Introducing: Google Instant Scraper, a powerful free tool for niche marketing and keyword research. Find high-traffic, relevant long-tail keywords in seconds.

How the Google Instant Scraper works:

1. Enter a “seed” keyword (or multiple keywords separated by commas) and choose how many levels deep you would like to scrape;
2. The Scraper gets results from Google Instant for that keyword. These are level 1 keywords.
3. For each level 1 keyword, the Scraper gathers results from step #1 and adds them to the list. These are level 2 keywords.
4. Repeat #2 and #3 for levels 3 and 4 keywords
5. The list is sorted by the # of queries, and the excluded keywords are removed from the list

In this way, the Instant Scraper builds powerful, targeted keyword lists in seconds…for free.

As an example, we’ll use the keyword “dog”

If we wanted to find great keywords for a dog-related website, we could start our search using the term “dog.”

Google Instant Scraper, Level 1 – 10 keywords

When we’re only one level deep, you will see some of these keywords if you typed in ‘dog’ into Google.

Google Instant Scraper, Level 2 – 99 keywords

The scraper will now go through each of the keywords and check what Google Instant results come up. We’re starting to see some good keywords, such as ‘dog names and meanings’ and ‘dogs and chocolate’ – this is huge for niche marketing.

Google Instant Scraper, Level 3 – 594 keywords

Now we’re really geting specific – ‘dog names for females starting with d’? How long would you have had to look before finding that one! There are now 594 keywords from that fist “dog” keyword seed.

Google Instant Scraper, Level 4  - 884 keywords

Level 4 has 884 keywords, and there are some gems. This tool is perfect for optimizing for the long-tail; one of the Level 4 keywords is “dog breeds that don’t shed and are good with children” – if you write a blog with that exact title, there are 735,000 people who search for that phrase that you’ll be ranking well for.

Other Instant Scraper examples:

Niche Marketing Example: Forex

Forex products are one of the biggest scams spammy selling in affiliate marketing networks, such as ClickBank. If you wanted to target long-tail (very specific) keywords for forex, you could use “forex” in the Instant Scraper, going 4 levels deep and get over 300 great keywords in seconds. (See the results here)

Other niche marketing searches:

• HTC – 784 keywords
• Marketing – 535 keywords
• Solar Panels, Wind Turbine – 209 keywords
• The alphabet, 2 levels deep? - 2,568 keywords.
  • Top three: news, images, Facebook
  • # of Google keywords: 49
  • # of Google keywords: 48
  • # of iPhone keywords: 30
  • # of love keywords: 13
  • # of Amazon or Best Buy keywords: 11
  • # of Bing keywords: 10 (ouch)
• SEO – 112 keywords
  • # of SEOMoz keywords: 52
  • # of SEOBook keywords: 0 (ouch)
• WordPress – 494 keywords

I have the keywords – now what?

Now that you have gathered some great keywords, you can choose to show the results as a “Keyword-Only List” and copy and paste them into Google Adwords, or do further keyword research. When you identify your list of keywords, write blog articles using exact-phrase titles. You’ll be very pleased with the results.

Related posts:

1. A Great SEO Tool For Geo-Targeted Keyword Combinations
2. 3 Simple Steps to keyword order SEO – Are your words SEO friendly?
3. You need Denver SEO if you want to rank well in Google.

Google is overruling your title tags when they determine that your content headlines are more relevant.

Previously, I had only seen this behavior when there were not well-structured title tags, keyword-stuffed title tags or no title tags at all. This has been well documented and discussed. This is the first time that I have noticed Google taking a more aggressive stance in rewriting title tags that have been well crafted.

Google employees have clarified on forums when titles used to be rewritten:

There are certain situations where we’d replace a title in search results (as is happening here), for example if we find that the same title is used on a number of pages or if the title is otherwise not that good (eg “Home”).
Why is Google rewriting my Title Tags? – Google Webmaster Central Help

In general, when we run across titles that appear to be sub-optimal, we may choose to rewrite them in the search results. This could happen when the titles are particularly short, shared across large parts of your site or appear to be mostly a collection of keywords.
Google Webmaster Central Help

Let’s take a look:

When doing a site:[article url] search, Google displays the actual <title> tag of the page:

When doing a search for CubeCart PDF Upload, Google has rewritten the <title> tag: it replaced the title with the name of the post and stripped “Blog” off of the site name:

And just to prove that they don’t mind the title in general (according to their old rules, quoted above), when doing a search for File Types CubeCart Upload, we have the normal page title again:

What does this means for optimizing your blog posts for SEO?

Use different keywords in the <title> and the blog post.

