Micro-strategies applied to keyword development can also help control costs, boost relevance and drive results for brands. Micro-strategies can enable smarter, smaller, more accountable keyword bids. This approach doesn't just make efforts more efficient for marketers; it also exposes customers to more relevant offers and messages, and creates more positive exchanges for both sides of the discussion.
As mentioned above, one untapped micro-strategy in keyword development includes going after niche terminology to improve results and drive conversions. For example, women's clothing retailer
Michael Stars chose to get granular with unbranded terms. The company leveraged extensive keyword research as it prepared to optimize its site content for unbranded keywords that had high volume, relevance and the best chance to convert, but the program also incorporated keyword variations (tee-shirts, t shirts and t-shirts, for example) and keywords that contained inherent gender bias (women's maternity dresses, maternity dresses, etc.).
Another useful strategy for understanding searcher behavior and terminology to mine for keywords exists on marketers' own websites. On most sites, users look to on-site search after they've scanned the page for clues to the content they're seeking. Tracking and collecting search terms in a search log is a great way to gain insight into how people use a site. By monitoring the on-site search log, marketers can gain insights on:
- Top search terms—information into users' processes as they explore the site;
- Which pages top terms come from—if the terms come from deep within a site, perhaps users are getting lost, and this points to a need to improve the user experience; and
- Top terms for pages on critical click paths—what keywords searchers employ to get them to specific information on the site.
Several third-party tools exist to help marketers develop and expand their keyword portfolios, partially based on consumer language. Google Insights for Search, for example, can help marketers gain insights on keyword trends, hot keywords by category, and top geographic regions for a keyword. Bing also offers a feature known as the search query performance report, which allows marketers to look at actual search queries that triggered their ads and create keyword filters for all irrelevant junk, while identifying and adding new keywords.
3. Competitive Intelligence
Competitors' successes and failures do provide great keyword insights to search marketers, but it's not practical to manually hunt for these insights on the search engine result page (SERP). Automated tools can provide a holistic view of the marketplace and a multi-faceted understanding of competitors' shortcomings and opportunities at hand.
Once marketers audit their own keyword strategies, they should determine what keywords perform for their competitors and if competitors are bidding on profitable search terms on which they're missing out. Marketers can use the tools from Google and Bing to glean competitive keyword insights, but several robust campaign tracking solutions exist that help marketers gain an edge through competitive insights.
These tools provide marketers with valuable keyword resources for a competitive advantage in search. They ultimately improve their chances of winning more traffic at a lower cost by not only making it easier to identify profitable keywords, but also by helping them to better understand and optimize bid prices, search strategies and more.
Planning, evaluating and implementing these assorted keyword strategies will enable marketers to capitalize on different opportunities in search and provide a good benchmark for measurement of keyword campaigns. For any marketer looking to maintain success in search with their keyword campaigns, it's beneficial to periodically revisit your strategies, reevaluate areas to optimize and stay on top of the evolving landscape.
Maren Wesley is an account manager at Chicago-based Performics, the performance marketing agency inside Publicis Groupe. Contact her at maren.wesley@performics.com.
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