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SEO phrase strategy
Knowing what search terms you want to own is one thing, thinking like a search consumer is another. More importantly being able to take that mind set and craft a competitive strategy is the key to top ranking success.

Many of our clients know one thing — they want to be the first link on Google... not knowing/understanding how the myriad of ways "key words and phrases" play a paramount role in the search result. Call it job security. And so at the risk of putting my own on the line, let's stop for a moment and think like three different search consumers; Grandma, Dad, Joe Jr. the College Student, and Sally the Teenager. Each of these three were exposed to the computer and more recently the web at different ages and in different ways. Each has a different understanding of what can be done, tool of choice (or not), and an associated comfort level. Grandma has to be told to go to the computer, shown how to get to Google, and likely thinks of search in a single key word, maybe two. Dad is learning more everyday, that 'oh yeah' why not try looking it up on Google... and thinks in simple 3 to 4 word search phrases. Joe Jr. lives at Google.com and thinks search in whole sentances (and lets Google correct the spelling errors as he goes. Sally the Teen, lives on the phone, and does her searching via a mobile interface using search terms in the social media vernacular (i.e. LMAO, WTF, BFF, FTW, etc.)

So good to know, good to understand how they think, but what do you do with this? Ah, getting into the mind of *your* desired audience. It's paramount that when you write your web content, you think how your potential clients think. What would they type into Google to find your business? Do they think first in terms of location and then activity, or is it just the opposite? Because word order in phrases makes a real difference, especially if you are in a competitive search field. Example A) "white water rafting in central oregon" Example B) "Central oregon white water rafting". No right or wrong answer, just one that may be more likely to be used than another. Further, bolding these words, adding relevant adjectives, capitalizing key words, will also give weight to your results.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but once you immerse yourself in the mind of your key site user, you can then truly begin to explore all the possible variants of search thought they may use - to enable your site to score well.

To learn more on how we can assist you in getting ahead in turbulent times, please contact Sienna Creative today »

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"Relevance most commonly refers to topical relevance or aboutness, i.e. to what extent the topic of a result matches the topic of the query or information need."

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