Essentially the actual research is done using the free tool, seokeyword, as usual. What we will be discussing here is the method of tabulation. Any time you can save will give you more time to study the keywords themselves. Try it at least once or twice. You will obviously develop your own system as you get used to the process. But take a look at the plan that follows to see what you think.

Open a spreadsheet. These instructions are for Excel but you can always use the Calc program in OpenOffice. It is almost identical to Excel.

At the top of tye page, typed the broad category from your list that you are going to research.Start out with the term that if of interest to you.

Set up columns as follows, Type the words in bold.

Keyword Phrase    Search – Wordtracker        Search – Avg Est     Competition

Start typing on the very next row. Do not skip a row. Keep it open in another window while you begin the search.

Make the first column about 3” wide so that the keywords will fit. Move the cursor to the very top of the sheet where there are the letters naming the columns starting with A. Place your cursor over the line between the A and the B. Click and drag the line to the right so that the first column is about 3” wide. If you come to an entry that is longer than the column, simply go to the line described above and double click. That will automatically widen the column to accommodate the entry.

Searches and Competition will not be wide columns so should cause you no problems.

Open the keyword research tool:  http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/

Type in the broad keyword that you typed at the top of the spreadsheet.

You will be looking at a list of long tail keywords. A long tail keyword is a phrase that includes 2 or more words.

For example: if you type in CAMPING as your broad word, you would find things like “camping gear” or “camping recipes” which are long tail keywords.

Adjust both windows (spreadsheet and seobook) so that you can see both.

As a beginner, I feel you should look for long tail keywords that have at least 20 daily searches. Obviously the higher the number the better but the higher the number, the more competition it will have so there definitely is a point of diminishing returns.

During the first try, list any word that has between 10 and 70 searches. – using the column name Average Estimated. The first column with WordTracker is almost always smaller. It tends to just find the more exact matchs and eliminate the others.

Type the entire phrase in the first column.

Type the number from the WordTracker count in the second column.

Type the number from the Est. Avg  count in the third column.

You will be typing the competition number in the fourth column.

Type all of the keywords that meet your criteria and the Avg. Est. Daily searches.

I did not type entries like “oregon coast camping” or “washington state camping” because they were not the type of long tail keyword I was interesting in pursuing. I also skipped over “camping gear” because the 686 Wordtracker count was above my guidelines of 20 to 200. I continued on down the list to the first keyword under 200.

Some of these terms are over 200 but I am interested in looking into that term so I typed it in anyway even though it exceeded the limit.

As I continued on down the list, these are the 11 keywords I wrote down in the spreadsheet:

camping tips                           123   217             173,000     eliminate — competition

motorcycle camping              104   183             41,100

easy camping recipes           108   180             9,670

camping food                         149   263             248,000     eliminate — competition

camping pranks                     64     113             29,100

camping trip                           62     109             2,190,000  eliminate — competition

camping tent                          117   206             436,000     eliminate — competition

camping cots                         122   215             48,900

camping cookware                51     90               136,000     eliminate — competition

camping meals                       51     90               23,900

camping supply list                83     146             4,810

I would like to point out that I also made note that there are lots of references to specific camping spots – Oregon, Washington, Arizona, etc. These could be used later to expand the topics for study. Another point – discretion being the better part of valor, I didn’t include nude camping and naked camping.

Go back up to the Google column and search the competition. When you hit the number beside the keyword, it will NOT have the speech marks. Click at the end of the phrase and type “. Hit HOME and type “. Hit SEARCH. You should then write that number in the competition column.

You can go back to the SEO keyword screen and click the next like you did above. Probably an easier way to do it is to go to the Google search bar and alter the words for the next long tail keyword. Don’t forget the quote marks. Click search and write down the next number.

Write your competition numbers in the 4^th column of the spreadsheet.

This will save you a lot of time between switching back and forth every time and after all time is money. If you are lucky enough to have a partner with another computer, have them type in the spreadsheet as you search and call out the information.

This is a step to learning that I call “Work Smart, Not Hard”. Then when you put them together, work smart and work hard, you are doubling your achievement.

After completing the first group, eliminate any searches that have competition higher than 50,000. The decision now has to be up to you. Your objective is to find terms with high search and low competition. The higher search numbers will allow you to consider higher competition. Obviously, the ideal would be high search numbers and low competition.

