Search Engine Keyphrases And The Power Of The Modifier

Most search engine optimization experts agree that thekeyphrase selection process is the single most important step in asearch engine optimization campaign. However, clients frequently asktheir search engine optimization company to target very general andcompetitive search engine keyphrases. While targeting such terms isusually not worth the effort, the addition of a simple modifier cantake an ultra-competitive, general keyphrase and transform it intosomething useful- a phrase that attracts a large percentage of peoplethat are looking for exactly what you offer, and for which highrankings are attainable.

Geographic

The first obvious modifier is geographic. If your products orservices are limited by geographic area, it is probably not worth goingafter a highly competitive term that does not specify a region. Forexample, a homebuilder who worked exclusively in the Atlanta area wouldprobably not find it worth his time or effort to target the generalkeyphrase "homebuilders", considering that good positions for one wordkeyphrases are exceedingly difficult to obtain and that the vastmajority of people who type this keyphrase are not looking for ahomebuilder in the Atlanta area. Adding geographic modifiers (in thiscase "Atlanta homebuilders" or "homebuilders in Atlanta") makes searchengine keyphrases easier to target and also attracts a much moretargeted visitor.

Descriptive (adjective)

If you only sell blue widgets, and there are many other colorsof widgets available to the public, a large percentage of peoplesearching for "widgets" are probably not your target audience. As withgeographic modifiers, the addition of descriptive adjectives makes yoursearch engine keyphrases easier to target ("blue widgets" will almostalways be easier to target than "widgets" alone). Also like geographicmodifiers, descriptive adjectives help attract visitors who are lookingfor exactly the products or services that you offer. Why should youexpend huge amounts of effort to achieve high rankings for a phrasewhen the traffic from it isn't comprised primarily of your idealvisitors?

Descriptive (noun)

The addition of a descriptive noun can take a keyphrase thatattracts diverse, non targeted traffic and transform it into a phrasethat attracts exactly the type of traffic that you seek. Assume, forexample, that you owned a company that specialized in internetmarketing. When you consider the keyphrase "internet marketing", it'seasy to see that a person searching for that phrase can have manymotivations- not the least of which would be trying to learn how to doit themselves. When you add a descriptive noun modifier, such as"companies", "consultants", or "firms", you are suddenly targetingexactly the type of traffic you want- someone who is at the point wherethey are looking for a company that offers the service (not informationon the service itself). Of course, as with all other modifiers, thisalso has the additional benefit of making the keyphrase much easier totarget.

Low Quality Modifiers-

The likely motivation of the searcher always comes into playwhen you are trying to decide upon keyphrases, and there are manymodifiers which generally (but not always) attract the wrong type oftraffic. These include "free", "sample", "ideas", "advice", etc. Let'sassume you have a company that specializes in email marketing. Addinglow quality modifiers would give you terms such as "email marketingadvice", "email marketing ideas", "free email marketing", etc. Theseterms would probably attract what can be called "conversion traffic".Are there a handful of these people, clearly looking to do things ontheir own, that might convert to paying customers? Certainly. Shouldyou make an effort to attract this traffic when you have better terms,such as "email marketing consultants" or "email marketing firms", totarget? Probably not.

Conclusion

Modifiers in search engine phrases are used for two mainreasons: to increase the percentage of ideal prospects in the trafficthe phrase attracts, and to find terms that are easier to target onsearch engines. Adding the right type of modifiers to your searchengine keyphrases will increase your chances of success. Good luck!

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