Download - SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Transcript
Page 1: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Keyword

Research

And

SEO

Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 1

SMX West

Christine Churchill

President, KeyRelevance@KeyRelevance

@ChrisChurchill

Page 2: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

• President of KeyRelevance, LLC

• Member of Founding Board of Directors of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization (DFWSEM)

• Author at Search Engine Land & Web Marketing Today

• Longtime Speaker & Instructor, Search Engine Strategies, PubCon, and Search Marketing Expo Conferences

• Masters degree and over 15 years online marketing experience

Speaker: Christine Churchill

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 3: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 3

Keywords = Dead

SEO = Dead(but some of the rules have changed and

we have to be better MARKETERS!)

@ChrisChurchill

Page 4: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

• Keyword Research – What is

it? Why do it?

• Hummingbird Algorithm

• How to do KW Research

• Keyword Tools

• How to use Keywords to

Optimize Content

• SEO Copywriting Tips

What We’ll Cover

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 5: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Keyword Research

Fundamental step to all

search marketing

Keyword Research is the process of researching to identify the keyword terms customers use to find your products and services

Keyword Research helps you get inside the mind of customers

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 6: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

• People use search engines to find you on the web

• Engines use text to categorize pages

• Research unveils terms people actually use

• KW Research improves performance of online

marketing

Why Do Keyword Research?

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 7: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Who Benefits from Keyword Research?

• Everyone in publishing

• Marketing staff and Search Marketers – both paid and organic

• PR – Better pickup if use keywords in articles & in press releases

• Content writers

– a way to keep content fresh and relevant

– Inspires topics readers are interested in

• Your targeted audience

– By using the phrases readers are using in search, your audience

can find your great content

• Your Company – targeting the phrases people actually use brings

motivated customers to your site which improves conversions and

user experience

Knowing the best words to target helps you plan

your content marketing strategy

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 8: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

What is Hummingbird?

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 8

Hummingbird is the name of the new search

algorithm that Google launched last year.

According to Google the new delivers better

results that are "precise and fast" - like a

hummingbird.

It’s Google trying to figure out user intent

and improve conversational search.

Google wants to match the meaning, rather than pages matching just a

few words.

Hummingbird is paying more attention to each word in a query, ensuring that

the whole query — the whole sentence or conversation or meaning — is taken

into account, rather than a few exact terms.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 9: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Do We Still Need to Worry About Keywords?

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 9

Yes, for several reasons:

Keep in mind that although Hummingbird is an

overhaul of Google’s algorithm, many of the old

parts are still used.

Google’s semantic analysis considers the

language in your content

- so you still need to use keywords and

related phrases on the page to communicate to

users and Google what the page is about

- means some on-page optimization

still is needed

Exact phrase matching for SEO is a thing of the past.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 10: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Tips on Surviving Online After Hummingbird

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 10

Marketers now need to:

- Create high quality longer content that

establishes your site as the place to go for

answers

- Develop ways to increase the authority of the

site

- Become a leader in your vertical

- Consider multiple ways to show leadership:

social media, links, user metrics, online

relationships

Google has made it harder for “fake” authority to win. Going

forward you have to earn your position.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 11: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

How Hummingbird Changed Our World

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 11

The New Approach:

- Learn to focus on the intent behind the search

term, then try to develop content that delivers

answers to what the searcher wants

-Stop focusing on exact match phrases and look

more to long tail and related phrases. Build a

vocabulary of terms that are related to the

phrase

- When doing KW research, now you research

core phrases plus related, synonyms, and words

that frequently occur with your main terms (co-

occurrence)

- Use phrases naturally and include a

vocabulary of related phrases

@ChrisChurchill

Page 12: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 12

How to Do

Keyword

Research

@ChrisChurchill

Page 13: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 1313

Keyword Research is an Iterative Process

Brainstorming

&

Discovery

Keyword

Expansion

Keyword

Evaluation

@ChrisChurchill

Page 14: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 14

Keyword Brainstorming and Discovery Phase

Page 15: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 15

Create Keyword List Using Diverse Sources

• Brainstorming session – no judging words at this stage. Goal

is to cast your net widely and generate broad list.

