Reginald Chan

Category: Marketing

  • Master These Organic SEO Strategies And SEO Tools To Dominate SERPs

    Master These Organic SEO Strategies And SEO Tools To Dominate SERPs

    If you thought that Google Hummingbird was the only surprise for us, you are terribly wrong. In just a short period of time, Google had released two huge updates (with Google Penguin 2.1 as the latest) which had basically shaken the whole blogging industry.

    I cursed and swear at Google as I was hit not once but twice which affected me dearly. Both my affiliate revenue and traffic plunged down the ravine and it certainly felt like it’s the end of the world. Of course, I tried my best and kept the anger under wraps with this post.

    Here’s a quick recap of what I think about both the updates:

    Google Hummingbird – focused on small sites that are ranking rather well even though they are new

    Google Penguin 2.1 – focused on longer and more specific search queries

    So, how did Google updates affected my blog?

    I lost 50% of my keywords ranking, 75% daily impression count and my earnings was affected so badly.

    Yup, it sucks to be me right? Haha!

    What do we know about Google Hummingbird?

    What is the effect of Google Hummingbird towards bloggers?

    Google Hummingbird was released from the cage for that one main reason only; Penalizing and slapping hard on sites which are relatively new but are ranking very well.

    Most websites that are affected are mainly:

    • Less than 1 year old
    • Ranking a lot of keywords
    • Moderate to low traffic

    The above really smells like Google is doing some ‘cleaning up’ on micro niche sites. Frankly, a huge number of micro niche sites experienced between 30 – 70% traffic drop thanks to the Google Hummingbird update.

    Why did micro niche sites get affected so badly?

    The answer is easy. It is a known fact that most of these sites are ranking well thanks to focusing on keywords only and not facts. Even though no black hat tools are involved, certainly this is definitely not one of those SEO techniques recommended by Google.

    Consider this as affecting the balance and ecosystem of search queries.

    And it didn’t stop there! Google releases a new update called shortly after.

    Read more about Google Hummingbird:

    The wrath of Google Penguin 2.1

    Google Penguin 2.1 update was more than just filtering out web spam

    Personally, I call Google Penguin 2.1 as ‘the perfect storm’.

    For those who missed out what Matt Cutts tweeted on that day, here’s the snippet of it:

    I read this when I was having my lunch and … I nearly choked on my food.

    Google and Matt Cutts said that it was focused on improving search queries and ensure that Google is returning more quality search results. Okay, that part is correct.

    However, does it has a hidden agenda behind those words?

    Yes, think hard my friend.

    When Hummingbird was released, do you remember seeing people’s tweet and Facebook status updates that they are not seeing much traffic lost even though they are running niche sites?

    And guess what happened after Google Penguin 2.1 was released. Traffic was scaling down and so does the earning.

    More read:

    The secret organic SEO strategies to use after Google Penguin 2.1

    Organic SEO strategies will help increase website ranking on search engines
    Do you REALLY want to know what are the organic SEO techniques after Google Penguin update?

    I hate Google a lot and this not because of their frequent updates. It is because every time an update take place, I am off to my secret room down the basement and start planning my next SEO blueprint.

    I realized that there are probably hundreds of do’s and dont’s on the best SEO techniques after Google Penguin and you are free to follow any of those that deem fit. However, remember that what I am sharing with you below are mostly organic SEO strategies which could have a very positive impact on your blog.

    Here are simple list of my recommended organic SEO strategies to counter attack Google Penguin 2.1 and possibly, any other future updates too (if lucky).

    If you are still wondering what is organic SEO, I have explained it using the video below:

    1. Goodbye PageRank, Page Rank or PR

    PageRank is one of the most discussed topic when it comes to SEO. Seriously speaking, we are all thinking too much about it! Yes, even I do too!

    Deny all you want people but trust me, PageRank is going down soon.

    Currently, PageRank isn’t dead and it is still functional because there are too many algorithms counting on it. Google updates each website’s PageRank on a daily basis (backend) but the information is not shared out to the public.

    Sharing this info out will possibly bring millions of dollars in revenue to SEO agencies around the world and indirectly, messing up the whole SEO ecosystem.

    Here’s my take: Google will soon remove PageRank and in return, substituting PR with Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA). Plus, I am expecting this to happen somewhere in 2014 or 2015 latest.

    What do you think?

    Adesanmi Adedotun wrote an interesting write up and discussion on this and you can check it out here.

    2. Hello Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA)

    Both of these have long been in this industry and still, it is very surprising that not many people who actually know about them.

    Domain Authority is your root domain score and it is calculated based on the number of links pointing towards it. The higher the authority of that link, the more ‘points’ added to the Domain Authority.

    Page Authority on the other hand is the score of your article. The score is calculated exactly like Domain Authority.

    Now, do you know that both Domain Authority and Page Authority are inter-related to one another?

    For example, having a higher DA score could possibly increase your PA score and vise versa.

    Does this makes any sense to you?

    Resources:

    3. Old school link building technique

    Backlink or link building isn’t dead yet. Forget about what other SEO experts are saying.

    The more links you are building for your website, the better it would be. However, there’s something seriously important when you are thinking of building links.

    You need to focus on two very important factors which are:

    1. Linking to your domain page (example – https://www.reginaldchan.net) [also known as Domain Authority or DA]
    2. Linking to your article page (example – https://www.reginaldchan.net/social-engagement-website-traffic-seo) [also known as Page Authority or PA]

    Okay, by now your mind should be telling that you NEED to start commenting the hell out of every CommentLuv website you can ever find to get backlink.

    Think again guys.

    Personally, I comment on every site that I like and enjoy. It doesn’t matter if they are using Disqus, Livefyre or Google+ comment system.

    Leaving good comment doesn’t only increase the chance of traffic but as well as getting a indirect link back to your article.

    For those who are thinking of using CommentLuv comment plugin, this article will explain to you the advantages and disadvantages of CommentLuv plugin.

    Relevant guides:

    4. Confession of a guest blogger

    How many of you publish a guest posting just for backlinks? Come on guys, put up your hands.

    The truth is, guest posting is a great way to build backlinks. The bigger truth is you aren’t getting a backlink on your guest posting if your writing sucks.

    Okay, I am know I might sound bold and straight forward here but hear me out. What’s the point of submitting for a guest posting if you know that you are NOT going to get approved?

    You are not only going to waste your time but as well as the editors too.

    Now, back to the topic. Guest posting is a good way to build trust and yes, backlinks if you are doing it correctly. The right way for guest posting is to ensure that you are constantly writing quality write ups and be very specific with your anchor texts.

