Test Keyword-Level Conversion Rate via Paid
Objective: Gain a better understanding of which keywords drive the most conversions from search and place more focus on ranking for them in organic.
How: Keyword research can be a confusing task for a lot of people that haven't immersed themselves in SEO for a substantial amount of time. As a result, a lot of the priority that's placed on ranking for specific terms can end up being ill-conceived.
An example of this is making an assumption that ranking for a broad, informational query with a large monthly search volume will drive huge amounts of revenue. I've seen this first-hand with a bunch of businesses I've worked with, but a recent example was with the term "CRM".
We spent a bunch of time at HubSpot going after the "CRM" keyword to drive new signups to our free CRM, and once we ranked on page 1 we soon realized that this keyword contributed less signups than others with 100x less search volume (literally).
The main reason here is that there isn't any commercial intent behind the keyword. Most people searching for it just want the definition of the acronym.
Rather than spending a bunch of time and resources on trying to rank for the wrong keywords, you can run some small-scale tests via paid. In short, this is what it involves:
- Pull a list of your top keywords that you're planning on going after.
- Run a small scale paid ad campaign through AdWords.
- Measure the conversion rate on a keyword level.
- Prioritize your organic search focus based on the keywords that convert best.