The Keyword Research Rabbit Hole

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to use your first meeting with a client to understand their business and collect information that could later inform your keyword research. Now, you’re back at your desk and wondering what to do with all that information.

To begin with, you should have three lists of keyword-types (I call them seeds):

Elements to include in keyword research

1. Seeds most important to your clients (note that these may include jargon and industry-specific terms that need further research)
2. Seeds that accurately describe the business (these would be your own layman’s terms for what this client does)
3. Seeds that are not relevant or core to your client’s business

I like to refer to these as seeds because they are a seed of an idea that could grow into giant “trees” of information and possibilities.

There’s no need at this point to distinguish between “deck” and “decking” for example, and this is a mistake SEOs often make; trying to narrow the field too much too early.

Let’s dive into each of these a little more deeply using an example of a client I did work for:Artisan Construction Services.

Note that all of these lists have far more than 2-3 keywords on them, but for purposes of example, I’ve simplified them. This client is a local (to Raleigh, NC) remodeling company that specializes in building decks and screened porches and remodeling kitchens and bathrooms. (Those are my own words for List Two).

The owner of the company, when asked to describe the product in his own words, said:

“We provide decking, siding and window replacement, and interior remodeling.”

Seeds most important to the client (based on the above description and the keywords he mentioned) are decking, siding, windows and interior remodeling. This would be List One above.

Seeds that aren’t relevant (List Three above) are things the client prefers not to do or sub-contracts out, such as roofing (says he can never do it as cheaply as professional roofers), plumbing (he hates it) and highly specialized design work like tile inlays. He’s also not a licensed electrician. So these are keyword seeds to avoid.

Example of Keyword Seed Lists

List One

List One is based on jargon, and requires further research. The first thing I do with keywords like this is to look at competitors’ websites. I’ve gotten a list of competitors from the client that I’ll research, and I’ll also put these terms into Google or Bing and look at the sites that come up in the results (I’ll localize to Raleigh, NC so that I’m getting the most accurate set of competitors).

Reviewing these sites will give me more seeds to research based on that jargon. In this case, I found specific types of decking, such as composite and pressure-treated, and I found that many competitors also refer to screened porches as sunrooms or patios (which are slightly different, but may cover more potential customers).

One additional thing the client told me is that customers often aren’t sure of what they want until they call him in for an estimate, so I’m keeping this in mind. Also during my research, I found another competitor in search that wasn’t mentioned as a major competitor. I’ll put this on a list of things to ask the client about in our next meeting.

Example of List One Expansion based on Competitors research

Next, I’ll look at how customers are actually referring to the different products and services.

I’ll use the “related searches” area at the bottom of Google’s SERPs,Google Insights to look at trends, and the “Discussions” search option (click “More” under “Search” on the left side of a Google SERP page).

Based on what I found here, I’ve learned that many people are asking what the differences are between screened porches and sunrooms, as well as that they’re sometimes referred to as lanais or three-season porches. I’ll add these seeds to my research.

I also learned that many people are interested in enclosing an existing deck into a screened porch, or “winterizing” a screened porch. More seeds for my research.

To review, I’ve taken the keyword seeds [screened porch], [patio], and [sunroom] and added:

• enclosing deck
• winterizing porch
• lanai
• three-season porch

These are all things that my client’s customers are looking for that his competitors aren’t servicing. They should be easy wins.

Example of List Two expansion based on Google "Discussions"

List Two

I can research List Two in much the same way I did List One. I’ll add these seeds to the research as well.

List Three

List Three is a little different from the others. I won’t add these as seeds to my research, but I will save them for the elimination and refinement process later.

This is where instinct and experience becomes particularly useful, as it’s likely that I can take any list of keywords to avoid and expand it on instinct.

For example, based on what I know of this client, he already wants to avoid roofing, plumbing, tile, and electrical. But here are a few more statements I jotted down at our meeting that give me more clues:

• “I’m not the best priced contractor out there, because I don’t hire any undocumented workers and I pay my taxes. But I am very experienced and my clients are always happy with my work.”

Now I know I need to avoid [cheap], [free], [low-cost], [best priced], and other keywords like that. [Quality], [experience] and [ethical] are possible modifiers that are allowed.

• “I prefer to work with composite materials rather than pressure-treated lumber for decks. It’s much higher quality and creates a nicer finished product.”

So it’s a good idea to focus on any searches asking for the differences between those materials. Also I’ll probably weight the research more heavily to different types and brands of composite materials.

Another note I’m jotting down from this statement is to suggest the client create a page that discusses the pros and cons of composite vs. pressure-treated materials.

