10-03-2009 Keyphrase Relevance - The Key to Search Engine Marketing

- 41% of search engine users don’t look beyond the first page of results.
- 36% of users believe that the top ranking sites are the top brands within their field.
- 60-80% of clicks are on natural listings not paid listings.          (source: iProspect research)

In a nutshell – you simply can’t ignore Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Search Engine Optimisation is a form of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and its objective is to promote your site up the natural/organic search engine listings across a selection of keywords and phrases used by your target market.

Google states that, within their algorithm, there are over 200 criteria against which a site is judged and each one is assigned a different level of importance.  One of the most important is the relationship between a web page’s content and the keyphrases used by the target market when searching.  If this relationship is compromised then the site is less likely to be found by your intended users; opportunities will be missed and potential revenue will be lost.

The key to success, therefore, is keyphrase relevance and that is where research plays its part.

CMSi will undertake keyphrase research and analysis on your behalf, hopefully confirming that you are currently targeting the correct keyphrases whilst suggesting new ones to exploit.  After identification, we will analyse them against specific parameters to establish those keywords that are best to target.  These same parameters are some of those that Google’s algorithm takes into consideration including the approximate average search volume against a keyphrase, and the number of pages currently indexed by Google for that phrase.

We’ll also analyse them against sites competing for similar keyphrases.  This could reveal terms that may be difficult to target or those that could quickly increase traffic to your site.  Parameters include the competitor’s Google Pagerank, the number of their pages indexed, the number of inbound links and the age of the competing site.

We’ll then recommend those phrases most suitable to target.

Armed with this list, we'll then take a look at how we can make your keywords really work for you.

Depending on how well your site is currently optimised, we may make on-page recommendations within areas such as keyphrase density/frequency, and use of keyphrases within the meta-data and alt image tags.  Off-page techniques may be suggested such as increasing the inbound links to your site from other keyphrase relevant sites with high page ranks.  Each website is unique which means that our recommendations will be tailored to your specific site's requirements.

Contact CMSi now to undertake your keyphrase research and analysis and benefit from the peace of mind of knowing that you’re targeting the most suitable keyphrases.