How to Pick the Right Keyword for My Article

Writing articles is based as much on keywords as on writing Web pages. You must keep in mind that you are writing for editors and publishers. They will be interested in what makes the article publishable. Keywords is one of their criteria.

Of course, it isn't the only criteria and it's not the most important thing. Your article must be interesting and provide a benefit to the reader. If you have that, then you can increase your chances of getting published by making your article "keyword-rich."

Here's the best way that you can choose the right keyword for your article.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. You'll need a keyword generator tool. You can buy one or use one of the many free ones online.

2. Google AdWords has a keyword generator. To gain access to it you'll have to sign up for a Google AdWords account. Then go to the keyword suggestion tool and type in your overall topic. Let's say you want to write about "real estate."

3. Google's keyword generator lets you sort by keyword, keyword popularity, global search volume and keyword cost. Look at each category and see which specific keywords rise to the top.
   

4. Next, go to Overture and type in some of the most popular keywords generated by Google into the search box. For instance, if your original keyword was "real estate," and "real estate agent" was a highly ranked relevant keyword on Google, you would type in "real estate agent" into Overture's search box.

5. Click on "View Advertiser's Maximum Bids." You'll get a popup box that shows the pay-per-click (PPC) bid amounts of the Web sites listed on that page. This list shows the market value of that specific keyword.

6. In Google's and Yahoo's search boxes, type in the specific keywords that you are analyzing and make a note of the number of search results generated.

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each popular keyword generated on Google. Keep a record of your findings in a spreadsheet so that you can sort and compare them later. This is called keyword analysis.

8. When you have completed searching Google and Overture for your related keywords, pick the most valuable ones based on pay-per-click (PPC) bids, search popularity and supply. The popularity is the demand that searchers at the search engines place on the keyword. The PPC bid is the monetary value that advertisers place on the keyword. The keyword supply is the number of Web sites that value that keyword enough to use it.

9. Write an article around each of your selected keywords based on your analysis. Use a different keyword for each article.

Tips & Warnings

• When you write keyword-based articles, use only one keyword per article. More than that just waters down the keywords. Each article should focus on one specific keyword.
• The best articles provide real value in terms of information and beneficial knowledge. Keywords should be a secondary consideration, but worth considering if you want to get published.
• If you are submitting your articles to article directories, write them in Notepad. Some article directories will not format your article correctly if it is written in MS Word.

[doban]

on 5/30/2009 thanks for the step by step directions and for the info on Overture