@PolePositionMkg #SearchRankCC

SEARCH RANKING CRASH COURSE

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@PolePositionMkg #SearchRankCC

KEYWORD TUNE-UP FIND, ORGANIZE AND USE KEYWORDS FOR EFFECTIVE INBOUND

MARKETING

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Keyword research is…

Confusing… Frustrating… Annoying Perplexing Baffling Cumbersome Discouraging Perturbing Burdensome All research and no play

makes Jack a dull boy.

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Keywords are your foundation

Shopping

Price Trust Policies Shipping

Education

How to Ways to Ideas for News about

Recent events

Questions

Who What How When Where Why

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Every keyword search starts with a desire

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Searcher Interest Need Business

Students

Hobbyists

Education

Information

Ideas

Strategy

Direction

Community

Every SEARCHER has an INTEREST in a specific NEED

Keywords help you know your audience

Speak your audience’s language content development search engine optimization

What your audience wants important terminology searcher intent

How your audience searches words they use search volume

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Keywords help you target your audience

20%

23%

22%

15%

9%

5% 6%

How People Search

1 word 2 words 3 words 4 words

5 words 6 words 7 + words

Source: Onestat

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How we search with keywords

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SEARCHES start with

an idea

SEARCH RESULTS provide answers

SEARCHER gains

knowledge

SEARCHER Learns and Searches

Again

Until GOALS

achieved

Cycle of search activity

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

•High volume, low targeted traffic • Low ROI

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

• Lower search volume, Higher targeting

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

• Plurals, singulars and stems • Changed word order

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

•Geo-targeting improves conversions •Add geo-qualifiers as necessary

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

•Analyze for convertability • Eliminate phrases that don’t convert

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

•Actively searched phrases • Start with lower-hanging fruit

Single-word

Multi-word

Phrase variations

Localized Convert-

ability

Search volume

Info queries

•Answers “about” type questions • Target as secondary

Not all keywords are the same K

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Keyword Tune-Up, Step 1

Find Your Core Terms

ski Water bottle Baby bedding Garage plans School supplies Ski gear Cost segmentation Battery Motorcycle battery Battery charger Flowmeters Snowmobile clothing Plastic key cards

Are Are Not

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What are core terms?

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Why single words don’t work

Bean Lady Worms

Sandwich Sleeping Duffel

What do these words have in common?

Bag

Bag Bag of

Bag Bag Bag

What can I find in thesauri, taxonomies and ontologies?

What is the average customer searching for?

What are my visitors trying to accomplish?

What terms are used in industry glossaries and reference materials?

What solutions do I provide?

What terminology describes problems I solve?

What related categories can I find in search directories?

What questions are my visitors asking?

Start to brainstorm KEYW

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Are there any geographical phrases that are relevant?

Title tags

Meta keywords

Meta description

Text

Navigation

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Learn from your competition

Wordtracker

Google Adwords

Keyword Discovery

Use research tools K

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Traffic

Variations Conversions

Investigate server logs K

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Wholesale Rolling Honda Large Waterproof

No qualifiers

supply supplies

teach teacher teaching

No stems

Just the facts core terms, ma’am!

No trademark infringement!

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Buy Blue Widgets

California Widgets

How to Use Widgets

Red Widget Review

Discount Widgets

Custom Widget Design

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Map core terms to site content

Keyword Tune-Up, Step 2

Uncover Valuable Search Phrases

Wholesale Rolling Honda Large Waterproof

core +

qualifiers

supplies

teacher teaching

core +

stems

What a core term isn’t a search phase is

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school supply

school supplies

discount school supply

home school

supplies

school store

supplies

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Core vs. phrases

Keyword Tools

In-Site Search

Search Suggest

Competitors

AdWords

Make crap up

Wh

ere

to

fin

d s

earc

h p

hra

ses K

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ASES

HO

W M

UC

H IS EN

OU

GH

?

Can you have too many?

Elimination

Evaluation

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Good keywords float to the top

free

uk

cheap

Take out the garbage

unrelated untargeted inaccurate

ridiculously long

changed context

bad grammar

search operators

nonsensical

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Search volume •How often?

•Low volume = low results

Target Audience •Better conversions

•Better targeted = lower volume

Profit Margin •Better conversions

•Higher markup

•More demand

Meet Demand •Avoid driving

traffic where expected demand cannot be met

Four prioritization factors K

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• Intent

• Desire

Searcher

• Seasonal

• Future

Trends • Gaps

• Profits

ROI

Look for ROI phrases K

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increases traffic & sales

deceptively makes keywords look poor M

ore

Exp

osu

re

Low

Expo

sure

Performance matters

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@PolePositionMkg #WebDriveEd

“cordless telephone”

headset?

cordless “telephone

headset”

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Don’t assume you know searcher intent

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Organizing Keywords Into Targeted Groups Keyword Tune-Up, Step 3

Interest

Gather

Research Exclude

Purchase

The search cycle K

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Broad Topics

Immediate Concerns

Specific Desires

How we search using keywords

• reduce irritation

• environmentally friendly

• all natural

• reduce irritation

• environmentally friendly

• all natural

• beauty products

• facial cleansers

• hair styles

• dry skin remedy

• organic shower gel

• look younger

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Researchers Shoppers Buyers

Research

Purpose: Deciding on

Needs

Shop

Purpose: Comparing

Aspects

Buy

Purpose: Looking at Specifics

Info

Purpose: Seeking

Knowledge

Pass visitors through each of the stages

Searcher shopping phases K

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Determine which pages work best

Research (main

category)

Shop (sub

category)

Buy (products)

Core Term

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The one-keyword-per-page myth

Head vs. long-tail targeting K

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More volume

More conversions

Cheap

• discount

• bargain

Organic

• natural

• raw

Present

• gift

• surprise

by

mea

nin

g…

b

y re

lati

on

…

Basketball

• baseball

• football

Foxtrot

• Waltz

• Tango

Oscars

• Grammys

• Emmys

It’s all in how you group them K

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Travel bags

Wheeled travel bags

Wheeled leather travel bag

Overnight travel bag on wheels

Wheeled sports travel bag

Weekend travel bags

Leather weekend travel bag

Durable weekend travel bag

Heavy duty weekend travel

bag

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There’s more than one way to group keywords

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Keyword organization spreadsheet

You can combine keyword groups K

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Single Group

Small groups (<10)

Low search volume

All fit the page

You can split keyword groups K

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Original Group

Too many phrases

Differing qualifiers

Tighter focus

Keyword Tune-Up, Step 4

Putting Keywords Into Action

Achievable

Quickest results

Most profitable

All these keywords… where do you start? K

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What is it you really want?

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Traffic Sales

Answer questions

Provide expert advice

Review products

Expand on benefits

Write information

articles

Add Content

The not-enough-pages myth KEYW

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The paid search test K

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Poorly Targeted

High Bounce Rates

Low Conversions

Sometimes you get it wrong K

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Get over it

Keyword tool numbers rarely measure up K

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Keyword Tune-Up: Wrap up

Keyword research isn’t easy, but it is important

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Research

Analyze

Eliminate

Evaluate

Document

Don’t rush! Right is right. K

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Keyword research is…

Cool!

Thank You! Next Up Website Rebuild

Creating a friendly site structure to improve search presence