Q and A: Why is my regional keyword research so inconsistent?

QuestionHi Kalena

I feel like I am stuck with my keyword research.

I am researching SEO keywords for an Australian business that specializes in tree removal and tree felling. The keywords I chose for them were “tree removal” and “tree lopper” however when I enter these into Keyword Discovery for Australia I get nothing (although “tree removal” comes up quite a bit for global search).

These keywords best describe the business and although the tree removal operator prefers not to be called a tree lopper he is happy for me to use this term for search engine purposes. Yet when entering these keywords into Google it seems a lot of competitor sites come up. I am confused! Can you help?

Louise

Hello Louise

In my experience, most keyword research tools (such as Keyword Discovery or WordTracker) are highly inconsistent or downright inaccurate when it comes to regional search databases.

What I would do is to use the global database when choosing the best keywords to target and then see how they go in terms of bringing you traffic. You can tweak the keywords as you go based on the response and traffic you get. I would start broad e.g. “tree removal”, “tree felling” and then narrow your market based on the responses you receive e.g. “tree removal [city]” or “tree felling services”.

Another way to measure your potential regional market is to set up a basic pay per click campaign using Google AdWords, targeting Australia only and targeting the keywords you wish to test. Then monitor the number of impressions that your keywords get. Note I said impressions and not clicks. Set the budget low or design your ads in a way you don’t necessarily attract clicks (so it’s a cheap and dirty experiment).

The number of impressions you get per week will give you a ballpark idea of how many Australian searchers are looking for those particular keywords in Google per week.

Search Industry Job of the Week – Senior Manager Enterprise Paid and Natural Search

Job Title: Senior Manager – Enterprise Paid and Natural Search
Job Reference #: 129883BR
Position Type: Full Time
Name of Employer: American Express
Location: Manhattan, New York, USA
Date Posted: 1 August 2010
Position Description:

Responsibilities:

The Senior Manager of American Express Enterprise Paid and Natural Search will report into the newly created Director of Digital Strategy role, and will be part of the American Express Interactive (AXPi) division. The Division acts as the Center of Excellence for interactive and digital technology and customer experience for American Express.

The Senior Manager will be responsible for driving industry best practices and coordinated Search approaches across American Express for both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search. The role will do this by developing channel standards for key word arbitration, paid search bid optimization, cross linking, and other approaches key to Search performance. They will partner with business and technology partners to drive standards implementation and coordination across the Enterprise.

Additionally, the Senior Manager will drive the development of enhanced reporting processes to define and measure channel success, as well as the creation of education for business partners new to the Search channel. Last, the Lead will serve as the relationship manager of American Express’s Natural Search agency.

EOE statement: American Express is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Required Qualifications:

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Salary Range: Unknown
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Contact: Apply via link at [jobs.americanexpress.com]

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On behalf of staff and tutors at Search Engine College, I’d like to offer congratulations to our latest graduates for 2010.

All students named below have successfully completed a course at Search Engine College and attained official certification status (requiring a passing grade of 70 percent or higher.)

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