Over Optimization?
-
Yet another basic question....is it bad to try and optimize a page for numerous keywords that are all related? My site is an eCommerce site. So for and example: I am trying to optimize my homepage (www.shopconfections.com) for about 20 keywords that all directly describe my site.
On product pages I am optimizing for about 15 keywords that all directly relate to my product.
Many of my keywords are long tailed. Can there be too many? What are the consequences of that?
Thanks!
Shara -
Here's a good quick reference for understanding the difference between broad, phrase and exact matches.
-
Very helpful! Appreciate your time and though!
-
I'll add one more thing that I forgot to mention. How low do you go on competitive keywords? It's a rather arbitrary number, but I've heard it recommended that you should look for longer tail phrases that return a minimum of 500 searches a month and maximum of 10,000. If you have a lot of products that don't generate more than 500 exact phrase searches a month, you can only go with the best returns available.
-
Good morning Shara. Here's some observations and final thoughts:
I did a quick comparison look at both variations of keywords. The broadmatch of the terms is the same at 1,000 local searches a month each with a cpc average of .84 and .85 respectively. This data is not very helpful in that the broadmatch results suggests Google is seeing the phrase similarly (semantically) and does not help you make a wise decision.
"Preppy Monogrammed Gifts" phrase match returns 880 monthly results a month with an average cost off .88 a click. Better information for you, but better yet lets look at exact match results.
Finally, the exact match results for Preppy Monogrammed Gifts come back with 720 results a month with an average .92 a click. Exact match for Monogrammed Preppy Gifts returns only 12 results a month at .54 a click.
You could also put this information in the AdWords traffic estimator for more cost/benefit analysis but for the sake of time we'll go with results from Keywords.
I would interpret this data and optimize for the Preppy Monogrammed Gifts as it has a sizable (but more competitive) reach. The competition drops off so much for monogrammed preppy gifts, you have to ask if it is worth the time and effort considering your ROI could be so low because of the low volume. Once you optimize for Preppy Monogrammed Gifts you will probably rank well for the alternate phrase anyway because they are so close semantically and Google recognizes that.
Finally, when looking at Keyword results, I make decisions based on "phrase" and [exact match] with exact match having the most influence driving my decisions.
-
Hi Again,
I was mulling over all that you suggested and I am curious about a few things...
1. so obviously I need to cull my keywords down...but how do you deal with all the iterations of keywords that someone might use to search for. For example one of my main keywords is _monogrammed preppy gifts. _So if I use that keyword and skip preppy monogrammed gifts then what about those who search preppy monogrammed gifts? Does that question make sense?
2. I used Google AdWords to search and get variations of the keywords. The decision was made to go for the lower competition words because I thought I would be more successful with that tactic. So if I cull my keywords do I stay with the lower competition words which of course have less searches?
Thanks much!
-
Wow...I am in trouble!
Thank you, appreciate the guidance!
-
Wow, Shara. WAY TOO MANY keywords for any page. I'm concerned for you as it violates the most basic principles of SEO. You might consider this:
1. Spend time in Google Webmaster tools and glean all you can from its SEO instruction.
2. Spend time in the learning center here at SEOmoz.
3. Narrow optimization to the most relevent keywords by user intent, traffic volume and cost/benefit.
4. Understand principle of keyword cannabilization.
5. Understand principle of duplicate content.
6. Title tags are limited to 60-70 characters. Its a challenge for all of us to use that space as wisely as possible in conjunction with our on-page optimization. You've only got space in the title tag to optimize for 1-2 maybe three keywords depending on how long the phrase.
7. Typically, organic search results for an ecommerce site will land on category and product pages.
8. Category pages are typically made up of shorter tail 1-2 keyword phrases (preppy gifts or monogrammed preppy gifts).
9. Product pages are typically longer tail 3-4 (personalized dry erase board).
10. Good luck!
-
Hi Shara!
Good question, and it's my opinion that this is not a good idea.
A more practical approach would be to optimize individual landing pages for specific keywords. If it sounds like more work, it likely will be, but done properly you'll increase the user experience, Google will favor it, still be able to achieve desired organic listings, and hopefully see an improved ROI with regard to your SEO efforts.
Can you give a specific example of a product that needs 15 keywords? It might help to examine this a bit more closely.
Thanks,
W
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
On-Page Optimization on a service based Site?
Respected members, my question is that if I Wanna run a website that provide service like olansi do, But i need to know the On -page effect like How Can I make a plan to secure my position against my Service based competitor site?
On-Page Optimization | | younus_7831 -
How to optimize Google Places listing?
I have a couple friends who need more traffic from their Google Places listing. They are in very niche businesses. One is a home remodeling contractor and one is a music teacher. Does anyone know some good services to help optimize their listings? I feel I've helped them out as much as I can by getting real reviews to their Google Places page. But I feel that someone who's had the experience in Google Places optimization can pick up on something I'm overlooking.
On-Page Optimization | | RicktheMarkt0 -
On-page Optimization empty
My website is new. My On-page Optimization (Reports Updated: 1/2/13) is empty. Is there a problem, I have to wait longer or am I doing something wrong? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | franzneves0 -
If I want to rank well on one keyword would it be better to optimize multiple pages on the website for the keyword or should I only optimize one page for that keyword?
If I want to rank well on one keyword would it be better to optimize multiple pages on the website for the keyword or should I only optimize one page for that keyword?
On-Page Optimization | | CustomOnlineMarketing0 -
Optimizing your photo gallery for Pinterest
We are in the middle of a redesign and the VP wants to get more aggressive with Pinterest. We currently use Slideshow Pro for our photo albums. I have a feeling that we are going to have trouble pulling the images from this self-hosted script. Before we get further in our design process, I was wondering what photo services/scripts others use that seem to pull into Pinterest without problems or are you doing a custom album generator? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | Touchmark0 -
This is a real dumb question about on page optimization
I've been reading the docs for using this site and am puzzled by the on page optimization reports, and the tactics for creating the reports. In no place can i find that you first must use the keywords you have identified to track in the campaign on pages on your web site. Am i missing something? From just reading how to do your campaign, it would appear that you never have to touch your pages with the keywords you want to track, all 500 of them for one page, if that's what you want to do. Not knowing how the application works, it is possible to imagine anything, including not needing to do the obvious steps of writing a well optimized page first. I want to presume that first you optimize your pages with the keywords you want to track, then go ahead and run your campaign. Although this is the obvious thing, I don't see that part of the seo puzzle being mentioned in any of the docs. Where do i hunt for that part of the equation?
On-Page Optimization | | highersourcesites0 -
How would you optimize thousands of images?
The majority of our images are not optimized for search. Specifically, the alt text and image title are blank. The image filenames are also not using descriptive keywords. We publish content quite frequently and this issue will be addressed within the production work flow for all images moving forward. As for the images currently existing on our site, what are some ways to scale the optimization for thousands of images that need to be optimized for alt text, title and filename? We're thinking about mechanical turk, but the problem is that we are a business magazine and have a lot of head shots of entrepreneurs that the mainstream might not recognize. Any insights would be appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | inc.com0
