Increase Targeted Web Site Traffic

Today, I’m going to talk about what you can do to increase targeted web site traffic.  In my previous post,’Learning Seo‘, I stated that applying search engine optimization techniques (SEO) was the best way to increase targeted web site traffic.

Why SEO?

Applying SEO techniques makes it so much easier for the search engines to find your site.  When you consider that Market Share says the greatest percentage of search engine traffic belongs to Google at around 85%; you can see why it’s so important to use the techniques that are going to help put your your site where the search engines can easily find it.  Good use of SEO will help increase targeted web site traffic.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the foundation of your SEO strategy because all that you do to optimize your site to make it easier for the search engines to find it, will revolve around the keywords that you choose.

Keywords are simply the words or phrases that customers will type into the search engines to find the product or service that you are selling.  To increase targeted web site traffic, you need to choose your keywords carefully.

Three Things to Consider

There are three things to consider when choosing your keywords so they help increase targeted web site traffic:

1. Relevance
2. Traffic
3. Competition

Are Your Keywords Highly Relevant?

Highly relevant keywords are those that customers, who are looking specifically to buy the product or service that you are trying to sell, will type into the search engines to find your site.   Highly relevant keywords will naturally increase targeted web site traffic.

In my previous post, ‘Learning SEO’, I used high heel shoes as an example.  So, my site sells Christian Louboutin heels.  If I chose ‘high heel shoes’ as my keyword to try and optimize my site for, you can see that while it is relevant to the content on my site; it wouldn’t increase targeted web site traffic.

This is because someone who types ‘high heel shoes’ into the search engines could be looking for Manolo Blahnik’s and I only sell Christian Louboutin heels.  ‘High heel shoes’ is too broad a search term that will deliver general traffic to my site.  I want a keyword that will help increase targeted web site traffic.

When you’re choosing keywords to use, think about what customers would have to type into the search engines to find your exact product or service.  Be as specific as you can.  The more relevant a keyword is to the specific content on your site; the better chance you have to increase targeted web site traffic.

What Kind of Traffic Does Your Keyword Get?

Basically, you want to choose keywords that generate, not just a lot of traffic to your site; but the right kind of traffic.  You are trying to increase targeted web site traffic.

The keyword you choose needs to be a popular search term; not so popular you won’t be able to compete for it but not so unpopular that no-one searches for it.

It’s not enough to choose keywords just because they’re the most popular terms that people are typing into search engines to find your product or service.  This practice will drive lots of traffic to your site but  won’t increase targeted web site traffic.

To increase targeted web site traffic, you need to chose keywords that reflect what you want your customers to do.  For example, using my previous example; someone who types ‘Christian Louboutin heels’ into a search engine may be looking for the nearest store that stocks his shoes or they may just be looking for information on what the fuss is all about.

However, if I am looking to sell Christian Louboutin heels from my site; I would be better off choosing a keyword phrase like ‘cheapest Christian Louboutin heels’.  It’s a keyword that signals to potential customers that my site sells Christian Louboutin heels.  This keyword will get less traffic generally but it will increase targeted web site traffic.

How Much Competition is There for Your Keyword?

The best keywords that increase targeted web site traffic are those that have low levels of competition.  That is, there are fewer sites to compete with who use the same keyword as you and hopefully those sites are not optimized correctly.  This would make it easier for your site to achieve a higher ranking in the search results pages for that keyword.  I’ll talk about how to ensure that your site is optimized correctly in future posts.

Final Words

Essentially, the best keywords will be highly relevant to your site, with good levels of searches but low levels of competition.  I hope you enjoyed my look at how keyword research helps increase targeted web site traffic.