Keyword Research: Search Volume - How Important is It?
Monday, 25 January 2010 11:03
When you are doing Niche Research using a keyword tool like Market Samurai (or any other tool), what does keyword volume, number of searches per day or month, really tell you?
About the only thing it tells you is that people searched for that keyword or phrase in the past.. that's it. Doesn't tell you who searched for it, why or if they are a good fit for your product. And it doesn't mean the same number of people are searching today.
A Guideline...
Search numbers found with any tool can only be used as a guideline; a starting point of your research.. a way for you to filter, categorize and prioritize the keywords you think have potential. If you have a 100 keywords, of course, you'll gravitate to those with more volume, but it doesn't end there!
Once you have a good keyword list, then you start eliminating the keywords that aren't targeted enough and prioritizing those that have the best chance of leading to a sale or the action you desire.
That's key. Your primary goal is to build a list of keywords and then whittle it down until you are left with a keyword(s) that you feel will stand the best chance of looking for the information or products you are selling. (and then filter those using other data like strength of competition)
That's normally not going to be the keywords with the most searches! You can get a TON of searches, 1000s, and no conversions. And you can get a small amount of searches and GREAT conversions.
Being Targeted is Your #1 Priority...
Focus more on how targeted those keywords are to your offer and content.
Would you rather be the guy or gal that can brag they get 10s of thousands of visitors, but few sales? Or the one that only gets a few hundred but is smiling all the way to the bank?
What's even better, in Search Marketing, the more targeted your keywords are the more likely you'll have a great Click Through Rate. When someone is searching in Google and they see a title and description that fits perfectly to what they are seeking, of course they'll click it. If it's not targeted, they'll be less likely to click.
So a person with 1000 searches on the keyword they are targeting might only get 10 click a day because they are poorly targeted... and then you could have someone with a 100 searches a day getting 10 clicks as well because they are more targeted (AND it's more likely they'll convert that traffic).
Keyword tools are very, very important. Especially ones like Market Samurai that allow you to drill down, filter, create projects, manage, get great details about the traffic (including competition, SEO related data, other market data).. they make finding keywords faster and easier. But 'Search Numbers' are only a starting point. Just keep that in mind.
-Matt Levenhagen
P.S. This is even illustrated more when you find keywords that get some volume that you don't find using a Keyword Tool... New products, new trends or simply low volume searches that aren't picked up by tools... they can provide incredible conversion rates. They have low searches, but they are extremely targeted - the person searching wants exactly what will be found when they click through.. and might even be looking for that buy button Right Now!
I have been researching this for a very long time now and I have not been able to find such top quality information untill I came to your blog today.
Mark McCulloch