It’s always recommended to craft your <title> tag carefully and to mix up the keywords used in the name of the posts as well as in the <h1> and <h2>‘s. That way the most valuable parts of your site have your targeted keywords. Google used the name of the post (verbatim) instead of the title tag.

Use headings for improved listings.

Since we now know that Google is re-writing listing results for relevance, using more headings with variations on a theme. Also, moving around words in a phrase (and making some plural) is a good move: check out our post on SEO word order for examples.

Do you have examples of Google modifying your search results? Have they used content other than headlines for the updated titles? Leave feedback below.

Related posts:

1. Optimizing a website for search: Google vs. Yahoo! and MSN
2. Add Custom Titles for Tags and Categories in WordPress
3. How Not to Optimize Your Search Results Page Title – Priceline.com Should Know Better

Google has been working on de-valuing bad reviews…

There has been lots of press over the NY Times article exposing an ability to get ranked through negative press online. Google has since updated their search algorithm to take into account the reputation of the company being reviewed. Now, in theory, Google will no longer add value reviews if the reviews are extremely negative:

…in the last few days we developed an algorithmic solution which detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that, in our opinion, provide an extremely poor user experience. The algorithm we incorporated into our search rankings represents an initial solution to this issue, and Google users are now getting a better experience as a result.
Official Google Blog

The key here is that Google’s focus is on user experience; they want to provide the best search results so that users are satisfied with Google’s search result ranking system.

…but are FDA warnings considered bad reviews?

The FDA Warning Letters website posts warnings about companies and their practices. In 2010, they issued more than 560 warnings (an average of 1.5 warnings/day). Many of these warnings have (folllowed) links to the companies and specific products. Lots of the products on the warning list are scammy pharmaceutical products…and the FDA is giving them links.

Does the government understand links & SEO?

Whomever is updating the FDA website likely doesn’t understand: the way the FDA links to companies in these warnings is helping to promote the ‘warned’ products. The FDA should learn about nofollow and take steps to nofollow all links.

Do you feel Google should de-value FDA warning links?

Related posts:

1. SEO Google Profiles – Google Adds NoFollow to Links
2. SEO Randomizer: Save the Value of Your SEO'd Links
3. Paginate Links in WordPress Link Manager

This should be tagged as “Dangerously Powerful”

At the bottom of this article is a download
containing detailed per-lead pricing for hundreds of industries.

The ServiceMagic Fee Schedule is a guide to where the money is.

• What are the most profitable industries?
• How much can I make or should I charge per lead/sale?
• What keywords should I focus on?

ServiceMagic.com has done all the work for you.

Service Magic provides cost per lead data on virtually all home services-related industries and some others including pet sitting ($10/lead), photo portraits ($12/lead), wedding DJ ($12/lead).

How do I use this information?

• If you are a SEO or web designer that wants to know how much a lead is worth to a customer, here is your answer.
  • You can now more accurately calculate SEO ROI vs. other marketing methods (SEO looks damn affordable compared to ServiceMagic!)
• If you want to create a local home services directory website, this information will tell you:
  1. What industries should I target
  2. How much is a lead worth to my customers
• If you are looking for a niche in home services, this information will tell you where the most money is, and what markets may have low competition (instead of trying to rank for “[location] construction,” you can now try to rank for “[location] garage construction”
• Domainers (people who buy domains and sell them) can use this information for acquiring the most valuable domains

The most profitable service industries

The Master List: All services with price per lead greater than $50

Service Magic has two different pricing structures. The numbers shown are the less expensive program, which involves pre-paid accounts (“Premier Pro”). The pay-as-you-go option is far more expensive (10-35%, an average of ~25% more per lead). This is called Lead Select. Keep in mind that the numbers shown may be 1/3 more than shown.

• Roofing, Siding & Gutters

  • Roofing – Install or Replacement  - $55/$66
    (Same price for Asphalt Shingle, Flat, Foam, Single Ply, Metal, Natural Slate, Traditional Tile, Wood Shake or Composite)

  • Siding

    • Exterior Painting or Staining: Liquid (Spray-On) Siding – Apply – $55/$66
    • Concrete, Brick & Stone: Brick or Stone Siding – Install – $50/$60
    • Vinyl Siding – Install or Replace – $55
    • Wood or Fiber-Cement Siding – Install – $55

• Senior Housing

  • Nursing Home – Medicare/Medicaid – $65
  • Nursing Home – Private Pay – $65

• Additions, Remodels & Renovations – Construction

  • Additions, Building Outbuildings & Structures

    • Addition to Existing Structure – Build – $50/$60
    • Garage – Build - $50/$60
    • Greenhouse – Build – $50/$60

