Picture this...you are 3-6 months into an online marketing campaign and you are starting to rank for your keywords, but for some reason, the phones are not ringing and the lead form is not being filled out. You decide to keep going because you are already committed, but still nothing earth shattering seems to be happening. That’s when it hits you: you do some digging and realize that you missed the boat on a bunch of keywords that command a higher search volume. Any successful online campaign needs to start with the right blueprint; otherwise you run the risk of wasting time & energy that you can’t get back. While there are many factors that combine to create a successful SEO campaign, thorough keyword research ranks highly on the list.
Here are a few quick tips to help you ensure that you’re utilizing proper keyword research tactics:
Be realistic & logical: Vying for prominent search engine placement and positioning with general/broad keywords &phrases in an already saturated marketplace can be an uphill battle. For example, if you operate an eCommerce site that focuses on selling area rugs, then naturally, your goal would be to rank highly for the phrase “rugs” or “area rugs”. Individuals searching these terms are likely just beginning the purchasing process for the respective items. However, if you leverage the data from your analytics to see which terms are actually driving the most traffic to your site, then you’ll likely find longer-tail, or more specific, terms are your highest converting keywords. If your site is effectively organized, then you will probably have several primary categories showcasing your selection and designated by these more specific terms (i.e. ‘shag rugs’ or ‘kids rugs’). This is why your conversion rate for such terms may be higher than the broader phrases you’re optimizing for. Focusing your efforts on terms that are viewed as less competitive can help you to gain an edge in your industry. In August 2011, almost one in five search queries in the US consisted of five or more words (figure 1.1) according to data by Experian Hitwise . One and two word queries are still the most common but the increase in long tail searches validates the importance of these keywords in a campaign.
Here are a few quick tips to help you ensure that you’re utilizing proper keyword research tactics:
Be realistic & logical: Vying for prominent search engine placement and positioning with general/broad keywords &phrases in an already saturated marketplace can be an uphill battle. For example, if you operate an eCommerce site that focuses on selling area rugs, then naturally, your goal would be to rank highly for the phrase “rugs” or “area rugs”. Individuals searching these terms are likely just beginning the purchasing process for the respective items. However, if you leverage the data from your analytics to see which terms are actually driving the most traffic to your site, then you’ll likely find longer-tail, or more specific, terms are your highest converting keywords. If your site is effectively organized, then you will probably have several primary categories showcasing your selection and designated by these more specific terms (i.e. ‘shag rugs’ or ‘kids rugs’). This is why your conversion rate for such terms may be higher than the broader phrases you’re optimizing for. Focusing your efforts on terms that are viewed as less competitive can help you to gain an edge in your industry. In August 2011, almost one in five search queries in the US consisted of five or more words (figure 1.1) according to data by Experian Hitwise . One and two word queries are still the most common but the increase in long tail searches validates the importance of these keywords in a campaign.
Target the proper version of a keyword or phrase: Of course, search volume is an important element to consider as you initiate your optimization efforts. After all, why optimize for a term that generates little to no traffic or that will result in no value for you or your business? One issue that many marketers fall victim to, especially eCommerce businesses, is optimizing for the plural version of a word/phrase versus the singular version. In most cases, you’ll find that the singular version of a word generates a higher search volume than the plural version; in order to see statistics, you can use a tool like Google Trends. Again, though, be sure to review your analytics to help you determine which version of a keyword is actually driving traffic to your site, and then use this data to help you achieve higher click through and conversion rates.
Ensure that your target keywords are relevant to your site’s offerings: To a search engine, the explicit meaning of a keyword can be ambiguous. It’s important to conduct your own Google searches of keywords that you want to optimize for to ensure that they’re contextually relevant to your business and to your site’s offerings. Time, and effort, is of the essence when it comes to SEO so be sure that you’re spending time optimizing your site and your content for keywords that show the most promise for increasing conversion rates.
While these are just a few quick tips, they should prove to be quite helpful as you design your SEO campaign. What other tactics have you employed to ensure that your keyword research efforts are as focused and fruitful as they can be?
No comments:
Post a Comment