Next Communications Mediates the Keyword Turf Wars

    MINNETONKA, MN, December 03, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- What you must know if marketing online or web traffic is important to your company.

Are most companies winning or losing the search engine battle for customers and prospects? Most understand what "keywords" are. Google (the search engine that controls about 70% of all search traffic worldwide) and the lesser search engines all employ their own sophisticated mathematical formulas called "algorithms" to ferret out the pages and websites that best meet the terms being used in every search. These practices change constantly as the search engines try to deliver better results (a better product) and stay ahead of those who try to take advantage of loopholes in their systems. A very simplified explanation is this: the more unique content published online that contains the right keywords in the right places the search engine can see ("index"), the higher the "page ranking" will be on results pages relative to your competitors--and other content that includes the search terms, such as articles, white papers and more. This is known as "organic content," and is the content the search engines rank highest and accurately reflects your company, products and services. That's why it's essential to "map," i.e., uncover and test the best terms, and also "seed" the terms into the specific locations search engines look at in web pages and content--including content that's destined for other sites, such as visual tags, downloadable PDFs of materials and more. It is also important to monitor web presence, as well as that of competitors.

The generic keyword trap that wastes your money.

Developing organic keywords seems pretty easy on the surface. A widget manufacturer wants to show up in search engine results pages (SERPs) when the widget's description is searched. A few words cover the spectrum of what many manufacturers produce. In a few minutes you have the words you'd like to control. Unfortunately, herein lies the problem as competitors and many others want to control the same words.

Many keywords that are assumed to be most valuable to a company are in fact so generic that they produce thousands or even millions of results, burying your site many pages below the ideal first few results pages. You can generally control your trademarks and other words you literally own, but there are many, many companies and individuals worldwide who will try to control the keywords that describe your products. We'll show you when to use the obvious and essential keywords, but why it often makes little sense to invest in these keywords for search results and pay-per-click terms. And we'll also show analytics that bear this out. Tactically, it's significantly more effective to research and develop combinations of keywords that employ much more refined searches used by those who are looking for more specific results. Such as those who are ready to specify. Or purchase.
The secret of "the long tail."

Think about how you use search terms. If you want general information or just want to browse, you might use a generic search term or a couple of words. But when you're looking for something specific, you know you must enter very specific search words, probably many words, to refine the results to a useful extent. These long terms are known as "long tail" keywords. Shrewd marketers know that controlling dozens or hundreds of long tail terms is vastly superior and more affordable than fruitless efforts to control generic terms. They also know that long tail terms are used by those who want actionable results. And while you can't employ too many long tail principles in your web content and publicity, you can in pay-per-click programs such as Google AdWords, which will vastly improve your SERP presence. And even though your ad is visible, you only pay if and when the user clicks on it. Better yet, long tail phrases cost far, far less than the so-called "popular" keywords, even though as a whole they can be vastly more effective and more qualified.

Half science, half art.

Keyword analysis and development is a sophisticated statistical science, but also a very creative task involving copywriting for development of organic phrases and many alternative terms and synonyms that might be used in searches. Next Communications has the resources to:

• Research, develop and test the keywords and long tail phrases you need to control
• Map and seed the most effective keywords into your content in the specific locations detected by search engines
• Test and monitor search trends to assure sustainable results
• Uncover and extract the keywords of your competitors web pages and published content
• Exploit your competitors' keywords to eliminate strategic gaps and show up in more search results
• Use keywords to develop optimized pay-per-click programs that drive only the most accurate and qualified leads and buyers to your site so that you pay pennies for only the most qualified traffic that arrives at your site
• Know which AdWords and search terms to own, and which to let go
• Serve as your experienced agent in AdWord auctions and develop a wise AdWord plan that covers the search terms that are most effective at the lowest cost (we are among select firms that employ a Google AdWords Qualified Individual)
• Provide keyword seeding strategies that produce highly Search Engine Optimized (SEO) websites

Obviously, there's a lot more to keywords than choosing the obvious words typically searched. Instead, choosing a larger sphere of terms around the generic terms is often the best approach. Large online companies have entire departments dedicated to managing their keywords, and the savviest smaller companies examine and optimize their keywords approximately every six months. Given the sheer volume of content on the web and all that is being added every second, it's safe to say keywords will continue to grow in importance, and neglecting to understand and optimize your content and communications practices for search engines will put your company at a distinct disadvantage.

Keyword strategies effectively feed integrated marketing communications or Orbital Branding. Next Communications offers many integrated tactics that can be deployed as part of an affordable, effective and measurable Orbital Branding strategy. To comment or learn more, contact Next Communications, Dennis Gallaher, president at 952-934-8220, or email him at [email protected] for a free consultation. Examples of work, tactics and results can be found at www.nextcom.com

About Next Communications

Next Communications is a full service marketing communications firm specializing in print, online and search marketing. For further information, contact Dennis Gallaher at 952-934-8220 or [email protected] or www.nextcom.com

2009 Next Communications, Inc.

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