  • Remodels & Renovations

    • Bathroom – Remodel - $50/$60
    • Kitchen – Remodel - $50/$60
    • Pool Enclosure – Build – $50
    • Shelter or Outbuilding – Build – $50
    • Major Renovation – Multiple Rooms - $50/$60
    • Remodel to Accommodate a Disability - $50/$60
    • Disability Elevator or Chair Lift – Install - $50/$60

  • Site preparation

    • Building Site – Preparation and Clearing - $50/$60
    • Demolition – $33/$50
  • Roofing: Roofing – Install or Replacement

  • Recovery Services – Disaster

    • Major Home Repairs (General Contractor) – $50
    • Recovery Service – Earthquake Damage – $50

• Architects, Builders, Designers & Other Professionals

  • Builders & General Contractors
    Custom Home, Log Home, Newly Constructed Home – New Community,  Newly Constructed Home – Older Community – $55
    Modular Home – $50
  • Engineer – Soil – $50

• Heating & Cooling

  • Air Conditioning & Cooling: Central A/C – Install - $42/$51
  • Central Heating System: Central Heating System – Install or Replace - $42/$51
  • Heat Pump – Install or Replace - $42/$51

• Windows & Doors

  • New Windows – Multiple - $42/$51

• Electrical, Telephone & Wiring

  • Electrical for Additions & Remodels – Install – $50/$60
  • Home Automation System – Install / Service – $50
  • Building Automation System – Install / Service – $60
  • Audio/Visual System – Install – $60
  • Generator – Install – $33/$50
  • Solar Panels/Electric System – Install – $42/$51

• Plumbing

  • Faucents, Fixtures & Pipes: Plumbing for Additions & Remodels – Install - $50/$60
  • Septic System – Install or Replace - $33/$50
  • Boiler or Radiator Heating System – Install – $33/$50

• Painting & Staining

  • Exterior Home or Structure – Paint or Stain - $42/$51
  • Interior Home or Surfaces – Paint or Stain $36/$54
  • Specialty Painting: Faux Finishes, Mural or Trompe L’oeil, Textures - $36/$54

• Flooring

  • Hardwood: Hardwood Wood Flooring Install or Replace – $38/$57
  • Tile: Stone (Granite, Marble, Slate, etc) – Install – $33/$50
  • Laminate & Vinyl: Simulated Wood or Stone Laminate – Install – $33/$50

• Carpentry & Cabinets

  • Wood Fence – Install  - $33/$50
  • Carpentry Framing – Install – $50

And the most expensive lead is?

With a per-lead price of $80/lead, real estate developers top the list.

Download the PDFs Here:

ServiceMagic Rate Schedules (289 KB)

How are you going to use this data? Do you think this information is worth what this article says it is?

No related posts.

Save Time Creating SEO-Friendly Keyword Combinations

As an SEO, one of the things I do on a regular basis is come up with keyword permutations and combinations for many locations related to the corporations I am engaged with. What I often do is I use PHP scripting and create multiple arrays of keywords, locations, and services, then mix them up…similar to the SEO WordSpinner script.

There’s a great script that does this in an instant. It’s called the Local PPC Adwords & Keyword List Creator, and it does exactly what it sounds like it does.

One of the nice features of this tool is that it allows you to generate SEO-friendly keyword order combinations such as ‘Location Keyword’ & ‘Keyword Location’, saving lots of time. It’s a great tool for generating permutations for SEO and PPC. I recommend trying it out.

The keyword list creator will find all cities and zip codes surrounding the zip code you specify and generate a comprehensive list of geo-targeted SEO phrases.

Fun tip: specify a suffix of | and wrap it all up in {{ and }}, and you have yourself a formatted string for the SEO WordSpinner.

Related posts:

1. 3 Simple Steps to keyword order SEO – Are your words SEO friendly?
2. Google Instant Scraper – The Best Tool for Google Instant SEO
3. This blog has great PageRank!

Download the SEO WordSpinner Plugin and test the SEO WordSpinner plugin out.

Refresh this page to experience content spinning in action.

Why use a content spinner?

There are a lot of content spinners out there (I won’t even bother linking to them, most are for spamming, not for SEO). The existing products allow you mass-export articles then submit them across content networks to build links using spammy articles. That is not what this plugin does. This plugin allows you to enhance your site’s SEO by reducing duplicate content.

Google has been improving its handling of duplicate content by implementing use of the canonical tag and updating its algorithm. They don’t punish a site for duplicate content, but having unique content is still better than duplicate content.

