Search Engine Optimization

Developing a successful SEO strategy for a new website is challenging because there is no data available to work from. When you launch a new site, the easiest way to create data that can help you build a successful SEO campaign is by using PPC. PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, helps you figure out which keyword phrases would work best for your site.

Remember: one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your website is deciding which keyword phrases to target. Even if you conduct keyword research to find popular keyword phrases that are relevant to your niche, you may discover that the keywords you uncovered simply don’t convert.

Many businesses make the mistake of targeting search terms with a high volume of traffic, only to realize that those keywords aren’t bringing them results. More often than not, the keywords that convert best are not the most competitive ones, but the ones that receive less overall traffic but traffic of higher quality. Many businesses also make the mistake of copying their competitors’ keywords, which usually aren’t equally effective on their sites.

Why Testing Is So Important

Don’t make the mistake of spending lots of time and money trying to rank for a keyword just because you think it would be lucrative based on its search volume. Actually test it out in a PPC campaign first to see how well it performs. What’s the point of making the effort to rank number one for a term that doesn’t even bring you high quality traffic?

PPC is a reliable, cost-effective way to determine exactly which keywords will produce the right results for your business so you can work smarter, not harder. Running a PPC campaign will help you figure out which keywords convert the best for you. You’d be surprised to discover that conversion rates for a keyword in a single industry can vary significantly depending on a site’s design, content, and a variety of other factors.

How to Make Your PPC Campaign Worthwhile

For PPC testing to be worthwhile, you need to ensure that the proper tracking system is in place. You can set up AdWords conversion tracking, which follows customers from the moment they conduct a search and click on your PPC ad to the moment they complete a transaction on your website. When you utilize tracking, you’ll figure out not only which keywords receive a high volume of traffic, but also which keywords help you generate the most leads and sales.

An added perk of launching a PPC campaign for a new website is that you can immediately start driving traffic to your website. It can take several weeks, if not months, to improve your site’s search engine ranking, so in the meantime, you can use PPC to target your preferred keywords and drive traffic to your site instantly.

If you already have an established website, use your analytics program to determine which keywords convert the best. A particularly effective way to spot lucrative keywords is by using goal tracking. With goal tracking, you’ll be able to identify the terms that are worth targeting in your SEO campaign.