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Posted on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 05:16 PM by
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(This post is written for small business owners; SEO folks, you can move along.) Three Types of KeywordsThere are three basic types of keywords that will drive traffic to your site: 1.) Branded keywords: These are keywords that match or use your business name (or your product name if it’s a unique product not available anywhere else). 2.) Non-branded, long-tail keywords: These are terms that don’t use your business name and are generally less competitive. An example might be a term like “dermatologist recommended skin care regimen” that sends traffic to a dermatologist’s website. 3.) Non-branded, short-tail keywords: These are terms that don’t use your business name, but are more competitive. Dermatology-related examples would be terms like “skin care products” or “clogged pores.” I’m simplifying things a bit here, but those are the three main keyword types that I monitor. Three Stages of Keyword SuccessIf you’re just starting out with a new site and/or SEO campaign, my experience tells me this is what you should expect to see if you’re doing SEO the right way.
Early Stage In the beginning, you’ll probably only be able to rank for and get search traffic from branded keywords. Short of some miracle (like an appearance on Dr. Phil or something) that leads to amazing exposure, buzz and links, you won’t be getting traffic from many non-brand terms in the early stages. Even this stage might be difficult if you have a common business name. Keep in mind that SEO success requires patience. Think marathon, not sprint. Middle Stage If you’re doing things the right way and making progress, you’ll start to rank for and get traffic from more than your branded keywords. It’ll still be too soon to get traffic from short-tail phrases, but you’ll see less competitive phrases showing up in your keyword referral list — things like the “dermatologist recommended skin care regimen” example that I mentioned above. When will this happen? That depends on your industry, your competition, how strong your SEO and social media efforts are, and so forth. It will likely take months — could be 2-3 months, or it could be 6-8 months or more. I can’t tell you that. Late Stage I don’t want to call this the “final” stage, because SEO is an ongoing process that should never come to an end. But the third stage of keyword success is when you start getting traffic from non-branded, short-tail keywords. These are the competitive phrases like “skin care products” and “clogged pores” from my earlier example. When will this happen? Again, it depends on all the factors I listed two paragraphs earlier. It could take 6-8 months, or it could take a couple years. There’s no fixed answer I can share. It takes time, though, and not everyone gets to this stage. If you get to this stage, and you haven’t taken any shortcuts or cut corners that might get you in trouble, you can be certain you’re on the right path. Your website and SEO plan are doing well. (Ultimately, of course, you should measure success by how much money your website and SEO plan are bringing in, not just by how much traffic you’re getting. Don’t forget that.) How Do You Get To The Third Stage?I think you have to hit a home run with the four keys to online success: a well SEO’d website, a great and active blog, a strong social media presence and a great product/service. I think you have to focus on earning trust in everything you do. And I think you have to understand all of the pieces that define long-term SEO success. It ain’t easy, but it sure is worth the hard work and long hours when you get to the point where search engines are sending you traffic for fantastic keywords that lead directly to sales or leads. (Stock photos via Shutterstock and used under license.) Advertisement: FREE SEO Checklist Guide Book – DOWNLOAD NOW! This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing. SEO’s Three Stages of Keyword Success MORE NEWS FROM SMALL BUSINESS SEMSBSM Flashback: May 2011For those of you who are new SBSM readers & subscribers, here’s a list of noteworthy posts you probably missed from one year ago. I try to put together a post like this each month to introduce new readers to old content that might be worth reading. Google’s Freshness Algorithm in ActionReal quick post here (I hope) about fresh content in Google’s search results. Background Google has been emphasizing fresh content in its search results for some time now. That link goes back to November 2011, and when I write on Search Engine Land about Google’s monthly search quality ... The Fallacy of Timing Blog Posts & Social Media UpdatesStudies that claim to tell you when the best time to publish a blog post or share content socially are, in my opinion, mostly a load of crap. One Month Away: Local University – Advanced! – in SeattleWe’re exactly a month away from what should be a terrific day of local search marketing information! 8 Common Twitter Questions from Small Business OwnersConfession: I’ve spent more time doing social media marketing in the past three years than doing local SEO/marketing. (Maybe that’s why my GetListed.org Local University friends put me on the social media “beat.”) RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSWhat If Your Customers Could Talk to Your CRMI spend a lot of time talking to and about the stuff that we do to make it work now. So sometimes it’s a real treat to get to talk to someone that’s so far out ahead of most of us in their thinking that you pretty much just listen with your mouth open when they talk. (I would put my conversati... 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Small business owners: When you’re just launching a new website and getting started with SEO, it’s okay to feel like you’re walking around in dark cave. You don’t know what’s ahead nor what to expect. And you’re not sure if you’re going in the right direction. And that’s perfectly normal. Over time, though, things will become clearer if you’re on the right path. One way to monitor that is to watch for the three stages of keyword success.