Take a look at my keywords. Based on these numbers, I would discard Camping Tips, Camping Food, Camping Cookware, and Camping. That leaves me with 5 long tail keywords. Since I like the ones that are left, I would probably go back to the SEOkeyword list and investigate deeper some of the terms that I just eliminated.

Strive for 10 acceptable keywords in this topic. If you can do approximately that much, you have your topic. If you can find only 2 or 3, you may want to look at another broad topic. Be sure to report your findings in the Wizard’s Classroom.

Article writing comes to a speed bump when the beginner has to decide what to write. Remember, ideas can’t be copyrighted. You can’t copy exact words or presentation of an idea. Really, if you think about it, there is very little that is new that you can write about. It is all a matter of putting it in your words – giving it your “flavor”.

One of the things that marketers do to help in their process of article writing is to keep a “swipe” file. They copy and paste phrases, sentences and paragraphs to build their idea files. They never use them exactly but they help to “get the juices flowing” when they sit down to write.

These are some different approaches you might try when you are writing your article.

Sub-headings Point out different aspects of the topic.

Bullet points or Lists Use about 30 words each on about 6 or 7 points.

Question and Answer Begin the paragraph with a question and then provide the answer.

Review Pick a product that relates your own experience and review the product by telling your story.

Take the Other Side Find an article on your topic that includes several points with which you find fault. Write the article from the other side of the topic.

Search Your Topic On GoogleTake notes on all of the results – well, maybe not more than the first couple or three pages. The headlines should give you some ideas that you can use to write articles on your own.

Look Up Your Topic On Amazon Look for reviews or editor’s comments. Use these as a source for quotes and for ideas. Just summarize the review in your own words.

Pro and Con Introduce an argument in first paragraph. Provide 3 or 4 pro’s and 3 or 4 con’s in a bullet list. End with a paragraph that describes your position and why. Acknowledging the counter-argument can actually improve your credibility.

Provide checklists Look for items of importance for a particular problem. Introduce the article with one or two paragraphs explaining what the checklist is and why it exists. Give the actual checklist. It should be fast and easy to read.

In your title you make a promise that you must be sure to deliver in your article. Fine tune your article writing skills to kick start your traffic generation. But remember, quality content is the most important factor.

]]> http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/article-writing-what-am-i-going-to-write/feed/ 0 http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/writing-articles-the-3-parts-of-the-article/ http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/writing-articles-the-3-parts-of-the-article/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:02:54 +0000 Carol Smith http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/?p=71

Structure of the Article

The article should contain

• introduction – you tell them what you are going to tell them

• body – you tell them

• conclusion – you tell them what you told them.

Introduction

The introduction should be about 100 words divided into about 3 sentences.

Sentence 1 you should tell what you are going to talkabout. This is a good place for a definition of something.

Sentence 2 should state what the problem is that you
are going to solve.

Sentence 3 is left to tell them that you are going to
teach them how to solve the problem.

Article Body

There are several ways to approach the writing of the body of the piece. In general you are striving to write approximately 200 words here.

Break your words into paragraphs of 5 to 6 lines at the most. Never use a big block of text. It looks boring and intimidating. Break it up with use of different formatting such as: underline, bold, double dash, etc. Mixing it up throughout the content will give the paragraph(s) depth.

If an article looks hard to read, it will not be read. If it is not read, the reader will never get to your resource box and you have just wasted your time.

In writing the body of the article, the active voice should be used. It is a less complex sentence and therefore easier for the reader to understand. Although the use of active is best, passive is acceptable if it improves the chance to front-load important keywords.

Examples:

Active Joe wrote the book. Passive The book was written by Joe.

Active Who or what did the action to what or whom

Passive Whom or what received the action from who or what.

Use positive rather than negative tone. “Cover the computer.” instead of “Don’t forget to cover the computer.” I say that and then I am going to break the rule right here. Never use double negatives (Avoid not doing ….

Use numerals instead of words when referring to specifics.

Conclusion

This final paragraph wraps up the article. It summarizes the most important aspects and leaves them wanting to know more about the subject. This in turn points them to the Resource Box where you make your offer.

Since article writing is done in order to boost traffic to your website, it only makes sense that you should write articles relevant to the website you are trying to promote. How can it do that? The article that you post on a free content site is there because you want the reader to click on the link at the bottom of the article and pay a visit to your site.

These articles are also available to other webmasters who may wish to publish them on their site. This provides a different opportunity for readers to click and visit. The total number of links to your site increases as the list of your published articles grows and more and more websites publish them.

