subject: Testing Keywords Before Search Engine Optimization [print this page] The holy grail of search engine optimization services is getting front-page, organic search engine rankings. It is also lots of work and a time-consuming process. And, most of the time, you wont succeed on making it to the front page for competitive keywords.
So, with all that possibility for failure, why not run a series of tests on your keywords before getting into the down and dirty SEO strategies of building links or optimizing separate pieces of content? It is not quite as hard as you would think, and odds are, you are already doing a version of this test as part of your business.
The perfect mechanism for such type of testing is already in place and you probably already use it: Pay Per Click advertising. The idea is to steer traffic to a landing page with a basic opt in mailing list with paid advertising so as to test whether a particular set of keywords can be profitable.
If, for instance, you run this test campaign for 1,500 visitors, and only three or four of them convert, then that specific keyword probably isnt worth the hours upon hours of optimization work you had planned to do. Yes, it will cost you money initially to run the PPC campaign, but in the long run you would be able to precisely determine which keywords to focus on, which would make you money in the end.
One of the main pitfall that youll have to prevent while running this test is confusing website traffic with potential earnings. If you run a targeted PPC campaign and drive lots of traffic instantly, you might think to yourself that these keywords ought to be profitable because traffic has arrived so quickly.
This isnt necessarily the case. Traffic is just valuable if the individuals making up that traffic (or at least a percentage of them) perform the actions required to make you money. If you are running a web-site for a hobby and just have to share content with likeminded individuals, then the more traffic the better. But if youre running a business, the more increase targeted traffic the better. Using PPC campaigns to test the potential profitability of keywords before launching a full-fledged search engine optimization project could be one of the most useful tools in your arsenal if utilized correctly.