• Keyword lists from within company

– Review company web site and print collateral

– Press Releases

– Often too much insider jargon

– May or may not be customer’s lingo

@ChrisChurchill

Page 16: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 16

Learn the Lingo of the Customer

– Customer interviews

– Customer Surveys and Focus Groups

– Talk to support or sales personnel who talk directly to customers

– Review discussion forums, user generated content, blogs, social media

The best keywords come straight from the customer’s mouth.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 17: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill 17

Speak the Language of Customer

Increase conversion by speaking the customer’s language

Correct bad keyword choices– Missing traffic

– Missing sales

Discover new keyword opportunities- Find overlooked or new keywords

- Take advantage of longer tail phrases

“Duplicate a CD” vs “Burn a CD”

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 18: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

18

The Long Tail

Finding New Opportunities

• Based on frequency graph

• Chris Anderson wrote book about it

– Describes it as new economic model

– Unlimited selection – Amazon books, iTunes

– Idea is that non-hits can make money based on sheer volume

• Popular phrases on left – highly competitive and expensive. Less popular on right – lower volume

“20 to 25% of the queries that Google sees today have

never been seen before.” – Udi Manber, Google VP of Engineering

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 19: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Example Head-Tail Keywords

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 19

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Camera, digital camera, Sony

Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera

compare digital cameras

buy digital slr camera

Page 20: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 20

Create Keyword List Using Diverse Sources

• Online and Traditional Print

Magazines

• Company and Product Reviews

• Online Thesaurus

• Search in Google with tilde ~ for

synonyms

@ChrisChurchill

Page 21: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 21

Create Keyword List Using Diverse Sources (cont)

Competitors

– Review their web site

and collateral for keywords

– Look at words they

are buying in PPC

– What terms are they

– targeting in SEO

– Can give you

competitive insights and

ideas on overlooked terms

@ChrisChurchill

Page 22: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 22

Use Site Search Data

Site Search Box• Reveals keywords and

expressions that visitors are

actually using / wanting

• Acts as a direct feed from the

visitors brain

• Make sure you collect site

search data – can tie it to your

analytics for easy viewing

Downside is data is limited and site search is usually a fall back when users can’t find what they are looking for on your site.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 23: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 23

Site Search

@ChrisChurchill

Page 24: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

The Not Provided Issue

• Biggest change in

SEO and Keyword

Research to date

• Means site owners

and marketers have

lost the connection

between the search

keywords and their

performance on

Google

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 24

See http://www.slideshare.net/KeyRelevance/ways-to-survive

for tips on workarounds

Page 25: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Keyword

Research

Tools

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 26: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Benefits of Keyword Tools

• Saves money and time

• Provides insight outside of your site

• Identifies keyword opportunities you

might miss

• Offers popularity numbers you

can’t get from your own analytics

• Moves you beyond keyword

assumptions

• Allows you to compare phrases

26Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 27: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

27

Keyword Research Tools

Free

• Google Keyword Planner Tool

• Google Webmaster Tools

• Google Trends

• Google Display Planner

• Google Instant

• Bing Keyword Tool

• Bing Ads Intelligence Excel Plug-In

Fee Based

• WordTracker

• Searchmetrics

• Trellian Keyword Discovery

• Hitwise

• WordStream

• SEMRush

• ComScore

• SpyFu

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Remember:

No one tool has all the answers.

You need several tools in your toolbox.

Combining the tools synergistically works well.

Some tools are better for certain functions.

For instance, Google Instant is used for discovering

new keyword phrases and Google Trends is good for

comparing.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 28: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

New Google Keyword Planner

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 28

- Combines old Google Keyword Tool and

Traffic Estimator Tool

- Oriented for Paid Search

- Must be Logged Into AdWords to Use

- No device filtering (no mobile vs desktop

filtering)

- Numbers shown are average search

volume numbers for ALL devices (old tool

defaulted to desktop) so numbers may look

higher

@ChrisChurchill

Page 29: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Trends

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 29

Google Trends provides trends

from web searches, images, news,

shopping and YouTube

@ChrisChurchill

Page 30: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Hot Trends

Copyright 2014KeyRelevance LLC 30@ChrisChurchill

Page 31: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Webmaster Tools shows top search queries

