Conducted by John Alexander
Academy of Web Specialists
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08:09:11 johna The subject....is going where no man or woman has gone before
08:09:28 johna With Wordtracker...that is
08:09:57 johna Everyone here is a Wordtracker user I hope?
08:11:13 johna Are we all up to date on comprehensive search?
08:12:19 johna great then we want to talk more about the power of lateral thinking
08:13:24 johna Are you aware that we all have different thinking styles?
08:14:03 shermanhu that's true
08:14:08 johna Some of us are more detail oriented....make great accountants and SEOs for that matter
08:14:19 donkeyote i'm a lefty, i know
08:14:35 shermanhu me too
08:15:09 johna Some of us are very "creative" and great idea generators as well as other specific where creativity is an asset.
08:15:24 skidaddy me too
08:15:46 johna Here is an interesting thing.....
08:16:30 johna When you get a minute after chat, try signing up to this guys newsletter on "thinking styles"
08:16:57 johna www.connectiveintelligence.com
08:17:40 johna Click on the cute little worm character....and you can learn more about your thinking style.
08:18:25 johna The point is simply this.....for some of us....lateral thinking takes a little more work than for others.....but
08:18:44 shermanhu which one is the newsletter link?
08:19:02 johna no big deal really. We can all learn to think laterally and exercise this skill.
08:20:23 johna What I am saying is that grasping a different point of view using my Wordtracker research techniques will take you some really amazing places
08:20:56 johna For the sake of anyone new let's just review what most SEO's do wrong
08:21:28 johna 1. Many webmasters start in Keyword Universe. Some folks go into keyword
08:21:59 johna ...universe and never come out again.
08:22:36 johna It is an interesting tool but it is NOT the most effective use of your time if you are trying to dig up real gold.
08:23:46 johna 2. The second most popular error is that SEOs seem to often possess a limited "keyword hunt" mindset.
08:24:41 johna Many people go into Wordtracker trying to find the value of a specific phrase rather than...
08:25:13 johna also hunting for the target audience's behavioural interests.
08:26:36 johna Keep in mind that if you do this right, you are telling Wordtracker what you want to know.....you are getting Wordtracker to give up it's secrets based on what that target audience is really doing in real time.
08:27:26 johna That should have read....INSTEAD OF telling Wordtracker what you want to know....sorry.
08:29:05 johna Okay, so emphasis should not just be limited to discovering which keywords a person is typing into a search engine but what I like to try and learn, is what the searcher is really after. Think "behaviour"
08:30:40 johna For example, good lateral thinking with your keyword research will reveal user behaviour trends and I'll explain how to do it in a minute.
08:31:50 johna If you can discover what one photographer is doing using the Internet as a tool, you may often discover that hundreds of photographers are doing the same thing.
08:33:18 johna Get ready because this will put you in a league of your own when competing with other SEOs. Nearly nobody else takes this approach. They are all hunting for keywords!
08:35:10 johna Robin and I have been teaching REALTORS recently at the 30th Anniversary conference of REMAX in Las Vegas. I mention this just to explain Real estate is a great example because it is so competitive.
08:36:19 johna Many REALTORS are using the wrong keywords on their Web sites. Many REALTORS are not even writing for their target audience
08:38:14 johna This is common with other WEb sites too but REALTORS often write using "jargon" that they assume the rest of the world must be using too. Many times, they are wrong...just as any of us could be wrong if all we do is guess.
08:39:06 johna Give me your thoughts on what you think the average home buyer might type into a search engine? Anyone?
08:39:32 pata intrest rates
08:39:55 pata market up or down
08:39:56 shermanhu homes for sale in florida
08:40:06 pata sellers or buyers market currently
08:40:07 johna Yes...excellent...
08:40:22 donkeyote 3bdrm, 2ba, 2car, garage, in florida under 250k
08:40:30 johna Okay now listen to this.....
08:40:37 skidaddy cityname + type of house ?
08:41:22 johna Millions of REALTORS are under the impression that the average person is going to type "MLS Listings"
08:42:19 johna MLS Listings is a REALTORS term....and it is in high use....but by other REALTORS not the target audience.....
08:42:23 donkeyote ah, how about best school system in Orlando, if I have kids
08:43:08 johna Try to convince them that MLS is not a great term.......just try :o)
08:43:41 johna It;'s a good term if you want to attract other REALTORS.
08:44:57 johna Okay now those of you who have Wordtracker.....(you did not think I knew what you were doing did you?) Let's explore powerful things through lateral thinking....
08:46:42 johna I am concerned someone may still not be sure of this so let's start at the beginning. We don't go into Keyword Universe...we go to "comprehensive search" and start here.....
