Are keywords rankings a zero sum game for our site?
-
We’ve made pages with resources for our customers. These pages have been well received and gotten us some good traffic. But these pages only target our main keywords tangentially. If we continue to build up pages like this -- that give us traffic from our customers, but don’t directly target our main keywords -- will our target keywords -- and the pages that focus on those keywords -- suffer?
Is it a zero sum game for our web site? Does increasing rankings and pages for certain keywords mean that other keywords / pages decrease as a result?
-
Boxcarpress,
It would help if there were a little more info, but I will take a stab at it.
No, it is not a zero sum game. Think of each page as needing to be optimized for its keyword and then insure that the mechanism to get to it is in no more than about three clicks.
While traffic from current customers can be good: If it causes a new sale, improves customer relations, allows them to be a repeat customer, etc. If you are building other pages for keywords not impacted by your current customer traffic, it will take longer to see a result unless it is around something that is highly searched. You must be clear that you are targeting keyword terms that are relevant to your business and are the queries used by those who use the search engines.
So, If you keyword is applesauce, and current customers don't go to that for whatever reason, then you need to do keyword research around applesauce. If the best search is "how to make applesauce" in terms of your site and what people search for, you must make that page be optimized for that search: Correct title tag, url, H1, H2, etc. You must make sure the content is relevant to that search - if I want to make applesauce and land on a page with pictures of different brands of applesauce and no recipe, I am probably bouncing in 5 seconds. If you show a pot of applesauce simmering on a stove and a clear recipe beneath it, you likely have my attention.
Keep the customer pages and keep working on the others.
Hope this helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is it a bad idea to hyphenate keywords?
Hello, my understanding was that Google reads hyphens in keywords as spaces, but if that's accurate how come keywords with hyphens that I research with Keyword Explorer — for instance, hospital-acquired infections — rank lower when I include the hyphen? If the hyphen hurts SEO, do I have to remove them all from the blog or page in question? Removing hyphens means a blog or page will have punctuation errors, which is irritating to an editor, but I don't want to sacrifice the effectiveness of keywords, either. Thanks, in advance, for your response!
Keyword Research | | SallieJ0 -
Changing Targeted Keywords on Landing Page
So we have a landing page that is ranking for a few of our targeted keywords but we are thinking about splitting the page into two and moving some of the content onto its own page. Our page at the moment has allot of content for keyword A and a little bit for keyword B, we are ranking for quite a few search terms around keyword A and a couple (but allot less) around keyword B, so we want to create a new page with content for keyword B ...hopefully that makes sense... So my question is are there any best practices around this sort of thing? We obviously dont want to negatively affect the rankings we are already gaining for keyword A and I'm worried that moving content around will do that. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | O2C0 -
Keywords ranking however the URL shown is not related to the ranked keyword?
Hi, Some of our ranked keywords and URLs are not related. e.g. the served URL is not optimised for the specific keyword, any ideas? Thank you Daniela
Keyword Research | | EurekaSolutions0 -
To switch high-ranking keyword for one with higher volume?
I have a client who already ranks very well for the keyword "odor removal service" (#3 average rank). I'd like to use this as my primary keyword phrase, but the search volume is not very high (avg. monthly search of 90). A similar keyword phrase like "odor eliminator" has a search vol. of 4400 and the same competitiveness. Even its long-tail derivatives like "natural odor eliminator" still have a much higher volume (360) and would be a more accurate description of the service. In cases like this where you are already ranking well for a relevant keyword (but are still not generating much traffic), is it worth losing that keyword ranking in the hopes of ranking better for a keyword with higher volumes. Just to be clear, I'm not referring to a secondary keyword, but to the main keyword phrase around which we'll be building primary and secondary related keywords. Thanks for any feedback.
Keyword Research | | Mike_E0 -
How to finalize the keywords for SEO?
Hi, I use the following method for keyword research: Create a long raw list of keywords. Use Google AdWords Keyword tool to find monthly searches. Find raw competition. Find direct competition (via allinanchor: search operator) Calculate KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) Calculate KOI (Keyword Opportunity Index) Is there any other (better) way to execute the keyword research? Or is finalizing/selecting the keywords only on the basis of monthly searches sufficient? In short, how to select the best keywords from a long list? Thanks & Regards
Keyword Research | | IM_Learner0 -
Keyword Analysis Tool
Can someone please enlighten me on the Keyword Analysis tool Matrix. Does Domain Linking refer to the number of links back to that domain as a whole? Also why is it that a page with a lower page ranking can be way ahead of one with a domain ranking that is way higher or vice-a -versa? What is a good number to go after? what is actually attainable? Thanks
Keyword Research | | nooneoconnor0 -
How to stay organized for keyword research?
As most of you know keyword research can be quite taxing. I have been trying to get organized and do extensive keyword research. But trying to stay organized is proving to be more and more difficult. Can I get some expert views from experts in the community as to how you all go about organizing your research and how you track things over time. Thanks
Keyword Research | | EricMoore0 -
Keyword difficulty %age
I am using the Seomoz keyword tool to do some research. Some of the keywords I am researching are returning with a difficulty of 20 - 30% , are these good percentage keywords to target. I will obviously be following Seomoz tips / methods etc
Keyword Research | | wtfi0