Abbreviations and Acronyms vs. Spelled Out

Take time to identify common abbreviations and acronyms for your keywords. Here are
some examples:
Continued on the following page…

Abbreviations Example:
• 1st Place vs. First Place
• Net vs. Internet
• Jan vs. January
Acronyms Example:
• CD vs. Compact Disc
• RAM vs. Memory
• TV vs. Television

If you're not familiar with the common abbreviations and acronyms used for a particular
category, I recommend using Abbreviationz (http://www.stands4.com/index.asp). At the
time of this writing they had around 350,000 common abbreviations and acronyms in
their database. You can browse for keywords by category, or search for a specific
keyword.

Merged, Hyphenated and Separated Keywords

Examine your keyword phrases that have one or two words in them. Can any of them be
merged, hyphenated, or separated? Here are some examples:
Merged Hyphenated Separated
email e-mail e mail
ebook e-book e book
webhost web-host web host

Geo Targeting

When people search online, they will often add a location to their keyword phrase to find
local results. This is more common in service-related industries, than product-related
industries. Here are some examples:
• San Francisco hotel
• New York health insurance
• Chicago mortgage lender
• Paris flights

Geo-Targeting Tip
If you're located in the United States I highly recommend downloading and using the
Census Bureau's list of cities. It features 25,000 US cities, towns, and municipalities
http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/places2k.txt. Once you have downloaded the
file, you can open it using Microsoft Excel, or your favorite text editor. Please see this
page for instructions on using the file
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html.

Domain Names

You may be surprised, but some web users will type a domain name into a search engine,
rather than the address bar of their web browser.
Warning:
Some advertisers don't like it when their affiliates target their domain name. A domain
name can be considered a trademark, and should be used with caution. Remember to
check your advertiser’s terms and conditions when targeting trademarks.

Summary

The first step to generate a massive keyword list is to write down all of the products and
services you will be promoting on your website. Think of product and service names,
model numbers, and features that describe your products and services. Consider what
keywords a prospective customer may use to find your website.
Once you have an initial keyword list, use the Google Keywords Tool and WordTracker
to expand your keyword list.

Check out your competitor's keywords meta tags, to discover even more targeted
keywords.

Finally, don’t forget to ask your affiliate manager for a list of recommended keywords.


Books:
The Search, by John Battelle
Keyword Research Guide, by WordTracker
Google Hacks, by O'Reilly
Online Tutorials and Guides:
How to Find More Keywords (Flash Tutorial), by Yahoo Search Marketing
Guide to Getting More Traffic, by Yahoo Search Marketing
Selecting Keywords, by Google AdWords
Web-Based Keyword Tools
Yahoo Keyword Suggestion Tool (FREE)
Google Keywords Tool (FREE)
WordTracker (Free trial - and multiple subscription options)
KeywordDiscovery (Monthly subscription)