the problem with keyword ranking reports
DESCRIPTION
The problem with keyword ranking reports. How relevant are they in today's Search Engines, with Personalization, Localization, Hummingbird etc. Would it be better to drive more valuable traffic to enable business goals onsite?TRANSCRIPT
The Problem withKeyword Ranking
Reports
Peter Mead
@petermeadit
WordPress SEO Specialist
petermeadit.com
The Problem with Keyword Ranking Reports
1. Avoid discussing Keyword rankings with clients
2. This conversation goes badly when your SME client thinks you should be ranking higher for category killer keywords... Your experience?
3. Instead talk about keyword topics, categories and groups of keywords, and in relation to other important metrics such as impressions, reach, endorsements etc.
4. Getting and increase of valuable qualitytraffic which clear intention and purpose for increasing brand awareness lead generation and ultimately more revenue for your business
A Classic Keyword Ranking Report
l Typically shows a list l of keywords which have been l deemed to have high search l value, and therefore we l MUST want to rank for them
l Usually ordered by current l ranking for each of the l major search engines
l Often compares competitors l results in adjacent columns
Important information here, but by itself it only gives a small part of the overall information that is needed for a holistic understanding of how the SEO campaign is progressing.
We need to consider the bigger picture.
Reasons why #1 keyword rank makes no sense anymore:
To name a few...
What is a #1 ranking anyway?
• 100% Not Provided • Personalization • Localization • New SERP features• Hummingbird – towards conversational search• Desktop and Mobile SERPs• Miss all the long tail searches
l a. Google does not supply us the keyword data anymore
l b. We have to estimate which keywords actually send us l traffic
l c. Estimated data can be attained from Google Webmaster l Tools
l d. Use an Ad words campaign and use the paid clicks l data to infer organic search traffic for those keywords
l e. Use the Moz Landing Page Report which shows l estimated traffic for tracked keywords - Algorithm
100% Not provided
Personalization & Localization
Basically different search results will show up in different rankings for different people based on different conditions.
They may not see your #1 ranking...
• SERPs are personalized for you• Are you logged into Google?• Based on your search history • Your browsing patterns • Who your friends and connections are• Where you live• Where you work... • A bunch more personalization we don’t know about
l A lot of real estate is being taken by other features, designed to enhance l the user experience leaving less for rankings
l Local SERP features:Carousel, Knowledge Graph Panel, “Pack” Results, “Near” Results, Map + Pinsl Advertising and Paid Results:
l Adwords Top, Shopping Results Left, Adwords Bottom, Shopping Results Right, Adwords Rightl Knowledge Graph:List Carousel, Andwer Box, Knowledge Graph Info, Knowledge Graph Brand, Disambiguation Boxl Vertical Search Results:Image Mega-Bock, Video Results, Image Results, News Results, In-depth Articlesl Miscellaneous features:Site-links, Authorship Mark-up, Review Mark-up, Social Results, Related Searches
More about Mega-SERPs from Dr. Peter J. Meyers:l http://moz.com/blog/mega-serp-a-visual-guide-to-google
New SERP Features
This changes often too. You may have seen some A/B testing pages appear while searching. We can only guess what these pages will look like soon.
Keyword rank is less relevant...
Mature searcher's
Search: “Accommodation Ibiza”
Search: “Self-contained seaside cottage Ibiza”
I want to go on holiday to the Magical Islands of Ibiza...
We miss out on all this goodness
Hummingbird – towards conversational search- Searches are kinda rewritten or changedDesktop and Mobile SERPs- Differences in the people search on different devices Miss all the long tail searches- Very large volumes of valuable traffic via long tail search - Valuable because you matched the search they made, and answered their question
Why we still use keyword ranking reports
Because they are still a really useful metric. One of the best metrics you can report on.
Makes a lot of sense to the client.
Has been ingrained into the client's
mentality.
Better metrics to report on
• Consider a broader more holistic approach• there are people at the other end of those SERPs:• Keyword Groupings – Indexes of keywords• Impressions – you results are being seen more • Reach – more connections for broader audience• Endorsements – including links to your site• Goals – to enable the business objectives
Keyword Groupings
Use your major keywords for primary keywords of a grouping of long tail keywords for tracking.
Report on averages of keywords across categories
The idea is to try and rank for every keyword in the whole category and across all the important categories
We want to rank well for thousands of keywords
Dr. Pete explains how to create your own ranking indexes with data extracts and pivot tables.
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/new-ways-to-track-keyword-rank
Next steps
http://moz.com/blog/hummingbird-unleashed
http://moz.com/blog/4-conversations-that-dont-involve-rank-reports-whiteboard-friday
http://moz.com/blog/death-of-keyword-ranking-reports-whiteboard-friday
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/new-ways-to-track-keyword-rank
Traditional keyword ranking reports have become irrelevant, they just don't make sense
Google changes in the SERPs by way of Personalization, Localization and other customized search results
Hummingbird has enabled different types of results which may not actually be returning the keywords you think you are ranking for
An increase in valuable and productive traffic is the real value to the client
Thank You. Now relax...
www.petermeadit.com
@petermeadit
www.meetup.com/Melbourne-SEO/