3600 exact searches a month but only 12 unique visitors a day?

[Keep Trying]

Back in March, I researched for a keyword phrase that got 720 exact searches per month. I was excited because it was a low competition keyword. As a newbie who never did SEO before, it took me about three months of hard work, but I was finally to rank #1 for it in Google in June.

But it only got 11 unique visitors a day.

So knowing what to do, I chose another keyword phrase with more exact searches per month. This time I chose a very similar keyword phrase that was a lot more competitive, but had 3600 exact searches per month.

After about a month of SEO, I finally got the it ranked #1 in Google, meaning I was ranking #1 for both those keywords now for the same website.

But the 3600 keyword only got 12 unique visitors a day.

I did everything that I could, including spending lots of money to learn about SEO and hundreds of hours of online work, to rank #1 in Google for the 2nd keyword, only to get 1 more visitor a day.

My goal for the entire summer's time was to get to the top of Google for both keywords so I could get 100 visitors a day to my website by August before I go back to school. There's only 10 more days left until the 1st though...

And now that I have finally reached my summer goal of of ranking #1 for both keywords, they both only add up to a whopping 23 unique visitors a day.

I just feel so discouraged right now and wanted to tell someone...

[InTheMaking]

Originally Posted by Keep Trying

Back in March, I researched for a keyword phrase that got 720 exact searches per month. I was excited because it was a low competition keyword. As a newbie who never did SEO before, it took me about three months of hard work, but I was finally to rank #1 for it in Google in June.

But it only got 11 unique visitors a day.

So knowing what to do, I chose another keyword phrase with more exact searches per month. This time I chose a very similar keyword phrase that was a lot more competitive, but had 3600 exact searches per month.

After about a month of SEO, I finally got the it ranked #1 in Google, meaning I was ranking #1 for both those keywords now for the same website.

But the 3600 keyword only got 12 unique visitors a day.

I did everything that I could, including spending lots of money to learn about SEO and hundreds of hours of online work, to rank #1 in Google for the 2nd keyword, only to get 1 more visitor a day.

My goal for the entire summer's time was to get to the top of Google for both keywords so I could get 100 visitors a day to my website by August before I go back to school. There's only 10 more days left until the 1st though...

And now that I have finally reached my summer goal of of ranking #1 for both keywords, they both only add up to a whopping 23 unique visitors a day.

I just feel so discouraged right now and wanted to tell someone...

unless it's a seasonal keyword that doesn't make sense. Go to google insights and see the trends of the keyword, maybe it's just a bad month.

If not, than your definitely not ranking #1 for a 3.6k exact search keyword.

[JamesGw]

You should be getting close to 100/day from long tail keywords + the main keyword @ 3600/day. I suggest making sure Google webhistory is turned off.

[refinancepro]

I would also suggest using Google's webmaster tools to see what kind of impressions you are seeing for your keywords. It will tell you your average ranking for each keyword as well.

[RayW]

I think I might know what's going on. For the keywords that the site is ranking high for, there might be 3-4 sponsored ads that google is displaying above your site which contain the keyword and could be attracting all the visitors.

[sonic74]

hmmm, download the trial version of Market Samurai and check the PBR of your keywords !!

If the PBR is lower than 40%....that means your keywords doesn't actually get the amount of searches.

[marlon]

Hi,

If you are logged into gmail when you do your kw search,
google distorts your results.

1. Sign out of gmail

2. Do you search incognito in Chrome

THEN see if you are #1.

Were the searches local or global?

You may be ranked #1 in your country but relying on global
results where you aren't #1.

Google has a number of datacenters. And the rankings don't match
from what I've seen.

Have friends in other locations do the search and see what results
THEY get.

Marlon

[Keep Trying]

Ok, after I checked my stats, I called my friend and told him the bad news.

He suggested that before giving up and throwing in the towel, that he would check on his computer if my main keyword was #1 on Google.

I thought it was no use, as I was looking straight at my computer monitor while on the phone with him.

Google displayed my website at the #1 result for the keyword -- without me being signed into Gmail.

He replied back and said nope you're not #1 dude, your website is on the 2nd page, 2nd result... You're rank #12!

How could this be I thought? We were both on the phone, we both live only 5 minutes away from each other, and we were both looking at our computer screen at the same time.

I asked my friend if he was signed in to Gmail and he was not either.

I couldn't believe that we were both not signed in and seeing two different things, so I drove to his house. I checked my website again to make sure it was #1 before I left and it was, then I drove to my friend's house to see what he was seeing, and indeed my website was #12 on his computer!

Just yesterday, he told me that he saw my website on the #1 spot and he was not signed in.

We were sitting on his porch and didn't know what to do. Suddenly he said why don't we check the public library to see who was right? I told him that was a good idea.

