Anatomy of a Keyword Strategy: Part 2
In the first entry of the 'Anatomy of a Keyword Strategy', I covered some basic issues such as how keyword research is conducted and I'd like to explore some similar concepts in the second part.
Firstly, I would also look at the 'Keyword Ideas' that the Keyword Tool offers. Using the information I discussed in the previous blog we can analyse the results. The list provides 800 recommendations, but I'll use a sample of the first ten results – they should look like this:
There are some good suggestions in this list. For example, 'Traditional Sweets' and 'Retro Sweets UK' both generate 1,300 local monthly searches (that means searches made in the UK due to the location filter) and these are both likely to draw in high levels of relevant traffic. Conversely the term 'Retro Sweets Shop' will likely not be targeted because it generates 169 fewer local monthly searched than the singular 'Retro Sweet Shop'. Although the search engines are generally unaffected by singular and pluralised terms – when there is a large discrepancy in the quantity of traffic it is better to target the phrase that has a greater chance of generating more traffic.
There is another consideration that I would also have to make before deciding on the final list of keywords I will target on the website homepage. In a real world scenario (not for our made-up sweet shop), it is highly likely that I would have to make a keyword strategy for numerous pages. In this case I would need to ensure that targeted keywords aren't replicated across numerous webpages as this could cannibalise web traffic. This means that webpages from the same domain that target the same search query will effectively steal traffic from each other and dilute page authority, links and a raft of other factors that affect overall SEO performance. In this case, if I was selling a specific brand of sweets I wouldn't use a branded keyword on the homepage, I would use the branded keyword on the subpage where the specific sweets can be purchased. In this specific example I might choose to target 'Retro Sweet Shop' on the homepage, but target 'Retro Sweets' on a different subpage where the retro sweets are specifically listed. The point is to not replicate keyword phrases across multiple webpages because it will affect analytics reports and ultimately subvert your overall SEO efforts.
Another point I would make if I was creating a strategy for multiple webpages is to use an Excel spreadsheet to accurately track progress for the various webpages. Just open a document in Excel then create tabs for the various pages that need a keyword strategy. You can export the results directly from the AdWords Keyword Tool as illustrated in part 1 of this guide, or alternatively you can manually enter the relevant search keywords and search quantity data into the spreadsheet. It just helps keep things organised; and this is particularly helpful for large scale projects where keyword cannibalisation can occur easily if progress isn't carefully monitored.
So now, with all the preparation said and done, it's finally time to begin dwindling down that list of keyword suggestions and analysing the data from the AdWords Keyword Tool to locate the 5 phrases that will help our candy barons outrank their competitors sweet by sweet. The obvious starting place would be to target
those phrases with the highest quantity of search traffic. Using an excel chart you can order them numerically with the highest quantity of either global or local searches (depending on your preference) at the top of the list. In this case the top 8 results would be:
These are all industry relevant search terms that draw in relatively large quantities of traffic, but the dilemma is; which of these keywords is going to attract traffic that will convert and which will see us crowded out of the marketplace. As you can see from the green bars in the 'Competition' section of the above
Keyword reports, the majority of keywords are highly competitive – and for an emerging enterprise this makes the process much trickier.
So, 'Sweets' and 'Sweet Shop' are two of the most searched for terms in the keyword report compiled, and they are also two of the least competitive (although they are still classed as highly competitive). In this case I would choose to target two of the keywords that have generated the highest search quantities – 'Sweets' and 'Sweet Shop' because they will be fundamental in the content on the homepage and they generate high quantities of traffic. I would not target 'Retro Sweets' on the homepage for reasons mentioned earlier; it would be more relevant to a separate subpage.
The next keyword I choose would be 'Online Sweet Shop' as this is more specific to the nature of the business I am strategizing for. Although it only generates 1,300 local monthly searches, I know that the searchers are looking for the exact thing that Mr Sherbet's business offers, and they are therefore more likely to convert than those searching for the less specific 'Candy Shop'.
I would also target 'Buy Sweets'. This phrase generates only 320 local monthly searches, but because the query contains the verb 'buy', those searchers are all likely to be ready to complete a monetary transaction. Because Mr Sherbet and Ms Parma-Violet essentially run an ecommerce website, this is exactly the kind of traffic they need.
The final keyword I would choose to target is 'Retro Sweets UK'. This targets the niche area of the business that the client is targeting as well as the specific location. Again, the content on the home-page is likely to be highly relevant to this keyword and with a little effort the website will begin to rank for this keyword.
So, the keyword strategy I devised for the homepage of a new UK online sweet merchant will consist of the phrases:
Sweets
Sweet Shop
Online Sweet Shop
Buy Sweets
Retro Sweets UK
Because this is a new business in quite a congested marketplace, the strategy would be designed to evolve over time. For example, in one year the target keywords on the homepage might change to more competitive keywords depending on the progress of the site. These keywords will determine the homepage content and also the Meta tags such as the title tag and the Meta description – other blogs are available specifically on this subject.
Hopefully you have found this guide helpful and it may enlighten you to some of the processes that go into the creation of a keyword strategy. If you have any other questions about internet marketing or strategy please leave a comment or contact us through our website.
