[note note_color=”#c4fbe3″]Please note that recent changes in Google have made some principles of this article obsolete but we will be updating this article soon. Thank you.[/note]

In our previous post titled, “Easy Steps on How to Conduct Keyword Research” the keyword research process was narrated.  After seeing the research results on your PC or laptop monitor, you might have asked, “Now what?”

Just like any research, one needs to process and interpret the data and results of the keyword research to benefit from it.  It is through the interpretation of the results that you are able to select the keyword that would best work for your write up.  There are three main factors that you have to consider in evaluating your keyword research results.

Competition

Competition comprises the number of advertisers who have bought advertising using this keyword or phrase.  This is indicated by a horizontal bar, which when the advertising and marketing competition is high; more green shade fills the bar.  An empty bar showing little shades of green means that the competition is low.  When the bar is fully filled it indicates that the competition is at 100 percent.

For our example, we used the Google Adword Keyword tool to generate the “Competition”, “Local Search Volume” and “Estimated Average CPC” on two keyword phrases, “earn money” and “make money”.

[button link=”https://onlinewritingniche.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/adword-screenshot-1-1.png” color=”lightblue”]CLICK THIS BUTTON to see the values for “earn money” and “make money”[/button]

Between the two keyword phrases, “earn money” generates high competition as compared to “make money”, which has medium competition. The difference is evident through the extent the green shade fills the bar and also, in the actual Adword Keyword Tool page, the degree of competition is indicated as “high”, “medium”, and “low” when the mouse pointer is hovered over the status bar.

Local Monthly Searches

The numbers in the local monthly searches show how many people in your own locale are typing the particular keyword into the Google search box. In keyword research, we are looking for the keyword that has a high local search volume because it implies that many people are searching for articles or any information on the specific key phrase.

From our example, “earn money” generates 368,000 local monthly searches, while “make money” has “2,240,000”. This means that every month, there are 2,240,000 people who are looking for information on the topic “make money”.

Estimated Average CPC

Knowing the value of your keyword in terms of estimated average cost per click (CPC) gives you the idea how much the advertisers are paying each time a website visitor clicks on the advertisement for the keyword or phrase.  It gives you a hint how much potential earning you might get although Google does not reveal how much they pay out their advertisers for earnings from clicks.

Before you become engrossed on computing your potential earning from your favorite keyword through the estimated average CPC, just consider that higher CPC value has implication on the keyword’s “searchability”.

Going back to our sample keyword phrases, “make money” has higher CPC value than “earn money“, however, our keyword selection does not rest on the estimated average CPC value alone.

Conclusion:  Selecting your keyword or key phrase

The end result of keyword search is selecting the best keyword or key phrase that you will use in your write up or for your Adword campaign.  Based on the figures that the Google Adword Keyword Tool has generated for Competition, Local Monthly Searches, and Estimated Average CPC, there are two things to consider in selecting your keyword, they are:

• Aim for the keyword that has high local monthly searches but lower competition.
• If there are two or more keywords that seem to fall in the preceding condition, evaluate the keywords through the Estimated Average CPC value.

Applying the conditions mentioned above to our example, between “earn money” and “make money”, our choice will be “make money” because “make money” has higher local monthly searches, lower competition and higher estimated CPC value than “earn money”.

Why spend time doing keyword research and going through this analysis?

For some, keyword search and analysis would appear to be absurd and a waste of time.   Indeed, why would you go through all these searches when you can just write and pick up any vocabulary that you deemed appropriate for your article.

Bear in mind that you are writing for online purposes and it is important that you come up with an article that is fashioned for SEO or search engine optimization purposes. Try employing keyword research and analysis via Google Adword Keyword Analysis Tool in your write up and surely you will be surprised how easy your article would come up in the top pages of Google search.