Most search engine optimization experts agree that the keyphrase selection process is the single most important step in a search engine optimization campaign. However, clients frequently ask their search engine optimization company to target very general and competitive search engine keyphrases. While targeting such terms is usually not worth the effort, the addition of a simple modifier can take an ultra-competitive, general keyphrase and transform it into something useful- a phrase that attracts a large percentage of people that are looking for exactly what you offer, and for which high rankings are attainable.
Geographic
The first obvious modifier is geographic. If your
products or services are limited by geographic area,
it is probably not worth going after a highly competitive
term that does not specify a region. For example,
a homebuilder who worked exclusively in the Atlanta
area would probably not find it worth his time or
effort to target the general keyphrase "homebuilders",
considering that good positions for one word keyphrases
are exceedingly difficult to obtain and that the vast
majority of people who type this keyphrase are not
looking for a homebuilder in the Atlanta area. Adding
geographic modifiers (in this case "Atlanta homebuilders"
or "homebuilders in Atlanta") makes search
engine keyphrases easier to target and also attracts
a much more targeted visitor.
Descriptive (adjective)
If you only sell blue widgets, and there are many
other colors of widgets available to the public, a
large percentage of people searching for "widgets"
are probably not your target audience. As with geographic
modifiers, the addition of descriptive adjectives
makes your search engine keyphrases easier to target
("blue widgets" will almost always be easier
to target than "widgets" alone). Also like
geographic modifiers, descriptive adjectives help
attract visitors who are looking for exactly the products
or services that you offer. Why should you expend
huge amounts of effort to achieve high rankings for
a phrase when the traffic from it isn't comprised
primarily of your ideal visitors?
Descriptive (noun)
The addition of a descriptive noun can take a keyphrase
that attracts diverse, non targeted traffic and transform
it into a phrase that attracts exactly the type of
traffic that you seek. Assume, for example, that you
owned a company that specialized in internet marketing.
When you consider the keyphrase "internet marketing",
it's easy to see that a person searching for that
phrase can have many motivations- not the least of
which would be trying to learn how to do it themselves.
When you add a descriptive noun modifier, such as
"companies", "consultants", or
"firms", you are suddenly targeting exactly
the type of traffic you want- someone who is at the
point where they are looking for a company that offers
the service (not information on the service itself).
Of course, as with all other modifiers, this also
has the additional benefit of making the keyphrase
much easier to target.
Low Quality Modifiers
The likely motivation of the searcher always comes
into play when you are trying to decide upon keyphrases,
and there are many modifiers which generally (but
not always) attract the wrong type of traffic. These
include "free", "sample", "ideas",
"advice", etc. Let's assume you have a company
that specializes in email marketing. Adding low quality
modifiers would give you terms such as "email
marketing advice", "email marketing ideas",
"free email marketing", etc. Are there a
handful of these people, clearly looking to do things
on their own, that might convert to paying customers?
Certainly. Should you make an effort to attract this
traffic when you have better terms, such as "email
marketing consultants" or "email marketing
firms", to target? Probably not.
Conclusion
Modifiers in search engine phrases are used for two
main reasons: to increase the percentage of ideal
prospects in the traffic the phrase attracts, and
to find terms that are easier to target on search
engines. Adding the right type of modifiers to your
search engine keyphrases will increase your chances
of success. Good luck!
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