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Offline gurus -- local keyword research?

by InfoAcademy
10 replies
Just wondering what kind of local keyword research you do for your offline clients? How do you ensure you are ranking your clients for keywords that are actually getting traffic in the local market?

A potential client was using one of the big local search firms and they were ranking her for related keyword phrases (she is an event planner and they were ranking her for "corporate event planner"). But she wasn't getting any business, because no one was searching for those terms in our area.

Just curious if anyone has a strategy for determining the market for LOCAL keyword phrases?
#gurus #keyword #local #offline #research
  • Profile picture of the author AngieRammer
    You seem to assume the information that you are looking for.

    That is, you want to know how to find out whether people are searching for a keyword phrase but you say that the client wasn't getting any business because no one was searching for those terms in your area. How can you know that without knowing the first part?

    As for strategy ... yah...you put the name of the geographical area in the search terms and see what kinds of searches you get!

    Be sure that she is listed in Google Local Biz Directory so she shows up in the ... I've forgotten the name -- the "insert maps" that Google puts on search results pages.

    Cheers!

    Angie Rammer
    Word Demon
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    • Profile picture of the author InfoAcademy
      Hi Angie,

      Sorry if I didn't make that clear - the client wasn't getting calls so when I checked the Google Keyword Tool for her, "corporate event planner" + location was "not enough data"... and I was surprised how much they charged her for a worthless ranking.

      I was just curious if I was missing something obvious ......
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      • Profile picture of the author AngieRammer
        Originally Posted by InfoAcademy View Post

        Hi Angie,

        Sorry if I didn't make that clear - the client wasn't getting calls so when I checked the Google Keyword Tool for her, "corporate event planner" + location was "not enough data"... and I was surprised how much they charged her for a worthless ranking.

        I was just curious if I was missing something obvious ......
        "Charged her for a worthless ranking." ?

        We're probably not communicating. I'm talking about the FREE listing that Google provides -- not anything that cost anything!

        Did you use exact or phrase match when you looked for the data?

        What other keywords did you try?

        I wouldn't try to do any SEO just for one keyword...and I would have done the keyword research before trying to rank for the phrase.

        Cheers!

        Angie Rammer
        Word Demon
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      • Profile picture of the author Glenn Leader
        Originally Posted by InfoAcademy View Post

        Hi Angie,

        Sorry if I didn't make that clear - the client wasn't getting calls so when I checked the Google Keyword Tool for her, "corporate event planner" + location was "not enough data"... and I was surprised how much they charged her for a worthless ranking.

        I was just curious if I was missing something obvious ......
        The Google Keyword Tool isn't a keyword research tool. It's an Adwords
        research tool. the fact that there isn't enough data means that nobody
        is bidding on them. This is an entirely different matter.

        HTH

        Glenn
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        • Profile picture of the author hotlinkz
          Originally Posted by Glenn Leader View Post

          The Google Keyword Tool isn't a keyword research tool. It's an Adwords
          research tool. the fact that there isn't enough data means that nobody
          is bidding on them. This is an entirely different matter.

          HTH

          Glenn
          Glenn has a point here. However, though it is not designed specifically for keyword research, it still remains one of the very few free resources available for estimating searches.

          When I first started out, it is the only tool I used for determining search volume. It never prevented me from achieving good placement for my clients.

          Google's own resource may help explain it better.

          What should I know about the Keyword Tool's search volume statistics?
          http://adwords.google.com/support/bi...n&answer=96571


          Calvin
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    • Profile picture of the author Susan Hope
      Originally Posted by AngieRammer View Post

      Be sure that she is listed in Google Local Biz Directory so she shows up in the ... I've forgotten the name -- the "insert maps" that Google puts on search results pages.

      Cheers!

      Angie Rammer
      Word Demon
      I think you might mean Googles "Local Business Center" :
      https://www.google.com/local/add/login?

      Sue
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      • Profile picture of the author AngieRammer
        Originally Posted by SusanneUK View Post

        I think you might mean Googles "Local Business Center" :
        https://www.google.com/local/add/login?

        Sue
        Yes, that is the technical name of it.

        Thanks!

        Sorry if I mis-led anyone, and thanks for clearing that up!

        Cheers!

        Angie Rammer
        Word Maven
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  • Profile picture of the author hotlinkz
    The first step should be to check the search volume for the keyword phrase using something like Google Keyword Tool. If it has a decent search volume, then you check to see how many sites are using this same phrase.

    https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

    Example:

    Here are the results using Google Keyword Tool

    "atlanta bed and breakfast" March Volume: 18,100 searches

    Next, I do a search on the phrase: "atlanta bed and breakfast" and find there are only 3,810 sites using this phrase!

    BINGO! Get bed and breakfast clients in the Atlanta area and you can do very well getting them in a top spot with the proper optimization. This search to listing ratio is what Offline Consultants dream about.


    NOTICE: Atlanta offline consultants - ignore the hot niche market! It's mine, all mine.
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  • Profile picture of the author AngieRammer
    Good point, Glenn -- I recently was introduced to that concept -- that Google's Keyword Tool is NOT about searches.

    Nevertheless, I believe it IS used by Market Samurai -- that folks are now talking about in another thread.

    Are the MS people doing it wrong?

    Cheers!

    Angie Rammer
    Word Maven
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