8 Things I Check When Choosing A Keyword To Write About

I get really mixed feedback on these emails.

Some people love them and tell me they're really helpful.

Others reply with nasty insults,

And sadly, I even get the occasional threat of r*pe or death.

That's the internet for you - it doesn't faze me.

I'm not here to try to please everyone.

Some people will find these tips too simple.

Some will find them too complex.

Some people would rather take 10 minutes to send me abuse than 2 seconds to scroll past an ad.

But if you're not a dickhead,

Read on, because this is a good one...

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One key thing to know when it comes to niche sites,

Is that not every article will give you a return on your investment.

I have articles that took me 2 hours that bring in $1,000 per month.

And I have articles that took me 2 days that bring in virtually nothing.

The key is to make sure that as many of them as possible are profitable.

That means avoiding any duds.

So, here are the 8 things I check when deciding if a keyword is worth going for or not...

1. Search Volume

You need to know that people are searching for it.

That means, it needs to fit at least one or two of these criteria...

• 100 or more monthly searches according to a KW research tool (e.g. ahrefs)
• Appears in Google autocomplete
• Appears often in People Also Ask (I check this with SearchResponse.io which is free)
• Has a good number of impressions according to Google Search Console (this only works if you already have a similar article)
• My personal experience / niche knowledge tells me that people would search for it

Remember, that one keyword does not equal one page.

Each article can rank for 100s of similar keywords.

Oo your ' carry-on luggage' article will also rank for 'hand luggage', 'carry-on bags' and a ton of other words.

2. Competition

For this, I do not use tools like ahrefs.

You can if you want of course, but I don't.

Metrics like KD (keyword difficulty) can be very misleading, so I ignore them.

Instead, I type the keywords into Google and check the SERP manually.

I'm looking for at least one or two of these in the top 5 spots...

• Sites with a DR/DA lower than mine
• Forums or other UGC
• Articles not updated in past 3 years
• Posts that don't answer the query
• Low-quality AI/scraped/spun sites
• Pages with thin content / very short articles

3. Relevance

It's all very well finding a high search volume / low completion keyword, 

But if it's not relevant, forget it.

Google doesn't just rank pages, it ranks websites.

The tighter your niche, the better it will do.

So avoid the temptation to write an article that's only loosely related to your niche.

It could do more harm than good.

As an example, if you have a site about parrots,

And you find a really good keyword about peacocks, 

You really should avoid the temptation.

Because before you know it, you'll have a random article about penguins, one about pigs and another about your Uncle Paul who has a pigeon chest.

4. Intent

There are 4 main types of search intent...

a) Informational e.g. "What is the longest flight?"

b) Navigational e.g. "Skyscanner flights"

c) Transactional e.g. "Book flight to Paris"

d) Commercial Investigation e.g. "Flight or train to Paris"

Most niche site owners should be targeting only informational and commercial investigation.

The informational keywords are usually monetised with ads, although you can suggest affiliate products here too, particularly as a solution to a problem.

Commercial investigation keywords work best with affiliates, but you can also monetise these with ads.

I would avoid navigational and transactional because in most cases, the user wants to go straight to a company's website, not to yours.

5. RPM 

As you become more familiar with your niche, you'll recognise which types of keywords have low RPMs.

These might include NSFW topics, where advertisers don't want their ads to show.

Or they might also include affiliate topics where you make only a few cents for each purchase.

For example, I sell laundry detergent DAILY on Amazon and make under $5 per month from all those sales.

I've stopped writing laundry detergent articles.

Look at your own data and work out which are the high-value keywords. 

These are usually (but not always) the most high-ticket items.

6. Time on Page

Think about how long it will take you to answer a query.

The longer the better (so long as you're not fluffing it out).

If the query can be answered in one paragraph, then don't bother with it.

For example, 'what colour is teal?'

In most cases, people will get their answer from the featured snippet and won't click through.

And even if they do click through, they won't stick around long enough to see many ads.

The best keywords have an answer that includes 'it depends'.

For example, 'What's a good colour for a bedroom'.

That depends on if it's a kids' bedroom, small bedroom etc etc.

And you can go through 20 different colours with examples.

7. Trends

For established sites, trends can be great.

If I spot a trending topic on TikTok, a TV show, or the news, 

I'll write it straight away because I know it will rank number 1 within minutes of me submitting it to Google Search Console.

But, for newer sites, it can take weeks for your articles to rank.

They might not even get indexed right away.

And by then, the trend is gone.

The next time you write on a zero-competition KW that you should be number 1 for, keep an eye on how long it takes to get there.

If it's the same day, writing about trending topics can be great.

Or if you can send traffic the same say via social media or email, that can work too.

But for newer sites, I'd avoid them. 

8. Audience location

Most of us should be targeting a US audience, particularly if you monetise with ads.

For affiliates, it can be best to target your own country so that you can get products shipped to you for testing more easily.

If your focus is ads, I would avoid any keywords that are likely to attract readers from Asia or Africa specifically.

These have extremely low RPMs, so you meet need 100X the traffic if you write about Bollywood celebrities, versus Hollywood, as an example.

So there you have it, the 8 things I think about when deciding whether to write about a keyword or not.

Yes, it's a lot, but over time it becomes instinctive.

And I'd rather put 15 minutes into investigating and rejecting a keyword now, than 8 hours into writing about a dud.

Until next time,

NSL

P.S. Next Tuesday I'm moving house! But I'll still write this weekly email ahead of time for you. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to write about?

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