    Don’t just focus everything on ‘blogging tips’ or ‘SEO strategies’ for example. Instead, ensure that your links are given a variety of anchor texts.

    Secret stash: Important checklists when it comes to guest posting.

    5. Could social signal be the next new SEO?

    Do you know your articles get ranked better if there are more social shares and engagements?

    Reality is that I don’t have the enough data to prove that but through my short experiments done recently, I noticed those articles of mine who receive 100 or 200 social shares get ranked better on search engines compared to the rest.

    There are probably tons of websites talking about social signal and the importance of social share as we speak. Personally, I don’t think this is something you should ignore.

    So, how do you REALLY get more social shares?

    In order to get more social shares, you need to:

    • Be more active on social media
    • Share more articles of other bloggers or writers
    • Build more relationship with others
    • This is important … please write something that is worth sharing

    When it comes to social media, you do not need to spend all your time on all the social media platforms. Instead, focus on those who gives you the best ROI (return of investment).

    Here are a few articles to help you get started:

    6. Bill Gates said that “content is king”

    You probably hear this saying in nearly every blogging site you came across. The truth is very real and content is more important than ever.

    Do you think that you can get better ranks, backlinks and social shares with low quality articles?

    Obviously not! In today’s blogging world, you need more than just good content. You need GREAT contents and accompanied by proven facts and data. That is one of the reasons why I have a rather strict guest post requirements.

    Just have a look at any of CopyBlogger’s articles. They are sardine packed with facts and proven test results. Well, it is a great tactic since humans are easily attracted to images and stats compared to the plain ol’ wall-of-text.

    Writing content is an art and usually, it is called content writing. To be a good blogger, you need to know:

    • What your readers are looking for
    • The topics and information that could turn heads
    • And probably, a killer title too

    Anyone can become a great content writer. All you need are a dying passion and burning flame of enthusiasm.

    Great resource: Content & Search Engine Success Factors

    To recap, this is what organic SEO is all about … in slides!

    Popular weapons to build more organic SEO strategies

    If your blog is hit or affected by Google Penguin 2.1, it is time that you need to take your SEO to the next level. You may use Yoast SEO for your WordPress but personally, that could only help you that far.

    I am talking about precise SEO … SEO tools that are easy to use and possibly, beating most competitors out there.

    1. Scribe – Content Optimization Software for Online Marketing

    Scribe: More Traffic in Less Time

    Scribe offers out of the box content optimization that works within seconds. Basically, Scribe SEO (as what it is called) analyzes your keywords, full written article and the whole website itself.

    It will then generate a Page Score and Site Score which you can use to further optimize or improve the article.

    Scribe SEO doesn’t only analyze your article but the whole website itself. Besides that, Scribe SEO also offers:

    • Keyword research (competition and chances of ranking)
    • Link building between articles
    • Content optimizer to enrich your article by providing relevant suggestions on your post

    Scribe SEO is focused to ensure that your articles and websites get a better rank on search engines and dominate the search results. And because of this, Scribe SEO comes with a pretty hefty price tag of $97 per month.

    Have a look at what Scribe can do for you (plus a demo video too) or read my write up on ‘The most efficient SEO tool for website optimization‘.

    2. SEOPressor – The Best SEO Plugin

    I would always consider SEOPressor as a cheaper alternative for Scribe SEO. SEOPressor works in a pretty similar way compared to Scribe SEO and it really makes content optimization easier.

    SEOPressor makes content optimization easier thanks to easier and straight forward user interface.

    It offers:

    • Keyword suggestion
    • Keyword density
    • Keyword decoration (using bold, italic and H1 to H3 tags)
    • Over optimization warning

    SEOPressor is a great choice for bloggers especially if you are looking for a SEO tool that has all-in-one package when it comes to optimization.

    With the one time payment of $97, SEOPressor makes it easier for you to plan your organic SEO strategies without hassle and with the one-click function, it makes novice bloggers look great when it comes to SEO.

    Check out SEOPressor here and sign up for the 14-days free trial.

    Share with me your thoughts

    I know how much Google Hummingbird and Penguin 2.1 had affected all of you. The biggest question is, what did you do to improve your website ranking? Did you have any organic SEO strategies that you would like to share with us all?

  • Does Mailing List Plugins Really Helps To Increase Conversion Rate?

    Does Mailing List Plugins Really Helps To Increase Conversion Rate?

    It doesn’t matter if you are a novice blogger or running a Fortune 500 company; You need a mailing list. When you talk about mailing list, it is all about the conversion rate so to speak.

    But, let’s not forget something very important. We need to find ways to save money too!

    Now, how does saving money and conversion rates come into play?

    As a blogger, you might have ask, heard and even read about building a mailing list (plus how important it is). I recently wrote an article on the differences between Hybrid Connect and OptinSkin which I highly recommend it for your reading. Find the complete comparison here.

    It is undeniable that both of them are the best mailing list plugin for any WordPress users. When I published that post, a few bloggers asked if there is any other cheaper ways to build a mailing list from scratch.

    What happens if you don’t want to spend extra money for a plugin that is ‘so-called’ able to help you to build a massive mailing list? You opts and search for a better way out right?

    Basically, the biggest question here is to find a cheaper way to build an email list. Being a stingy person, I totally (and I really mean TOTALLY) understand how hard it is to come out that $50 from my wallet.

    I thought about this when Sam Adeyinka asked me if I had any scripts on my WordPress blog. For your info, he’s the man behind Promovator who had recently interviewed me too.

    I uses Hybrid Connect on my site and even OptinSkin on my secondary sites. Both are pretty great BUT is there really another way for bloggers to build a mailing list … you know, the cheaper way without letting go rich premium features?

    Enjoy the video below to give you a quick insight on what the topic is all about.

    Building a good converting mailing list minus the cost

    The right mailing list plugin can increase conversion rate

    I thought about it and decided to try out with AWeber since it is my email marketing provider. AWeber is one the most popular email marketing service provider and the service provided is top notch.

    Since I am already using AWeber, it is a no-brainer to continue to use it right? Furthermore, I don’t believe I have used it to the maximum yet. I am paying $16.16 per month for it and I have no plans to put it to waste.

    Therefore, I wonder what could AWeber actually do to help me save more money and increase the sign up rate (more than Hybrid Connect)?

    Does it sounds like I am pushing my luck?

    I know you are wondering this. Yes and yes! I have both Hybrid Connect and OptinSkin plugins. However, I am wondering if there is any other way for bloggers to build an email list without the help of these plugins.

    A mailing list plugin, you say?

