You’re probably familiar with the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, but do you know many keywords suffer the same dilemma? No, they’re not too soft, too hot, or too big, but they can be too broad or too narrow.
A lot of clients come to me with a keyword list and ask me to write a series of articles, blog posts, or sales copy around those keywords. Perfect! Saves me a lot of time right? Not always. Just like Goldilocks found three kinds of porridge in the bears’ house, there are three kinds of keywords.
The first kind of keyword is too broad. These are usually single words and are so frequently used that they are meaningless in a keyword strategy. Words like business, Canada, and blogging are too broad, as Goldie might say.
The second type of keywords clients bring me are too narrow. Phrases such as “beef jerky manufacturing in North Dakota” simply have no search volume. Sure, you can hit the front page of the search results in less time than it takes you to read this blog post, but if no one is searching on that term, who cares? No searches means no one will find your page anyway.
These keywords are just too narrow.
The keywords you want to find are the ones that are just right. You want keywords with some search volume, but not so much competition that your page gets lost in the crowd. How much search volume is enough? That depends on you and your goal for the page, but if Google is saying there’s not enough data to give you a number, that’s obviously too low.
So like Goldilocks, don’t settle for the keyword that’s too broad or too narrow. Keep looking until you find the one that’s just right.
For the best advice on choosing keywords and how to use them, go get yourself a copy of SEO Fast Start by Dan Thies. It’s totally free – you don’t even have to give him your email address – and the best advice on keyword strategy I have ever read. Go get yourself a copy right now from http://www.seofaststart.com.
Cartoon by Gaspirtz
