It’s time to brainstorm and prune. Initially, you’ll brainstorm as many related “Keyword-Focused” topics as possible that are related to fashion. Then you’ll prune out the low-profit-potential ones.
First thing you do? Power up what I will call your “keyword tool center.” There are three WINDOWS of information that you will be researching... 1) DEMAND 2) SUPPLY 3) BREAKOUT
Before we move on, let me introduce the "keyword tool center". It is called "Search It!" in sitesell.com. Search It! has so many useful purposes, for example... • brainstorming • competitive research • domain naming and legalities • PREselling content idea development • identification of new monetization avenues
This powerful unique tool is simple to use. Keep it handy on your desktop -- perhaps in the upper left corner of your browser. Suggest you also bookmark this page for future reference.
We are going to begin a very important practical session. I am going to walk through with you the research processes using the Search It tools.
To access the tools, please click here : searchit.html . Then select "Search It!" Link in the window. (If you are running a pop-up blocker, please be sure to click on the pop-up blocker help link for important information.)
Then you will arrive at the Search It! tools center window as you see below:
Have you get into the Search It! window already? Let's get started.
Assume that you are interested about "fashion". You want to find out how big is the demand for the fashion related keywords, and the Supply, which represent competition you are going to face, right?
Let's begin with Demand window.
WINDOW #1 -- THE DEMAND WINDOW?
STEP 1… Select “Brainstorming” from the Search Category menu. STEP 2… Select “U.S. Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool” from the Search Type menu. (Overture, now owned by Yahoo!, is renamed to “U.S. Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool” The “Overture Suggestions” displayed below is an old version.)
Here’s what you have done so far…
Don’t forget to click on the help link before you proceed!
STEP 3… Enter the keyword “fashion” (without the quotes).
Since there is no STEP 4 for this particular search, you can now hit the Search It! button. (Do not use the Enter or Return key.)
You may see the Search It! Results window. Click the link : "Please click here to see your search results"
OK, onwards and upwards. Got your DEMAND WINDOW ready? Here are the most common keywords that Web surfers search upon that contain the word “fashion” at Overture…
The number in the left column is the number of times that each keyword was searched in the preceding month at Overture. In a sense, it’s an indication of the DEMAND (by your potential visitors) for each keyword that contains the word “fashion.”
OK, what do we have so far? We’ve got a good idea of what your potential visitors want. In other words, we know what’s in DEMAND, and by how much, for a variety of keywords (some of which will become your HIGHPROFITABILITY, Keyword-Focused topics) that contain the word “fashion.”
Now it’s time for...
WINDOW #2 -- THE SUPPLY WINDOW
Ready to prune out the LOW-PROFITABILITY topics?
Before we can start pruning, we need to check out the SUPPLY of your “fashion-containing” keywords. In other words, how many sites already provide content for the keywords that we found in your DEMAND WINDOW (i.e., WINDOW #1 above)?
Let’s start the ball rolling with “fashion design.” Open Search It! once again. (You did keep it handy on your desktop, right?)
Follow the steps: Search It! > Competition (STEP 1) > Google Single Keyword SUPPLY (STEP 2) > fashion design (STEP 3)
This specific search yields almost a million pages…
Repeat the same process for each of the “fashion”-containing keywords that you found in your DEMAND WINDOW. Yes, seriously, do a search for each keyword. It is a bit tedious, but the research will pay off in spades.
Before you do those searches, create a MASTER KEYWORD LIST. I recommend that you do this in a simple spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel. It will speed things up and provide you with extra functionality. I will assume you have a spreadsheet program.
Here’s what to do with your MASTER KEYWORD LIST. Create four columns and label them KEYWORD, DEMAND, SUPPLY, and SUPPLY SITE INFO. For each “fashion”-containing keyword in your DEMAND WINDOW...
1) Enter the keyword itself into the column labeled KEYWORD -- copy-and-paste to avoid typos. 2) Enter how many times it is searched (info that you found in the DEMAND WINDOW) into the DEMAND column. 3) Enter how many sites Search It! finds (in your SUPPLY WINDOW) in your column labeled SUPPLY. 4) Read the listings for the Top 20 sites that Search It! returns for each keyword. Make brief notes in the fourth column, SUPPLY SITE INFO -- no need to visit the sites yet (perhaps just a quick click to the home page if you need a bit more info). Just get a flavor for the kinds of sites that each KEYWORD search delivers.
I’ve started your MASTER KEYWORD LIST for you...
KEYWORD
DEMAND
SUPPLY
SUPPLY SITE INFO
fashion
418,114
96,100,000
NOTE: “Fashion” is too general. Don't bother researching this word for products/services. The real opportunities lie in the niches, in topic keywords that have more specificity.
fashion model
100,064
554,000
Information about models, agencies, sites about a specific model or nationality
fashion designer
34,172
694,000
Barbie designers (!), various “name” designers
fashion magazine
36,695
309,000
online and offline fashion mags, eye-ware magazine
fashion design
27,188
949,000
Schools, colleges, and internships; designers selling fashion designs
Add as many notes as you like for SUPPLY SITE INFO. I’ve kept it very brief here, since it is only an example.
Finally, make two more columns, one labeled POSSIBLE PARTNERS and the other called IDEAS FOR CONTENT. Time for some in-depth, professional, SUPPLY WINDOW research...
