Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Specialists

Archive for the ‘SEO Keywords’ Category

Tracking individual keywords as part of SEO analysis

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Keywords play an extraordinarily big part in every SEO campaign. Bad keyword selection can cause an entire plan to fail. Good keyword placement can be the source of success. Keyword research comes at the beginning of most search engine optimization campaigns, but it also comes into play in later stages.

The difficult thing about keywords is that they seem so small. The temptation with search engine optimization is often to look at the big picture. The aim is to get your pages to a decent place in the search engine results pages. Certainly, there are a lot of little tasks required along the way, but once these are completed, the focus can be expanded to encompass the entire campaign.

It’s very easy to forget that the search engine game essentially involves every page for itself. That means that even after the initial optimization, every keyword is drawing in results on its own. For effective analysis, it’s important to stay focused on the effect of individual keywords, and to remain aware of the importance of every word chosen.

Selecting the right keywords and keeping track of them throughout your campaign takes up a large portion of optimisation resources. As well as tracking individual keywords after implementation, it’s important to:

  1. Take time in the keyword research stages. Very few companies use their full resources when researching keywords for their SEO campaign. Companies tend to either work on their own list, or use the resources of their search engine optimisation company. Although your SEO firm will be able to provide a thorough list, it’s a good idea to consult your staff and other internal resources for possible terms. Customer feedback can also provide a valuable clue. A company that is in the position of whittling down its keyword list is in a better place than a company still searching for the right keywords.
  2. Don’t ignore your minor keywords. Just because a keyword is in a low-competition area doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth pursuing. Concentrating your efforts only on your main, high-competition keywords could mean you’re missing out on the major traffic sources you could have easily. A high-competition keyword might be the source of 500,000 searches each day, but if competition is so tough you only appear on the sixth page, your efforts are being wasted. Being top in a keyword with 10,000 searches might net you more traffic in the end. Talk to our team at SEO Consult Australia about choosing your keywords competitively.
  3. Be flexible. Your main keywords might not be what you expect. If you’re using the services of a professional SEO company, it’s important to listen to their experience.
  4. Don’t be afraid to change. Keyword research isn’t fail-safe. Sometimes, the words chosen for a campaign just aren’t the right ones. Holding onto this part of an optimisation campaign is not going to get you anywhere. If the results coming in a few weeks after the campaign has been implemented aren’t what were expected, it could be time to try something else.

How to judge keyword choices

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Keywords: they are so simple, yet so complicated at the same time. They can mean the most ordinary of things, can be the most elegant way of describing your industry, but they also represent your chances of success when it comes to search engine optimization.

Choosing keywords is a complicated process, and there is only so much your SEO company can do to help you with it. Sure, they can perform in-depth keyword research and draw up a list of the keywords in your industry. Certainly, they can analyze the different levels of competition for each word and judge your likelihood of ranking in a decent position. But when it comes to choosing the number of keywords to target in your campaign, the decision is really up to you.

The decision on keyword numbers is one that even experienced SEO pros have difficulty judging. Just how many keywords should you target to get the traffic levels you require? Some people say you can be fine with simply targeting one or two, and only optimizing one page. Others say that unless you do a broad campaign, using numerous keywords across ten or so pages, you’re wasting your time. No one in the industry really agrees on what is best.

Part of this is because there is no ‘what is best,’ or at least not in general terms. Optimization is an individual thing. What is best for your website might not be what works for another. You won’t even have the same SEO campaign as your closest competitors, because what you need will be different from their needs and how you can get it will also be different.

The question you need to ask yourself when choosing how many keywords to use in your campaign is what sort of outcome you want. Talking to your optimization consultants is vital, as they can help you understand your options, and you can discuss keyword choices with us at SEO Consult Australia. If you decide to use five to ten keywords on as many pages, the website as a whole will benefit. This has its advantages, particularly if you’ve worked hard fine-tuning the paths on your site that lead internet users to your conversion pages.

Deciding to go with just one or two keywords, or a closely related keyphrase campaign, generates a slightly different outcome. Instead of improving the situation of the whole site, specific pages should receive more traffic. This results in a more focused campaign. This can be useful for when you have a diversified marketing strategy, and want to give specific pages a boost, or when your pages attract widely different audiences.

To some extent, the number of keywords you decide on for your optimization campaign will depend on your resources as well as your desires. Not everyone has the time or the budget to optimize their entire site in one go. Often, this is what ends up guiding keyword choice. If you have the option, however, it is worthwhile investigating exactly what scope of SEO is right for you.

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