Low KDS but high DA for all page 1 sites

[Chammy]

Hi there

A KDS report question...

My client has a keyword with a low KDS (garden hose - 28). Intuitively this seemed too low, and when I checked what ranks, it is all high quality brand sites with high DAs. Admittedly the specific pages ranking have low PAs, but I can't see my client ever being able to compete with these big boys right now.

How come the KDS is so low? This seems just wrong as the metric implies it is a good keyword to target - I know there are always lots of other things to check, but this does make me less confident with KDS reporting

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Many thanks

[EGOL]

you're much more of a recluse than I thought!

Yes!

[KeriMorgret]

If you only just today learned that, you're much more of a recluse than I thought!

[EGOL]

oh....   TIL....  Do not make maternity comments.  Never!

[RobertFisher]

Chammi,

My ex and I ran into some 'friends' and she and the lady had at one time been quite good friends. The lady was pregnant when we last saw them and as we walked up to a table where they were seated, my ex says rather exuberantly , "How are you? When is the baby due?" To which, her friend replied, "4 months ago." 
There really is no where to go from there... I just smiled and said, "Hey Jack, how's the golf game these days?"

PS - Chammy, if you can tell that story on here so easily, you are a Mozzer.

Welcome

[RobertFisher]

EGOL

You never cease to impress me with your understanding of not just SEO, but of marketing. Honestly, you are a jewel.

There is a truly great business book "Blue Ocean Strategy," that many who make their living on the Internet should read, and I know some of you have. The Internet provides the greatest ease of entry into a "Blue Ocean" versus any other "marketplace." At the same time the big box retailers and aggregators use the Internet too. If you have a $100K budget you don't stand a lot of chance if you are going to operate in the same arena as Amazon, Lowe's, Sears, etc. You have to be different and most do not understand that different does not mean that you believe your product/service is better or your staff nicer. It means different. It means fishing in waters where no one else has a boat. For hoses, think about the first collapsible hose that was sold; I would have loved to been the marketing agent for that product.

Great comments all.

[Chammy]

Hi there - thanks for your responses.

Robert - sorry, got my terminology wrong, I meant Moz's KWD tool (not KDS). Too may TLAs around! And I guess that's why I am unclear, as they are all Moz metrics but seem at odds with each other. So wondered whether I was missing something or whether the KWD metric needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The content is not good for the hoses, My client is taking some persuasion, and I was going to show him the KWD metric but it kinda says the opposite of what I am trying to tell him as makes it seem a good term to target. I'll just stick with showing him the returns. And get him to focus elsewhere as he won't want to do what is necessary!

EGOL - yes, I agree! I'll just need to work harder to convince him that being on page 1 for the term garden hose is not the be all and end all for him. We have other better directions we can go. I initially got quite excited at KWD 28 (this is the UK) but alas, not to be! I guess that is the danger of looking at any metric in isolation.

Keri - hmmm, I got the opposite once. I was asked when my baby was due to which I hissed 'I am not pregnant' - I felt quite sorry for the sales assistant as they were horrified !

[KeriMorgret]

I've walked in to Sears and asked where the maternity section was. Even mimed a huge belly. Clerk didn't understand what I was talking about. Thankfully, most employees are a bit better than this, and I do like EGOL's approach.

[EGOL]

I just ran KWD and got 44%.

After looking at the sites on the first page, I would not want to compete with them.

HomeDepot, Amazon, Walmart, Lowes, Sears, AceHardware, Kmart.....  Not only will the SERPs be really difficult to conquer (impossible for most people).... but some of the businesses ranking on the first page are more into the sports of runnin' other people out of business, beatin' down their suppliers,  and payin' their employees nuthin.   They value that stuff higher than makin' a profit.

When I see them sellin' really cheap garden hoses and offerin' free shippin'...  I know that it is a race to the bottom.    Good way to lose your shirt a couple different ways.

My idea of sellin' on the web is to find products that usually are not sold in these types of stores and building a biz around them.   If you go into Walmart and ask if they got jimmywidgets and the clerk says "huh?"... then you know you got somethin' that you can make money at on the web.

[RobertFisher]

Chammy,

The KDS as with PA and DA are "relative" and are arbitrary to those creating the metric. PA and DA were created by Moz and not by Google. A pure example of this (and I swear I am not lying) is we have a client we have worked with that sells... hoes as one of their products. When you search on "hoes" and are not restricted by any geolocator, they rank well for the term against the same types (and many of the same) large big box retailers you see for hose. So, yes you can rank, but you have to be clever: Are you using structured mark-up (Schema) for your product, do you have aggregate review schema or an accepted review site streaming reviews to your site/page? Do you produce unique hose content? Do you have a hose video? Are your pictures ones you created and do you have correct alt text, etc.?
Never believe that DA alone means you cannot beat them; there are tons of Moz members who beat the big boys daily!

I hope this helps.

Robert