For all of the metrics and search engine marketing goals that we discuss, both in person with clients and in articles and forums like this blog, it sometimes gets lost that there are actually a couple different kinds of search terms and key phrases that matter to marketers. Some industries have either, and most have both, but it pays to know the difference.
The first kind are the established, largely static, keywords and phrases that have a lot of search traffic in your business. Usually, these are the same types of categories that people would find in the Yellow Pages, or maybe a printed business directory. Good examples include “Web design,” or “running shoes.” You know that to succeed and make it to the top of Google, Yahoo, and Bing for one of these terms is very likely to yield profitable traffic, because people have been making money from them for a long time.
For that reason, work in these categories usually means waiting a bit longer to see results. To get an edge on the competition, you have to update your page titles, optimize your content, and take other search engine optimization steps that build on one another slowly. It can be frustrating to wait for your position to improve, but once you reach one of the top spots on a major search engine, another marketer has to work twice as hard just to catch up.
The second type of search phrase that matters has to do with what is current or changing in the marketplace. There are a lot more examples here, and they tend to be a lot more specific. For instance, searchers might be looking for specific model of laptop, the hottest new watch, or information on a breaking trend.
It doesn’t make sense to try to build these terms over time, since they are changing every month – and in some cases, every week or every day. The best way to improve your search positioning for them, then, is by supplying steady content to your site, through a blog, RSS feed, or other platform. The point is to set the trends, not follow them, and watch your search engine rankings rise for them individually.
For most companies, there are going to be both static and changing keywords and phrases to optimize. To get the most out of your time and investment in search engine optimization, however, it makes sense to figure out where your profits are going to be and tailor your campaign.