Different content in different context

• Each category page
• Each tag page
• Any search result page
• And this single article page

Each of those pages will show the full content or an excerpt (summary) of the content on this page. Each will show a title for this article. The SEO WordSpinner plugin allows you to mix things up so that on each page, users will see different content that means the same thing, therefore avoiding duplicate content issues if done properly.

Keeping spins predictable

The SEO WordSpinner plugin has an option to show the same content in the same context in a predictable manner. This is a setting in the plugin (“Make Spins Predictable by Default”). This means that when viewed on a separate tag, archive, search, or single page, the spun content will display the same way.

This global setting can also be modified on a per-post or per-page basis by adding the SEOSpinPredictable Custom Field to the post with a value of “true” or “false”. This allows you to change the settings on a per-post basis. This post has SEOSpinPredictable set as true, which is why refreshing changes the content.

Spin your META tags…All in One SEO Pack-Compatible

One of the neat features of this plugin is that there is a setting to have your title and meta tags spun. This allows you to vary the post title, the title tag, and the meta tags separately, allowing you to include variations in the most important parts of your page’s content.

Using the SEO WordSpinner Plugin

Using the following settings:

• Split Character: |
• Start Character(s): {
• End Character(s): }

An example content spin:

This is a {an example|a demonstration|a demo|a test} of the powers of content spinning

Could produce the following spun variations:

• This is an example of the powers of content spinning
• This is a demonstration of the powers of content spinning
• This is a demo of the powers of content spinning
• This is a test of the powers of content spinning

In order for search engines to not consider your content duplicate, you need to change your text more than the text above. The example above is for demonstration purposes only.

Would you like me to test how this works?

Text used above: {Do you want|Would you like} {me|us|a person} to {test|demonstrate|show you} how this works?

It works for Links, too.

• Linking to one of three major search engines
• Boulder SEO

Please leave comments, plugin improvement recommendations, or bug reports in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. SEO WordSpinner Removed from the WordPress Plugins Directory
2. Show Content Only Plugin – A Perfect Keyword Research Companion
3. Duplicate Content over Multiple Domains – SEO Issues?

All in One SEO Pack (AIOSEO) is the leader in WordPress SEO plugins. It offers great functionality and simple integration into the process of writing a post. AIOSEO is not a perfect plugin, however, because it lacks some very important functionality:

• Custom category title tags
• Custom tag title tags
• Mass editing of page, post, tag and category title tags/slugs

The plugin that has all of the features above (but lacks AIOSEO features) is SEO Title Tag, an imperfect but elegant solution to the list above.  This article shows how to use both plugins and have them combine forces to create a powerful solution for getting custom titles on all your site’s pages.

Getting All in One SEO Pack and SEO Title Tag to play well together

The goal is this: when displaying a tag page, category page, or a post with SEO Title Tag title, use SEO Title Tag’s generated title. Otherwise, let All in One SEO Pack generate titles.

Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file, or your Thesis Theme’s custom_functions.php file:

function kws_check_title_conflict() {
	function kws_get_seo_title() { // Find out whether the title should be rewritten
		if(is_singular()) { // For some reason, get_seo_title_tag() kills WP if it's singular and not active on post/page, so this function looks janky
			global $post;
			$custom_title_key = get_option("custom_title_key");
			$post_custom = get_post_custom($post->ID);
			$custom_title_value = trim($post_custom["$custom_title_key"][0]);
			if(!empty($custom_title_value)) { return get_seo_title_tag(); }
		}
		else {
			// Don't return a custom title if it's just the category name (SEO Title Tags default)
			if(function_exists(get_seo_title_tag) && get_seo_title_tag() && (is_category() && get_seo_title_tag() != single_cat_title("", false)) || (is_tag() && get_seo_title_tag() != single_tag_title("", false))) {
				return get_seo_title_tag();
			}
		}
		return false;
	}

	if(kws_get_seo_title()) { // If there's a SEO Title Tags title,
		global $aioseop_options;
		$aioseop_options['aiosp_rewrite_titles'] = false;  // turn off AIOSEO Pack title rewriting
		add_action('wp_title', 'kws_get_seo_title', 1, 1); // and update the page's title
	} else {
		return false;
	}
}
add_action('wp', 'kws_check_title_conflict', 1);

Customize every title tag on your site

Break free from the %category_title% | %blog_title% SEO doldrums!

Now, using a combination of All in One SEO and SEO Title Tags, you can have custom page titles, tag titles, and category titles for every page on your website. This means that you can optimize every page title.

In addition, use the Katz Web Services Rich Text Tags plugin so that you will have high-SEO value tag descriptions as well…making your site super-optimized!