So we drove to the public library about 10 minutes away. We got to the parking lot, walked to the library, entered, took the escalator up to the computer section, and I walked to an open computer.

My friend sat next to me as I opened the Firefox. I typed in the main keyword and was surprised to see what had happened.

My website was #12!

I was relieved that I wasn't #1, but also kind of down that I wasn't #1 either. This means that my 12 visitors wasn't accurate data, but also that I had a lot of work ahead of me still to try to rank #1 for that keyword.

Well, at least there's still hope!

Thanks everyone for helping me out here. This has made my day, but I still wonder how I can accurately see where my website is on a daily basis without having to go to the public library?

[sonic74]

Originally Posted by Keep Trying

Ok, after I checked my stats, I called my friend and told him the bad news.

He suggested that before giving up and throwing in the towel, that he would check on his computer if my main keyword was #1 on Google.

I thought it was no use, as I was looking straight at my computer monitor while on the phone with him.

Google displayed my website at the #1 result for the keyword -- without me being signed into Gmail.

He replied back and said nope you're not #1 dude, your website is on the 2nd page, 2nd result... You're rank #12!

How could this be I thought? We were both on the phone, we both live only 5 minutes away from each other, and we were both looking at our computer screen at the same time.

I asked my friend if he was signed in to Gmail and he was not either.

I couldn't believe that we were both not signed in and seeing two different things, so I drove to his house. I checked my website again to make sure it was #1 before I left and it was, then I drove to my friend's house to see what he was seeing, and indeed my website was #12 on his computer!

Just yesterday, he told me that he saw my website on the #1 spot and he was not signed in.

We were sitting on his porch and didn't know what to do. Suddenly he said why don't we check the public library to see who was right? I told him that was a good idea.

So we drove to the public library about 10 minutes away. We got to the parking lot, walked to the library, entered, took the escalator up to the computer section, and I walked to an open computer.

My friend sat next to me as I opened the Firefox. I typed in the main keyword and was surprised to see what had happened.

My website was #12!

I was relieved that I wasn't #1, but also kind of down that I wasn't #1 either. This means that my 12 visitors wasn't accurate data, but also that I had a lot of work ahead of me still to try to rank #1 for that keyword.

Well, at least there's still hope!

Thanks everyone for helping me out here. This has made my day, but I still wonder how I can accurately see where my website is on a daily basis without having to go to the public library?

You can try Scroogle Scraper I think it's more accurate than google....without cookies

[JamesGw]

The key is to be signed in and to disable and CLEAR web history. You can do so here: https://www.google.com/history/?hl=en

You also probably want to set your location to "United States."

Don't +1 your website on whatever account you're using to check your SERPs.

When you're signed out, Google still uses cookies to create personalized results. That's why the guy above suggested using Chrome in incognito, but my method is generally easier.

[Mike Anthony]

james nailed it. logging out is not enough. You have to clear that history

[Spyder77]

One thing to keep in mind too is that all the Jedi SEO skill in the world isn't going to convert a #1 rank (when you get there) into click-throughs all by itself. I don't click a site just because its listed at the top for what I'm looking for: I click through if the description displayed catches my eye, and the mouse over thumbnail appeals to me.

Which means a lot of my first clicks are further down the page, and sometimes on page 2.

Also this isn't meant to imply you're relying on SEO alone and ignoring other elements like site design and content creation. But there are those who do and this is more directed to them.

I take a long-term approach on my sites and initially aim to produce one article and get the site indexed. Then I start the process of customizing it, tweaking it, adding in plug-ins and widgets, and filling in all of the other details. While doing that I do some back-linking and continue to upload new content (original only, no PLR or spun articles) at the rate of 1 or 2 articles per week. During this process I may end up going through 2 or 3 different themes before settling on the one that best fits aesthetically and has the level of options and customization I need.

This is mainly a perfectionist thing and also an "I don't want to deal with this when I'm getting hundreds, or thousands, of visits per day." At that point I want to be focused on 3 things only: providing a steady flow of fresh content, attracting more traffic, and milking my list. And a fourth, unrelated thing too: launching my next site.

That is just one POV. There's no one-size fits all approach for everyone. As I think your niche and site should be built around your strongest skill/ability, I focus on content creation because that's my own strong point. And I tend to view things from that particular lens too (which is my way of admitting there is a built in bias any time I write about something like this).

-Spyder

Originally Posted by Keep Trying

Ok, after I checked my stats, I called my friend and told him the bad news.

He suggested that before giving up and throwing in the towel, that he would check on his computer if my main keyword was #1 on Google.

I thought it was no use, as I was looking straight at my computer monitor while on the phone with him.

Google displayed my website at the #1 result for the keyword -- without me being signed into Gmail.

