Competitive Keyword Intelligence for Search Marketing

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COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE IN SEARCHSEMPdx SearchFest: March 9, 2010Larry Kim, Founder, VP of Products, WordStream, Inc.



Agenda: Competitive Intelligence in Search

Gathering competitive intelligence (CI) for search marketing

Interpreting CI data: Common pitfalls & misconceptions

Suggested workflows for leveraging competitive intelligence data in paid & organic search



Gathering CI Data: Plenty of Tools Available

Alexa Search Analytics Compete.com Google Keyword Tool Keyword Spy SEM Rush SpyFu (Mike’s company) WordStream (my company) … many others: too many to list out!



Competitive Intelligence (CI) Data

CI Data Paid Search Organic Search

Keywords Lists

Keyword searches that trigger ads for a particular domain

Keyword searches for which domain/page rank ranks for organically

Competitive Estimates

Avg. CPC, estimated advertiser competition

Estimated “keyword difficulty” score (e.g. allintitle, etc.)

Listing Info

Ad text, landing page

SERP listing info

Domain Info.

Estimated monthly spend, etc.

Sites linking in, PR, site traffic estimate, etc.



Interpreting CI data: Common pitfalls & misconceptions

Wow. This is a TON of data! How do I interpret it? What should I do with all of this CI

data? 4 popular competitive

intelligence blunders (and how to avoid them)!



Competitive Intelligence Blunder #1

Assuming your competitive intelligence data is relevant– Never blindly assume what works for your

competitors will work for you!– Review the data, test it out and see for

yourself. – Repeat this process!




Too much analysis, not enough action!– Don’t get overly hung up in analyzing CI data– Ideally whatever CI data that you track is

actionable (in a scalable way), and that your actions are data driven.




Mistaking estimated CI data for actual campaign data– A PPC Example: Suppose CI data shows

indicates that your desired target keyword has a high estimated competition and high average CPC

– Give up? Never!– The actual CPC you pay in your campaign can

be below average, depending on how well you structure your campaigns

– How? Focus on improving Quality Score!



Ad Rank = Bid * Quality Score Actual CPC = (Ad Rank to Beat/Quality Score) +

$0.01

Mary bids less than Tom but wins the top spot and pays just (16/10) + 0.01 = $1.61

By improving Quality Score, Mary beat the average estimated CPC!

How Estimated CPC is NOT the same as Actual CPC!

Bid Amount

Quality Score

Ad Rank (Bid * QS)

Tom $4 4 16

Mary $2 10 20



How to Improve Quality Score

Select specific keywords & negative keywords

Group together closely related keywords Write relevant ad text and landing pages

that speak to the intent of the searcher

Awful: Too Broad! OK: Somewhat Related

Better: Reflects Intent



Estimated vs. Actual CI Data: Key Takeaway

Don’t be deterred by unfavorable estimated CI data but rather take it under advisement.

There are no set rules on how to interpret CI data

Try to get a quick read on the true PPC or SEO competitive landscape by creating either an ad group (PPC) or content (SEO) and measuring the actual results.



Competitive Intelligence Blunder #4:

CI data is an important component of keyword research – should be used in addition to other keyword research tools

Don’t forget to leverage your own Web analytics data to get a proprietary competitive advantage!



The Problem with Keyword Tools

How do you get a competitive advantage? How does a keyword tool know what’s

relevant to your business?

Everyone Shares Same Keyword DataKeyword

Tools



Use both CI Keyword Suggestions & Web Analytics Data

Some of the BEST keyword opportunities come from your own web site.

Successful Keyword Research integrates both Web analytics and Competitive Intelligence Keyword Tool data



A workflow for using competitive intelligence data in PPC

1. Assemble your keyword list (include CI data, keyword suggestion tool data, Web Analytics, etc.)

2. Filter & organize your list into small keyword groupings of closely related keywords

3. Building out themed ad groups & landing pages around your keyword clusters

4. Get an read on actual PPC competitive landscape



Workflow using Competitive Intelligence data for PPC

Was your target PPC cost-per-action achieved?

If YES:– Mission accomplished. Move on to next keyword

grouping.

If NO:1. Try targeting sub-niches (long-tail keyword

variations)2. Look for negative keywords to improve CTR3. Try out different bid strategies & match-types4. Ad text & landing page optimizations



Targeting More-specific (Less Competitive) Keyword Niches

Typical “Head Term” Challenging from both a competitive

PPC & SEO standpoint



Targeting More-specific Keyword Niches

Look for clusters of longer-tail variations



Finding sub-niches within a sub-niche

Group keywords by intent



Workflow for using Competitive Intelligence data in SEO

1. Assemble keyword list (include CI data, keyword suggestion tool, Web Analytics, etc.)

2. Filter & organize list into small keyword groupings of closely related keywords

3. Try publishing a content page that targets your desired keyword

4. Get a read on the actual SEO competitive landscape – how did your page end up ranking?



Workflow using Competitive Intelligence data for SEO

Google your target keyword. If your page is found on page 1:– Great! Mission accomplished. Move on.

If not found anywhere:1. Try working in long-tail keywords variations of

your main keyword topic into your page copy2. Create content targeting more specific

keyword niches.3. Do internal & external hyperlink building



Competitive Intelligence for Search: Bonus Tip

Stop thinking of competitive intelligence in terms of individual keywords. Why?

Wordstream’s internal keyword research consists of ~100k keywords – trying to track CI data on such a big list is a path to madness

Tip: Instead try to break up your keyword research into categories/subcategories, then track CI data on a per-grouping basis.

Target the “head terms”, exploit the “long tail”.



Competitive Intelligence in a Nutshell

CI is important component of keyword research for PPC & SEO, but…

Pick keywords relevant to YOUR site first, use CI to uncover possible gaps in your coverage or to help prioritize work

Try not to get too mired in competitive intelligence data …

Be Bold. Act. Don’t be deterred by challenging CI data – try it out, analyze, adjust your strategy (repeat).



How I Use Competitive Intelligence

1. Sizing up a competitor – where are they focusing their PPC & SEO efforts?

2. How successful are they?3. Getting keyword & hyperlink ideas4. Stealing traffic / draining link equity



For More Information, check out…

The Ultimate Guide to Keyword Competitiveness –Tips from 35 Experts – Free!– Todd Mintz (SEMpdx)– Aaron Wall (SEOBook)– Rand Fishkin (SEOMoz)– Ann Smarty (Search Engine Journal)– Many others!

Free Keyword Niche Finder (WordStream)



About WordStream

A provider of keyword research & management solutions for PPC & SEO

Tools for continuously discovering, filtering, organizing, analyzing and implementing campaigns based on your own keyword research.

Your own, private hosted keyword research, plus integrated tools to help you understand and act on it.



WordStream Keyword Management Tools



Actionable PPC & SEO Tools

Turn your organized keyword research into PPC ads or optimized SEO content.



Spy on Competitor Keywords



WordStream Negative Keyword Discovery Tools



Thank you SEMPDX

Thank you Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland!!

Contact me:– Email: [email protected]– Twitter: @larrykim

mailto:[email protected]

Technology

Competitive Keyword Intelligence for Search Marketing