The more incoming links that your site accumulates, the higher your placement in the search engine results. More and more significance is being placed on incoming links by the search engines – another good reason to write articles with quality content.

As your number of published articles increases, so will your potential customers. Visitors may only browse – some will come back later for something they saw while browsing. Still others will arrive with specific things they need on their mind. They have many choices online. If your article interests them, they are more likely to visit your site and buy your products.

Getting your site known is easier with articles and the resulting links. You can write articles with a not-so-obvious sales pitch that will ultimately draw in the customers.

Spend some time writing articles. Concentrate on content of value and watch your traffic, link popularity and customer interest grow. Before you know it, you will be counting your earnings.

Interested in refining your article writing skills and learning other marketing techniques? Visit Website Wealth Wizards, a free forum with friendly, helpful people willing to share their knowledge in all internet marketing skills. Sign up in the box at the top of the right column.

Some of the differences I have observed between successful and unsuccessful people are as follows:

People who are struggling to find success:

1. Buy every shiny new product that comes out believing that this time it will be the ‘Magic Button’.

2. Flit from one project to another without finishing anything.

3. Don’t have a business plan or any other plans about earning an income and have no idea where they are going.

4. Try to build their business alone.

People who are successful:

1. Test out new and creative ideas. When it works, rinse and repeat!

2. Continually learn about and apply their knowledge to their online business.

3. Help other people to succeed. The more you help others, the more it will benefit your own business.

4. Accept help from others. There’s simply too much information to be gained by letting others help to ignore the opportunities. If someone has already “been there, done that” then it’s a good idea to listen.

5. Are aware that the big launches by the so called ‘gurus’ are just distractions and will not help their business in the long run.

6. Consistently set goals, follow a plan and take action.

7. Stay focused on the project they are doing and finish it before starting the next.

If you want to run an internet business – help yourself out by matching your strategies with those of successful people. I know these strategies work and they work a whole lot better when you have the help and knowledge of people who have already been there.

Do you know that you want to make money online but don’t really know how to do it? We will give you that online business help so you don’t have to do it alone!

To discover how YOU can get started in internet marketing, just enter your name and e-mail address there on the right and you’ll receive information on how to get the best free, friendly support around!

I compiled this list of PLR topics available for purchase from the internet. I thought that by looking over these subjects, it might spark some ideas that had not come to mind as possible niches.

Right now we are only looking at interests and trying to expand your mind as to popularity. Our next steps will include Market Research and Keyword Research. Please don’t assume that we are just going to pick a niche based on interest.

However, it is my belief (and others) that if you can find a niche that meets the other criteria and it is one in which you are interested, you will be ahead of the game. It is much easier to write about something that interests you than something that doesn’t.

Animals
Cat Breeds, Cat Care, Cat Pampering, Dogs, Horse Care, Mini Pets, Pet Care, Pets, Small Animals

Cooking & Food
Breakfast Foods, Coffee, Cooking, Lunch

Computers & Internet
Blogging, Computers, eBay, Internet Marketing, Internet Privacy, Internet Security, My Space, Networking, Online Degrees, Online Gaming, Online Shopping, Opt-In Email, PC Tune Up, Photoshop, Spyware, Video Conferences, Web Conferencing, Web Hosting

Environment & Gardening
Alternative Energy, Environment, Flowers, Gardening, Global Warming, Hydroponic Gardening, Going Green, Landscape for Wildlife, Lawn Care, Niche Gardening, Pest Control

Health
Acne, Alzheimers, Back Pain Relief, Bladder Control, Cancer, Contacts/Glasses, Cosmetic Surgery, Dieting, Generation/Health, Halitosis, Health Insurance, Liposuction, Menopause, Mental Illness, Sexual Health, Sleep Disorders, Snoring, Stress, Vitamins, Weight Loss

Hobbies & Pasttimes
Antique Collecting, Classic Movies, Crafts, Digital Photography, Fly Fishing, Geneology, Jewelry, Modeling, Music, Musical Instruments, NASCAR, Parties, Perfumes, Playstation, Poker, Powerball, Scrapbooking, Shoes, Shopping, Stamp Collecting, Travel, Vacation Holidays, X-Box

