Misconception: Competitiveness vs Search Volume

Competitiveness vs Search Volume

When we think of ranking keywords, I believe there is a misconception with the SEO team to get the clients most competitive keywords ranking and not necessarily the keywords which drive the most traffic to the website.

Search volume is extremely important!
The more people that search for a term the more value a domain name has that matches exactly to the searched term.
It is a proven SEO fact that having a domain name that matches an exact matched search term greatly helps in SERP’s (Search Engine Result Pages).

Search Volume should definitely place a more important role in determining search engine rankings than what it has in the past.  Google Insights in a great way to obtain important statistical data on the amount of people searching for a particular keyword and/or phrase and compare with other keywords you may wish to enter.  Google Insights will also show other related keywords to the ones you search for and give possible alternatives to other keywords you may wish to use in your or your clients campaign.

Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords

Keywords can be split into two categories, long tail and short tail keywords. The term ‘long tail’ was coined by Chris Anderson and is used to describe the strategy of targeting less-competitive niche markets rather than the hugely competitive broad keywords. A long tail keyword is something like ‘sydney office removals company’ while a short wail keyword is something like ‘office removals’.

Even though there may be more searches Australia wide for “office removals” than “Sydney office removals company”, “Sydney office removals company” will bring in more qualified traffic and more serious potential customers and in turn increase revenue for clients business.

Keep these factors in mind when venturing off into keyword research and remember to think Search Volume over Competitiveness.