How to use Ebay as a Keyword Research Tool
By Jay Stockwell | Published 10/12/2007 | Keyword Research Articles |
How to use Ebay as a Keyword Research Tool
Here’s a quick pop quiz. See if you know the answer.Question: What’s the core difference between keywords that make you money and those that don’t?
Answer: The keywords convert.
OK, many of you probably got that one. Let’s take that one step further.
Question: Why do some keywords convert, while others don’t?
Answer: There are lots of reasons; however the biggest one is that the keyword reflects their (the visitor's????) “state of mind”.
Now think about that for a minute. This is fundamentally important. It may sound simple, but it’s easy to neglect. When you’re doing keyword research for almost anything (especially when you’re paying for the traffic) you want keywords used by people on the verge of conversion.
You want to be meeting people at the point of buying. Not when they are researching, but at the point where they are about to pull their credit card out of their wallet.
Think about this for a second. Let’s say one day I have the bright idea to buy myself a new espresso machine. Initially, I’m interested in finding out what’s around as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each. So I’d type in keywords like:
- Espresso machine
- Coffee Machine
- Espresso machine reviews
- Coffee machine reviews
I’m looking for general information on espresso machines. However, I’m not ready to buy yet. I’m just researching at this point. I go ahead and read a bunch of reviews and even ask a few questions at forums. After a while I decide I want to buy a Rancilio Silvia. Now I’m going to go and find the best deal from the best company I can. I switch from “researching” into “buying” mode.
You’ll notice now when I’m in the buying state of mind the keywords I use to search on change dramatically.
Here are the type of terms I start using:
- Rancilio Silvia
- Rancilio Silvia Coffee Machine
- Rancilio Silvia Espresso Machine
- Rancilio Silvia Best Price
- Rancilio Silvia Free Shipping
- Used Rancilio Silvia
- Rancilio Silvia Discount
You’ll notice that they are very different from my initial search terms.
Now as you would imagine, these keywords have a much lower volume. However, they should convert at least 200-300% better than my “researching” terms. Plus, because they’re more obscure terms, they’ll probably be cheaper and have less competition.
It’s about now people start thinking… “Sheesh… that’s right, but how the heck do I easily find out these terms. I’ve never even heard of a Rancilio Silvia!”
Yeah… that’s a valid question. Obviously it requires quite a bit of extra work to track down these types of keywords for your niche. However, just remember it’s work you do once which should pay off for a long time. It’s a case of “measure twice, cut once”.
There is an easier way that I stumbled upon that helps dramatically and will save you loads of time. This is quickly becoming the main keyword research method I use for physical products. Here’s how I do it.
As you would imagine if you typed "espresso" into a regular keyword research tool you would get a mixture of “research state of mind” keywords along with “buy state of mind” ones. Lots of time and guesswork as you try to filter out which words will convert and which ones will be the leak in your profit bucket.
This is boring work, so it’s not surprising that when I found out there was a better way I got excited. Since I started using this method, it’s made my keyword research tasks much easier, and about 10 times as fast. I’m sure people who roll out sites in lots of niches will especially appreciate this. Go on . . . let yourself get excited too!
Here’s how I do it.
Have you ever heard of a website called “eBay”? (Just joking . . . I know you have.)
But did you know that according to Nielsen Media (2006 data), the eBay website gets only 2.5% fewer visitors than Google? Given that most eBay sessions start with a search, it’s not unreasonable to say that eBay would be one of the largest keyword research data sources on the planet.
It gets better. Let’s have a look at the top searches on Google compared with eBay for February this year.
Here’s Google:
- Britney Spears
- Paris Hilton
- Jessica Simpson
- Cameron Diaz
- Orlando Bloom
Now here’s eBay:
- Nintendo Wii
- iPod
- Text books
- Abercrombie
- DVD
Notice any difference? Yep, there’s a huge difference isn’t there! Especially if you’re looking for keywords that will make you money.
The key thing to note here is that the bulk of the search terms that people are using on eBay are in a “buy state of mind”. It’s safe to say that if they are on eBay, most of them are pretty close to the point of buying.
As a result, this eBay keyword data is much potent. You can then take this intelligence and roll it out for regular search without much filtering at all.
So when I’m looking to get a bunch of high converting keywords used by people in a buy state of mind (for physical products at least) I head straight for the eBay data source. In the words of Ben Harper. . . “It’s like gold to me!”
Now there are two ways you can get your hands on this keyword data. Both are paid services, but as far as I’m concerned, if you are into marketing physical products it should be on your “MUST HAVE” list in your marketing arsenal.
It’s enabled me to roll our PPC campaigns so fast it’s not funny. I’m sure you’ll be able to apply it to your own situation just as powerfully.
Think about it for a second. Instead of sifting through words that won’t convert, why not just cut to the chase and work with pre-qualified words instead? To me, it’s a no-brainer and since most people don’t even know about this stuff you can put yourself ahead of your competition.
Which interface you use to access this data depends on your requirements. They both use exactly the same data set.
If you want to pay for it (inexpensively) per search including the ability to batch process, you need NicheBOT X.
If you want to do almost unlimited searches, but all manually (so no batching) you need Keyword Discovery.
Remember time is money. Cut to the chase. Access the keywords people use when they have their credit card out.
Note: The fact that these services have this dataset isn’t largely advertised. I don’t know if they even know how powerful this stuff is. Just be assured that under the hood, both of these services have it.