Related posts:

1. Add Custom Taxonomy Title Tags Support to All-In-One SEO Pack
2. Add Canonical Tags to Shopp Plugin for SEO
3. Google Rewrites Your Search Result Titles for Relevance

• Here’s my do-follow Google profile: Zachary Katz – Google Profile.
• Here’s a no-followed profile: John Sileo – Google Profile.

Oh well, on to greener pastures!

As an user on BlogCatalog notes,

The links on your Google profile will be nofollow, but the links on your Google Reader shared items page (as of the time I write this) are NOT nofollow.

Linking to your profile on your site or blog is a great idea, but linking to your shared items page is an even better one.

Update: Google Profiles are Back to Do-Follow

Over the weekend I created a brand-new profile for my wife, and noticed that the profile for John Sileo that I had previously mentioned is now “dofollow,” as is the brand-new profile for my wife.

Use it, don’t abuse it!

It’s good that Google’s reversed their policy on this, because Google Profiles are a natural thing to optimize and promote. They are a great tool for linking to other properties, and you should create your own. Just don’t go too crazy, or Google might pull the follow plug again.

Related posts:

1. Nofollow SEO for your WordPress Functions
2. SEO Randomizer: Save the Value of Your SEO'd Links
3. Blog Comments Now Pass Juice – No More `nofollow`

Goodbye old friend. Hello shiny new domain!

Recently I moved my company’s domain from KatzWebDesign.net to KatzWebServices.com to reflect the change of the business name (over one year ago) from Katz Web Design to Katz Web Services, Inc., to reflect the in company services offerings, and to have a .com domain.

This is a simple switch, not re-launching a new website — just moving the same site from one domain to the next. Here’s how I approached the switch, and it’s a solid method to use for any domain switch:

A week before:

• Make sure the new domain works properly
• Start pointing some new links to the domain (which will just be parked on top of the current site)

On the day of move:

• Add the website and a site-map to Google Webmaster Tools

• Update the .htaccess file to move permanently move the domain

  RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^katzwebdesign.net(.*) [NC]
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.katzwebservices.com/$1 [R=301,NC,L]

  For great .htaccess tips, check out corz.org.

• Update the site map to reflect new domain addresses
• Fill out a change of address form in Google Webmaster Tools
• Request people you know link to the new domain

Week after move, you should slowly change existing backlinks to the new domain

• Update profile pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, MerchantCircle, Google Profiles, CitySearch, you know the drill)
• Email webmasters and request link changes be made

Matt Cutts tells people to change things slowly and steadily so Google doesn’t freak out:

Note: changing your IP address, webhost, domain name, blog template, and blog version all at the same time is the exact opposite of what you should normally do. It’s better to change only one thing at a time so that if something goes horribly wrong, you can trace what caused it.

What I experienced

Google showed both domains for a while until they completely updated their index. An example: when searching “Denver web design,” they showed katzwebdesign.net. When searching “Denver SEO,” they showed katzwebservices.com.

Related posts:

1. Duplicate Content over Multiple Domains – SEO Issues?
2. Buying Domains at Auction
3. SEODenver.com is new home of Denver Web Design & SEO Blog

A comparison in travel sites search results page titles

Wow, Priceline…who did you hire for SEO?

I was shopping around for a good price on a hotel in Aspen when William Shatner’s “Falcoln of Truth” showed me how not to write page titles.

Check out Priceline‘s horrific search results page title:
Priceline.com - hotel, hotel reservation, cheap hotel, las vegas hotel, boston hotel, hotel deal, new york city hotel, hotel rooms, motel, lodging, accommodations, casino hotel, priceline

That is a terrible example of keyword stuffing, and is…well…awful. Even search results pages should be optimized. Priceline should know that!

What are the competition’s search results page titles like?

The Hotwire.com search page isn’t optimized, but not spammy:
Discount hotel rooms and hotel reservations - Hotwire.com

The best page titles for the search “Aspen hotels”

Travelocity.com is optimizing for the whole region quite well, but not specifically targeting my search:
Aspen and Snowmass and Carbondale Hotels - Find discount hotel rates!

Expedia.com‘s results are optimized, but minimal. As a personal preference, I’m not wild about keyword-only page titles, though they do tend to rank well:
Aspen hotels

The Hotels.com search results page gets it right with a mix of simplicity, mixing & matching keywords, and having the most valuable keyword first (“Aspen Hotels”):
Aspen Hotels - Hotel Deals in Aspen, CO - Hotels.com

What are some other examples of good and bad search result page titles?

Have you come across any whoppers or thrillers? Share them below!

Related posts:

1. New Google search results — OneBox is upgraded
2. SEO It! Bookmarklet – Improves Search Results in iPhone & Safari
3. Google Rewrites Your Search Result Titles for Relevance