He replied back and said nope you're not #1 dude, your website is on the 2nd page, 2nd result... You're rank #12!

How could this be I thought? We were both on the phone, we both live only 5 minutes away from each other, and we were both looking at our computer screen at the same time.

I asked my friend if he was signed in to Gmail and he was not either.

I couldn't believe that we were both not signed in and seeing two different things, so I drove to his house. I checked my website again to make sure it was #1 before I left and it was, then I drove to my friend's house to see what he was seeing, and indeed my website was #12 on his computer!

Just yesterday, he told me that he saw my website on the #1 spot and he was not signed in.

We were sitting on his porch and didn't know what to do. Suddenly he said why don't we check the public library to see who was right? I told him that was a good idea.

So we drove to the public library about 10 minutes away. We got to the parking lot, walked to the library, entered, took the escalator up to the computer section, and I walked to an open computer.

My friend sat next to me as I opened the Firefox. I typed in the main keyword and was surprised to see what had happened.

My website was #12!

I was relieved that I wasn't #1, but also kind of down that I wasn't #1 either. This means that my 12 visitors wasn't accurate data, but also that I had a lot of work ahead of me still to try to rank #1 for that keyword.

Well, at least there's still hope!

Thanks everyone for helping me out here. This has made my day, but I still wonder how I can accurately see where my website is on a daily basis without having to go to the public library?

[Blossom Fluck]

Use google webmaster tool and track your visitors. You should know how your visitors are reaching in your site. It is likely to get more clear ideas about the stats of visitor and may be your keyword is having a bad season, it also can be a good reason.

[Kay Zee]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS run a PPC campaign before you spent hours and months on SEO. If you run ppc for even a day, you will have more accurate search count than what the keyword tool tells you. A week is ideal but a day beats not doing it at all.

[gtk29]

Do not despair, your hard work would pay off in the end.

[RayW]

Originally Posted by Kay Zee

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS run a PPC campaign before you spent hours and months on SEO. If you run ppc for even a day, you will have more accurate search count than what the keyword tool tells you. A week is ideal but a day beats not doing it at all.

So does this mean Google Keyword tool does not show accurate numbers? That sucks...

[Arturo Kaber]

Google policies are very confusing in certain matter. Their backlink counting, search ranking are not clear. They does not show accurate result.

[kruzman]

My best guess is that you might be ranking #1 in your country but not globally. If you want to check your ranking in google US, you can check through this proxy server http*//www(dot)texasproxy(dot)com/

And always check the CPC for your keyword. If it is real good, you will definitely reap results sooner or later.

[Josh MacDonald]

Clear your cache and cookies and you might have relized you're not ranked first place.

[jerytohn]

Ahh ... this happened when I just started out and was playing around with Hubpages. Luckily, I checked the rankings using different browsers and determined that the results weren't quite right. Still gave me a few nights of needless exciting dreams though ...

Yeah ... deleting the history should do it. You might also want to use the Google Ads Preview tools for more accurate rankings.

[Keep Trying]

Thanks everyone.

[thecableguy]

Log out of your Google account before searching. And don't cut the numbers to close... next time.

For example do an exact match search for the term "mothers day gifts" and sort by Local Monthly Searches and you're going to see some REALLY strange numbers.

Like over a 165,000 for "mothers day", or 18,000 for "valentines day gifts". But take a look at the Local Search Trends and you'll see only 2 months really had any traffic. Remember Google's tool uses a 12 month average and not only the previous month like it used to do with the old tool.

[ysb888]

Mate! Next time if you want to see your exact ranking of your website, just visit hidemyass.com and go to google.com with its proxy, then you can search for your KW. It is much more accurate!

[bestbuddy1986]

I will suggest use rankingcheck.com

[rosesmark]

You check your link..I think you add you link in useless website that's why visitors not coming

[James Fortzman]

I use Scroogle to check my rankings. Very accurate.

[Keep Trying]

Originally Posted by rosesmark

You check your link..I think you add you link in useless website that's why visitors not coming

Hi, I don't think I have a useless website, but even so I think a useless website might reduce the click through rate of visitors not buying a product, but not the click through rate of being #1 of Google for a 3600 main keyword.

[dirtyhair]

after the caffeine update this is a big problem. you can also put the rankchecker add-on for firefox on your browser which shows fairly accurate results and there are also free tools here 100 Web Tools Free SEO Tools Google Yahoo MSN Search engine optimization tools

[warrich]

This is really confusing, I did one keyword reseach with 1500 exact search and 50000 for monthly search and found that my webiste is not even close to first page..

[HarryPothead]

Originally Posted by raxr

I think I might know what's going on. For the keywords that the site is ranking high for, there might be 3-4 sponsored ads that google is displaying above your site which contain the keyword and could be attracting all the visitors.

