New Article - Keyword Research, Competition, and Selection

[thejenn]

Full Text: http://www.searchengineguide.com/thi.../0713_dt1.html

Some Snippets:

"In most cases, a really disciplined approach to assessing relevance will lead to good keyword selection for SEO, and competition becomes less of an issue."

"If people are searching with certain words and phrases, they expect to
find content around those terms. Even if you believe that the SEO
competition is too great for a certain generic phrase, you still
shouldn't build a site without that content."

[Adenan]

Nice article. Thanks

Adenan

[Big Bill]

Dan says"The competition is what it is; it will continually increase for all search terms."

I doubt it will as new technology will introduce new search terms, reducing competition for existing terms. I can see competition increasing for generic terms like insurance but already they may be broken down into smaller categories like health and travel so they'll be addressable. I think business models will increasingly need to embrace the concept of niche to survive and as they do competition for many search terms will actually decrease as firms leave the over-crowded generic arena and learn to specialise.

BB

[thejenn]

I'd love to hear you expand on this thought...

...as new technology will introduce new search terms, reducing competition for existing terms.

Clearly as new products show up, there will be new things to search for, but in reality, there will come a point where there aren't really new search terms being created UNLESS they are for new products.

Searchers are becoming more savvy, as demonstrated by the shift from generic phrases to more specific phrases. It's why 3-word phrases are the most searched for combination these days.

So yes, there has been a growth recently in more specific searches, but as I see it, that can only go so far. Additionally, the increase in searches draws a parallel to the amount of information available. Here's why...

Let's say that I'm looking to buy a used subaru.

If I search for "cars" I'm unlikely to find what I'm looking for.
If I search for "used cars" I'm getting closer.
If I search for "used subaru" I'm still closer. I may even find what I'm looking for. If I dont', I further tailor my search...

Let's say I search for used 1990 subaru outback. If there's content there to match what I'm looking for, then I'm going to end my search and follow the content.

If there isn't, I'm going to tailor it again...say to "used 1990 subaru outback in ohio".

So as I see it, as more sites start to target the more specific phrases, it becomes more likely that people will find what they are looking for, thus negating their need to develop more specific/niche style phrases. But, as long as they don't find what they are looking for, they ARE going to create more specific searches, which creates more opportunities to target keywords.

See where I'm going with this?

[St0n3y]

I agree with Jenn.

New search phrases may be created all the time, but competition for any phrase, if its a relevant search, will generate more people targeting that phrase, therefore increasing competition. The window of opportunity for low-competition phrases is relatively small, if it produces any sort of of measurable ROI. Terms that don't, however will forever be low-competition.