KEYWORD STRATEGIES IN TODAY’S WORLD: 5 QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY SEO VETERAN TRACY SABATTIS

Sponsored By:

TODAY’S PANEL

Tracy Sabattis, VP of MediaCollege Factual, a property of Media FactualTwitter: @tracys

Michele McDonough, COORock the DeadlineTwitter: @NVMichele

Mike Agron, Co-FounderWebAttract, LLCTwitter: @WebinarReady

IT’S NOT 2009 ANYMORE

So, why are we still talking about keywords?

AREN’T KEYWORDS DEAD?

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

SEO is DEAD …. So KEYWORDS are DEAD AND BURIED!

Then, what’s the point of this discussion?

Image from The Death of SEO infographic at http://www.seobook.com/learn-seo/infographics/death-of-seo.php

LET’S TIME TRAVEL TO 2009

Microtrends in New Info Shoppers (PSB Study - Wall Street Journal)

“They believe in the information they find, not in the information that is spoon-fed to them.”

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123144483005365353.html

LET’S SKIP FORWARD TO 2010

A More Social Future (PSB Study)

“Social Media is shaping Consumers Behavior”

Source: http://www.psbresearch.com/press_pubs/press_publications_Jan_7_2010.aspx

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

Optify’s Benchmark Study from 2012:

“Google is the single most important referring domain to B2B websites…. Google’s share of organic traffic to B2B websites in the study, topped 90% in November, 2012.”

Source: http://www.optify.net/business-to-business-marketing/the-highlights-2012-b2b-marketing-benchmark-report

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

• Search incorporates social signals

• Social builds brand awareness

• The more you can get in front of someone the better

Source: http://www.stateofsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/social-vs-search-infographic.png

WATCHWORDS ARE BEREFT OF LIFE

SEO was never just about keywords.

Online marketing – like any marketing – is all about understanding your customer and targeting them all along the buying cycle with words they’ll understand.

content marketing hashtagsHTML titles

These all incorporate keywords.

EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT DEAD, AREN'T

KEYWORDS SPAMMY?

THE DEFINITION OF SPAM

Keywords are not spammy.

SEO is not spammy.

PEOPLE are spammy.

SPAM is unsolicited.

People are searching for YOU and YOUR INFORMATION actively… on Google, in social media and through other

online tools.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO RESEARCH KEYWORDS? 

UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE

• Insider language is too easy to fall into.

• Buyers are shopping all along the cycle – not just at the end. They are arming themselves with information and then deciding.

• Remember, 92% of buyers don't want our carefully constructed websites and marketing messages. They just want to be smarter and better informed. They want to be entertained.

• We have to communicate without selling. We have to hook, without obviously pitching and selling.

• Optimize through content marketing.

WHERE DO YOU RESEARCH

KEYWORDS? 

KEYWORD RESEARCH

• UBERSuggest.org – Google Suggest (in the browser)• PROS – Many searchers let Google’s ‘suggestions’

guide them. So targeting those can sometimes be wise.

• CONS – Google bases this on their data, and they want people to search specific ways, due to ads.

• Soovle .com• PROS – Suggestions from multiple places. Often

surfaces different combos. • CONS – Often repetitive

• Internal Search through Google Analytics• PROS – Can help identify what’s missing, what people

are looking for on your site.• CONS – Only used by a small slice of visitors. The

better your navigation, the less it’s used.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

• Bing Analytics• Have you set up a Bing Webmaster Account? Do it –

NOW… • Bing offers great webmaster tools – better than

Google. • They do ‘not’ block any search phrases.

• Competitors• Don’t just look at the top. (Brands, domain age,

backlinks.) Also look at the ones you are ‘surprised’ to see in top 10.

• Strongly recommend paid tools: • SEMRush.com • Keywordspy.com• Compete .com

• On a budget? • Target two sites and look at all their HTML data on

core pages, in their blog, in their social media posts.

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Keyword Eye (Basic and Pro)• PROS – Nice visualizations, very easy to spot keyword

phrases.• CONS – Based on AdWords. Don’t depend solely on

Google AdWords data. It’s designed to make money for Google, not for you.

Wordstream (Free and Paid)• PROS – Unique slices and dices, including a ‘Niche’

Finder, tons of long-tail keyword searches. • CONS – Free is limited to 30 searches (which disappear

quick) – This is really a Paid tool designed more for PPC in order to guarantee ROI.

SEOmoz (Paid)• Keyword Difficulty Tool (but only if you are using all the

other items)

KEYWORD RESEARCH

• Google Analytics• PROS – Can often pick up good long-tail clues or new

word combinations you aren’t consciously targeting.• CONS – When people are signed in to Google, those

keywords are ‘blocked’ to protect the searcher. You have no insight – it’s running at about 50%. You are blind to a lot of core searches.

• Google Webmaster Tools • PROS – More general search terms than Analytics.• CONS – Tends toward broad. Google controls what is

shown.

WHERE DO YOU INCORPORATE KEYWORDS?

MARKETING

Everywhere you market, you should be thinking about your customer and how they would describe you.

• Content Marketing• Hashtags• HTML Titles• Descriptive Website Content• About Us Pages

Think holistically.

CONTACT INFO

Tracy SabattisTwitter: @tracys

Michele McDonoughTwitter: @NVMichele

Mike AgronTwitter: @WebinarReady

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