    Relationship between money, plugin and conversion rate

    You can get your hands on Hybrid Connect for only $49 or OptinSkin at $67 but what if I tell you that you can keep that money and still able to create a killer optin form?

    Wait a minute! Killing two birds with one stone?

    It doesn’t matter if you are using AWeber or any other email marketing providers but it is very possible to achieve what these godly list building plugins can offer … with some tweaks of course.

    Since I am using AWeber, this article will be closely related to it but the concept should work with any other email marketing providers.

    When you are creating a sign up with AWeber, you are given several types of optin forms to choose from such as:

    1. In-line
    2. Pop-over
    3. Lightbox
    4. Pop-up

    They can easily be definite with the explanation below:

    • In-line = Appears within the current web page body
    • Pop-over = Hovers within the web page. Usually unblockable
    • Lightbox = Identical to a Pop-over but it darkens your webpage
    • Pop-up = Opens in a new window. Blocked by most browsers

    You wouldn’t need to have a professional degree to tell you that AWeber is actually offering nearly everything a premium mailing plugin has to offer.

    Moral of the story: You do not need a mailing list plugin to help you build one. However, having a plugin to help you do that could actually save you more time and is extremely great for those who lack of designer’s imagination (like me).

    The truth and myth about conversion rate and mailing list plugin

    The real truth about conversion rate

    There are probably a thousand Internet Marketers like me trying to sell you Hybrid Connect and OptinSkin. We are most likely to tell you what those plugins can actually help you and hey, some are really true.

    Don’t believe? Have a look here on what Hybrid Connect and OptinSkin can provide. Now, tell me if they tell you exactly what I said above.

    Here’s the ice breaker. Do you actually see what we are NOT trying to sell you?

    Okay, take a moment to think about it.

    …

    …

    …

    I hope you got it my friend. They are NOT telling you that there is a high chance that your lovely email marketing provider could actually do the same (or even better) for you when it comes to marketing!

    Take the examples above from AWeber. Users who are using AWeber could easily create simple and breath-taking optin forms without much effort.

    Yes, we are talking about zero coding skills and all you need is a simple designer mindset.

    So. how about the promised conversion rate?

    Here’s something to debunk. Have you ever seen an advertisement saying that “… we guarantee you xyz% increase of conversion or your money back …”?

    I bet you do and in fact, we all have right?

    Now think (and think hard).

    How many potential buyers for that product actually tried that ‘method’ with their own email marketing provider before purchase?

    From my point of a consumer, I don’t many of us actually try it. Yes, even I do not always try ‘that’ with what I currently have.

    For example, Hybrid Connect and OptinSkin are promoting pop-up forms and for the record, those are real work of art. However, we (buyers) are so tempted to try them that we had actually forgotten that maybe … and I mean maybe, the current email service provider we are using has the same option too.

    Or, we could simply think that the premium product is much better and superior than what we have.

    Now, does it make any sense to you?

    So, should I or should I not use a mailing list plugin?

    Using the right mailing plugin can actually increase your sign up rate multiple times.

    The simple reason behind this is that mailing list plugins are easy to use and it doesn’t take a long time to create a sign up form. Plus, these plugins usually offer many different fonts and Call-To-Actions which could be an advantage for most bloggers.

    So, what if you decided NOT to use a list building plugin and keep your money instead?

    There is where email providers such as AWeber (and a dozen more) comes into play. You could create forms easily with AWeber but usually, the choices of forms are slightly limited but with the right imagination, the sky is your only limit.

    What do you think?

    Through my experience, having a mailing list plugin is a nice luxury to have but it is certainly not compulsory. Anyone can build and create a high conversion optin form as long as you have the right words and Call-To-Action (CTA).

    I always follow by the concept, “Get it if you can afford it”. If not, dream on buddy!

    Well, if you are affordable and want to save more time when it comes to building an email list, I would highly recommend you to use either Hybrid Connect or OptinSkin.

    Other wise, you may just use the tools your email marketing provider had provided for you and you could save up some money from there.

    How about you? Hit the reply button below and let’s discuss!

    Looking for a recommended email marketing provider? Read my latest review on AWeber; 6 reasons why marketers should be using AWeber today.

  • Step by Step Guide To Schedule Social Media Updates Using Buffer App

    Step by Step Guide To Schedule Social Media Updates Using Buffer App

    Over 1 million users are using Buffer for their daily social media campaigns and the numbers are growing rapidly by the day.

    The biggest question is probably “What makes Buffer so damn famous?”

    Buffer is designed to offer you a more efficient way to handle all your social media accounts and campaigns. Basically, it makes scheduling social media updates as easy as A, B and C.

    For those who don’t know me, I am pretty much a social media freak. I am constantly on mobile and social media. Yes, welcome to the 21st century!

    With over 11 social media accounts to handle, it is really time consuming to handle all. Also with my hectic schedule, it is a no brainer that I need the right social media management tool to turn my social media woes into something … really pleasant.

    As for the record, I had used HootSuite, Socialoomph and a dozen more social media management tool until date. Honestly speaking, nothing really come close to Buffer.

    So, why should I be using Buffer?

    For starters, Buffer is a free tool which makes life much easier and I was pretty skeptical about its ability before this. Yup, I thought that it was hard to use and I didn’t really bother learning.

    So for those who are wondering how you can REALLY use Buffer for your social media campaigns, keep reading on as I will share with you how to use Buffer … the right way.

    I uses it because it has a very detailed social media analytics tool.

    Let’s be real honest here. Buffer and any other social media management tools are closely equivalent when it comes to the scheduling features etc.

    However, what distinguished Buffer from the rest are the reports it generates and of course, the lovely support team who never complains about all my rants.

    Okay, I admit it. I am a tough customer to handle 🙂

    It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger or thinking of using it for your business; Buffer app could be the right choice for you.

    And here’s the link to the 9 Buffer’s Values.

    The pricing factors

    Buffer offers both free and premium plans for bloggers

    Buffer is free for all and you can create your account simply by clicking here. On a free account, you can easily manage one Twitter, Facebook (page or profile), and LinkedIn account with up to 10 updates in your buffer, aka scheduler. This means that you can schedule up to 10 updates on free account.

    If you are a heavy scheduler like me, you can easily signup for Buffer Awesome plan at $10 per month to manage 12 social profiles, have unlimited posts in your buffer, and even add two team members to help manage it all.

    For any bigger business plans, you would need to contact the support team and discuss on the rates.

    How do you schedule an update on Buffer?

    Scheduling social media updates using Buffer is easy

    It is a very powerful social media management tool if you know how to use it correctly. There are two very important factors which you need to consider which are:

    1. Determine the social media platforms to share the updates
    2. Time of sharing the updates

    If you are keen of reading on this (which I highly recommend), check out my latest write up on 3 steps to kick start social media automation.