I totally agree with raxr.
The most clicked adwords ads are shown on the top of the organic search sometimes. So sometimes the more searched keywords visitors are "stolen" by those guys. Pls have a look on this.

Also there might be possibility that during some time of the year the searches of this keywords comes down (seasoned keywords). Please check this in google trends and check hows the yearly trend of this keyword.

Lastly, digging the Analytics will give you a better picture which keywords are bringing you traffic. It would be better to re-optimize some pages based on those keywords to get more of what you're already getting. The online tutorial about Analytics can be helpful in knowing the depth of this superb tool.

Hope it helps..

[irishsolar]

The truth is 3,600 hits a month won't give you 100 hits on that keyword anyway. The top site for any keyword will only usually get 40% maximum of the global monthly hits. This equates to only 46 hits per day. You can see why the keyword with 720 hits generated only a measly amount of traffic.

However, if you are only generating 12 hits per day from an [exact] keyword match of 3,600 per month a few things could be going on. Some of which are already noted:

1. You may looking at global search volumes but not ranking globally.
2. The Google keyword tool could be giving false volumes (it happens all the time).
3. Your keyword selection may not be generating click-throughs (this can happen if the information requested is seen in the SERPs without needing to click on a site).
4. You may be viewing seasonal search volumes that do not apply to the current month.
5. You aren't getting accurate SERPs. Make sure you are logged out of Google, clear your cache and, if needs be, use a proxy server. Or just use an automated online rank checker.
6. Your title could be drab and your hits are being taken from elsewhere.
7. A host of other reasons..........

You should take heart from this however. You have ranked 2 keywords number 1 on Google and even if these are not ranked globally it shows that you can do this! Just be very careful with your keyword selection.

There is a vast difference between "keywords" and "money keywords". keyword selection is by far the most important aspect of internet marketing especially when it comes to SEO.

My advice is to try to target a keyword that gets about 8,000 hit per month so you can guarantee yourself 100 visitors per day - this should equate to 1 sale per day at a 1% conversion rate.

If you reach number 1 regionally then don't stop building backlinks. However, find out which Google country extensions are NOT ranking you and target web properties with those country extensions such as .co.uk or .com.au .... blog comments are by far the easiest way to get these backlinks quickly. A short stint of this should get you the global rankings you need.

We have found that targeting the .com and .co.uk is usually enough to secure a top ranking across all of the English speaking Google world (although we've even used it to rank in France strangely enough).

Although this is greatly simplified SEO it will work. I run an SEO company for what its worth. If you want me to take a look at this for you PM me and I'll be only too happy to help.

[Nick Walker]

Your problem is probably due to you looking at exact match for worldwide not US.
Your Exact US searches are probably very low.
Check it again.

[Tmill]

Sounds very possible that you just need to clear your cache and that your site is actually not ranked #1. Use Scroogle.org to do a search of your keyword and then see where your site is actually ranked.

[AndyBlackSEO]

Yes, this can get confusing for people... especially when this happens to them for the first time and they haven't heard of this before.

It's important to clear your web history... that will reset your search results back to default. Of course, you should also be signed out of your Google account also.

I have found that being #1 for a keyword gets around 38% of the 'exact match' searches. Obviously other factors come into play and every keyword, or more importantly 'results page' will vary.

[retsced]

Hey "keep trying"

You were eagerly checking your ranking on Google by typing in your keyword every couple of hours. This means that Google cached your website and displayed it first on the page of results because it knows that you have been searching for that site. It was position 1 on the first page simply because Google knows you are looking for that site, this is why it was position 12 when your friend checked it on his computer, he got the accurate results because he wasn't constantly typing that keyword into Google and going to a specific site (like you were) each time.

I'm surprised Google didn't give you a warning of unusual activity coming from your computer as it usually does if you consistently type the exact keyword into the search bar too often.

[Homer Lasa Hood]

That's one big mistake there Keep Trying. You thought of ranking #1 on Google, yet it was only on your cache and on your own browser at all.

But well, if you are asking on how to increase your possible site visitors a day - for future reference - using the social media sites like social networks could be of good choice to use in driving traffic to your website.

[zannix]

Hi there,

You could find this website useful: Hide My Ass! Free Proxy and Privacy Tools - Surf The Web Anonymously

It assigns you with a different IP, which allows you to surf the web (even check google rankings) as if you were from another country.

Another useful site (which checks USA rankings):

Google USA - Search Google USA for American websites

Hope you find it useful
Zannix

[Ron Silva]

Give yourself a pat on the back for first, doing the work to get ranked and second, coming on here and asking questions.

Most would have said "**** this, it doesn't work, I'll try something else".