Want to know how to find profitable keywords in your industry? If you’re not using internet forums to research for great keywords, you are really missing out on a huge opportunity.
Whenever I see the “guru’s” and “experts” talking about how to find profitable keywords, there is one common theme – they are telling you which keyword research tool is the best. Sometimes they recommend free keyword research tools like the Google Keyword Planner and other times, they want to receive some affiliate commissions by promoting paid services such as Wordtracker.
Am I saying free or even paid keyword research tools are a bad idea? Absolutely not. I use keyword research tools myself. However, I think it’s a bit unnecessary to rely on keyword research tools to find the most profitable keywords. They are not even the best source for how to find the best keywords.
So, here’s my secret FREE keyword research tool that nobody else seems to use…. internet forums! Yes, simple and readily available internet forums.
I’m going to tell you exactly how how I find the most profitable keywords using internet forums, but before I do that, I want to talk about why you should be cautious about using keyword research tools. I’m also going to give you a little bit of a bonus tip at the end of this article, so make sure you stick around!
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The Problem With Free Keyword Research Tools
There are two main issues with free keyword research tools. Most of the lesser known keyword research tools are just really low quality. They don’t pull accurate data and the list of keywords you get almost seems random. There’s really only one free and reliable keyword research tool on the market these days and that’s the Google Keyword Planner. Everybody teaching how to find profitable keywords says you should use this tool.
Now, Google’s Keyword Planner can be a great tool in your arsenal. I use this free tool all the time and you should too. But here’s the problem…. Everyone else is doing the exact same thing! Sure, the Google Keyword Planner might be accurate and it might a great tool, but anyone else who has a blog or website in your industry has probably compiled the exact same list as you. Everyone uses the Google Keyword Planner and everyone teaching about how to find profitable keywords is teaching newbies to use this tool as well. Doing the exact same thing your competitors are doing will not help you get the edge over them.
Don’t worry, keep reading and you will know how how to find profitable keywords in a way your competition doesn’t.
- READ MORE: Understanding Keyword Research And SEO
The Problem With PAID Keyword Research Tools
Even if you use some special underground keyword research tool that nobody else is using because it costs $1,000 per month, you should still be cautious about fixating on the pure numbers the tool comes back with. Most paid keyword research tools are run by computer algorithms and everything is very black and white. This not only leads to errors in the reporting forcing you to spend a ton of time filtering out the bad results, but it also completely disregards the human element. When I teach people how to find profitable keywords, I may recommend some keyword research tools, but using the tool has to be just one part of your decision making process.
Now, get this… Over 500 MILLION Google searches per day are search phrases that Google has never seen before.
I don’t know about you, but I think that is an AMAZING statistic! Google has been around since 1998, and yet, about 15% of all search phrases are totally unique. That means, in any given month, there are about 15,000,000,000 brand new and totally unique search phrases that have never been typed into Google before. Just incredible.
So, you might wonder how to find profitable keywords directly from real people in your niche. How do you get a glimpse into that completely untapped keyword potential?
It’s all about finding great long-tail keywords.
What Are Long Tail Keywords?
A long tail keyword is simply a keyword that is very specific. For example, let’s take two search phrases and compare them…
Search phrase example #1: Cheap Car Insurance
Search phrase example #2: Cheap Car Insurance In Dallas Texas
As you might guess, the second search phrase example is the long tail keyword. Often times, long tail keywords are typed in the form of a question. Here are some examples…
- How can I find the cheapest car insurance in Dallas Texas?
- How can I lower my car insurance premiums?
- What is the best car insurance company in Texas?
- How much will car insurance be on a 2002 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra convertible?
A growing number of affiliate marketers, bloggers, and infopreneurs are focusing on long tail keywords and for good reason. Long tail keywords make up the majority of the search traffic for most websites and often times, those keywords are highly targeted.
Using Search Phrases People Actually Type Into Search Engines
I know this seems obvious, but I have to say it. So often, I see people using keywords that would never be typed into a search engine. With some bloggers and website owners, it is so easy to spot when they did not learn how to find profitable keywords properly. So, make sure you’re actually using keywords that people type into a search engine and also make sure you’re placing the keywords in the proper places. If you don’t know where to properly place keywords in your articles, here’s a quick rundown…
- In the url for the page
- In the meta title & meta description tags
- In the title of the article
- At least once or twice in the body of the article
- Included in the image file name for an image on the page
- Included in at least one text link on the page
- Included in the title of an embedded YouTube video (optional)
Just remember, make sure you’re using keywords that people are actually typing into search engines! This is one of the most common mistakes among most bloggers and website owners that never learn how to find profitable keywords the right way. But don’t take my word for it, even Matt Cutts at Google says so…
How To Find Profitable Keywords Using Internet Forum GOLDMINES!