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 31

Sort by Clicks to see the

terms that actually

brought the most traffic

to the site

If you click on the query,

it shows which pages

appear for the term

Using Filters can separate

brand/non-brand and core

terms, plus sources from web,

image, mobile, & video

Shows up to 2000 top

queries for the last 90

days

Not affected by the

Not Provided – this is

limited but actual

keyword data

Provides Impression,

Clicks, and CTR, but

no conversion data

@ChrisChurchill

Page 32: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

GWT KW Data

Advantages:

– Shows KW, impressions, and click data

– Impressions w/out clicks might indicate a Title/Meta

Description/Snippet issue

Disadvantages:

– Cannot break out data by other segments (KW leading

to conversions, for example) so data is not highly

actionable

– Mapping KW to landing page is tedious 1-at-a-time

process – not useful for large scale KW analysis

– Requires you to download reports regularly since GWT

data expires in 90 days

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 32

Page 33: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

GWT Top Pages

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 33

Sort by clicks

to find which

pages

brought the

most traffic.

Can click on

Page URL to see

which terms the

page ranked for

@ChrisChurchill

Page 34: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Display Planner(replaced Contextual Targeting Tool, Placement Tool, and the Google Ad Planner)

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 34@ChrisChurchill

Page 35: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Bing Keyword Tool

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

- Shows actual

queries numbers (not

rounded)

-Has 6 months of

data

-Drill down by

Country

@ChrisChurchill

Page 36: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Bing’s Ad Intelligence

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 36

• Plug-in with Excel

• Data source Live.com

and adCenter

• Provides related

keywords

• Extracts keywords from

a URL

• Gives insights on

seasonal “spiky”

keywords

• Shows geographic and

demographic info on

keywords

@ChrisChurchill

Page 37: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 37

Keyword Discovery Suite of Tools Includes Keyword Density Tool

@ChrisChurchill

Page 38: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

WordTracker.com

• Data pulled from meta

search engines

• Eliminates most

skewing issues caused by

robots

• Differentiates between

singular & plural

• Offer Free Tool for trial

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 39: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Wordstream

http://www.wordstream.com/keywords

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 39

/

Useful for

developing

your

vocabulary of

related terms

for

Hummingbird

@ChrisChurchill

Page 40: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Instant

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 40

Shows

suggestions

as you type

@ChrisChurchill

Page 41: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Google Instant – Shopping Search

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 41

Different set of

keywords on

Shopping search

from regular web

search

@ChrisChurchill

Page 42: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Soovle.comGives suggestions from different perspectives

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Provides

suggestions

from

Google

Wikipedia

Answers

YouTube

Bing

Yahoo

Amazon

Plus option

for15 other

sites

Page 43: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Ubersuggesthttp://ubersuggest.org/

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 44: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

YouTube Keyword Suggestions

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 45: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

YouTube Keyword Tool

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 46: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Twitter SearchProvides real time search results and trending topics

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 47: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Tag Cloudshelps identify related terms

Copyright 2010 KeyRelevance LLC 47@ChrisChurchill

Page 48: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

SearchmetricsCan Identify Co-Occurrence Terms, Competitors Terms, etc

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 48@ChrisChurchill

Page 49: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Keyword

Expansion Phase

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 50: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Target Variations of Your Keywords

• Comparison (best, compare, reviews)

• Price (cheap, discount)

• Product Description (green, plus size, unique)

• Intended use (gift for mother, baptism gown)

• Product (gift basket, mortgage, flight)

• Location

• Action (apply, book, find, buy)

• Season (holiday, Christmas, Halloween)

• Abbreviations

• Brand / vendor / manufacturer

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Modifiers are great at helping you

expand your keyword list, but

remember to keep “user intent” in mind

when you combine the modifier to the

core term!

Page 51: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 51

Keyword Permutations

• Number of keyword permutation tools

– Tools that allow you to mix and match terms to

create new keyword phrases

• Enter keyword terms, and modifiers

• Combines variations of phrases

• Can use concatenate function in Excel or

specific tool

Page 52: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

52

Using Excel to Expand KW List

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 53: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

• Group related keywords into

lists of related terms

• Remember to identify terms

that frequently occur with

your main terms

• Do a series of keyword

research projects on a site,

not one

• Develop a keyword matrix

Keyword “Buckets”

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 54: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill 54

Evaluating Keywords

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 55: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

55

KW Selection Considerations

• Relevancy to Site

• Keyword Popularity

• User Intent

• Competition

• Performance

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Always test your keywords.

