There are many tools the SEO world can use to get keyword search activity estimates within a particular market. In addition, there’s paid and organic competition data, trends, search engine differences, KEI, and more.
When showing our clients the data, they often wish to target keywords for their organic package that show the highest search activity, but that is not always the smart thing to do. Not only might their site not be capable of reaching first page placement due to many SEO factors, but even if they did reach the #1 position on organic placement, they may still be at the bottom of the page.
Enter Paid and Local Search.
Recently I searched on Google on the term “acupuncture Grand Rapids.” Here’s a screen shot of only the top one-third of the SERP (search engine result page). As you can see, the top three listings on the left are paid search, while the remainder of the page is local search.
When scrolling down, I finally came upon 6 organic listings, followed by two more paid listings at the very bottom.
So despite all the data available to us, a simple search on the top keyword may give us enough reason not to organically target or expect great results on a particular keyword. But no worries — there are numerous great organic keyword choices besides this one. Also, there are many other reasons to have the top keyword term listed in numerous places on your site. Can you think of some?
About the Author
Beverly Mapes
Founder & President, Top Of The ListBev founded Top Of The List in 2006 and has over 25 years of experience working with technology. In her free time, she competes in dog agility competitions with her Golden Retrievers, Cosmo, and Finn.