This section is really the key to winning in the CPA marketing game. Keywords are the foundation to the Internet. Behind every search is a person looking for something in particular. Almost every action on the Internet begins with someone typing a keyword or key phrase into a major search engine such as Google or Yahoo.
Practically every web page that is indexed by the major search engines is ranked based on their keyword density within the content of the web page and the keywords used to link (anchor text) to the web pages by other web sites. If you want to succeed in CPA marketing, you need to develop really good keyword research skills and keyword building strategies. I will share with you the tips and tricks that I have learned over the last few years that have helped me maximize the exposure of my offers using natural search traffic, videos, social media, pay per click search engines, banner ads, etc. and bring as much qualified traffic as possible to the CPA offers I promote.
Before I get into a few keyword strategies, I will briefly cover some of the most popular keyword research tools.
Keyword Tools Reviewed!
Google Keyword Tool (Free)
This is the best FREE keyword research tool on the Internet. What better place to go for keyword data than the most searched upon search engine on the Internet. A few months back, Google also started to include search volumes for their keyword research tool. This is my number one keyword research tool because it is fast and Google provides you with a wealth of keyword information.
KeywordSpy.com (Paid $89.95 a month)
KeywordSpy is expensive at $89.95 per month, but is one of the few web sites that allow you to download almost every single keyword that your competitors are bidding on. They also take it one step further by giving you details on the specific ad that your competitor is running for each particular keyword. Talk about getting your hands on sensitive information! The only thing that I don’t like is that they have a limit of only allowing you to export 50,000 keywords per day.
Good Keywords (Free and Paid version)
This tool also includes a misspelled keyword feature, which is great considering almost 10% of search queries are misspelled. The free version has key features such as a keyword organizer, site popularity gauge and a user-friendly keyword research interface.
Traffic Travis (Free and Paid Version)
This tool is WAY more than a keyword research tool and the free version does almost everything the paid version does. In fact, I can’t believe how much they 20 give away in the free version. This is a *MUST* download and I am sure you will be thanking me for pointing you to this free resource.
SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool (Free)
From the creators of SEOBook comes a free keyword research tool that supplies you with an incredible amount of free information by tapping into free resources such as Google Insights.
KeywordDiscovery.com ($49.95 per month)
I have never used this keyword research tool, so I can’t really comment. But I did find this review: http://www.keywordworkshop.com/articles/17/1/Keyword
Discovery-Full-Review WordPot.com (Free and Paid Version)
This is a great keyword research tool that gives you related search terms with their daily estimated search volumes. This keyword research tool also provides you with synonyms and associated keywords for the keyword that you want to generate a list for.
Wordtracker.com (Free and Paid Version)
Wordtracker is probably one of the oldest keyword research tools around. I think it is fairly decent for keyword research, but I find that some of the keywords generated are not very relevant to the search term as the list grows larger.
KeywordElite.com ($174 one-time cost)
Keyword Elite is the brain-child of IM marketer Brad Callen. The tool is actually 5 tools in one with advanced features such as analyzing and spying on Adwords competition. It is a bit pricey at $174, but this is a one-time fee for this software tool.
KWBrowse.com (Free)
I love this free keyword research tool because it actually supplies you with keywords from *lateral* markets that may be related to what you are promoting. This is important because people in related markets may also be interested in what you are promoting or selling.
Quintura.com (Free)
Quintura is a visual search engine that is similar to KWBrowse.com. What makes Quintura different than other search engines is that it builds a cloud of similar keywords and keyword phrases in lateral markets.
SpyFu.com (Free and Paid version)
SpyFu is another one of those “steal your competitor’s” keyword tools. With a wealth of information on millions of keywords, you can easily find the keywords from your organic and paid competitors and start adding them to your arsenal of traffic generating keywords. They have a limited free version with an option to upgrade for full membership at about $279 annually.
WordButler (Free trial then $19.95/month)
I know the guys behind Word Butler and they are very smart. This keyword tool uses their unique HCE (Human Cognition Emulator) algorithm, which simply means you get as many related keyword groups in a niche as possible. The speed of the program is great and you can quickly export the targeted keywords to your clipboard or to a text file.
AdCenter Labs (Free)
This is a great resource provided by MSN. It is more than just a keyword research tool. This tool will help you *understand* your market. You really need to spend some time at this web site to understand the power of this free resource.
I have never personally used Nichebot, but they claim to search all the major keyword research tools in one spot. Now that is handy! There are a lot of different features on this site for keyword research.
Spacky.com (Free)
Another great free keyword research tool that searches Google, Yahoo and MSN for the keyword results. Spacky even allows you to download the keywords into a text file for easy copying and pasting.
Google Insights (Free)
An amazing tool provided by Google that allows you to compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.
TheDowser.com (Free and Paid Version)
I have never personally used this keyword research tool, but they claim to have over 77 million keywords in their database.
So that wraps it up. Hope you enjoyed this post, and that it helps you with your affiliate campaigns. 😉