Question From Steve Grable
Ive got a couple of good keyword questions. I build and sell handcrafted custom log furniture and my only advertising/marketing media is my website at http://www.mtlogfurniture.net.
I do not have a store front or showroom, and do not display or consign anywhere, my only platform is the site.
Do I want to target high traffic words like “bedroom furniture” or do I always stick with “LOG bedroom furniture” since it is more specific, even though the traffic is considerably lower? Is it worth trying to entice some bedroom furniture buyers into purchasing log furniture, rather than traditional bedroom furniture with exposure on those search results pages?
How does the “competition” factor into the “keyword formula”?
What is a “1”, what is a “0.75” on Adwords Keyword Tool? What specific formula (or relationship) am I looking for to feature on my site SEO that correlates monthly searches, competition, and search listings for each term?
Obviously, “log furniture” and “rustic furniture” are no-brainers, but should I stick with ALL “log ___________ (fill in the blank)” terms (ie: log beds, log bunks, log dressers, log dining room furniture, etc), or throw in a mix with the others (unfinished furniture, wood furniture, custom furniture, handmade furniture, pine furniture, discount furniture, etc)?
Answer:
I did some quick research on your keyword phrases. The total number of searchers per day for each of these is; pine furniture 4438, unfinished furniture 4438, rustic furniture 2975, log furniture 1332.
Based on the SEO competition analysis you are up against some tough competition. The easiest of these to compete in the top 10 would be pine furniture. And the next easiest would be log furniture. What Cathy said is correct that you will rank higher in your local area
You currently have 1,194 backlinks to your website. My best guess would be that you would need to triple that number over the next six months in order to play for all four of these terms.
It’s possible if you know what you’re doing. However, the quality of each backlink is brought into question. You need backlinks from authority sites, .edu sites and.gov sites above all others.
In addition to this, a paid Yahoo listing would be a good idea and I would also try to get a Dmoz.org listing as soon as possible.
In terms of keyword strategies on site I had a look at your homepage and your title tag looks like this Montana Custom Log Furniture | Rustic Furniture | Handmade custom wood furniture created in Montana at discount prices!
This is not the best course of action. I would choose one keyword phrase to represent each page on your website. When you use multiple keyword phrases on a single page you confuse Google’s algorithm.
For example; on my personal website http://www.paultobey.com I rank for the keyword phrase “piano music” number eight in the world on Google.com and as high as number three in various countries. This keyword phrase gets 3.8 million searches a month. It is very competitive but you will notice that on my homepage I only have that one keyword phrase not several. If I want to rank for something else like “advanced piano lessons” that gets a whole page by itself.