Miscellaneous
Airline, Aromatherapy, Audio, Barbie, Beauty, Bible, Bird Flu, Bluetooth, Borrowing Money, Bridal Showers, Building Relationships, Business Gifts, Business Leadership, Business Plans, CCTV, Christian Dating, Christmas, Classic Movies, Copyrights, Credit Repair, Curing Summertime Blues, Debt Consolidation, Discount Travel, Easter, Emergency Disaster Preparation, Finance, Forex Trading, Frugality, Goal Realization, Growning Beauty, Halloween, Harry Potter, Hedge Creation, Holidays, Home Theater, Honey Book, House Buying, Hurricanes, Hybrid Cars, ID Theft, Ipod, Las Vegas, Learning Disabilities, Lingerie, Motivational, Music, Pod Casting, Public Speaking, Pregnancy, Quit Smoking, Real Estate, Romance, Romantic Gifts, Secrets to a Better You, Self Confidence, Skin Care, Small Business, Stock Trading, Stress, Study Tips, Taxes, The SIMS, Time Management, Weddings, Wedding Situations, Wholesale, Work at Home

Parenting & Children
Baby Food Basics, Baby Names, Baby Nursery, Baby Shower Ideas, Child Care, Christian Kids Activities, Dads: Parenting, Education – Back to School, Education – Home Schooling, Kids Activities, Kids Toys, Mom and Stress, Mom and Time Management, Toddler Issues

Sports & Pasttimes
Baseball, Bowling, Exercise, Extreme Sports, Golf, PGA, Soccer, Sports and Recreation

After reading all of the topics in the above, were you able to add anything to your list?

Add any of these topics to your list on the forum. You are keeping in touch on the forum, aren’t you? Remember, it is much easier to accomplish these things with a partner.

You must create you own product and sell it or give it away to build your list.

This is great, but there is one big mistake many people make.
Has this happened to you?

You started off enthusiastically creating your guide and when you finally completed it have no idea where to sell it?

You struggled with different traffic generation techniques using blogs, squidoo, twitter, facebook, forums and still get no sales?

Why is that?

One answer is you went about it backwards. You create what you wanted to without
knowing that there was a market for it.

The key to success is Traffic. If you have no traffic you have no sales.
Instead of creating a website selling product and then trying to drive traffic try this:

1) Find A source Of Traffic.
2) Discover What They Want.
3) Create It And Give It To Them.

For example a busy forum could be your source of traffic. If you have already identified the niche you would like to be in you probably already know of forums that will work for you. If not then search for them and join them.
Other good sources of traffic are websites such as eBay or Amazon.

To discovering what they want you can ask them if it is a forum, or ready posts people make to see what common problems people have that require solutions.

You must test ideas out before you go ahead and do a lot of work for nothing.
If eBay is you traffic source then look at what other people are successfully selling, or carry out research using eBay pulse or terapeak.

You should still not go ahead with creating your product though.
First of all you need to make sure you can use the traffic that is there. If you’re using eBay then create a test classified advert or auction. Test out titles and measure the visits to your listing.
You will have to have something for sale, but you can easily use a PLR product to create an eBook (for classifed ads) or eBook on CD (for auctions and buy nows).
You don’t have to re-write it – just add your name and links to your site or blog.
It’s only a test to see if your main product is likely to sell.

The same kind of idea can be used for other traffic sources.
If you don’t get the traffic you want try something else.

This method will save you creating a product that doesn’t sell, and help you find a success faster, with less effort.

Carol Smith

If you visit web sites on the Internet, you have a temporary internet file on your computer. The browser uses that file to store every URL address that you visit. When you visit a web page the next time, the browser goes to the temporary internet file for the data needed to load the site. This process is called “caching” (storing something for use later).

The simple explanation of the reason why this is done is speed. Displaying from the temporary internet file is much faster than the same page being loaded directly from the web page’s server.

Another major advantage is that if your internet connection is down, you can still view these cached versions offline.

There are two major disadvantages of keeping temporary internet files on your computer.

If someone has access to your computer, it means that they can on to the file and see every web site that you have visited. This might not be something you want to happen.

A buildup of data on the temporary file can eventually increase in size enough to slow down your processor.

To delete the contents of the temporary file:

Internet Explorer 7

Go to Tools > click Internet Options > click General > click Browsing History > click Settings

This window will let your choose some options as to frequency and space for the Temporary Internet File.  To delete these files go back to Browsing History.

Click Delete and then select Delete Files in the Temporary Internet Files in the next window.

See you in New Orleans some time!

