SEO Basics: Keyword Demand
Understanding keyword demand and the usefulness of the most popular key terms can help you make a more informed decision when deciding which keywords to focus on in your website content.
The Search Demand Curve
When looking at a chart displaying the most popular key phrases alongside all the other terms which people are searching for produces a curve which has a peak where the top 100 keywords are indexed and a sharp decline through the top 500, top thousand and top 10 thousand.
The curve then trails off into a long tail of search terms which compromise 70% of all searches that occur on the web. Considering how large a percentage are located within this long tail, it may not be necessarily the most productive approach to chase after the most popular search terms which only account for 30% of all searches conducted.
Find your Most Appropriate Market
Just because a keyword receives 5,000 searches a day, may not be a good indication of how well it will improve your website to be found for it. An example of a popular keyword is the word ‘travel’.
Your business may specialise in coach travel throughout Scotland and assume that by your website ranking for the keyword ‘travel’ that you will be attracting potential customers. However the majority of the results will be as a result of searches by people making general enquiries that may not have any interest in visiting Scotland or getting on a coach.
The searches that take place in the long tail of the search curve are usually people who have progressed to the later stages of the buying cycle, they have a good understanding of the type of travel they are interested in and will be searching for more specific terms such as ‘scuba diving holidays’ ‘Spanish Villas’ or ‘Coach trips to Scotland’.
When considering the most appropriate keywords for your business, the difference between someone giving your website a quick browse or an interest in making a purchase is in how specific your keywords target potential customers.