Resarch help

When i do research for a keyword i follow a few steps

* checking google keyword tool for low competion and decent searches (and in case of adsense its estimated CPC

* I then google the keyword to se whats on the first page, and if i could outrank those pages

* Finally i check if any domains are taken for the keyword

I know that this way isnt bulletproff, but do i miss something? Is it something that i really should do when researching keywords?

Use marketsamurai and free traffictravis to figure out the competition.

I do not trust only to me imagination. I come up with my words, but my site will look for other words. So how many people so many options. So I have always complemented keyvordlist words in my competitors topics, because their fantasy are working. I look them in Semrush.

i am using marketsamurai to analyze my key word data from google ad words but i m having trouble determining the competition exactly. any advice or tips?

^If you type in the keyword with quotes it shows how many pages are actually optimized and competing to rank for that keyword. So if you type in just dog training in Google it'll show all the pages in Google that have the words dog and training, but if you type in "dog training" it'll show you how many pages have those two words in that order.

That may sound confusing, but keyword research takes a long time to learn and that is only the type of the iceberg