    Remember that with proper planning, you are going to skyrocket your social media campaigns and ROI. Don’t forget that if done correctly, you can also increase your referral traffic too.

    It only takes you two steps to start buffering your updates. Yes, only two for Christ’s sake!

    1. You need to setup a schedule time for Buffer to work

    Step by step guide in creating a schedule on Buffer App

    Here, you need to set up the specific time to share the update for every social media accounts you have. And scheduling a time on Buffer is easy.

    • You basically click on the Schedule tab (#1)
    • Set the day of your choice such as daily or specific days (#2)
    • Select a time for that Buffer to work (#3)

    For those who are managing more than one social media accounts, it is best NOT to schedule the same updates at a specific time.

    Also, it is always great to select Shuffle for every completed social media scheduled updates to avoid duplication between accounts.

    This is a great way to avoid having labelled as spam.

    2. Scheduling a social media update on Buffer

    Scheduling a social media update using Buffer is really easy. All you need to do are these three simple steps:

    • Input your update
    • Select the social media accounts you want to schedule that update
    • Choose Share Now or Buffer

    Yes! That’s all. pretty simple right?

    Refer the below image for easier understanding:

    Buffer makes social media sharing easy

    Analyzing your social media reach using Buffer analytics

    Personally, I am in love with the analytics and it is simply because it makes social networking so darn easy!

    Buffer analytics will provide you details such as the number of clicks, comments, likes and reach to name a few. What makes this social media tool better is that for each time the update is reshared by others, your number of reach will be updated instantly.

    This is very useful since you would have an idea on how far your social media had reached out to others and what others do with it in terms of resharing and clicking on the link provided.

    Buffer is one of the best social media analytics tool

    Buffer makes sharing … even easier!

    At this point, I am sure you are pretty tempted to use Buffer but there’s more.

    Do you remember the Buffer’s philosophy to makes sharing easier?

    You can easily integrate Buffer with over a dozen apps and extensions. Imagine  using Buffer on Chrome, Firefox, smartphones and various social media platforms.

    And my favorite are:

    • Buffer extension in Chrome
    • Integration with Feedly
    • Integration with Pocket app

    I was using Buffer so much until a few of my close blogging buddies asked if I am online 24 hours a day, 7 times a week!

    Thank you Buffer!

    For me, it is more than just a tool when it comes to social media automation and campaigns. It has proven its worth even though I had used it less than a month now. With the rate Buffer is expanding, I am having high hopes that Buffer is going to the leading social media management tool for all.

    Video guide: How to make scheduling work for you on Buffer app

     

    Are you using Buffer for social media automation?

    This social media automation tool had shown its capabilities to compete with some of the finest social media management tools out there.

    It is no doubt that it offers tons of benefits and is absolutely no surprise that many bloggers and businesses are already looking into the ‘Buffer solution’.

    Here are a few question for you (and feel free to hit the Reply button below):

    1. Are you using Buffer?
    2. If yes, what do you like about it?
    3. If no, what can Buffer team do to convince you use it?
    4. What do you hope to see in Buffer in the future?

    Don’t be shy and tell me what you think! Or, sign up right now for a free Buffer account today!

  • 3 Powerful Steps To Kick Start Social Media Automation

    3 Powerful Steps To Kick Start Social Media Automation

    We are living in the Internet age and by now, the advantages of social media are just too obvious when it comes to the blogging community. And with so many social media platforms nowadays, we are always short of time and I am sure you can’t deny that either.

    I don’t know about you, but creating the right social media automation is not always a piece of cake. Let’s face it guys … you are here because you want to know:

    1. What is social media automation really is
    2. How to make your social media campaigns easier
    3. How to save more time but produce better social media results

    The most important part for me isn’t any of these 3 above. Instead, my biggest concern is to ensure that social media automation is returning the biggest return of investment (ROI).

    What does social media automation means to bloggers?

    For me, social media automation is all about using technology with lots of planning.

    The main goal is to create quality social shares and most importantly, sharing them at the right time!

    Social media automation is never about quantity but what matters most is the audience and quality. However, don’t ever put aside the fact, ‘The larger your reach is, the better chance your articles will be receive better responses’.

    Basically, you need a healthy dose of quality content to be shared, a large number of reach and of course, timing.

    Sounds confusing right? I will explain them in a moment.

    Social media automation helps you in time management

    Do you find yourself always short of time thanks to the countless social media platforms?

    I certainly do and it is rather annoying when you are trying all your best to ‘go out’ and the only thing that holds you back is time.

    Here is where social media automation comes into play. To ensure that it works, you definitely need to have a proper social media plan and the right marketing automation softwares to work for you.

    The goal is to ensure that you are maximizing your ROI with the minimum time spend on each social media. In other words, making your 24 hours works like a 36 hours or so.

    Still don’t get it? Don’t worry as what you need now is to watch this video:

    [Video] What is Social Media Automation really means to me?

    Step 1: Basics before creating an out-of-this-world social media plan

    The goal is NOT to create just any type of sharing but to create highly optimized, specific and high value social media shares.

    To start up, you need to use the right social media analytics tools to help you with no other than … social media research.

    I am pretty sure you are wondering what should you be finding when it comes to social media research right?

    Here are a few information you should know (hint: social media research) when it comes to social media:

    1. Targeted audience
    2. Time of share
    3. Constructing killer social shares

    Targeted audience

    This is where you understand the type of audience you have and what they are looking for. It is absolutely pointless to share information with a group who are not even closely related or interested with the said topic.

    You need to analysis:

    • What are the information the visitors are looking for?
    • Who are you targeting (readers who are looking for information, recommendation or reviews for example)

    This is one of those three parts which is very tedious and time consuming.

    However, if you are able to work out a social media plan according to the analytic you had gathered, chances are extremely high where you will be able to perform not one but numerous and successful social media automation.

    Sharing information at the right time

    Planning your tweets or Facebook shares are very important too. The above technique would be able to provide you information on who to share and this in particular, will give you a hint on when to share.

    At this point, I know the who, what, where and which are really making you nuts but hang in there with me! We are already halfway there.

    When you are thinking of doing ‘social media’, it is always important to know when your readers are active.

    Yup. What’s the point of sharing a shout if majority of your readers are asleep right?

    That’s the whole point!

    You want to make sure that every social media campaigns that you do are giving you the best results. Period.

    Killer titles help to increase the click chances

    You may have:

    And … you ain’t getting any clicks. Not even one damn click.