Keywords can sounds like a

good idea, but upon testing,

they can fail miserably.

@ChrisChurchill

Page 56: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 56

Relevancy Considerations

Relevancy means choosing the keywords that best describes what the site offers

Traffic alone isn’t the goal, you want targeted traffic that is searching for what you sell

Best bet: Find words that resonate with your target audience

and are descriptive of your site

@ChrisChurchill

Page 57: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Popularity Considerations

• Popularity gives insight on traffic potential

• Being popular Is overrated

• Popular phrases – Less relevant

– More competitive

– Examples: “cars” or “homes”

• Less Popular– More Focused

– Satisfies Need of Searcher

– Higher Conversion

– Less Traffic

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 58: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Popularity Considerations (cont)

• Consider seasonality and cyclical popularity of phrases

• Identify trend lines• Many phrases lost or

increased popularity in recession

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Seasonal trends of term “air conditioner”

@ChrisChurchill

Page 59: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 59

Consider User IntentGetting inside the searcher’s head

• Understand the “why” behind the motivation for the search and you can better target how to respond

– Research vs Purchase

– Stage in buying process

– Audience Demographic

Buying vs Browsing

“car reviews”

“fast auto financing”

“80% of all searches on the Web are non-

commercial” - Jim Lanzone of Ask.com

Page 60: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 60

Evaluating by the Stage in Buying Process

• Keywords indicate where consumer is in the

Buying Process

• Match your content to satisfy the user’s intent

when using the keyword

Problem

RecognitionInformation

SearchEvaluation

of

Alternatives

Purchase

Decision

Adapted From: Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

Select

Alternatives

Page 61: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Searcher Behavior

Three types of searches:

• Navigational

- I just want to be at your web site.

• Informational

-Do hybrid cars require special maintenance?

•Transactional

-Interactive, purchase, subscribe, download

-I want financing to buy a hybrid car.

Adapted From: A Taxonomy of Web Search by Andrei Broder

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 62: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Evaluating KW By CompetitionWho Are Your Competitors?

• Who is ranking for your keyword terms?

• Who has PPC ads?

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 63: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 63

Evaluating KW By Competition

To compete, you need Search Term Parity

You need to see how active the competitors are

within the same marketing environment

- What keywords are they targeting?

- How optimized are their sites?

- Are they doing PPC? How much are the

bids?

- What’s their linkage situation?

@ChrisChurchill

Page 64: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 64

Competitive Intelligence Tools

• Hitwise

• ComScore Marketer

• Trellian’s Competitive Intelligence

• Keyword Difficulty Tool

• SpyFu

• SearchMetrics

• KeyCompete

• Compete

• SemRush

• KeywordSpy

• AdGooRoo

• Keyword Analyzer

@ChrisChurchill

Page 65: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

SearchMetrics

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 66: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 66

SEMRush

66

Provides:

• Top Keywords

• Rankings

• PPC Terms

• PPC Bids

• Traffic Trends

@ChrisChurchill

Page 67: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

SEOMOZ Keyword Difficulty

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 67

Relative

yardstick

of

difficulty

@ChrisChurchill

Page 68: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 68

Performance Considerations

• Use PPC to test candidate KWs

• Gives quick

quantitative

feedback on the KW

performance while

controlling costs

Test Keyword Performance Early

@ChrisChurchill

Page 69: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 69

Get Feedback Down to the Keyword Level

Note: If using PPC to test, make sure performance

problem isn’t bad ad or poorly converting landing page..

