Whether you are blogging or Youtube you know that finding high-value keywords is like finding gold. There are tons of keyword tools on the market, but you may be very lazy (like me) and want the easiest way that gets the best results.
The lazy way to find high-value keywords is to use a tool to get ideas and then check them using Google itself!
Keep reading and I’ll share my exact process to find good keywords when it comes to blogging and Youtube. I’ll share how to know how competitive a keyword is and how much traffic it gets. I’ll also share why “many” keyword tools are usually not worth money and why I don’t focus on link building.
What are High-Value Keywords?
High-Value Keywords are very valuable because they don’t have a lot of competition and get good traffic. Most things in life come down to supply and demand and keywords are no different.
It’s very similar to a guy going to a nightclub full of the hottest women and having NO guys as competition (talk about a gold mine).
Finding these keywords are great because you can get lots of traffic (visitors) and they can be easy to rank. Even better is you can get traffic for free and you can still get traffic months or years into the future.
Of course, traffic is one thing, and turning that traffic into cash is a whole other topic.
How to Find High-Value Keywords for Blogging?
Finding good keywords for blogging really is half of the battle. The first step that I take is finding a way to monetize a blog post other than ad revenue.
You could find an affiliate product you like, lead generation, or maybe it has to do with a landing page you have (at least this is what I do).
Now that you have the niche, it’s good to brainstorm common questions about it. What are some common questions someone would have about the niche?
You could do this manually or if you’re lazy then a tool can be helpful. I’m not a fan of keyword tools because many are WAY too expensive and don’t give you accurate data.
Still, if there was one I would recommend it would be this one HERE. The reason I like it is due to NO ongoing costs, unlimited searches, and its sole purpose is to give you ideas. It also focuses on both blogging and Youtube and I like that.
Another thing I like is that if you put in a keyword it will generate TONS of questions that you can target. The important thing is that it can save you time.
When you have an idea, you want to open up a new web browser that you don’t normally use and type it in the search. Now, “really” look at the top 5-10 results that show up.
- How is the competition?
- Are there many articles not on point?
- Are there lots of forums?
- Are the websites not established?
- Are there articles that are very weak, and don’t answer the question?
- Can you write a “better” resource?
If the answer is yes, then you might have a winner. Plus, you can still get good traffic if you write a better attention-grabbing headline and that is worth thinking about. Next, you just want to make sure, that the article you are writing has “some” searches.
How much search volume a keyword gets is a tricky question, because the only one that “truly” knows is Google.
If it’s similar to a question in a “people also ask segment” then it’s probably going to have some searches.
Another idea is if you start to type it into Google and the search engine automatically fills in the rest then this is a good indicator.
A third idea would be to type the keyword in Google Trends and see if any information comes up and the more the better. These are all indicators that the phrase has “some” popularity.
In the end “some” common sense is needed and if you think enough people will type in the question or keyword into Google then your “common sense” should override whatever keyword tool you’re using.
Usually, it’s just better to write the article if your hunch feels it could be a winner.
How to Find High-Value Keywords for Youtube?
Youtube is a completely different beast from blogging and you get traffic from MANY other places other than search. I wrote a post HERE, that does share all the different ways you can get views from Youtube.
Youtube feeds someone a video based on what they think they will like. This is why having people stay until the end of your video, leave comments, and subscribe can help.
The ONLY thing Youtube cares about is keeping people on Youtube.
Still, search is a “way” to have people find your video and I do know of a few tricks that can help you.
The first type is to win in “Google Search.” If you have done a search in Google and a video shows up as a snippet (top video) or as a video bar, then your video can also show up in the search.
Even if there are NO videos on a search topic in Google, you can still win in the Youtube search engine. You can use Google trends to see how popular a keyword is as well as the other 2 methods I talked about earlier. Youtube is great because they can also recommend your videos to other people who didn’t search for them.
The videos I create take (a very short time) plus my thumbnail takes (NO time) and I use free tools that I talk about in this post HERE.
If you want to get “super” geeky (I should do this, but I don’t) you can create a really good video on a topic and then have similar videos all direct traffic to that video.
You could imagine that this would be like a wheel that points to a hubcap and then that hubcap either points to a landing page, blog, or affiliate offers.
What’s so cool about this is it shows the Youtube Algorithm that your “main” video is valuable, which helps it rank.
Plus, it really helps the algorithm, since Youtube wants people to stay on Youtube.
Are MOST Keyword Tools a Waste of Money?
Many keyword tools are similar to driving a Porche when you could get buy with a Honda. The main problem is they are just NOT accurate according to these guys HERE.
These guys know what they are doing when it comes to ranking websites and they passed me like I was frozen in time when it came to blogging.
If you can’t beat them join them!
The ONLY source that truly knows the search volume and how competitive a keyword is would be Google. All the numbers that ANY keyword tool will give you I’m just VERY skeptical of.
Even if the keyword tool is right when it comes to the search volume, it also doesn’t take into account similar keywords that “also” rank for the term.
The total traffic that you can get for a term is probably going to be different than what ANY keyword tool will give you.
The one area in that keyword tools can be helpful is coming up with ideas and brainstorming. When it comes to these tools there is ONLY 1 that I would recommend and that is this one HERE.
The reason I like it is not only is there are no ongoing fees, but its sole purpose has to do with giving you TONS of ideas. When you get those ideas you still want to DYOR (do your own research) on competition and traffic.
The good news is that if other people use these tools and believe that a search term will get 0 traffic then they will not write it and there will be less competition for you and me.
Is Focusing on Getting Backlinks a Waste of Time?
It’s better to focus your energy on creating as helpful content as you can instead of trying to trick Google with backlinks which can backfire!
Over 10 years ago I was VERY heavy into link building and I had a TON of success. I used all kinds of black hat techniques, where I could rank anything.
The challenge is Google has gotten smart (very smart) so trying to spam backlinks to get rankings is not worth it in the long run. Plus, it can backfire as it did for me and hurt you.
The same amount of time you spend begging someone to give you a backlink you could have invested in creating good content and that is a better investment of your time.
Even better if you put stats up or original research you could get natural backlinks and that will improve MANY other factors that all impact how competitive your post will be.
Closing
Blogging and Youtube are amazing places to get free traffic, but they are not the ONLY places. Tiktok, Instagram, Medium, Quora, Anchor.FM, Linkedin, Twitter can all be great places as well (plus TONS more).
What I like about blogging and Youtube is it’s a jumping-off platform for other places. You can repurpose your blog or video to other sites and get even more traffic.
Plus, the content you create can continue to earn you money years into the future and you can actually sell the blog or channel if you want.
Oh, and with free traffic, it’s very easy to put yourself in profit when your overhead is almost nothing. Paid traffic is more advanced because if you make a mistake it can cost you “a lot” of money.
I really just scratched the surface of what is possible if you want to learn more I created a free eBook HERE that shares more on earning money with affiliate marketing.
I hope this post on how to find high-value keywords was “a little” helpful and gave you some ideas. Bye for now.