it's not exactly a keyword that induces action. However, "Unbreakable Iphone4 cover" might actually get a lot less traffic yet produce 10x as many sales as it's a buying type of keyword...You get the idea...

I would NOT assume that you will be ranking for too much other than the keyword itself that you are promoting and sometimes some other phrases that include that keyword. While that can seem like a whole lot of work for such a small amount of traffic, you will see over time that it all adds up.

Moral of the story is forget about Global. Focus on local volume. Choose keywords more on their potential to produce action instead of just volume though too. No use ranking for something that produces no sales, clicks, etc..

Read more on here about keyword research and then just take action. The more you do the more you learn. No substitute for experience. Period.

Good luck,
Con

I agree with conrulez where you should look local, skip broad, and target keywords that will drive traffic. At the same time, I would not discount the "low hanging fruit" of long tail keywords, matched with these 1000 volume KWs. There is a ton of highly targeted traffic that you can reach by making sure you include them in your content. Don't make it spammy, keyword stuff posts, but don't miss that opportunity either.

Hope this helps!

Shawn

Forget everything except Exact match. They go a long way and are also easier to rank and worth developing them.

Target only exact searches because broad search is a crap. You won't rank for all the keywords broad searches. Search for Exact match calculate traffic and profit then invest upon that.

Awesome, thanks for all the helpful tips guys.