Need help with SEO numbers - KeyWord Popularity vs Competing Pages?

[Klaas Koopman]

I think I can target a bit higher aswell, got ranked for something with 5M results... thank you for these figures! I can really work with this!

[jcorkern]

This whole process can be simplified. If you look at this in a simple manner, you can eliminate the competing pages all togather.

The object is not to beat 10 million or 1 million or even 10 thousand competing pages.

Keep your analysis simple, the object is to beat the top 10 sites (1st page sites). Concentrate on these sites, do complete analysis on your competition, not the rest.

over analysis creates confusion. seo is not rocket science, but basic principles.

Find out what what the top 10 sites are doing to rank and do it a little better. It really is that simple.

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks jcorkern for the KISS reminder. Sometimes we all need it!
It really does boil down to that doesn't it? The top 10!

[Klaas Koopman]

Okay the top 10, I think i've heard that before!

I will try and see what I can do. If I am in the top 10, I will let you guys know!

[mccain]

The selection of keywords and their position based on bidding can be taken from Adwords. You can also do keyword research to select the best keyword that sets your website. Try to select the keyword that is best suited, because keyword helps a lot in the website promotion.

[ellehc]

Wow this thread contains a lot of information, I learned many things in this thread!

[koochi]

If the competitions is high, it means difficult to rank high in google SERP.

[dorian2786]

If the guys at 30 day challenge are telling people to target keyword with less than 30,000 phrase quote results, then what methods are they using to rank highly?

Unless one spends a considerable amount of time bank-linking to articles and using social bookmarking for a particle article, how would the content rank well for that much quote term competition?

I also noticed something interesting the other day. I did a search for "how to train your dog to stop barking" to see the competition for that exact phrase.

I jot down the results and then do a regular search for the term without quotes. To my surprise, many ezine articles that I saw with the term in quotes did not even appear, not even on the second page. And this is for a keyword with an exact phrase count of only 611.

From what I have heard, if someone chooses a keyword with an exact phrase competition of around 600, optimize their article well including the exact keyword in the title and post to a high PR article directory site that Google like then one would at least find himself ranking on the 1st page.

But I have found that this is not always the case.

[jcorkern]

You made some great points and observations, that is why I tell people to forget about competing pages and do an analysis of the top sites.

I have seen (and done) sites that beat out exact phrases with only one or none of the keywords with nothing but links.

Onpage only accounts for about 20 % of rankings, so that means you can beat out most sites easily with proper linking, and without a good analysis of the top ranking sites, you are starting a fight you are not prepared for.

Over-analysis creates confusion. Keep it simple and do a complete analysis, paying attention to the top sites links and you can dominate.

[dorian2786]

What are the steps that constitute as a complete analysis?

Thanks.