Keyword Research

Keyword research is perhaps the most crucial element in the optimization process. It's the foundation for all the optimization work that follows. A solid foundation increases the likelihood of a successful seo campaign. Likewise, inferior keyword research can yield disappointing optimization results.

Keyword research is the process of developing a list of keywords and keyword phrases which can be used to optimize the pages of your website around. Good keyword research focuses on finding terms which are relevant to your business, will bring qualified traffic to your website and will result in increased conversions (sales, leads, sign-ups, etc.).

Your keyword list can include one phrase or hundreds. However, website optimization which utilizes more keywords, spreads risk more broadly. With a larger number of keywords, if a couple of them drop in the search rankings, traffic won't stop to your site. With a limited keyword list, an algorithm change which drops a few phrases can dramatically effect a website's search engine traffic.

In developing a keyword list there's often a trade-off between search volume, traffic and conversions. Great keyword research finds the "sweet spot" where a balance is struck between these factors and the resources which will be required to attain high rankings for any given keyword.

For instance, general search phrases (often one and two word phrases) frequently have much higher search volumes. However, they also yield results which are often not as useful to a searcher and hence, are not clicked upon. Even when searchers do click on general results there may not be much of an opportunity to convert them into customers. One reason is because often these searchers are earlier in the buying cycle. Another is that they may find that your site just doesn't fit what they were searching for. That's because, at this stage of a search, searchers are often looking for information which will allow them to further refine and narrow their search. Armed with additional information, they'll then conduct more specific searches. What this means is that you'll usually find lower conversion rates for these more general keywords. Given the fact that general phrases are frequently more competitive terms and thereby take more resources to rank highly, it is often hard to justify attempting to rank for them given the lower conversion rates. However, for companies also interested in branding, achieving rankings for general search phrases should be a strategy which is considered.

Keyword phrases can also be chosen which will bring traffic to your website but which are not relevant to your company. These keywords will have low conversion rates, and are more often than not, a poor business strategy. Often spammy sites will lure visitors to a site with search terms unrelated to that site.

Additionally, there are keyword phrases which may be relevant to your site, but people are not searching for them. It's generally useless optimizing your website for these terms as you'll see no increase in traffic to your site.

Digital Road Consulting performs keyword research as part of every complete website optimization. Final keyword selection is always subject to client approval and based on client goals. Additionally, DRC can conduct keyword research and provide clients with a Keyword Research Report which can be used to perform their own optimization.