Google Keyword Tool - Just the Basics

I have mentioned the Google Keyword Tool in previous posts. I have gotten several emails about this. Many of my online readers have never heard of it and, if they have heard it, they don't know how to use it. Internet writers are missing a wonderful opportunity when they aren't using "the tool." This tool will help internet writers pick keywords to use in their online articles.  Sit back, take a deep breath; it isn't as hard as it might sound. These are just the basics to using the Google Keyword Tool.

Think of a topic you would like to create an online article about. It doesn't matter what it is. Concentrate on the words that you know you will repeat in the online article. For the purpose of this post, I will use "coffee" as the topic of the article. Pull up the Google Keyword Tool and type in "coffee," without the quotation marks.

On the far right of you computer screen you will see a rectangular box entitled "columns." Click on that box. You will see all sorts of options as how to customize your columns. I recommend that internet writers only click on "global monthly searches" and "estimated avg. CPC."  Remember that "CPC" stands for "cost per click." This is NOT the amount you will be paid when someone clicks on the ad. This is the amount that the advertiser pays Google when someone clicks on the ad.

To the left of the columns box you will find "sorted by." Click on the box next to it and check "estimated avg. CPC." This will allow the results for coffee (the topic of our pretend internet article) to be sorted from highest CPC to lowest CPC.

Now click the "search" box which is located beneath the "word or phrase" box. The results for the keyword coffee will pop up. At the time I am writing this, the results from the Google Keyword Tool list "coffee am," "green mountain coffee" and "green mountain coffee roasters" as the three words (phrases) with the highest CPC.  The highest CPC is $117.10 - for "coffee am." Scroll through the search results for coffee and find the keyword(s) that will best work with your internet article about coffee. Remember that at the bottom of the page you can also add more rows, up to 100.

Start thinking about the internet article you will be writing about coffee. How can you incorporate the keywords you found? Keep in mind that you want to use the keywords with the both the highest CPC and the highest global monthly searches. If you were going to write an internet article about where to buy coffee, "coffee am" is the the obvious choice.  Coffee AM is a website that sells coffee.

Not quite what you were wanting for your online article? It is time to brainstorm. Try "expresso," "caffeinated beverages" or "hot drinks." Keep brainstorming different options until you find something that will work for your internet article. You can even change the slant of your internet article to fit a more profitable and more "searchable" keyword.

Keep in mind as you use the Google Keyword Tool that you want to write a quality internet article! Internet writers should always write about what they feel passionately about and not what is most profitable. (Look at me! I'm writing about internet writing and internet writing. I feel passionately about it. If I was only "in it" for the money, I would have chosen a blog topic that is more "searchable" and more profitable.) Your passion will shine through and draw readers in. Also, you need to remember that Google is personalizing the ads - the subject of ads your readers have clicked in the past will follow them to your internet article no matter your topic. Internet articles will still have some content-based ads, but as many as before.

Now write your internet article. Remember to use Live Keyword Analysis to get the correct ratio. For more information about this, please read my previous post about using this great tool. Do not force the keywords. Let them flow naturally. You can always go back to the Google Keyword Tool to tweak the keywords you have used in your internet article.