08:48:22 johna The technique I have taught you in the past is to take a high demand term from the top 1000 report and enter it into comprehensive....today we are getting our creative research skills active.
08:49:30 johna For the sake of easy explanation, I will give you an example based on researching using a little different approach
08:50:24 johna Behaviourally related "root" words.
08:51:48 johna What creates identifiable trends within Wordtracker's database are simply a lot of people behaving the same way online for whatever reason.
08:53:05 johna Finding those trends are not hard and can give you awesome ideas for promotional strategies. Things that very few others have thought of....you know what I mean.
08:53:49 johna Okay not let's give you some example of "root" words
08:56:36 johna One of the hottest behaviours on the net for is price shopping......people are running around comparing prices withough needing to run around in the real world. Once they review certain products, they may make a decision to buy it
08:57:29 johna In this example the term price shopping the root word would be considered "price"
08:58:31 johna Another behaviour similar to this is comparison shopping.....the root word is "comparison".
08:59:13 johna The root word is always kind of the action word to decribe what people are "doing"
09:01:38 pata ?
09:01:41 johna Okay, now if we enter a word like "comparison" into Comprehensive search....clicking onward and then scrolling to the very bottom of the page and click on.....Perform a competition search....and lets examine MSN or Google
09:02:17 pata why was it price in the first example if they were comparing?
09:02:45 johna Wordtracker gives us outstanding insights into what the real world is interested in comparing!
09:03:47 donkeyote I would think that "price" is the object of "comparing" which is the action word
09:04:31 johna Pata, sorry there is no harm in trying either word....the important thing is that you only work with one keyword (using a phrase will not usually reveal anything)
09:05:40 johna Examples of a few root words.....
09:05:52 johna Quotes - What type of quotes do Web users REALLY want?
09:06:26 johna Review - Use Wordtracker to discover what people are reviewing.
09:07:01 johna Plans - What types of "plans" are people looking for?
09:07:39 web_chameleon this is beginning to make sense
09:07:46 johna discounts - interesting stuff can be revealed
09:08:13 shermanhu wow - great stuff john
09:08:15 pata how do you come up with your origional root words?
09:08:18 johna Okay now let's push on more laterally.....
09:09:05 johna Try a word like.....daily - What do people want on a daily basis....Hmmm....pretty cool stuff
09:10:27 johna Try something more generic....New - What new things are in demand?
09:11:13 johna Old - What old things are in demand.....rare- What rare things are in demand?
09:11:44 web_chameleon ?
09:11:59 johna Are we having any fun yet? I just love this aspect of Wordtracker....it gives us gold nuggets
09:12:11 pata ??? How does this all relate to a specific example. Like the origonal example of realtors or mortgages?
09:12:42 web_chameleon This is cool to see, but if I have a real estate client, would I just through various words out and see what I get or would I place something out like house hunting or home
09:13:05 johna Now a quick example based on what we started out with...the term comparison
09:14:27 johna Stay with me please and I'll wrap it up on the Real Estate example......using the behavioural "root" word comparison. Keep in mind this is just one idea...
09:15:21 web_chameleon ok
09:16:11 johna Remember "MLS listings" is "jargon" for the real estate industry, but most home buyers would never think about using that term when searching for a home
09:17:19 johna So by thinking laterally.....we are now focusing on what behaviour our real live audience is using in connection with looking for a home
09:18:19 johna Root word = comparison and bingo I discovered a simple behaviour. Simple but quite cool.
09:20:02 johna 1059 people have searched for the following phrase in MSN within the last 60 days and I would only be competing with 15 other pages
09:20:20 sallyk {leaves}
09:21:09 johna What is their behaviour? The phrase is ""Cost Of Living Comparison City" with a KEI of 74765.
09:21:13 web_chameleon are you talking about the "Cost of Living Comparison"?
09:22:20 johna In my opinion, real life users are comparing the cost of living between cities and you heard it hear first! :o)
09:23:30 johna Think of the strategy now that I could build and even if I was a poor SEO, I would only be compoeting with 15 pages
09:24:24 johna Folks I encourage you to start thinking laterally about your target audience and enjoy Wordtrackers hidden assets
09:24:50 donkeyote thank you John, illuminating as usual ;-) and right on!
09:25:06 johna You will be building awesome things that others have not even thought about.
09:25:24 shermanhu {enters}
09:25:51 johna I am sorry that's all the time I have today, but thanks so much for coming.....
09:26:18 web_chameleon thank you fro your time, John
09:26:59 shermanhu thank john a!!!!
09:27:02 skidaddy very insightful & helpful-thanks so much John
09:27:11 shermanhu appreciate your insight into lateral thinking
09:27:12 johna If any of you are coming to Denver, Robin and I will see you next week. In the meantime...get working with those wonderful root words and have fun!
 

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