    Okay, what the hell is wrong?!

    Personally, I’ve been there and I experienced it daily to be very honest. I had a few thousands followers on various social media platforms and I am always wondering; “why 95% of my tweets aren’t getting any clicks at all?”

    Yup, no resharing, no favorites, no comments … nothing!

    I read through some of the tweets (like a few hundreds of them) and I was like , “Hey, these aren’t good social shares at all” and the biggest issue was the title itself.

    Check this title out:

    Guys! I wrote a damn good article on Google Hummingbird and you should definitely check it out! (link) #SEO

    What do you see from the above? Go on … I will wait.

    …

    …

    …

    The problem was … I wasn’t engaging enough at all. I was just merely telling others that I wrote a great blog post (which no one is able to clarify) on a specific topic.

    For the readers, they wouldn’t know what to expect or … the shout wasn’t specific enough.

    Here are two simple examples for better call-to-action social media shouts:

    The importance of having the right call to action sentences

    In short, my shouts and shares are not social media optimized.

    I could easily get more clicks simply if I have added sentences such as “How to beat Google Hummingbird …”, “How did I hack Google Hummingbird …” and many more.

    Of course, don’t use these as they are purely examples and you can’t beat or hack Google Hummingbird either 🙂

    The above images are great examples. Simple call-to-actions or CTA would make readers think and wonder … which eventually some of them will click and read.

    Recommended read: 500 Social Media Marketing Tips by Andrew Macarthy

    Step 2: Which social media analytics tools to use?

    Using the right social media analytics tools will actually help you to build a better marketing plan and believe it or not, they play more than just huge roles when it comes to social media automation.

    There are probably a dozen more social media analytics tools you can use but here are a couple of them which are in my favorite list.

    Followerwonk

    Honestly speaking, I don’t really know how many of you are actually using Followerwonk and for me, I used to think that this is rather a ‘less useful’ analytic tool. And yes, I was wrong.

    Followerwonk offers free membership (plus premium plans as well) and is highly focused on Twitter only. Well, since I am heavy user on Twitter, I think this rather self-explanatory right?

    Features on free Followerwonk account:

    • Search Twitter bios
    • Compare Twitter users
    • Analyze followers/follows
    • Overlay your social graph

    I am sure the above features are already very clear cut and I do not need to go any further with those. However, what really makes me to use Followerwonk is the third feature above; Analyze followers/followers.

    Followerwonk offers great reports that help in social media planning
    Followerwonk provide detailed information on the best time to share information on social media

    By allowing Followerwonk to analyze my Twitter account, I could easily determine the best time most of my followers are active on Twitter. This means that, sharing any information during that period would have the biggest impact and reach.

    Remember that when it comes to social media, it is never about the quantity but the quality.

    And if you think that it is all, you are absolutely wrong!

    You can also use Followerwonk to ‘export’ those hot time periods to your Buffer schedule. Now, that’s what I really call as social media automation!

    Google Analytics

    If you are thinking of social media strategy, Google Analytics is definitely one of those analytics tools you need to use. Furthermore, it is runned by Google and thus, it should be trusted right?

    So, how do you actually uses Google Analytics for your social media analysis?

    You don’t use Google Analytics to learn about your followers (even though you could) …  but instead, you should use it to focus on your social media campaigns.

    For example, Google Analytics would be able to tell you which social media platform is the best and biggest contributor for your social media campaigns and blog traffic.

    With this information, you would be able to perform the right social media optimization by focusing more energy and time on the right social media platforms that gives you the best results.

    Personally, I would call this the “lesser work, more impact” social media strategy.

    Does this make sense to you?

    Step 3: The best social media automation tools

    When it comes to social media automation, it is important that you uses the right tools for the job. In today’s world, there are probably a dozen or more social media marketing automation softwares out there but for me, I only stick to these three which are definitely proven to be working for my social media.

    Buffer

    Buffer is one of the best social media automation tools
    BufferApp or Buffer is one of those tools that puts your social media marketing into 5th gear. For starters, Buffer has a free and paid version which is called Awesome plan.

    Personally, Buffer is one of the best social media tools I ever used and their customer service team are top notch.

    Buffer allows you to have a free account to manage one Twitter, Facebook (page or profile), and LinkedIn account with up to 10 updates in your buffer, aka scheduler.

    If you are a heavy scheduler like me, you can easily signup for Buffer Awesome plan at $10 per month to manage 12 social profiles, have unlimited posts in your buffer, and even add two team members to help manage it all.

    Buffer is really easy to use and what you need to do are:

    1. Connect your social media accounts to Buffer
    2. Select Schedule tab and assign dates and times of the share
    3. Input the post or social share and hit the Buffer button

    For your info, scheduled social shares will only take place once in an account. This means that if you would want to reschedule the same post more than once, you need to redo it again.

    This is great as it ensures that each of your social shares does not sound ‘robotic’.

    Sound complicated? Of course not. Sign up for a free account on Buffer now!

    Related article: How do you schedule social media updates using Buffer?

    HootSuite

    HootSuite is a very popular social media automation tool for bloggers

    Personally, I had used HootSuite for over a year now and am totally loving it since it worked well with scheduling and socializing. This means that you are able to schedule social media shouts using HootSuite and even use it on a daily basis.

    HootSuite is all about having a balance of work and play. Imagine ‘working’ and ‘playing’ all under one roof!

    Alike Buffer, HootSuite has both free and premium plans depending on your requirements. Using a free account, you are able to connect to 5 social media profiles and 2 RSS subscriptions (plus basic analytics reports).

    If you would require additional features, you can subscribe to its Pro plan at $8.99 per month which offers 50 social media profiles, team members (up to 9) and most importantly, advanced analytics reports.

    Scheduling a post on HootSuite is great and these are the steps needed to get the scheduling up in place:

    1. Connect your social media accounts to HootSuite
    2. Input your post and select the social media accounts to share with
    3. Click on the Scheduling icon and select the time to share it
    4. If you are planning to share more than one post, you can easily enable Auto Schedule feature on HootSuite

    Through my experience, HootSuite is a good social media automation tool and it works extremely well with some of the best social media platforms such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

    Don’t just sign up for a free account. Take full advantage of the free 30-days trials of HootSuite Pro and revert back to normal if you don’t like it.

    Socialoomph

    Socialoomph is one of the best marketing automation software
    If you are looking for a ‘set once and forget’ feature, this is one social automation tool you must definitely consider. What makes Socialoomph so popular is the scheduling process.

    Basically, Socialoomph brings social media automation to the next level.

