By John Alexander

When it comes to exploring keyword data, the common term used by many search engine marketers is “keyword research.”

For the sake of explaining this article, I am choosing to use different terminology than you may have read in other articles about SEO or SEM. So let’s cut back on the dialogue about traditional keyword research and instead, let’s talk about learning how to quickly tap into legitimate data and quickly explore it for the best “behaviourally related” search trends.

In a minute, I’m going to give you a few keyword observations based on exploring data over a period of the last year. And then I’m going to give you a few keyword tips that I hope you’ll find useful when you are looking for new options to attract visitors to your Web site, regardless of what the topic is or what business you are in.

When exploring data for behavior related keyword phrases that are being used in a specific cluster, try and condition yourself to think of how certain words might represent a trend (where more than one person is searching for the same thing.) Much of the time, a grouping of words together in a cluster can reveal exactly what the search was searching for in more depth than you might expect.

Music Store Example:

A music store that sells musical instruments may be limited to only considering the products that they sell such as brass instruments, guitars, woodwinds and percussion. While you guitar sales are down, you are trying to attract more traffic by focusing on your own “guesswork” more than actually researching data based on behaviour. The question is, how can you attract more amateur or professional guitarists when you are competing for identical keywords that the whole music is competing for? Sure there are ways, but would it not also make sense to explore data that you are not currently “thinking” about because it is totally hidden to many researchers.

Our minds are dictating to us the “keywords” that make sense and are related to specific brands or makes of guitars. You begin to think outside the box and say to yourself, okay, let’s explore some guitar related accessories, guitar strings and other things.

That is great, but there is even more than most people realize if they explore other data. Consider the following keyword phrase as “behaviourally related.”

“songs to print for guitar”

Now think about that phrase. What does it tell us?

Do you think it is safe to say that the person who is searching with this exact data is probably a guitar player? How competitive is the phrase for that exact sequence of words? Do you want to find out? Just enter it into Google’s search box but include it inside quotes “songs to print for guitar.”

At the time I wrote this article, there were 224 competing pages for it so it is easy to grab the ranking for.

So what about the searchers who are using this phrase? They are looking for songs that they can print. The trouble is, you sell musical instruments NOT songs, right.

Look at it this way……On the Web today, you do not even have to stock a product in order to sell it or to fulfil orders and to earn an affiliate commission from a partner who is willing to sell the music through an affiliate program. Therefore, if you wanted to set up additional resources on your Web site with pages focused on this behaviour, you could attract more guitarists who, while they are visiting, decide they need a new reverb unit or a set of strings for their guitar.

Other Observations for a music related store:

"printable oboe music" KEI 81.0
"diagram of oboe reed" KEI 144.0
"Trumpet Valves Notes" KEI 676.0
"history of the bass flute" KEI 529.0
"free saxophone carols" KEI 784.0
"Free Printable Music Sheets for Trumpets" KEI 1156.0
What other resources have you not thought about researching that could attract in more of your ideal buying audience?

By exploring legitimate data as opposed to guessing at words your brain tells you must relate, there is a whole world of possibilities for attracting multiple audiences to you Web based resource center.

Outside of music related products, what types of printable material might be useful to research for your own Web site? Is your focus a little to narrow on only one or two products you sell, or are there other things you could be taking advantage of?

“free logic problems to print”
“make print crossword puzzles”
“free crosswords to print”
In Conclusion:

People are using the Internet to research all types of information. One of the biggest tips you can follow to separate you from your competition, is to allow yourself some freedom to explore alternative data (other than) the first “keywords” that pop into your mind. Those first keywords are often the most competitive ones that everyone else (including your competition) is fixated on.

If you want to tap into the niche phrases quicker, simply expand and explore a bigger circumference when it comes to topical data and tune into the less evident keyword phrases that are also indicative of the searcher’s real life circumstances. These are the ultimate phrases that often tell a story or relay a reason why the searcher is searching in the first place.

Let’s look at a few interesting high KEI phrases that were rooted out over 2006 - 2007.
General observations over the last year that have been both interesting and telling:

It seems people like to draw things:

"Drawings of Angels" KEI 69.4
"Learn How to Draw Dragons" KEI 149.0
"How to Draw Flames" KEI 159.9
"Mythical Dragon Drawings" KEI 232.3
"Grim Reaper Drawings" KEI 514.7
"Drawings of the Phoenix Bird" KEI 698.0
"Drawings of the Grim Reaper" KEI 1571.7
"Drawings of Angel Wings" KEI 1608.0
"Hydraulic Pump Drawings" KEI 3669.0
"Pneumatic Drawing Symbols" KEI 5700.2
"Mechanical Drawing of a Backhoe" KEI 18,881.0

Of course there are “price” related searches galore with many interesting trends and high KEI:
"current prices on antique guns" KEI 185.0
"average price for diamond necklaces" KEI 363.0
"HP Laserjet C7115X print cartridge best price" KEI 385.0
"best inkjet paper prices" KEI 392.0
"mens bracelets for cheap prices" KEI 392.0
"compare prices for samsung camcorder battery" KEI 432.0
"antique motorcycle price list" KEI 552.3
antique compass prices KEI 576.0
"kenmore washer and dryer prices" KEI 600.0
"best prices on italian charm bracelet" KEI 648.0
"bamboo flooring discount prices" KEI 705.0
"best price on GE appliances" KEI 936.0
"truck tires low prices" KEI 705.0
"solar water heater price" KEI 1,013.0
prices of napkins KEI 1444.0
"price guide for antique clocks" KEI 1568.0
"price on antique victorian rocking chair" KEI 2,116.0
"cheap prices on italian gold bracelet" KEI 2,500.0
"price guides to antique dishes" KEI 2500.0
Then we come to a few humorous type questions that people enter into the search engines:
"how many zeros in a vigintillion"
"how many transistors are in a new cpu"
"How many episodes did the 1954 TV Series, Lassie air"
"How Many Weeks Pregnant Am I"
"how many calories do i need"
"how many leather panels does a soccer ball have"
"how many muscles does a cat have"
"How many teeth does a mosquito have"
"how many stitches does a baseball have"
and
"How many ridges around the edge does a US dime have"

Tips for Expanding Your Ability to Research Keyword Data Beyond Average Limitations

If you are not familiar with exploring Wordtracker data, watch this short video first:

1. Don't just only consider researching keywords that initially jump out at you.
These are the logical keywords that everyone will target first. Give yourself permission to explore the less logical and even boring little words (that most people take for granted as having no value.) In some of the most common phrase clusters and expressions will you find great trails of gold.

2. Learn how to pay attention to your customers when they dialogue with you about what is important to them.
We often communicate differently when we talk than when we write our Web content. Sometimes there is very revealing things in words that we would never consider exploring the data on. Take time to test all of your ideas based on actual communications with your clients.

3. Think of "keywords" nearly as though they were "topics of interest" and consider which topics might have more appeal to your audience.

4. Remember that there is no such thing as exploring a wrong word. The biggest challenge most people have is that they never take time to explore anything beyond the words that "make sense" to them. If you think like everyone else thinks you will discover exactly what everyone else has discovered. Learn how to explore alternatives and synonyms that others have not EVER bothered to check and you will discover things that have not been discovered by many.

5. Be prepared to get back into the correct mindset the next time you use Wordtracker, because it does take a little practice not to fall back into the same old mindset a few days later.