Comments on: SEO and Defining Site Objectives http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120 Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Services, Consulting, and Research Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:24:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Defining your Site Objectives | inter:digital strategies http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-20103 Defining your Site Objectives | inter:digital strategies Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:19:10 +0000 http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-20103 [...] wledge which only you and your business partners really have. Bill Slawski recently wrote a long post on defining objectives as related to SEO. To me, what it seems like he’s saying is that the [...] [...] wledge which only you and your business partners really have. Bill Slawski recently wrote a long post on defining objectives as related to SEO. To me, what it seems like he’s saying is that the [...]

]]> By: William Slawski http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-546 William Slawski Wed, 01 Mar 2006 06:24:38 +0000 http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-546 Absolutely, Nadir. While keyword tools have their moments, it is that conversation that can really lead to success. Absolutely, Nadir.

While keyword tools have their moments, it is that conversation that can really lead to success.

]]> By: Nadir http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-535 Nadir Mon, 27 Feb 2006 09:17:20 +0000 http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-535 Good point guys. I think that before even looking at any keyword tool, you have to spend a few hours with your client. And then ask him if he has any information about his site's logs. The best would be to have information about the last couple of months. It would be good to ask him: what are the keywords that have been searched for lately? Did you notice any new keywords? Did these new keywords turn into better conversions that keywords that were used 2, 3, 4 months ago for the same products? Are you products cheaper than your competition? If yes, can we try to optimize for "cheap keywords"? And so on...The success of your SEO campaign can really depend on these elements that you would get with a cooperative client, not with keyword tools. Good point guys. I think that before even looking at any keyword tool, you have to spend a few hours with your client.

And then ask him if he has any information about his site’s logs.
The best would be to have information about the last couple of months. It would be good to ask him: what are the keywords that have been searched for lately? Did you notice any new keywords? Did these new keywords turn into better conversions that keywords that were used 2, 3, 4 months ago for the same products? Are you products cheaper than your competition? If yes, can we try to optimize for “cheap keywords”?

And so on…The success of your SEO campaign can really depend on these elements that you would get with a cooperative client, not with keyword tools.

]]> By: William Slawski http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-490 William Slawski Sun, 26 Feb 2006 14:43:54 +0000 http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-490 Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Barry. As you note, there are a number of problems with relying upon the keyword selection tools. There's no way to know if it is your audience reflected in reports from those tools, or some other audience completely. You also don't know if traffic driven from those phrases is being inflated by keyword rank checking tools. Also looking at log files for traffic data might tell someone which words people used to find their site. Unfortunately, those are only going to reflect searches for words that are already on the pages of the site, and are being already found by search engines. A site's internal search, if it has its own search function, may be a little more helpful. Visitors may use that to search for things that they expect to be able to find on a site. But those searches are still from people who have already found that site. There are other places to look to learn what words people use when talking about particular goods or services or topics. The conversation that I mention above is a good starting point. Before we ever get around to selecting keywords, we still need to think about what purpose or purposes the site will fill, and who are audiences for the site may be. Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Barry.

As you note, there are a number of problems with relying upon the keyword selection tools.

There’s no way to know if it is your audience reflected in reports from those tools, or some other audience completely. You also don’t know if traffic driven from those phrases is being inflated by keyword rank checking tools.

Also looking at log files for traffic data might tell someone which words people used to find their site. Unfortunately, those are only going to reflect searches for words that are already on the pages of the site, and are being already found by search engines.

A site’s internal search, if it has its own search function, may be a little more helpful. Visitors may use that to search for things that they expect to be able to find on a site. But those searches are still from people who have already found that site.

There are other places to look to learn what words people use when talking about particular goods or services or topics. The conversation that I mention above is a good starting point.

Before we ever get around to selecting keywords, we still need to think about what purpose or purposes the site will fill, and who are audiences for the site may be.

]]> By: Barry Welford http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-486 Barry Welford Sun, 26 Feb 2006 11:21:24 +0000 http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=120#comment-486 I think, Bill, this is one of the most important topics you've ever written about. It's so critical to think about that niche of folk out there you're trying to communicate with.. What keywords are they using when they try to find you? If your web pages do not rank well for those keywords then you'll never be found by the right people. Being found by the wrong people for some keywords they thought might be relevant is a complete waste of time. The trouble is that the keyword tools show keyword usage by everyone so you can't split out that particular niche of folk that are most of interest. Customized research on that would be expensive so the best you can do is talk to the website owner and make sure you've got the best guess at what his/her prospects are likely using. One analysis that can be instructive is to use the traffic data to see what keywords people used to find the web page in the search engine. Does that confirm that these people were probably your target audience? Or are they the wrong people and so both you and they are frustrated? I think, Bill, this is one of the most important topics you’ve ever written about. It’s so critical to think about that niche of folk out there you’re trying to communicate with.. What keywords are they using when they try to find you? If your web pages do not rank well for those keywords then you’ll never be found by the right people. Being found by the wrong people for some keywords they thought might be relevant is a complete waste of time.

The trouble is that the keyword tools show keyword usage by everyone so you can’t split out that particular niche of folk that are most of interest. Customized research on that would be expensive so the best you can do is talk to the website owner and make sure you’ve got the best guess at what his/her prospects are likely using.

One analysis that can be instructive is to use the traffic data to see what keywords people used to find the web page in the search engine. Does that confirm that these people were probably your target audience? Or are they the wrong people and so both you and they are frustrated?

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