One of the big benefits of search engine optimisation is that it can be used
to attract highly targeted traffic to a website. The more targeted the visitor,
the more likely they will be to take action while on your pages. For affiliate
sites this means a greater ratio of affiliate clicks to visitors, while for
the direct sales site it means a greater number of sales or enquiries. In order
to generate targeted traffic, it’s vital to target the keywords that are most
relevant to your visitors and to your content. In most cases this excludes
single word search terms.

Long String Keywords

When search engine users search for specific information they are more inclined
to use keyword strings consisting of two, three, or more words. These strings
are much more likely to generate targeted traffic than those that consist of
a single word. One of the first stages in search engine optimisation is determining
the best portfolio of keywords to use.

The Fiercest Competition

Single word keywords are also the most competitive and while it is possible
to rank highly it can take a prolonged and sustained search engine optimisation
campaign to get into the very top positions. It will be necessary to optimise
pages and to build a large number of links before a page generates any traffic
from these highly competitive keywords.

Targeted Keywords

SEO keyword research should be geared specifically to the service or products
that you offer and the search terms that your target visitors are most likely
to use and will generate the greatest possible conversion rates on your site.
Generic keywords do not lead to the best overall results in most cases. More
targeted, more specific keywords encourage visitors that are ready to begin
or progress through the buying process.

Long Term SEO Efforts

Single word keywords can have a place in your search engine optimisation but
shouldn’t be an entire SEO campaign. Like any marketing efforts, a diverse
portfolio will tend to provide the best results. Long tail search terms that
generate the fewest visitors are known for producing a high percentage of conversions
and by including many different long tail search terms into your SEO it’s possible
to generate good levels of high converting traffic.

The Benefit Of Targeted SEO Keywords

Optimising a web page for single word keywords means that you will likely
be competing with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pages
for each visitor. In contrast, a niche or long tail keyword may only mean competing
with a handful of optimised pages. Factor in the greater conversion rates and
it becomes a more sensible approach to optimise for a list of niche keywords
rather than for a single generic keyword.

Optimising Your SEO Campaign

Single word keywords produce several challenges. One of the biggest of these
challenges is the number of pages that your own site will need to compete with.
It will be necessary, over a prolonged period of time, to build hundreds or
thousands of links to a single page for a single keyword. The resulting conversion
rate is also likely to be considerably lower than with more specific keywords
consisting of multiple words.

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