    For example, both Buffer and HootSuite only offers one posting per schedule. On the other hand, Socialoomph offers you the ability to control the number of social shares per scheduled post.

    Still puzzled? Allow me to explain further.

    Imagine setting Post A to go live every Tuesday at 10pm. Socialoomph will be sharing the same post every week at the same time … FOREVER!

    Yup, I bet now you get the total meaning of the ‘set once and forget’ feature. Well, this could easily be spamming right? This is where Socialoomph had integrated article spinner in it!

    Article Spinner is a tool used to spin the same article or sentences into several different versions. To read more, here’s an example of The Best Spinner which I am currently using. Basically, it spins a string of sentences into a newly formed sentences that totally make sense upon reading.

    What makes Socialoomph different from the rest is the feature where it has the unlimited shares and scheduling feature. Socialoomph is a paid service which could cost you around $25 per month for unlimited social media accounts.

    It is in fact one of the most expensive social media tool but I totally love the service they are providing. Personally, if you are running a small blog and doesn’t want to pay any extra for it, you can try out Socialoomph for 14 days just by clicking here.

    Your account will revert back to the free account upon the end of trial and therefore, you have nothing to lose. For your information, free account do not have the auto scheduling feature.

    Over to you …

    Are you putting your social media campaigns into automation? If yes, what are your tricks and tips for it? Otherwise, what do you think of this topic?

    I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I do. Feel free to tell me what you think using the comment form below plus, please hit the red button below to share it too!

  • Google Hummingbird Update And SEO Techniques To Boost SERPs

    Google Hummingbird Update And SEO Techniques To Boost SERPs

    Google Update on Small Sites or Google Hummingbird in short could possible be the biggest overhaul done by this giant search engine after Caffeine update. We all know that the latest Google Update took place on 21st August 2013 and at that time, Google didn’t break the news which left everyone wondering.

    On the eve of Google’s 15th years celebration, the search engine giant decided to break the ice and basically, took the world by storm; Introducing Google Hummingbird Update.

    Google Hummingbird is the latest Google Update that took the world by storm

    What is Google Hummingbird?

    The Hummingbird update is said to be a major update in terms of how the search engine index works and linking of search queries. Here’s a snippet from a very popular SEO site:

    Hummingbird is a definite expansion of Google’s semantic capability evident at the search interface level that reveals, significantly, two things,’ said David Amerland, search engine expert and author of Google Semantic Search, ‘First, Google has increased its ability to deal with complex search queries which means that it also has got better at indexing entities in Web documents. Second, it has got a lot better at relationally linking search queries and Web documents which means that its Knowledge Graph must be considerably enriched. – Search Engine Land

    And my take on Google Hummingbird update are as below:

    Hummingbird update was rolled out to focus more on the meanings behind the words. For example, search queries will now concentrate more on each word in the search query instead of the keywords only. This means that Google will take account what the whole conversation, sentence or question is all about with the hopes to return more exact search results.

    What do you understand from the above? Personally, I love SEO and been a huge fan of it since early 2010. This update seems to be very focused in several parts and which will affect us all dearly;

    1. Choices of keywords
    2. Possibility of new requirements to get blogs and articles indexed faster
    3. The importance of human factor (human intent)

    Behold~ Here’s my disclaimer: The above are just the icing of the cake. I will also share with you not one but three simple SEO techniques which can (and possibly) help you rank better on search engines below. So yes, expect this to be a long article. Bookmark this right now and come back for more, from time to time.

    Google Hummingbird’s search queries update

    Google hummingbird is said to have changed it's algorithm in search queries
    How did Google Hummingbird affected user’s search queries?

    As seen above, Google said that they had updated the search queries and for me, this affected a lot on micro niche sites. Before we go deeper into the topic, here’s a simple food for thought question.

    How often do you type a two letter words on Google? Possibly one out of ten times maybe?

    That’s the whole point!

    Nowadays, we are typing nearly a complete sentence whenever we are searching for information. Google algorithm update affects how the search engine figures out what you are actually searching for. In other words, this makes Google better at solving complicated search queries.

    This also means that every blog or website has a greater chance of ranking well on search engine if you are using the right keywords. And this my friends, is just one part of it.

    Using the right keyword does have its advantages in terms of ranking but there are also many factors you need to consider such as keyword density, using the related keywords and most importantly, the overall SEO practices for the whole website.

    Did Hummingbird update really affected the way a blog or website get indexed?

    The latest Google update has impacted the way websites are indexed by crawlers
    How fast can your website get indexed by Google?

    Honestly speaking, I have no idea and if I would, I could possibly be working with Google right now!

    I did a quick test recently and I noticed that some of my articles got indexed rather fast (faster than usual). I am not talking about weeks but in terms of days!

    So, is this really the effects of Google Hummingbird? What do you think?

    Personally, I think there is a strong connection here. Basically, sites who gets lots of ‘publicity’ and social signals could prove to the search engine that “Hey, people are sharing my writings and so should you (Google)”.

    More social shares could help to speed up the time needed for search engine indexing.

    Like what I said above, there are many factors affecting how a blog or article get showed up on search engines but it is safe to say that proper keyword usage is more important than ever.

    Google understands that everyone (including you and me) are often using specific keywords to rank an article. However, the biggest question for this is how far does that particular keyword helps in enriching the article?

    Just because we had used that keyword a dozen times doesn’t prove that it is related to the article at all.

    Top SEO techniques to counter-attack Google Hummingbird

    SEO techniques that can help you avoid Google Hummingbird update
    If you got hit by Google Hummingbird, how do you recover from the impact?

    It doesn’t matter if Hummingbird affected your website but you are here because you want to rank your blog better. If you are not, please … please click on the ‘X’ button on the top right of the screen now.

    Before I disappoint you, allow me to be completely honestly with you. These are not your usual SEO techniques but they work extremely well for me.

    My goal is to have a balance mixture of psychology (human intent), content and authorship to boost the overall SEO ranking. Personally, I call this indirect SEO.

    These SEO techniques I am about to share with you are mostly two sided blades. A wrong move could easily crumble your SEO strategies and even backfire on your blog. However if practiced correctly, you stand a good chance to skyrocket your blog traffic.

    1. Content do not need to be SEO rich

    Content do not need to be SEO rich in Google Hummingbird
    Over optimizing your website is not good in terms of SEO

    Yup, you hear me right. If you have focus a lot on your blog or website content and positing well on search engines, you do not need to pay thousand of dollars to SEO agencies to do it for you. Plus, you can get all the basic SEO strategies using Yoast SEO plugin.

    Seriously!

