At the root of any successful SEO campaign is keyword research. Keyword research is based on the analysis of underlying patterns aggregated from search behavior to assess relative keywords and phrases that consumers might use when looking for products and services such as your own.
By mapping out which keywords have the highest yield to your specific business model, you can implement SEO to funnel targeted traffic to your most compelling landing pages. Keep in mind that if it is your website or a competitors’ site, these are keywords that have traffic from people already searching for products and services such as your own. Aside from managing expectations, having a firm grasp of which keywords have the highest return on investment for your website should be the prime directive for your marketing efforts.
There are different types of visitors:
Information gatherers – just researching a product, much like window shoppers are just keeping their options open. To make an impression on this audience requires that your call to action is accompanied by a firm value proposition. Additionally, if you have access to analytics programs you can glean your most trafficked phrases to determine which keywords or group of synonymous phrases will have the highest conversion.
Comparison Shoppers – This is your ideal target, if you have detailed information on products services or supporting information now is your chance to differentiate your value proposition and close the deal on the spot.
Dissatisfied Users – This category is typically people looking for a better solution. They more than likely are using a product or service like your own, but are looking for a better fix for their needs. Modifiers like best, leading, affordable, cheap and other phases affixed to existing keywords as modifiers can provide you with the ammunition you need to get traffic from these types of consumers.
Keywords are a means to an end, they are essentially your gateway to the market your business thrives in and can mean the difference of just having a website as a static business card or having a robust business model where your website drives new business.
When Optimizing Keywords a Tiered Approach Works Best
Chronology plays a big role in search engine optimization, typically the more competitive a keyword is the longer it will take you to acquire it. The subject of keyword research could fill volumes of chapters, however in this synopsis; we are only touching on the method, not the tactic.
Things for consideration are, instead of tackling the most competitive keywords, start with keywords within your reach in order to (a) establish rapport with search engines and (b) see results much quicker. The only advantage to targeting a few phrases alone (without using a tiered approach) is if you want to slowly creep your way up the SERPs (search engine result pages). ROI can be calculated based on the marginal accomplishments that all add up.
By targeting 30 less competitive keywords, where the root phrase is still inherent in them, this allows you to establish traction within weeks vs. months for those keywords.
The idea is to scale the relevance factor for your on page factors while setting the stage for more competitive keywords and building links to each of the landing pages you use to represent those keywords on your website. At the heart of any SEO campaign is the blueprint, which in this instance is contingent on the types of keywords and key phrases you sculpt to align your website with.
What happens next involves tracking search results through analytics to determine the level of engagement and how well your content was received. Between those two metrics is where your business either lacks performance or excels to exceed your expectations and deliver a profitable return on investment.
Hello Jeffery
Nice explanation of Keyword and its importance in SEO.
i like your suggestion about targeting 30 less competitive keywords, and targeting even less competitive long tail keyword version of those core keywords increases the chances of getting your page in to 10 position in SERPs is higher
As usual a very relevant article. I love the makeover you gave your site. Nice.
Hi Sunil, Danny:
Thanks for visiting, and glad you like the new look D.
– Jeffrey
Hey, Jeffrey.
Great post on one of my favorite topics: keyword research.
For my money, the data from your own “private” server logs is arguably the most reliable source for keyword analysis and keyword discovery.
With that in mind, we at WordStream have created a Keyword Management Solutions Tool that harvests the keyword query data from your own server logs and streams it into an actionable platform so you can discover new, proven, highly-relevant keyword opportunities each day. I think it’s the ultimate keyword research tool.
If you’re interested, check it out and let me know what you think. WordStream is a new keyword tool, so I’d love to get your feedback on the software.
http://www.wordstream.com/
Thanks,
Ken Lyons
The backwards thinking I referred to in the beginning of this article was the idea that many people put SEO in front of their keyword research, keyword tracking and keyword conversion statistics.
The proper use of keywords and proper research on these keywords are considered as part of the core of search engine optimization.
A good way to get keyword suggestions is to use Google Adwords keyword tool. First, you need an Adwords account. Then start a new PPC campaign for your site and use the keyword tool to find not only keywords that people have searched on but also their relative popularities.
Great Post! As a SEO, this information would be very valuable for me. Thanks