Mike The Internet Guy’s Blog

Many new SEOs will learn at the beginning that keyword research is the corner stone of every SEO project. I of course would not argue with this fact. In addition most new SEOs go on to learn that keyword research means depending on and using major keyword databases such as Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker. Again in most cases I would say while I wouldn’t depend entirely on these databases they are a good place to start. Keyword research for a ‘local’ website though can be an entirely different ball game. In this post I’ll give examples of why you should not depend on these major keyword databases for local keyword research and also give you some alternatives with more accurate data.

Major ‘Paid’ Keyword Databases Stink when it comes to Local
When it comes to keyword research for a ‘local’ business, the major keyword databases are spotty at best in delivering quality data for keyword research. Everett, at First Page Fitness, recently wrote a blog post on seo for chiropractors in which he discussed keyword research for local chiropractic clinics. In his experiment Everett found that Wordtracker (which returned one result), and Keyword Discovery (which returned a few results of varying quality) did not cut the mustard for this project. The best results were returned from the free Google Adwords Keyword Tool which displayed relative data about search volume and competition levels (in PPC at least). I could not agree more that in this case the Google Adwords Keyword tool is one of the better sources of data.

Why Major ‘Paid’ Keyword Databases Stink when it comes to Local
The reason the major keyword databases ’stink’ when it comes to local is they obtain their data only in samples which are not representative of the general population. Where they get the samples is not 100% clear (because it is proprietary) however, one can assume that ISPs might be a likely source in some cases. So if you are a chiropractor in Cincinnati, the chances of you getting good sample data collected for you by a database such as Keyword Discovery is between slim and none. For more ‘national’ based keyword searches such as ‘golf cart parts‘, the major paid keyword databases work great.

‘Local’ searches with a ‘national’ appeal may not be skewed
A possible exception to local search data being somewhat accurate in the major DBs is a search for tourist or relocation information about a certain area. For example I am sure there are plenty of people across the country who search for ‘summit county real estate‘, which is the home of Colorado ski resorts, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin. In fact there might be as many or more people outside of Colorado who search for this type of real estate as there are in Colorado.

The Best Local Keyword Research Tool
The only way I know of to get close to 100% data on the volumes of local keywords is to use pay per click (PPC). To do this first you take the data you get from a variety of sources (major KW DBs, your own ideas, your competitors keywords, keywords from your log file, etc) and then place them all into a big keyword list. Then you open an account with a major PPC engine (I recommend Google Adwords). Organize the campaign into tightly knit ad groups and compose relevant ad copy for each group. Dump the ad groups you created into Google as exact match terms. Make sure your max cost per click bid and daily budget are set high enough that each keyword is ensured to show on the first page of SERPs each time it is triggered. Then let your campaign fly for a while and see what happens. The one for sure thing that you will learn is keyword volume. However what you also might find is volume and your ROI don’t always mix. For example you could get a ton of impressions and maybe even clicks on a certain keyword, however no conversions are stemming from that particular phrase. At the same time you have another keyword with lower volume but a much higher conversion rate and a higher number of overall conversions. This my friend means you have found your ‘gold nugget term’

The ‘long tail’ of local keywords
One last thing to consider when developing your keyword list for testing in Google Adwords is the ‘long tail’ of local search. Just like in ‘regular’ search local search has a huge potential to optimize for lower competition, highly relevant, and highly converting keywords. To find these local searches think of neighborhoods, land marks, major streets and intersections, and other similar ‘locations’ that may be near your business. Append these ‘locations’ to some or all of the keywords you found in your discovery process to make an even longer list. A good place to find neighborhood names in your city is Trulia.com a Web 2.0 style real estate mash-up. In addition if your business targets a wider local area such as the nearest towns around you, you may want to try the free local keyword list creator tool at 5minuteSite.com.

Good luck with your local keyword research. If anyone else has tips I would encourage you to leave them in the comments on this post.

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