Keyword Searches Favor Alert Small Business Websites

How often have you entered a basic keyword search term, like “business website design“, and then wade through pages of results trying to find the type of business website developer you want? You are not alone. Hitwise, a website that tracks how 10 million users interact with the web, found that searchers are learning to use more keywords to narrow their search results. This change in keyword search habits favor alert small businesses that can adapt their websites to these “longtail” keywords.

Longtail keywords are very specific search terms that are usually longer than 4 words. The benefit of optimizing  for longtail keywords is that the leads your website generates are high quality – they are looking specifically for what you are offering.

Hitwise’s research shows that since 2004 two and three word keyword searches are dropping and searches using 4 words or more – the longtail keywords – are increasing. In 2004, no one did 8 word searches. In 2009, three and a half percent of all searches are 8 word searches!

How does this help small businesses? Small businesses can differentiate themselves in the online marketplace by capitalizing on their market’s longtail keywords. If we take a chiropractic practice in Seattle, the longtail keywords include items such as their specialty, their specific neighborhood, and even nearby landmarks.

Lightwave Web Design works with our clients to find those gold nuggets of their niche market’s keywords.

Small businesses monitoring their visitor traffic can see which longtail keywords have visitors checking more than one web page on their site. Once owners detect a pattern of good keywords, doing a second, refining search engine optimization helps boost the website’s search rankings for those keywords.

One technique we have used successfully is to create a new web page just dedicated to a longtail keyword. Over time we watched the new pages go from nowhere to finally capturing Google’s #1 position for those terms.

Any keyword that drives quality traffic to your site (i.e. visitors review two or more pages) is an asset for two reasons. First is the quality sales lead generation. Second is the tide raises all ships principle. Since Google tracks how much traffic visits your site, small businesses that harvest the “low hanging fruit” of the longtail keywords can improve their ranking for more popular keywords.

For small businesses that are only showing up high in search engine results for the owners name, it is probable that the website is not optimized for longtail keywords. Don’t leave money on the online marketing table!

Contact Lightwave Web Design to see if your website can benefit from search engine optimization for your business market.

Finding Customers With Keyword Research

Keyword research is an area of search engine optimization that is often not understood by businesses as a key marketing tool. When building or updating a web site, business owners are often asked “What keywords do you want to use?” Instead of giving a list of keywords they think the market uses, better to lean on the SEO services of your web design company. Finding the best keywords for your online marketing is an involved process that includes watching the effectiveness of keywords over time.

First, let’s introduce a working definition of “keywords”. Keywords are:

1. Search terms of one or more words used by web users to search for products, services or information.
2. Terms used in a web site’s content (title, headings, meta tags, and paragraphs) that are key terms in describing a business’ products, services or information offered.

Effective keyword use matches a web site’s choice of keywords to the keywords customers’ use in their online searches. Customers can always surprise business owners with the terms they regularly use. Best to know what they use and deliver your web content using the customers’ language.

Web sites like Google’s Adwords and WordTracker offer services that shows what terms are used on an average daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Experience says that doing three or more keyword usage searches are best since business owners and SEO services start with the web site owner’s list of keywords. Keyword research tells business owners what their customers’ search terms are.

An example is choosing keywords for a chiropractor’s professional services web site. Do customers usually search for: chiropractic practitioner, practice, doctor, or clinic? Or even more general terms like “wellness clinic” or “alternative health clinic”? Chances are all these terms are used, however, your online marketing strategy should focus primarily on the most used terms.

The second phase of keyword research is checking the web site’s traffic logs. Which terms show visitors checking more than one page and which terms regularly bounce visitors off the site? How many visitors check two or more pages is a more important success factor than how many visitors checked the site. Visitors who bounce off the web site do not generate sales leads.

As in any marketing, quality of leads makes money, not quantity of visitors. Keywords are the online marketing tool for winnowing the field.

Lightwave Web Design knows that a business web site’s keyword success hinges on the depth and effectiveness of the keyword research so we do a minimum of three keyword searches with at least two of the keyword research web sites. Contact us if your web content needs a keyword review. Different keywords can net business owners a whole new market for the same products and services.