How Effective is Keyword Research?
Nowadays we are able to carry out effective keyword research on Google’s search engine, we can see
• What terms are being typed into Google
• The demographics for individual geographical locations
• A competitive scale for Adwords (PPC)
• How many pages are targeting each term
From this data we are able to use a mathematical formula to produce something called KEI (Keyword Efficiency Index) basically a numerical figure in percentage terms that separates good keywords from bad, well that’s the theory anyway.
In reality there are 2 areas we cannot find answers to
• Are the usage figures skewed by people checking their own keywords
• How do we measure the core strength of any given page
It’s the second part I would like to concentrate on today, how do we measure the core strength of any given page. Let’s look at this another way
Imagine we carry out keyword research on the term ‘coal washing’ we see it is searched for 1000 times per month in the UK, now when we look at the amount of pages targeting this term we see there are only 67,600 pages, a low figure. This term will therefore read attractively on the KEI scale, however how can we determine the actual strength of these 67,600 pages, the answers is we can’t.
What this tells us is our keyword research should only be used as a guide.
Here are my top 10 guidelines for effective keyword research:
1. Longtail keywords convert better than generic terms
2. Geo-specific keywords are a must if there’s usage
3. Design web pages with an element of flexibility, if a keyword is not working, change it
4. Experiment with keywords, this can easily be done via articles
5. Keywords change over time, keep abreast of the situation
6. It’s impossible to get it 100% right, keep persevering with quality research
7. Keep an eye on the keywords targeted by your competitors
8. PPC can be used effectively to experiment with keywording
9. Setting up keyword capture devices is crucial
10. High margin services do not need velocity, more quality
Hopefully this article has helped unravel some of the mysteries that surround keyword research. If you’re still struggling to come to terms with it drop me a line at info@businessservicesuk.com
Pete Arkwright
This article is sponsored by Skills Provision, a leading International Recruitment Agency
Date Written: Tue, Oct 11th 2011
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