    Gone were the days where SEO is the only factor when it comes to blog ranking. It is not debatable that SEO still plays a factor in terms of blog ranking but there are far more important factors which could affect it.

    If you are about to publish a blog post, ask yourself these, “Will my readers be happy with what they read? Is this what they are looking for?”

    You see, building a good and strong presence is vital when it comes to surviving in this blogging industry. This is why you need all hands on deck and making sure your content is not only able to fulfill but to satisfy your readers which leads to point #2.

    If you want to score well in SEO, then you need to know the basics and you can start off by checking out these articles:

    2. Rich quality content is definitely needed

    Quality content will rank your blog better on search engine result pahes
    Content still plays an important role in terms of SEO

    This is some sort of a no-brainer. Words around popular search engine forums are saying that Google is looking for more unique content than just plain articles.

    Now let’s see this in the perspective of a reader, shall we?

    Imagine reading through 5 different blogs and all of them are sharing the same information. The only difference between them are the titles and headings. Does this really enrich your search experience?

    Definitely not!

    When you are blogging, make sure that you are NOT doing what others are doing … or at least try not to. Of course, with over 60 million blogs out there, this is rather insane and impossible to accomplish but at least, you don’t copy and paste everything that you read.

    Readers love to read contents which are unique and they could possibly not find any of those anywhere else (yet). Do this and you will find them coming back for more and if Google sees good traffic coming from your blog, it is a signal to send even more traffic towards your blog.

    Take a moment to think about this. Does this makes all the sense to you?

    If you want to read more about this, I highly recommend you to read this article, Top 6 Blogging Tips To Build Better Blog Ranks.

    3. The love-hate authorship factors

    Does Google authorship have affect on blog ranking?
    Do you agree that Google Authorship plays a role in terms of blog ranking?

    Let us go back memory lane for a moment. When Google+ was first announced, it was a huge hype and everyone was trying to enable Google Authorship on their blogs.

    We all thought that it was a good way to boost SEO and so long live the hype until recently. A long discussion was done recently among Google+ community and it was confirmed that Google Authorship doesn’t affect SEO at all.

    So, here’s the question, “What is the relationship between content authorship and Hummingbird?”

    This is because content seems to be the biggest emphasis for Hummingbird update, it is very likely that authorship (which is rather useless somewhere now) will become an important factor when it comes to optimization.

    We all know Google had long been trying to compete with Facebook and thus, Google Authorship could be the only thing that distinguish both the social media platforms.

    With proper Google authorship settings, Google is able to attribute the content back to the author and yes, publishing a pretty face right below the URL.

    And you might be thinking … you ain’t got the time to enable Facebook graph, fail to enable Twitter cards or probably, had no idea what Google Interactive Post is all about. I got it, really.

    Personally, I have always wanted to enable these features with some coding but thanks to my limited knowledge on the matter, most of the time it ended up as a disaster until recently.

    I came across WPSocial thanks to Ana Hoffman from Traffic Generation Cafe when she published Schema Markup. I wouldn’t even thought of bringing this up until Hummingbird update and all the hype about Google Authorship plus the open graph features.

    Then it struck my mind on how important Open Graph and all these microdata is for bloggers. Thank God I was using WPSocial SEO Booster.

    WPSocial SEO Booster is one of the best SEO plugin for bloggers

    In short, WPSocial SEO Booster is used to make sure that proper markups are done correctly for your blogs. It may and may not have a difference when it comes to the naked eyes but this is a whole different scenario when it comes to search engines.

    If you have read above, you would know that authorship is important and it is a great way to prove to search engines that you are genuine. WPSocial SEO Booster will help you in terms of:

    1. Creating correct microdata for your blog
    2. Enable authorship markup
    3. Facebook Open Graph integration
    4. Twitter cards
    5. Increase site performance
    6. Review features, social sharing button and Google Interactive features included
    7. And a dozen more features …

    The main reason for me to bring this up is because it had helped me a lot in terms of additional marking up features. Don’t get me wrong. I love Genesis Framework and the HTML5 markup is extremely useful.

    However in this SEO and blogging industry, I need more than that to compete and therefore, I opt to try WPSocial which turned out to be great!

    You can try WPSocial today for only $29.60 and ask for a refund if you are not happy with it. No strings attached and there’s an offer Mike (developer of WPSocial) is throwing in … a whopping 20% discount if you try it out during October 2013.

    Again, don’t take my word for it as it might be biased. However, I see no reason why you shouldn’t give it at least a try since you are given a guaranteed refund and a nice discount right?

    Red Arrow Down
    Try WPSocial today and get additional 20% discount of your total bill now!

    So, what is the future that lies in Google and search engines algorithm?

    The launch of Google Hummingbird

    The way I see it, Google is trying to make its search queries even easier to manage and control. This means that producing better search results for all of us.

    And if you ask me, I dare to say Google Hummingbird have affected many sites. I noticed is that many micro niche and general blogs were hit pretty bad from this update even though I know some survived the impact.

    Personally, I know a few niche bloggers who had huge drop in traffic from about a thousand visitors a day down to 250 or less.

    Here’s my take on this. Google is trying to reduce the number of micro niche blogs showing up on search engine result pages and I totally understand it. Not just any micro niche blogs but those with low quality.

    From Google’s perspective, it could mean that bloggers are trying to ‘influence’ the search engine rankings just to earn extra income. And trust me, it is rather easy to rank well on search engines as long as you are able to find low competition keywords.

    Furthermore, how many micro niche blogging sites that are really that good in terms of quality? Most of them are living of affiliate sales or Google Adsense. So yes, go figure!

    From the point of a blogger myself, running a micro niche blog doesn’t mean that we are doing any black hat SEO. We are just trying to rank well using low ranking keywords. Of course, we are sharing information that we might not know at all and practicing keyword stuffing which isn’t really right.

    Well, I am not saying that all micro niche bloggers are bad as I know quite a number of bloggers who are really experienced and sharing specific niche blogs to help others.

    It’s just that there are many other bloggers who are trying to replicate the same success with the hopes of earning more money online and indirectly, affecting the search results one way or another.

    So, Hummingbird update could be a way to control the number of micro niche sites showing up on search engines. This means that Google want those niche blogs to rank well only if they have quality contents.

    For me, that’s a very good deal indeed. Okay, I know this is going to spark a lot of controversial and thus, I am going to leave it as what it is right now.

    Did I miss out anything?

    Let’s face it guys. Google is continuing its journey where ‘Content is King’ and understanding user search intent is the end goal. It is all about improving the search engine results and I think it is doing very well indeed.

    However, this had a great impact on bloggers and the latest update from Google really says it all. SEO is ever changing and the biggest question now is, “Are you (and your blog) up for the challenge?”

