Targeting a Single Keyword - A Keyword Research Mistake

In most cases a single keyword is pretty useless. And targeting a single keyword for your web content is usually an exercise in futility. Single keywords are just too competitive, overly broad, and just don’t match up well with how people are searching.

For example, lets say you are looking for a certain piece of software. Would you enter just ‘software’ into a search engine? Of course not, you’d get millions of websites returned in the search results, and probably none of them were what you were looking for. Or it would take hours to sift through all those results looking for your software.

More and more people are getting search savvy and using search terms that are more than a single word. They are using phrases, sometimes several words long to find what they are looking for. Who has time to sift through thousands or millions of websites for what you are looking for. Its so much simpler to think a little bit, and enter a search phrase that is much more specific about what you’re looking for.

You need to take that same desire for specificity, and targeted results, and apply that to the keywords and key phrases that you target for your websites and content.

Targeted Traffic

Lets suppose you have a website about washing machine repairs. You have some free information, tips, maintenance procedures, an ebook for sale, and some videos for sale.

Which would your prefer to have for visitors? People who searched for ‘appliances’, or people who searched for ‘washing machine repair tips’?

If you target the keyword ‘appliances’, your first problem is the level and quality of competition. You’d be up against the big boys in the appliance industry.

But suppose that you didn’t have that competition, you’d be getting visitors that were searching for information on a host of other kinds of appliances. Ovens, toasters, refrigerators, whatever. Is that kind of traffic going to do you any good. Probably not.

Wouldn’t you prefer visitors who actually typed in the phrase ‘washing machine repair tips’ into the search engine. Those people have a much greater chance at being satisfied when they encounter your site.

And you, as the website owner, have a much greater chance at making a sale when these more targeted visitors get to your site.

The greater specificity of a key phrase over a single keyword makes every one happy. Searchers have a better chance of finding satisfaction, and website owners have a better chance of making a customer.

Remember that the more specific some one searches for something, the closer they are to a buying decision. And those are the kind of visitors we like, people ready to become customers.

There’s much more to consider when deciding on which keywords and key phrases to target. Follow the link to find out more about keyword research and selection.