Page 70: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Content Optimization

Putting the Pieces Together

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 71: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 7171

Everything Is Better with Chocolate

Image: Graeme Weatherston / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Keywords

• Web sites

• Paid search

• Articles

• White Papers

• FAQ pages

• Product Feeds

• News

• Blog Posts

• Press Releases

• Images

• Videos

• Podcasts

• Schema

• Social Media

• Content Marketing

Optimize all

digital assets

@ChrisChurchill

Page 72: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Good SEO Copywriting Is a Balancing Act

• You have to write to engage

human reader

• You have to write so search

engines understand relevancy

of content

• It is this talent for doing both

that separates high quality

SEO content from spam

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 72

Page 73: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

On-Page SEO Guidelines

Has to be NATURAL

Elegantly work keywords into visible content on

web pages

- Don’t stuff keywords

- Do the “Read Aloud” test to gauge natural

tone

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 74: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

74

On-Page SEO Guidelines (cont)

Think keyword phrase NOT

single keyword

Create a matrix chart to

assign different phrases

to different pages

- Divide and conquer

Use synonyms and related

words on page to

reinforce main topic

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC@ChrisChurchill

Page 75: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Don’t Stuff Keywords!

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 75

From Bing Webmaster Guidelines (in section on things not to do):

“Keyword StuffingWhen creating content, make sure to create your content for real users and readers, not to entice search engines to rank your content better. Stuffing your content with specific keywords with the sole intent of artificially inflating the probability of ranking for specific search terms is in violation of our guidelines and can lead to demotion or even the delisting of your website from our search results.”

@ChrisChurchill

Page 76: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Where to use keywords

Title Tags

Meta Description

Meta Keywords

H Tags

Visible portion of page

Alt Attribute

Links and anchor text

File names

URL

Schema code

Bold, strong, emphasized tags

Breadcrumb Navigation

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 77: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Title Tags

<title>Interesting Relevant Keyword Rich Blurb</title>

• Most important “on-page” tag

• Title contents appears in first line of listing on SERP

• Spend extra time to create compelling titles that grab

attention

• Include keyword phrase early in title

• Should be unique…don’t use same title on multiple

pages

• Title should be accurate and reflect content of page

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 77

Page 78: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Meta Description Tag

<meta name="Description" content=“Compelling marketing

message that reads well and contains targeted

keywords">

• Should provide a summary of the page

• Frequently used as snippet on results page

• Should contain keywords relevant to the page

• Should be unique to the page

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 78

Page 79: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Home Page SEO

• Usually your strongest page

• Target most competitive

relevant keyword phrase

• Depending on strength of

your site and the

competition, target 2-3

keyword phrases

• Don’t try to cover EVERY

KEYWORD related to what

your company does

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 79

Page 80: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Internal Page SEO

• Divide and conquer: Assign KW

phrases to different pages on site

• Focus, focus, focus: Make that

page ALL ABOUT the keywords

you’re targeting

• Use related terms and synonyms

on the page to reinforce what the

page is about

• Balance: resist temptation to stuff

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 80

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Page 81: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Golden Rules for Writing Copy

Talk about benefits, not

features

- You have to tell them

why they should care

Appeal to emotions and

senses….most buying

decisions are emotionally

based

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 81

Page 82: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Make Content Easy to Read

• “Chunk up” the content

– Use headers, subheadings & bullet lists to add

hierarchy

– White space is your friend

– Keep paragraphs short

• Avoid “noise” and distracting items on page

• Include visually attractive graphics

– Faces & bright colors attract the eyes

• Hook the reader in title and initial paragraphs

• Make it easy to share!

• Doing these things increases user engagement

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 82

Page 83: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

@ChrisChurchill

Points to Take Home

1. Keyword Research is first step in online marketing & content

development

2. Keyword Research needs management support

– Requires time, budget, tools & resources

3. Use tools to increase productivity & provide insights

4. Don’t use keyword popularity as sole evaluation criteria

– Look at popularity as traffic potential and consider seasonality

– Review keyword competition

5. Use keywords in all digital assets

6. Remember the user experience when publishing content on the web

7. Remember to use synonyms and related terms to reinforce what

your main content is about

8. Make content easy to share

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC

Page 84: SMX Search Marketing Bootcamp March 2014 - Keyword Research and Copywriting

Copyright 2014 KeyRelevance LLC 84

Thank You!

Christine Churchill

www.keyrelevance.com

[email protected]

@KeyRelevance

@ChrisChurchill

@ChrisChurchill