Frequently Asked Questions

The (correct) keywords determine the difference between a successful SEO and PPC campaign versus an epic failure. If you choose the incorrect keywords, the net result is you will receive no traffic, get no clicks, and experience no conversions.

Conversely, if you choose the correct keywords, your traffic, clicks, and conversions will be incredible. We’ve been convinced that “content is king,” but the truth is, the correct keywords are king!

The Google Keyword Planner was never designed for finding and vetting organic SEO keywords. It was always and only designed to set up PPC campaigns in Google Ads. However, one day someone posted that you could do organic keyword research for free using the GKP, and the rest is history.

Never mind that they were 1000% wrong; still, SEOers and others jumped on that bandwagon by the millions. The idea was to avoid paying monthly subscriptions for keyword research tools. In the end, Google decided to eliminate the monthly volume results to deter those seeking free keyword research tools.

Yes, you can! To correctly vet and find the most profitable keywords, you will need any combination of keyword research tools such as Ahrefs, SEMRush, KeySearch, SpyFU, BiQ, Keyword Finder, or WordTracker.

You will need multiple tools to confirm keyword difficulty, monthly volume, users’ search intent, find LSI keywords and reverse engineer your competition. All-in-all, you will invest around $300.00 per month to ensure that your keyword selection is on point.

If you have the time and the wherewithal to master the various software applications’ learning curve, plus the money to invest in the monthly subscription services, DIY is a potential path for you to go.

We say potential because everyone is not cut out to perform keyword research; in most cases, people invest in keyword research tools to realize that the learning curve was steeper than they anticipated or were led to believe.

Our final note on this issue, some of the keyword software applications offer trials; for example, Ahrefs provides a 7-day trial for $7. Others have similar offers, some at no cost. Those trials are (only) designed for you to test the waters and start the learning process.

There is NO WAY you are going to learn Ahrefs in seven days, not even if you shut everything down and practiced on Ahrefs for fifteen hours a day for the next seven days. It’s just too much to learn in an extremely short period.

It takes most people a minimum of three months to get a handle on one of those software applications, let alone two or three.

These are search terms that consist of 3+ words, for example, (aquarium kits withstand, dog veterinarian near me, and dodge charger headlights).

Long-tail keywords became popular because they are typically low competition, have a moderate to high CPC, and can be easily ranked. Long-tail keywords tend to attract laser targeted traffic, which means they have a high conversion rate and are great for your bottom line.

In layman’s terms, it is the science of selecting, examining, developing, refining, and maintaining a group of keywords that align with the searcher’s intent to buy.

Each group of keywords is designed to send laser focused traffic to a targeted web page, landing page, opt-in page, webinar page, or video.

Keyword Intelligence’s beauty is that once it is set up on a group of keywords, those keywords can generate income for years to come. To perform Keyword Intelligence, you will need the proper keyword research tools and the skillsets to use them. And, most importantly, have an in-depth understanding of the research process.

Sometimes referred to as SEO difficulty, it is a measurement system used to determine what it takes to rank a specific keyword. Various keyword research tools use different parameters to decide keyword difficulty; that’s why it’s essential to use multiple applications so that you can better assess the difficulty score more accurately.

Several metrics are used to compute the keyword difficulty; some include but are not limited to: page authority, domain authority, number of referring domains, backlink architecture, and content optimization.

When you combine keyword difficulty with other critical ranking factors, you are now engaging in what is defined as Ranking Intelligence. This intelligence is what separates the SEOers who always win versus those who never win or continuously struggle.

Ahrefs completed a study of three million random web pages; what they found will astound most Internet Marketers. Of the top 10 ranking sites, the average number of keywords those pages ranked for was nearly 1000 keywords. To clarify, one web page in the top 10 results ranked around 1000 keywords!

The median number of keywords a page ranked for was around 400 keywords. So, to answer your question “IF” you are engaging in all three SEO factors, Keyword Intelligence, Content Intelligence, and Ranking Intelligence, you would likely be ranking anywhere from 400 to 1000 keywords per web page.

We are now referring to Ranking Intelligence and the art and science of getting from page 211,000,000 to the top spot on page 1; this is where understanding Ranking Factors becomes critical. The answer to your question is, it is determined by the keyword difficulty combined with the other Ranking Factors.

Consequently, there are no pat answers. Each targeted keyword will have different timelines to rise to the top spots. The time it takes to outrank your competitors will vary depending on the targeted keyword’s difficulty range.

• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Super hard

Keywords that fall in the easy to medium difficulty categories can take anywhere from a few weeks to three months. Keywords that fall into the hard to super hard can take anywhere from three months to a year or longer. When a keyword is in the hard to super hard categories, the companies ranking in the top 10 spots are making BANK!