Review as many sites from these results as you like. I’d suggest at least the first 10-20 sites. But you may find merchants in need of traffic help (i.e., you!) deeper down.
As you get into this in-depth research, you’ll notice three types of sites...
• irrelevant -- for whatever reason (off-topic, geographic, lousy site, etc.), they just don't fit. Skip these.
• merchant -- in POSSIBLE PARTNERS, enter what kind of merchandise they sell. If they have an affiliate program that fits your concept, enter the URL of the “join page” for the affiliate program of that merchant. These are indeed potential merchant-partners for you.
Even better, you’re automatically organizing the POSSIBLE PARTNERS according to each keyword. This means that you are already pre-planning each Keyword-Focused Content Page’s “in-context” text links and setting the groundwork for the “M” (Monetization) stage.
• content -- these sites are your direct competitors. They make money through affiliate programs, too. And good news! They’ll speed up your learning curve by giving you a lot of information. Why? Because they've already done a ton of work for you!
Here’s what to do... i) As you review these content sites, you may get some great ideas for content on your own site. Enter these ideas into the IDEAS FOR CONTENT column. ii) Browse the site, drilling down into the content. Click on the banner ads and text links, following these links out to their destinations to see what kind of merchants they have chosen as affiliate-partners. Or perhaps it’s a straight advertising deal -- make a note of these merchants as potential advertisers, too.
If a given merchant fits your concept and has an affiliate program, enter the kind of merchandise it sells, and the “join page” URL, as you did just above. Once again, you are preparing for the “M” stage.
Plow through your MASTER KEYWORD LIST until you have completed all six columns for all of your HIGH-PROFITABILITY “fashion”-containing keywords.
So now ...
Your DEMAND WINDOW’s search generated many “fashion-containing” keywords, along with the DEMAND for each keyword.
Your SUPPLY WINDOW’s search revealed the number of sites (i.e., the SUPPLY of sites) that provide information about each keyword, as well as a lot of leads to possible merchant-partners and even some ideas for content.
Now it’s time to pick the keywords with the best PROFITABILITY. These will be the keywords with high DEMAND (i.e., tons of searches) and low SUPPLY (i.e., not too many sites found). Eliminate any words that appear too competitive (i.e., SUPPLY is too high in WINDOW #2 or bidding competition is too intense), especially if they are not searched upon very often (i.e., DEMAND is low in WINDOW #1). And especially if there do not seem to be many POSSIBLE PARTNERS for them!
For example, notice that “fashion knockoffs” was searched for only 3,350 times in the previous month. Let’s say that a Search It! search returned 39,500 sites. Not the best combination.
Bottom line?...
Your best words should have HIGH DEMAND and LOW SUPPLY.
As you start to see patterns for the kind of sites that appear in your SUPPLY SITES and POSSIBLE PARTNERS and IDEAS FOR CONTENT notes, you’ll refine your Site Concept. Ultimately, you’ll create Keyword-Focused Content Pages that...
• fit with your final Site Concept AND... • have a good SUPPLY/DEMAND ratio AND... • have a good number of POTENTIAL PARTNERS AND that... • you enjoy writing about.
Now you are ready to work on…
WINDOW #3 -- BREAKOUT WINDOW
To BREAKOUT is to "widen the field" a bit. What we need is a good sharp knock on the side of the head, so that we can come up with keywords that are related to “fashion” but don’t contain the word “fashion.”
To develop related keywords for your special Concept Keyword (“fashion” in this case), use the one and only Search It!.
This search is great for finding words related to your Concept Keyword that do not necessarily have “fashion” in them.
You can then use those new keywords to brainstorm and prune some more keywords in your DEMAND and SUPPLY WINDOWS. And that means more potential HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics for pages on your fashion-oriented site!
One special note about our BREAKOUT Brainstormer. Don’t reject words outright. Ask yourself… “How does this fit in with my target market?” You might be surprised! It’s an amazing idea sparker.
1) Use the ones that fit your Site Concept “as is” to create more Keyword-Focused Content Pages, (ex., a Web page about “Jennifer Lopez clothing” or “Gucci”). Add these to your MASTER KEYWORD LIST and complete the DEMAND, SUPPLY, SUPPLY SITES, POSSIBLE PARTNERS, and IDEAS for CONTENT columns for each one.
Or a bigger idea...
2) Extract “General Keywords,” like “couture” and “clothing” and “mall.” Feed these fashion-related “concept-level” words back into your DEMAND and SUPPLY WINDOWS to brainstorm and prune a whole new series of HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords.
Add these to your MASTER KEYWORD LIST, too. (Or start a new MASTER KEYWORD LIST for any “concept-level” keyword that is different and strong enough to stand as a separate site.)
You can keep right on BREAKING OUT in WINDOW #3, then brainstorming in WINDOW #1 (DEMAND) and pruning after doing research in WINDOW #2 (SUPPLY). You will really come up with original, non-obvious keywords and affiliate programs that are right for your target market and that are part of major new directions related to fashion, but that don’t contain the word “fashion.”
You may even discover a concept that is so strong that you decide to adjust your first concept, or even replace it with this new one!
Phew! That was a long and complicated section, I know. Here’s the good news... you’re over the hump. It all gets easier from here on in.