Firefox 2

Go to Tools > click Options > click Privacy > click Private Data > click Settings

In this window you can check the “cache” button and apply and save changes.

-Next time you can simply click “Clear Now” from the Private Data tab.

Be nice to your computer and maybe it will let you go to the Mardi Gras with it.

This step is all about finding a niche you’d Like to promote and that can be Profitable. To this end, you are going to: Brainstorm, Study the Market and Do Keyword Research.

Roll up your sleeves. Let’s get started. Read the information below on “Brainstorming”.

Don’t forget. You can ask any questions you might have by posting on the forum.

Brainstorming — what does that mean? Wiki defines it as a “group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution to a problem.”

My contention is that it is an effective tool for one person. Admittedly, it is much better with two even if the other person is only acting as a facilitator. The purpose of the activity as it relates to you here is to stretch your mind and produce creative ideas.

Before you begin, make a list similar to the following:

• What are your hobbies?

• What skills do you utilize at work?

• What are some of your special interests?

• What are some of your favorite places to visit?

• What are your favorite pastimes?

• What do you know well?

• What do others come to for advice about?

• What education or training do you have?

During your brainstorming, you should use this as a guide. Start down the list and name 2 or 3 of the first, then move to the next. Name 2 or 3 of it and so forth down the list. When you get to the end of the list, begin back at the start.

Decide on an amount of time to do the exercise. I recommend 15 or 20 minutes. Once you begin, continue without stopping until your time is up. Once you start, say what comes to your mind. No going backwards. No erasing. It doesn’t matter if it is silly, impossible or daft. This is just forcing your mind to spit out ideas. If other people are present or participating as a favor to you, there can be no ridiculing or criticism.

When your time is up, go back and examine your list. Hopefully you will have a minimum of 25 ideas. Go ahead and sort out the obvious rejections. Some will indeed be too silly to include. Next time we will take a look at some possibilities of expanding this list.

In this lesson, we have taken a general look at the direction this project is taking. We have looked at how to generate ideas.

Perhaps the most important thing you have done is to prepare that preliminary list. In the next lesson, we will take that list a step further.

Go to the forum and post at least 6 of your ideas.

Carol

But first let me explain the process I will be using as we embark on this adventure into the world of online business. After I talk about a step, I will give you an action plan.

I will be completing the action plan along with you as I plan to develop a new leg of my internet business right along with you.

I will post my completed step in Website Wealth Wizard Forum and encourage you to do the same thing. You can ask questions here on the blog or in the classroom on the forum. All of my answers will be posted in the forum so that the blog does not get too long. I will, however, tell you in the blog that your question has been answered.

The classroom in the forum is designed for you:

• To answer your questions
• To compare your answers to others
• To provide support and encouragement for each other
• To allow you to develop the habit of focusing and meeting your deadlines

If you have not joined the forum, complete the box at the top right on this page. Don’t forget to introduce yourself in the “Getting To Know You” section.

Now for today.

You must be able to look at  yourself  and recognize your abilities and strengths. Everyone has them. If you had no abilities, you certainly wouldn’t be trying to start an internet business. Your call to action for today is to develop a list of these interests, strengths, and abilities.

Don’t panic. I am going to give you a list of questions to get your juices moving. Besides completing a list yourself, let someone else complete a list for you. Compare the two. Anything you left off?

These questions can be downloaded by clicking here Take A Look At Yourself so that you can print them out if you wish.

What type of things come to you naturally?  What things were you born with – have done since an early age. What are your natural talents?

Examples:  Musical ability, Strong Willed, Creative, Organized

What have you learned in school? Don’t just list the name of a school. List what you learned. Include schools, seminars, home study courses.

Examples:  Specific computer skills, History, Research, Writing, Drawing

What type of skills have you developed? List things that you feel you do at least a little better than the “average Joe”.

Examples: Golf, Cooking, Skate Boarding, Guitar

What experiences have you had in life that taught you something?

Examples: Any specific challenges you have or have not overcome, places you have visited, things you’ve seen.

What do you love to do? What could you talk about continuously? What is your passion?

Examples: Hobbies, Causes, Sports, Children

Don’t underestimate passion. It makes the work much easier to do if you love to do it.

OK now to the plan of action! Make a list that answers the questions. What are your interests and strengths? Make a list of at least 25. Either post 10 of these on the forum or list all of them and list as an attachment on the forum. If you do not know how to do that, let me know.

See you in a couple of days.
Carol