9 replies to this topic

[1dmf]

As you know I did a 3 months experiment with trying to rank better for our plural keyword vs the singular (without success)

I've checked the GWMT stats and i just can't work out the results.

this is the Impressions info...

# % Query Position
1- 13% - Keyword Plural - 7
2 - 11% - xxxx - 19
3 - 9% - xxxx - 5
4 - 9% - xxxx - 38
5 - 9% - xxxx - 1
6 - 7% - Keyword Single - 1

Then the Traffic info...

# % Query Position
1 - 31% - xxxx - 1
2 - 28% - xxxx - 2
3 - 10% - Keyword Plural - 7
4 - 6% - Keyword Single - 1
5 - 3% - xxx

So I deduce that the plural KWD performs better even though we have a much lower ranking for it?

How does this work, we are no.1 for singular, why is our no.7 plural position out performing our no.1 spot.

Is this proof that being No.1 in G! means didley squat?

[BBCoach]

I see this all the time. Your scenario doesn't mean didly squat, it means that more people are looking for multiple items/services offered and the plural or "many" was what the user wanted to see versus a specific item/service. They're looking for a broader selection of items/services than a specific one because they either don't know exactly what they're looking for or they want to see variants of the same products for price/feature comparisons. This should give you a greater insight into your potential customers and how to better convert them.

[1dmf]

I guess at the end of the day we are above the fold for either term and so at least have that on our side.

But as you say I think more people are looking for the plural and so this means our plural out performs single even though position for single is better.

Should I deduce therefrore that we are missing out on a lot of potential visits because we have a lower plural ranking and plural is searched more?

I guess should continue to attempt to increase our plural ranking. The irony is the singular has much more competition than the plural!

[BBCoach]

Should I deduce therefore that we are missing out on a lot of potential visits because we have a lower plural ranking and plural is searched more?

I dunno about that. Concerning ranking, as several others have said on different discussions recently, it's not the ranking that matters so much as does the SERP text description matching what the user is looking for. Many SERP clicks come to my sites with less than desirable rankings which is due to matching what the user was looking for.

I wouldn't ignore the singular, but would word the text of the #1 to better indicate the plurality of it. In addition to getting the plural better rankings like you said.

[Randy]

You'll probably want to target both the singular and plural 1dmf. But the real answer as to which is more valuable to you will be found in your Conversion stats. Does one version clearly out pace the other where conversions are concerned?

[1dmf]

Does one version clearly out pace the other where conversions are concerned?

I don't know, how do I tell?

Do I need to set up goals tracking for this?

I can tell the conversion rates are poor overall, by the few 'Enquire' forms that are completed, regardless of method they reached our site.

As per my other thread with the screen shot of the visitor sources , even the Marketing email campaign is not working very well.

They even mentioned in this mornings meeting that I might not get the resources to have articles written for one of my sites as they aren't getting the 'percieved' results from them.

The way things are going and their complete lack of understanding of the internet, the was SE's and SEM works and their input vs output , I.E. they put little in and expect alot out!

I have a feeling the site is likely to be closed, if they pull the articles , the site is just going to stagnate, so not much point in keeping it open.

What should we have received from a year of article writing, though it is only 1 per month!

[BBCoach]

I don't know, how do I tell?

Use GoAn or look at your log files compared to sales/registration/inquiries.

Do I need to set up goals tracking for this?

Yes. Use GoAn.

The rest of what you said "sounds" like management perceived high expectations for simply putting one article/month on a web site. Even if those articles are 100% unique, without several external links pointing to them you're not gonna get the rankings like you expect.

What should we have received from a year of article writing, though it is only 1 per month!

How the heck is someone suppose to answer this? Working from a very liberal point of view, if it took 3 months to get one article ranked (in top 10) and generating traffic, then in one year you'd have 3-4 articles producing hits. That's assuming there's a large enough target population searching for those things in those articles. I use articles (per se) as additional pieces of info to hit areas (keywords & keyword phrases) that aren't so easily expressed in the product descriptions themselves. They are NOT the primary traffic driving sources of information. The products are. Articles are ancillary to what I want to sell and aid in answering the additional customer questions not normally addressed when simply describing the products. Like how to best use XYZ, or how to install XYZ on ABC and DEF or XYZ is compatible with UVW.

From my observations over the years most small-medium (company) websites will only get fully indexed once/month (maybe two months) by the big 3 SEs. Now depending on when you published those articles it may double the time for them to get indexed much less ranked. Having any expectations on performance by publishing 1 article/month is not wise. Over a couple three years it might work out, but one year is definitely not enough time to expect a lot (don't forget to build links to those articles).

[1dmf]

Cheers BB.

I know the problems, and appreciate the time and effort involved, and that there lies the problem.

I'm expected to get no.1 in G! without any budget, no SEo /SEM training, no resources, and not much time either, I have to manage an entire IT department, servers, inhouse system, extranet, (all this hand coded by me), continuing MI reporting, FSA regulation recordkeeping from business recording system, reporting and anlysis, infact, I'm not going to list my role. as i don't have the time, to spell everything out!

but on top of everything, with no help, support or training, I've got to get a site to no.1 in one of the most fiercley fought keyword sectors!

Ok, i'm no.1 for a few of my sites or at least 1st page, but they now expect it for everything i do and I webmaster for over 40 websites, 30+ are all the same sector, anyone with kindergarden maths can work out there are only 10 places on the first page, how do they expect me to get 30+ members sites to no.1? or even on the first page?

Infact if they decide to close the site, it would suit me fine, it's impossible to achieve what they want with what i have, so if the site is shut, at least i won't be wasting any more of my time flogging a dead horse!

I don't know how many IBL's we have, but I don't have the time to run 'Link Building' campaigns, and the site certainly isn't an organic linking type site, so I guess i'm pretty much well stuffed, don't you?

I know that 1 year isn't enough time, I've tried to explain this, but i'm preaching to deaf ears, all they care or see is bottom line!

I've managed to use GWMT to ensure the site is indexed and each article from release is usually index within 3 weeks, though whether that is coincidence or because I keep resubmitting my site map with the addition url, perhaps someone else could answer this for me!

But i've just done a comparison and the stats show..

Total URLs: 55
Indexed URLs: 52

So 3 pages at least still to be indexed!

[BBCoach]

Cheers back at ya 1dmf!

Wow! I thought I had "issues." It's sounds like you're the only one in the boat paddling up-stream during a flood.

Ok, i'm no.1 for a few of my sites or at least 1st page, but they now expect it for everything i do and I webmaster for over 40 websites, 30+ are all the same sector, anyone with kindergarden maths can work out there are only 10 places on the first page, how do they expect me to get 30+ members sites to no.1? or even on the first page?

You're right. That's not even in the same ballpark as a "reasonable" expectation.

Good luck with everything!

[1dmf]

Wow! I thought I had "issues." It's sounds like you're the only one in the boat paddling up-stream during a flood.

make that paddling upstream during a hurricane!

I just wish someone would come along in a chopper and rescue me!

But I know in life there is only one person that is going to help me! So onwards and upwards