Keyword Ranking Research Question
-
Hi Mozzers,This is probably a nooby question, but I was wondering how you guys end up deciding if a Keyword is too hard to rank for? Also vice versa, when do you decide that a keyword is too low volume to rank for so you try to rank for a harder keyword?
Eg.
Deciding that ranking for "Dell Computers" is too hard and then deciding to rank for "Dell Small Business Computers"Post-question: Do indirectly rank for Dell Computers if you try to rank for Dell Small Business Computers? If so, how much? Also, how many words inbetween Dell & Computers would there have to be to stop indirectly ranking for Dell Computers?
-
Very good question. It is ultimately a matter for yourself. I always take the primary keyword head on - even if there is no realistic chance of ranking for it in the short term. However I also make sure that I target keywords off the same branch that I can rank for. I usually start with 5-7.
I believe you should always have your eye on the ultimate prize. Ubersuggest is good I also like Semrush.com - as you also get to see what organic keywords your competitors are getting traffic from. Semrush may further fine tune the keywords you target.
On a nexus between primary and secondary - if you are targeting "dell computers" and words around that frame - once you get some traction with your other keywords then you may start to rank for "dell computers" but at 300 etc. . In fairness though it is impossible for anyone to suggest a true nexus as it will all depend on your seo optimization and the keywords you initially target and what you actually publish/do.
Hope that assists and good luck.
-
Hi Steven,
Maybe my view on this matter can help you a little.
First of all you need to analyse the playing field. So use a tool like ubersuggest.org to get all the relevant search queries and variations for your type of business. Check also some Google suggestions at the bottom of the search result page for some good / popular variations.
After you determined all the relevant keywords (including long tail keywords) for your business you can insert them into Google Adwords keyword planner. The output will give you the expected monthly search volume and, very important, the level of competition on a specific keyword.
Based on your domain and page authority compared to the top ranking competitors you can asses whether its possible to get some top rankings on high volume search queries. When the competition is modest, and comparable to the authority of your website, you can challenge them by creating some high quality landing pages. However if you find competitors to have more authority you can decide to try to rank for keywords with a lower level of competition.
If the difference between your site and the top competitors is not gigantic, I would try both. So try to rank between the big boys and go for the long tail search queries. Bear in mind it's all about the visitor. If your visitor finds your landing page useful, then the chances of a good / better ranking will improve. So try to write the page with the customer in mind, make it very relevant. But if your competitors have a lot more authority, I would start with long tail keywords.
It is possible to rank for "dell computers" if you try to rank for "Dell Small Business Computers". However if your competitor has a very relevant page on "Dell computers" he would probably rank higher.
Of course you'll need to analyse the performance of your pages with MOZ In order to make the necessary changes and improvements.
Good luck!
Kind regards,
Herman (from the Netherlands)
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
-
Country Wise Keyword difficulty
I want to know that how it is possible that global and country-wise keyword difficulty should be the same. Please help me out understand this confusion.
Keyword Research | | Daie80 -
How come when I create a keyword list, the volume of that keyword per month is not displayed? It is only displayed once the keyword is selected.
Why do we no longer have the ability to view keywords in a list with all of its data? VdhmGmQ
Keyword Research | | solitude15577990 -
Point of diminishing returns for keyword research?
Hey, something I've been thinking about lately is "where is the point of diminishing returns for keyword research detail?" I get that keyword research is important for finding out stuff like "people generally search for 'doctor' way more often than they search for 'licensed medical professional'", but what about after that? Is there much useful information to be found by sifting through spreadsheets of stats about "doctor" vs "dr" vs "doctors" vs "physician" vs "physicians" etc? Especially when Google seems to treat a lot of those as interchangable? Or another example: If a remodeling company did basements, do you think there's much to be gleaned from AdWords data comparing "basement remodeler", "basement remodelers", basement remodeling", "basement remodeling contractor", "basement remodeling contractors", "basement renovation", "basement renovations", "basement renovators", "finished basements", "basement finishers", "basement finishing", etc.? Should those variations be analyzed and each targeted by their own sets of pages and pieces of content (e.g. a blog post that specifically targets "basement remodeler" and a blog post that targets "basement finisher" and a third blog post that specifically targets "renovated basement") Or should the takeaway be "there aren't any combinations that people overwhelmingly prefer to use, so let's just make content about basements and topics relevant to basements. Keyword research complete."
Keyword Research | | BrianAlpert782 -
What makes a keyword good?
Having taken a day-long course not long ago, I'm new to SEO and I'm struggling to decide which keywords to target. I work in a really niche area: we make booking engines that allow travel agencies to sell flights, hotels, cars and other travel services online. I know there are various tools on the web (and on Moz) which give you the average monthly searches and competition for each term but I still don't understand how to decide which ones to target. For example, the term 'travel systems' gets a high amount of search and the competition for it is high. However, Google brings back results about prams and buggies so I think I should avoid this one. Another is 'travel solutions' which gets a high amount of search and is low on competition. Google brings back results about travel agencies. This is more our area but our target audience is travel agencies so I'm not really sure I'd be attracting the right traffic? I'd be really grateful for any advice that you can give me.
Keyword Research | | noortomlinson0 -
What is the best way to do a one time rankings check of 10000+ keywords
Title pretty much sums it up. At the pricing moz offers this is not practical. Even at their highest tier i would only get 3700 keywords, so it would take several months to get the results.
Keyword Research | | adriandg0 -
Question about Google Keyword "match type."
When using google keyword tool what type of match type do you find most helpful? broad, exact match, phrase? I know they all have their own benefits, but if you just want to test out which term gets more searches I'm not sure what the difference is between the exact match and phrase. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | NoahsDad0 -
What's the best keyword tool for discovering regional/metropolitan area keywords?
Generally I use the Google Keyword Tool for my keyword research, but given the fact that the data is either country specific or global, I was wondering what others use for regional/dma-specific keyword discovery. Regional traffic is very important to my site, so I'm hoping to find a tool that I can use to find keywords germane to my audience.
Keyword Research | | BostonWright0 -
How to do geo research for keyword phrases?
I'm working on a landing page for a client (music instrument rentals) and want to optimize for terms related to: music instrument rentals in San Francisco music instrument rentals in Seattle music instrument rentals in St. Louis music instrument rentals in Minneapolis/St. Paul How can I find the most popular terms based on a variation of the main term (music instrument rentals) and geo area? In other words, maybe 'Where to get Instrument rentals in San Francisco' is best? Thanks for your input! Mike Corso
Keyword Research | | mikecorso0