So, now that you know what long tail keywords are and how important they are, let’s talk about how to find profitable keywords using internet forums to skyrocket your website traffic and go after keywords nobody else is paying attention to. This is how to find profitable keywords.
If you’ve read around this blog at any great length, you already know I own a dog food review website called DogFoodInsider.com. Now, let me take you through the process of how I might find new long-tail keywords for articles that I want to add to the site.
Step 1: First, I need to find a related forum in my niche. I will simply type in ‘Dog Food Forum’ in Google and see what comes up. I immediately notice two forums – one is at DogFoodAdvisor.com and the other is at DogFoodchat.com. I would use both forums for my research, but for this article, I will only focus on the DogFoodChat.com forum.
Step 2: Now that I’ve found a popular forum related to my niche, I need to search around for the right category. Many forums will have different sections for different types of discussions. I think the “Dry And Canned Dog Food” section should be a good fit, so I click into that section.
Step 3: Finally, I want to find some great long-tail keywords. The trick here is to find forum threads that people started in the form of a question. The questions typed into a forum thread are often extremely similar to what they would simply type into Google. It doesn’t always have to be in the form of a question, though. Here are some threads that come up when I check the first couple of pages…
- Top five dog food brands
- Dog food coupons and special deals
- Is too much protein bad for dogs?
- Why does my dog seem hungry all the time?
- NutriSource, California Balance, or Natural Balance?
- Nestle Purina Sues Blue Buffalo over false advertising
- Dry Food vs. Canned Food
- What is the best kibble for a Golden Retriever puppy?
Now, this is just from the first two pages of one section on one forum and look how many amazing long tail keywords I have! But, it gets even better.
Many of these keyword phrases can be slightly altered. For example, I could write an article about “the top five dog food brands” but then also change that to, “the top five canned dog food brands” or “the top five dry dog food brands” or even “the top five dog food treats.” I could even change the number 5 to something else.
I could change the keyword “is too much protein bad for dogs?” to “is too much iron bad for dogs?” or “is too much fiber bad for dogs?” or almost any other ingredient I choose.
For the keyword “what is the best kibble for a golden retriever puppy?” I could change that to any other dog breed (of which hundreds exist).
I’m sure you get the point. Most people who teach you how to find profitable keywords never get into how to “spin” a keyword to become multiple profitable keywords. Just imagine if I went through 50 pages on that forum instead of just 2. And imagine if I checked out 5 sections instead of just 1. And imagine if I did this for 3 or 4 popular forums related to my niche (of which there are many). The keyword ideas are almost unlimited and they are coming straight from the keyboards of my target audience. No keyword research tool can compete with that.
Seriously, give this a shot and see what happens to your long-tail keyword traffic.
BONUS TIP: Turn Your Keywords Into Top Lists!
Now that you know how to find profitable keywords, when your blog or website shows up on Google, your rankings will be highly dependent on how many people actually click on your site. If you are ranking on page 1 with 10 other people for a given keyword, but nobody ever clicks on your site in the search results, Google is likely to push you onto page 2 and give someone else a shot. On the flip side, if everyone starts clicking on your link over the others, you will see your rankings for that keyword continue upwards until you sit comfortably at the top position.
There’s another secret trick I use (well, not so secret anymore) to help skyrocket my click through rate and thus, improve my search engine rankings. I create top lists. Top lists are some of the most profitable keywords I have in my arsenal. People can’t seem to resist clicking on top lists and as an added bonus, they tend to share these lists on social media, comment more frequently on them, etc. So, here are some ways I’d alter my forum list to create top lists…
- The top five reasons why your dog seems hungry all the time
- The top 12 reasons why canned food is better than dry food for dogs
- 6 awesome brands of dog food you should be feeding your golden retriever puppy
And again, don’t forget that you can use variations of these (ex. “6 awesome brands of dog food you should be feeding your labrador retriever puppy”, etc).
But, how can you track your click through rate in the first place? Easy – Google does that for you. Just set up a free account at Google Webmaster Tools. It will take some time, but after a while Google will display this info for you. If you already have an account set up with Google Webmaster Tools and the system has had time to gather enough info, just click on “search traffic” and then “search queries” to get your click through rate on various keywords.
So, there you have it! I hope you’ve found this article to be very helpful in your keyword research efforts. If you want to learn more about how to build and grow a legitimate affiliate marketing business online, be sure to sign up for the ONLY training course I recommend.
