For the purposes of discussion let’s assume that you are a manufacturer of hammers. Like many manufacturers, you have constructed a line of hammers intended for unique purposes, carpentry, framing, jewelry etc. Within those classes you have subdivisions, or series, of quality ranging from entry level to professional grade.
Among the carpentry hammers you have a super-deluxe hammer called the XJ-9000, which also happens to be from the most expensive XJ series. The XJ-9000 is not a new release, and has enjoyed some mild popularity among niche markets; relevant to keyword context which we’ll get to later.
So now we have this stellar super-deluxe carpentry hammer called the XJ-9000 with a dedicated page on the website. The problem is that only those touched by direct, or viral, marketing campaigns know that it exists. Meaning that the only people finding the XJ-9000 page from a search engine are those who already know the hammer exists and explicitly punch “XJ-9000″ or some derivative into the query. This is all fine and great but what about the masses who just want a super-deluxe carpentry hammer? Good thing you can rank a page for multiple queries huh?
Think in terms of predefined paths on your website to funnel traffic and qualify them along the way.
You want to channel potential buyers from the search engine result pages (SERPs) through appropriate landing pages to the page that their query has qualified them for. In other words, if a consumer punches in “super-deluxe carpentry hammers” then you know that you have someone ready to be wooed on your presentation of the XJ series of hammers. However, if a consumer finds your site by simply searching on “carpentry hammers” then they may need to be further qualified before they are ready to fixate on a particular hammer, or even series. Because you have multiple pages, you have the opportunity to give people exactly what they are looking for, NOT what you are trying to sell them.
98% of the time you will get a maximum of 2 listings in the search results so make them count!
Here are some hypothetical scenarios:
Query: “super-deluxe carpentry hammers”
Really may be asking:
What is the best carpentry hammer I can buy?Possible Answers:
XJ series overview
Page with comparison of XJ series to competitors
Page with comparison of XJ series to lesser series
Query: “carpentry hammers”
Really may be asking:
Who makes a decent carpentry hammer?Possible Answers:
Carpentry hammers overview page
Page showing the companies dedication to making great [carpentry] hammers
Making a case for what series a professional would choose vs. the casual handyman
Query: “XJ-9000″
Really may be saying:
I’ve heard of the XJ-9000 but I’m not sure if I’m ready to buy it yet.Possible answers:
XJ-9000 model page
Industry specific page justifying the price tag with supporting features
Positive custom feedback or reviews
Think of yourself as the consumer and what you would hope to find had you entered the query yourself. Don’t assume that that they know your product name. Try to focus specific keywords on pages that are relevant to the question that is being asked by the query. Remember that a search engine will prioritize very clinically what it determines are your best result pages for a given query, unless to tell it. Don’t overcrowd your Meta keywords with everything you can think to call your product but rather use it to reiterate what is being said by the page itself. If you identify patterns and commonalities in how your pages are being found then tweak the pages and meta to address the question that is being asked. Shoot for common misspellings of your keyword such as “XJ9000″ or “XJ-900.” A page will really speak for itself so make the page relevant to the message and make the message relevant to the query.