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Finding keyphrases that count

Posted by NikkiPilkington on February 8, 2010 · View Comments 

One of the first things I ask potential customers when they come to me looking for higher Google listings is “What do you want to be found FOR?”

Google in 1998, showing the original logo
Image via Wikipedia

So what I need to know is what a client wants THEIR potential customers to type into Google (or another search engine) in order to find the website in question.

Inevitably I get answers like:

“Car insurance”

“Cleaners”

“Gifts”

The problem with terms such as these is that they’re too generic, too competitive, and very very difficult to gain front page listings for.

Take the keyword ‘gifts’ for example. You’re going to be competing with every other website in the world that offers gifts – men’s gifts, women’s gifts, gardening gifts, pet gifts, christening gifts – see the problem? It’s way too generic, and much too competitive. Not only that, but it may not even be relevant. If you offer a niche range of ‘women’s birthday gifts’, then being found for ‘gifts’ when someone is looking for a present for their motorbike mad cousin is pointless. Yes you’ve gained a visitor, but they won’t stay long and they probably won’t be back, so the conversion rate of your website will go down.

Now, if you optimise for more niche phrases, relating to what your site actually offers, then you’re increasing your odds. Increasing your odds of gaining front page listings, increasing your odds of more targeted traffic (people who actually WANT what you offer) and increasing your odds of making a sale.

Taking the example above, the Google Adwords Keywords Tool tells us that the word ‘gifts’ has over 13 million searches a month, but is HIGHLY competitive. The phrase ‘women’s birthday gifts’ has just 1000 searches per month, but lower competition. Other options are ‘birthday gifts for women’ (6600 searches per month), ‘birthday gifts for her’ (14800 searches) – I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.

It’s better to be well listed for multiple lower traffic phrases than fight against everyone for a phrase that’s too generic just because it has lots of searches.

Have a look at your site now – are you fighting against hope to get front page listings for phrases that just aren’t going to happen? Use the keyword tool detailed above to find alternatives and watch your traffic (and hopefully sales!) rise.

Questions? As always, post ‘em below in the comments!

Nikki

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  • Thanks for explaining this Nikki. I have heard a lot about key words and phrases but did not really understand their importance or why I should care about them.

    You have explained it all in very easy to follow steps.
  • LindaMattacks
    Hi Nikki

    Out of interest, do you find that people tend to come to you more often:

    a) Before they start their own internet marketing activities or

    b) After they've tried and not got the results they were looking for or

    c) It's about equal
  • NikkiPilkington
    Hi Linda

    It's probably about equal to be honest - although some people will decide to hire 'an expert' from the beginning, others want to give it a go themselves and see if they can do it without paying for help.

    A lot of them succeed and do very well (it's really NOT rocket science!), but others decide that their time and efforts are better spent elsewhere and then turn to someone like me to help out.

    Both types of client have their plus and minus points ;)
  • I find that Google tool useful for my research, particularly when creating titles for books, articles, etc. Once you get the hang of it you can get a very clear indication of the sort of phrases that are most popular with your potential readership.
  • NikkiPilkington
    Yes I can imagine it would be helpful for book titles - I tend to use similar research for blog titles too, as it always helps to write blogs about things that people are actually searching for!
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