Should I Target Difficult Keywords?

19 Feb 14 5:51 am

Hi Jeremy,

I suggest you target long tail variations of your keywords with easy competition. The global monthly search values won't be much but you're assured that you're targeting your market. Ranking for the keywords won't be as difficult too. Don't go for keywords that have less than 250 monthly searches though.

If you're going to try for the keywords that are more difficult then I suggest you go for keywords that have high buyer intention. It would be difficult to rank for these keywords, but at least, the little traffic you would get has a higher chance of converting to sales.

Hope that helps. Have a good day!

27 Feb 14 12:15 am

I agree but If you want to build a really successful and long term business yes you should think BIG and go after the harder keywords that are relevant to your website's homepage, but you should start off targeting the long-tail/easy keywords first on inner pages.

Because It could take years to rank good for that hard keyword.

09 Mar 14 12:43 am

I'd suggest using long tail keywords because it's easier to rank higher. If, after giving it some time, you are disappointed with the results, you could always try fat head keyword with higher competition. See what works best for your company. Good luck!

27 Apr 14 11:52 pm

Yup long tail keywords are a better option. A long tail keyword usually is a combination of 3-6 words, that is more relevant and specific to the products you sell. For example Sony Xperia Z2 is a long tail keyword, while the short keyword for it is smart phones. In simpler terms, the clue is a combination of generic keyword that contains product features, model number , price range etc.. can already be considered as a long tail keyword.

Why use long tail? It is already assumed that when a user searches a product using a long tail such as the example above ( Sony Xperia Z2), the user has already researched on other similar products and maybe, is intending to purchase that product already.

Other advantages of long tail are:
1. they can easily rank in search engines
2. they tend to have less competition ( the more specific the better)
3. Since search volume is minimal, they tend to be not visible in most keyword database
4. Can boost your conversion rates, but... but.. will still depend on various factors such as you a trustful website with an enticing landing page, strong product description, trustworthiness of the company etc..etc.

13 Jun 14 3:30 pm

What I like to do is start out with targeting easier to rank for keywords and phrases so I can get ranked for something than as I work my way up in ranking and get to say page one even at the bottom of page one I will go back and change my article a little and add in some harder to rank for keywords. You don't have to only put one keyword string in an article you can mix it up buy better to be on page one with an easy keyword them page 20 with a harder keyword because at least on page one you will be seen and have a chance of someone going to your site, that won't happen on page 20. However you will find often after you rank for lesser keyword and get a good page rank that the harder keywords will start to rank better as well.