1) Think of a Keyword as a Recommendation. When a visitor types in a search query (keyword search) in a search engine bar, Google is recommending sites. SEO friendly sites are created to support ranking for more long lists of relevant keywords (short tail and long tail) and are selected based on a combination of keyword research, competitive factors and overall business goals.

Google has more than 240 algorithmic elements (that they don’t share;) Getting sites to rank requires many things, but most importantly good site architecture, good content, a competitive link profile, and (more recently) social signal.

2) Google Gives “Recommendations” to Sites based on Relevance and Trust. The latter is achieved over time. Sites may or may not achieve every keyword in the list, but the goal is continued work on and off page to reach that goal.

3) Local Search is Different from Natural Search. Google Places has a different algorithm with different rules. It’s an important but separate strategy.

4) Long Tail Search Queries are Important. One of the less understood terms for keyword selection is long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are important as they maximize conversion rates. These are terms that are longer than one or two words and often have stronger intention than more general, higher volume keywords. One of the core concepts in the marketing world is the 80/20 rate. This concept defines that 20% of your clients make 80% of your business. Though long tail keywords will only provide about 20% of your traffic, it may statistically be 80% of your leads and sales conversion. (This isn’t always true, but it’s a guideline that helps clients understand the value of the long tail.) Being more specific, hence less frequent, long tail keywords can go on indefinitely so that the sum of all of them can eventually exceed the combined searches of most common keywords. Let’s take an example. Someone is looking for shoes can type “shoes” in a search engine. That person will have to sieve through some 198 million pages in Google to get to the shoes really wanted. Let’s look at the long tail keywords based on the assumption that the person knows what type of shoes is being looked for (infographic from Marketing Sherpa):

“red shoes” – 94 million results
“red sport shoes” – 7 million results
“red mizuno sport shoes” – 312 000 results
“red mizuno men sport shoes” – 215 000 results

As the query gets more precise, the competition gets lower, hence making it easier to rank on the product. Along with that, as the person knows specifically (deeper intention) what shoes are being targeted, the probability of selling this product or service to that person is getting higher. Long tail keyword traffic is lower but brings more qualified traffic in, maximizing conversions. This means that long tail = better conversion.

5) Keyword Research is One Part of the Overall Search Strategy. Lists includes short and long tail terms to reach the high volume search as well as the less frequent but more conversion-valuable search terms. Additionally, terms should be funneled to the pages that are most relevant to that query (not all keywords should go to the home page).

6) Marketers Use Search Ranking Tools to Define Rankings. Prior to personalized/local and universal search, every visitor saw the same results for a search query. Now the algorithm varies those results based on a number of other factors including personalization, region, past searching history, etc. To define for the client where a search query/keyword is ranking, we use tools. (Like RankChecker and SEOmoz.org). These tools allows us to share an aggregate of how the keywords are ranking (though not every searcher sees the same thing) it’s a good guideline of ranking performance. Rankings can also change daily so week to week focus is on traffic and lead performance and we review keyword ranking and improvement once a month.

7) There are Other (More Important) Performance Metrics. Rankings are one element of our performance metrics dashboard. Rankings get us awareness and traffic, which acquire leads, which generates business. Obsessively monitoring ranking is a waste of precious time. Look at those reports once a month, but focus analytics time on visits and how traffic is using the site and if they’re converting to revenue.

Okay, my last blog was about Google tools, but this is worth noting. Googles New Search Tool in beta is kinda cool. The premise is reverse engineering keywords as an intelligence tool (of course they want you to use it to increase ad spend for AdWords, but whatever.

*Based on actual Google search queries
*Matched to specific pages of your website with your ad and search share

They load keyword suggestions based on content already on your site. Then it shows you how competitive the word is and, here’s the self serving element, cost af the word in an AdWord campaign.

Try it and tell me what you think;)

Of all the strategies that are used to implement good search engine optimization, keywords are the most foundational and often times the most misunderstood.

Not all keywords are created equal.

The value of a keyword includes how often it is visited as well as how closely that keyword matches searcher intention. The final benchmark for that keyword is the results it yields for your business goals.

Happily, search marketers are moving away from straight keyword ranking and placement and more towards a Return On Investment model. It doesn’t matter if your keywords generate a lot of volume if you’re not matching that searcher intention with your business objective. If this sounds a little complicated, you’re right, it often times is complicated and it takes more than just one pass of keyword research.

Spend some time creating your keyword list. Then continue to spend time monthly reviewing the traffic generated from those keywords and monitor how those visitors use your site. Optimizing your site for a keyword, especially a competitive keyword, is a lot of time and work. You want to make sure that the keywords you are optimizing for are getting you the end result that you desire. Don’t just let your sales team define for you what your website keywords should be. The process of selecting and optimizing for keywords needs to be methodical and it takes time and effort.

You might be surprised to know that keyword relevance is even more important than the volume of traffic that keyword generates. Spend time optimizing for keywords that drive profit not volume.

Investment in good Keyword Research is the cornerstone of great Search Engine Optimization and Marketing.

As I’ve enjoyed the holidays, I’m reminded about how important foundational elements are to so many things. When it comes to preparing a great meal, there’s no fancy color coordinated table setting that will make up for a bad cut of meat. When it comes to hosting a party, it doesn’t matter if the food and cocktails are perfect if you didn’t invite people you like. It’s difficult to build anything sustainable on a rocky foundation. I meet with many business owners who want to skip the foundation. No matter where you are in your search marketing efforts take this quick quiz and determine if your foundation is solid and ready for building.

1 We’ve done thorough keyword research
2 We have good information architecture for our website
3 We have link popularity through strategic linking
4 We can be found for the keywords we’ve defined for our business
5 We know which search queries result in conversion
6 We understand our analytics
7 We send natural search traffic to other pages besides our home page
8 We have a plan for continued improvement
9 We’ve done competitive analysis and know what our competitors are doing
10 Our search goals are quantifiable so we can determine return on investment

If you don’t have these foundational elements, take some time to create a plan that addresses each. If you have mastered these elements, it’s time to start landing page optimization. We’ll talk about testing next post!

Paid Search (PPC-Pay Per Click) is a great way to stick your toe into search marketing. If planned correctly, it’s cost effective, it’s simple to implement and very trackable. Whether you use Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing or MSN AdCenter, your first step is doing some keyword research. Go to Wordtracker and download the free trial, test the words you think your customers are using to find you and also get some other recommendations. Then create ad group campaigns based on your business objectives. Do you want people to purchase a product? Create an ad group using keywords for that product, take them to a page that best explains the product (the closer to the end of the sales cycle the better). You’ll need to plan which keywords to attach to which ad groups, utilizing not just broad matching, but exact matching and negative matching as well. Make sure that your ad group has a call to action. If your visitors don’t traditionally purchase or take the action you want them to take on the first visit, take them to a page that allows you to acquire an email address to begin communicating with your potential new customer (sign up for email, download a white paper, etc.) Since you’re paying dearly for that click, make sure that you’re creating a process within your Paid Search Campaign to support your business objectives. Tip: If you create an ad group that is initiated with a keyword regarding a particular product, take the click to a page that gets them the closest to that product (not your home page!) Also, remember that a paid search visit starts with a search query using the words “buy yellow widgets” take them to a landing page with the words “buy yellow widgets”, you’ll want to carry the “scent” of the originating search query throughout the process so you don’t lose your potential new customer. Look for our post June 15th when we’ll discuss creating landing pages for your paid search campaigns and improving ROI by testing creative on landing pages. Check out this great tool in beta for testing creative at Google Web Optimizer. (Next time: Defining online business goals). Hope you’ll join me!