    What do you think about this? Agree to disagree? Hit the reply button below and let’s discuss.

  • Transforming Google Keyword Planner in a massive keyword scrapper

    Transforming Google Keyword Planner in a massive keyword scrapper

    Recently, Google decided to drop the bomb and ended the famous (and trusted), Google Keyword Tool from service. It was replaced by the new version which is called Google Keyword Planner.

    I would be lying to you if I say that I love Google Keyword Planner at first. In fact, I hated so much due to so many obvious reasons. When I heard that Google Keyword Tool is going ‘off’, I told myself to stick to a few SEO tools such as Scribe, Long Tail Pro and SEMRush.

    Early this month, I decided to try on it and promised to sit in front of my old HP Pavilion laptop trying to learn everything about it.

    Without much delay, this blog post is all about Keyword Planner and how you can really use it for your advantage when it comes to keyword research. I am not going to deny that for starters, it has slight learning curve compared to the previous version.

    Why you should not be worried about Keyword Planner?

    What is Google Keyword Planner?

    It is the new replacement of Google Keyword Tool (duh!) and it is said to provide great experience for bloggers who are trying to find quality keywords.

    Now, how true is this?

    Google Keyword Planner is a double edge blade. It works pretty well if you know what you are looking for. If you are hoping that this keyword planner will give you some good keywords with just some clicks, then you better stick to premium SEO tools like this one.

    Here are a few things I like about the almighty Google Keyword Planner:

    • Chances of finding long tail keywords
    • Easier keyword finding once you get used to it
    • Multiple ways to search for a specific keyword or niche
    • Merging Google AdWords with Keyword Planner is great for paid advertisements

    Google Keyword Planner – The basic

    There are four very easy but different ways you can find perform keyword research on Keyword Planner which are:

    1. Searching for keywords and ad groups ideas
    2. Enter or upload keywords to see how they perform
    3. Get traffic estimates for a list of keywords
    4. Multiply keyword lists

    This is probably the place where most bloggers and keyword searchers give up!

    Everything looks so complicated here and for newbie, this can be a very huge disappointment considering that Keyword Planner is said to be better than the previous keyword tool right?

    Yup, that happened to me too and continue reading the below for more information.

    The most complete Keyword Planner tutorial
    4 different ways to use Keyword Planner for keyword research

    1. Searching for keywords and ad groups ideas

    Advantages: Finding long tail keywords and possible keywords to use (using ad groups)

    Disadvantages: Figures are not specific and there is a possibility of having a low searched keyword in the ad groups

    This is the part where you can find groups of keywords which could be very useful for you in blogging and each groups of keywords would have roughly between 5 to 12 different long tail keywords.

    For example, you are searching for the keyword ‘blogging’ and Keyword Planner gives you probably a dozen or more keyword groups.

    Now, let’s take the first keyword group with an average of 71,000 average monthly searches. The group is consisted of several keywords such as:

    • Blogging software
    • Blogging tips
    • Blogging jobs
    • How to blog
    • What is blogging
    • Paid blogging
    • Blogging tools
    • Blogging for dummies
    • Personal blogs
    • Blog maker
    • Blog software
    • Blogs
    • Blogs about life

    This means that, these are some keywords which are highly related to the term you are searching, ‘blogging’ and has a total of about 71,000 searches monthly.

    Now, read the above sentence again and tell me what you had actually read.

    The total number of searches on this ad group is 71,000 and it is a combination of all the above keywords. This means that there is a high chance that some keywords are actually searched more than the other.

    Does this make any sense to you?

    Here’s what it looks like for a clearer picture:

    Complete guide in finding long tail keywords using Google Keyword Planner
    Step by step guide when it comes to finding keyword groups using Google Keyword Planner

    2. Enter or upload keywords to see how they (keywords) perform

    Advantages: Able to determine the exact number of searches and CPC for that specific keyword

    Disadvantages: Slightly complicated as it highly dependable to symbols

    I uses this more than the previous one. In fact, this is a great SEO tool if you want to have exact (not estimated) keyword search or CPC cost per keyword.

    Here are the legends you need to know in order to use this function:

    Broad match – Blogging

    Phrase match – “Blogging”

    Exact match – [Blogging]

    In broad match, keywords found could be related and non related to blogging. This gives you a general result and honestly speaking, it doesn’t help much when it comes to finding the exact keyword.

    Keywords found using phrase match are highly related to the term ‘blogging’. This means that it could have the basic word of ‘blog’ in the keyword or simple having the same meaning as ‘blog’ or ‘blogging’.

    Exact match keywords is what we are looking for. For example, searching for the term [blogging] would give us 14,800 searches. This is a strip down of the whooping, 71,000 searches that we had found earlier.

    When it comes to finding the best or the most profitable keyword, it is highly recommended that you uses Exact Match feature to get the best results.

    Google Keyword Planner offers users to find broad, phrase and exact match keywords
    Does this look similar to the old Google Keyword Tool?

    3. Get traffic estimates for a list of keywords

    Advantages: This feature provides bloggers with number of clicks, impressions and cost per day.

    Disadvantages: It is very ‘sales oriented’ and is more focus to Google Adwords users.

    I would say this is pretty clear cut. Enter a keyword or more and Google Keyword Planner will give you an estimation of traffic.

    Regardless of the disadvantages, I would still consider this as a great tool especially when you are looking to invest into into Google Adwords.

    Google Adwords and Keyword Planner merged under one platform
    Google Adwords is easier to manage and bid with the help of Keyword Planner

    4. Multiply keyword lists

    Advantages: This is good for cross matching keywords

    Disadvantages: Chance of wrongly matched keywords is high and this is a rather ‘advance’ feature

    Basically, this particular Keyword Planner feature helps you to create multiple keywords and in some ways, this increase the chances of finding long tail keywords.

    All you need to do is to place two different sets of keywords in List 1 and List 2 as seen in the image below. After that, click on the ‘Get search volume’ as below:

    Keyword Planner makes it easy for users to find quality keywords
    Multiple keywords lists are great when it comes to finding long tail keywords

    This feature is great especially when you are trying to find different keywords (mix and match) and if you are lucky enough, you might land yourself a low competition keyword.

    How do you find keywords using Google Keyword Planner – Video form

     

    Did I miss out anything about Google Keyword Planner?

    I hope the above explanation would be worth a little especially when it comes to keyword research. Personally, Keyword Planner is a great tool especially when it has several more features compared to the previous version.

    What do you think about Google Keyword Planner? Hit the reply button below and tell me what you think.