People often look at keyword research as a simple numbers game, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is not to say that you should ignore raw search traffic – far from it – but that’s not going to give you the whole picture unless you take a close look at the search engine result pages (SERPs) that actually come up for those terms. Even then, it isn’t enough to just inspect the stats of the pages you see in the top ten. What kind of sites are they? Here are some examples of sites that affect SERPs with more than their sheer popularity:

.gov and .edu Sites

When these two domains appear on the first page it means that Google gives them considerable authority for the topic covered by this keyword. Even if they aren’t #1, you may want to consider their 10% of the SERP permanently occupied. There are exceptions, of course. A page with informal content that just happens to use one of these domains, such as a student page at an .edu site, isn’t as hard to compete with. But don’t go for DMV any time soon.

Big Retail

If your client sells products supplied by a big online retailer like Amazon or Buy.com you’re likely to see them on the first page whenever you test a product as a keyword. If the client is a specialist, has great content and you can see some high authority links in his or her future these can be overcome, but otherwise, you’ll have to take a look at alternatives, such as a synonym or longer-tailed variation. If you go either of these routes, make sure the destination pages change to match your target term, but always keep the original term around. It’s still good when people to in-depth searches, and you never know when either Google or the business blocking the top spot’s going to change dramatically.

Wikipedia Entries

Ah, Wikipedia. Google obviously gives it some kind of privilege, because unpopular Wikipedia pages, including three line stubs, often show up ahead of more complete, independent resources. If a stub is wasting page on your SERP, consider editing it. Add useful content in line with Wikipedia’s guidelines that happens to use your SEO target as a reference. It’s a nofollow link, but it’s on page one and it’s Wikipedia, so the organic traffic can be worthwhile. If it’s a well-developed, popular article consider a synonym or variation instead.

Youtube

Some keyword results are absolutely stuffed with Youtube videos. This is either due to the popularity of a single video, or a torrent of applicable results. In either case, Google seems to kick one or two videos right to the top. In this case, the rule, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!” seems to apply. Get a video up there. It won’t necessarily supplant the Google listing, but when people click on that, your video may show up as a related item. Some Youtube results fluctuate quickly, too, so monitor this SERP regularly, and target another term that doesn’t attract as much of that sort of content.

Google has some definite preferences when it comes to certain content. If it’s occupying that first page it may be almost impossible to dislodge. Examine your SERPs and change your tactics accordingly.

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