• “A lot of customers get a quote from a company like SEARS home improvement when they’re thinking about doing a remodeling project. This makes it tough for me because the materials that SEARS uses are limited to less-expensive ones. It helps me a lot if I can get a sense of a client’s budget beforehand; a single project can vary by thousands of dollars depending on the materials used. But of course, nicer materials create a nicer finished project.”

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5 Questions To Streamline Your Keyword Research

It’s time for the first meeting with the customer. You may be a seasoned search marketer, but you’re still a little nervous. How do you achieve that perfect balance of getting the information you need while still exuding an aura of consummate professionalism, knowledge, and generally make yourself seem like the search Dalai Lama?

Sidebar: Even if you’re an in-house marketer, you can still use these techniques. Pretend your VP of Product Development or someone similarly entrenched in the product/service is your “customer”.First, realize that the real Dalai Lama feels no need to prove himself, he just *is*. Project an aura of confidence, and realize the most elusive concept in our industry. It is not about you, it is about the customer.

Similarly, that first meeting should be all about the customer. This is your best chance to get an outsider’s perspective of how your customer views their products and what language they use to describe them.

After this first meeting, you’ll be an insider, and asking some of these questions will make it seem like you don’t know what you’re doing. So let your customer do most of the talking.

As you listen to the answers, jot down key phrases, jargon, and abbreviations they use to inform your keyword research later. Don’t forget to ask them to clarify anything you don’t understand.

Note that this is by no means an exhaustive list of questions you should be asking; merely a sample of questions for keyword research purposes.

Question 1: I’ve reviewed your website, and have learned about your business. However it always helps to hear you explain it in your own words. So, Mr. Customer, how would you describe what you do?

The answer to this is likely to be the same words you read on their website or see in a brochure. Point out any jargon that you don’t understand, as this will set the stage for later, when you tell them they need to change the way they describe their product.

Question 2: In your opinion, what is it that makes your product/service special? What differentiates you from your competitors?

These are their value propositions; the key elements that need to come across on their pages to compel a conversion. If one of them is that they offer the lowest cost, then you know to research keyword modifiers like [cheap], [low cost], [price]. Alternatively, if they’re not low cost, you know to avoid these keyword modifiers. More on this in my next article.

Question 3: What do you think are similar services/products that you do not consider competitors?

The keywords that come out in this answer will help you refine the research. Often, keywords that are very similar may have a completely different meaning in a particular clients’ industry.

For example, “phone lines” and “phone trunks” are very different and each appeal to a distinct target market. You’ll only want to explore the right one in your research.

Question 4: Which products/services are most profitable for you? Are there other reasons (inventory, seasonality, location) that you would want to push one product/service over another?

Again, the answer to this question will help focus your research. Spend the most time expanding and refining the products that the client indicates are most important. This can sometimes save you from exploring an entire product line, if the customer says something like, “Product A is a necessary evil. We have to carry it, but we also have to price it below cost.”

Obviously, that’s not an area you want to focus on. You’ll include some keywords to be thorough, but you’ll spend more of your time on the “money” keywords.

Nine Best Practices For Optimized < title > Tags

When I do an SEO audit on a webpage, one of the first things I check is the <title> tag. Why? Well, I have several reasons.

Best Practices for Title Tags in SEO

In my book, the <title> tag possesses all of the following:

• It has the most SEO power of any tag on the page for establishing keyword relevance
• Its contents are the source for the blue-link text shown in the search engine results pages (SERPs)
• It’s the best place to get a concise description of the content on the page (well, that’s the theory)

In an optimal world, the last bullet above would always be true. But how many times have you seen a page come out of development sporting the <title> tag text “Page 1” or “Home Page” or “Template” or even simply left blank? Yeah, too many times (me, too).

Given the theory that the <title> tag’s text is supposed to describe the page, search engines ascribe a huge amount of SEO value to the tag’s content – but only if it’s well-formed, contains page-relevant text, and reflects in the limited space available what the page is about (there’s not much SEO power in “Page 1”).

This one tag is a huge opportunity to properly introduce your page to both human users (via the SERPs) and to search engines (for building keyword relevance). Whatever you do, don’t let this opportunity go to waste!

Best Practices For <title> Tag Optimization

When you are reviewing the code of your webpages, look for the <title> tag. See what it says. And note the following suggestions for making it be all that it can be for both human users and search crawlers alike:

1.  Use only one per page, placed within the <head> tag

I have seen many pages in my reviews that have either no <title> tag at all, have multiple <title> tags in the code, or have put the <title> tag within the <body> tag instead of the <head> tag. All of that is wrong, and negates the potential value of the <title> tag.

To keep your code valid and earn the value inherent in this key HTML element, simply keep this in mind: there should only be one <title> tag used per page, and it should only be used within the <head> section of the code.