How do you justify search volume to SEO clients?

8 replies
Hi all,

I offer SEO services to a few offline clients, and I use Google's keyword tool to show the estimated search volumes for particular keywords.

For example, if a keyword was 'plumber in nottingham' (I am UK based) then it says the estimated number of searches might be 1,000 per month.

However, this is broad match. If I view the phrase and exact match versions - they might only be around 20-30 searches per month.

How do you guys justify search volume to clients? I mean, if you are targeting local search terms then obviously the traffic will be less, but what about businesses who might think that paying the equivalent of $150-$200 per month for SEO services might not be worth it for an extra 20-30 searches per month?

Just curious how you guys view this?

Thanks,
Steve.
#clients #justify #search #seo #volume
  • Profile picture of the author Menno Marketing
    Good question, I'm curious about that as well.

    However, search volume becomes less important if every visitor is laser-targeted and could be a potential client for them. A business owner should definitely realize this
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  • Profile picture of the author scotth
    Originally Posted by StevieJK View Post

    Hi all,

    I offer SEO services to a few offline clients, and I use Google's keyword tool to show the estimated search volumes for particular keywords.

    For example, if a keyword was 'plumber in nottingham' (I am UK based) then it says the estimated number of searches might be 1,000 per month.

    However, this is broad match. If I view the phrase and exact match versions - they might only be around 20-30 searches per month.

    How do you guys justify search volume to clients? I mean, if you are targeting local search terms then obviously the traffic will be less, but what about businesses who might think that paying the equivalent of $150-$200 per month for SEO services might not be worth it for an extra 20-30 searches per month?

    Just curious how you guys view this?

    Thanks,
    Steve.
    You need to remember on search volume and exact keyword search volume. Its called micro seo...when someone types in a search bar very few people type the city then the search term or other way around thats why you see such a low search volume. Most people just type "plumber" there IP address tells Google there in a certain area..so your optimizing just for the main keyword and concentrate on the highest search term for your area. So how do you do that I will tell you.

    Go to Google insight which I use more that the Google Keyword Tool...and type in your search term for the area your in..now you will see how the strength is for the term in every city in your area that is micro targeting...I can go a little deeper but thats the jest of it...its how I do my seo period and I rule and dominate any area I want..especially Google Places.
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    • Profile picture of the author StevieJK
      Originally Posted by scotth View Post

      You need to remember on search volume and exact keyword search volume. Its called micro seo...when someone types in a search bar very few people type the city then the search term or other way around thats why you see such a low search volume. Most people just type "plumber" there IP address tells Google there in a certain area..so your optimizing just for the main keyword and concentrate on the highest search term for your area. So how do you do that I will tell you.

      Go to Google insight which I use more that the Google Keyword Tool...and type in your search term for the area your in..now you will see how the strength is for the term in every city in your area that is micro targeting...I can go a little deeper but thats the jest of it...its how I do my seo period and I rule and dominate any area I want..especially Google Places.
      Thanks Scott!

      I would love to know more about this technique but its not clear for me from your description - can you give an example of how you do this please?

      Thanks!
      Steve.
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      • Profile picture of the author scotth
        Originally Posted by StevieJK View Post

        Thanks Scott!

        I would love to know more about this technique but its not clear for me from your description - can you give an example of how you do this please?

        Thanks!
        Steve.
        Hi Steve,

        I would love to but it would take a WSO for me to explain it and I dont do WSO's...I can tell you is you want to base your search terms on the information you get from Google Insights when you are doing local seo...b/c it will show you exactly the popularity of that search term being typed in every area of the city your targeting.. then you optimize for that area, I can tell you not many if any seo people are using this method.
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        • Profile picture of the author StevieJK
          Thanks Scott.

          That's understandable, I expect you have a lot of info

          Just to clarify: would I just enter 'plumber' into the insights tool? Then I can select my country & area from the drop down lists and it shows me the popularity for the cities in that area....

          But which keywords would I then optimize the site for and link build for? would it still be keywords like 'plumber in <cityname>'? because surely just 'plumber' would be too broad to optimise for?

          Thanks for any pointers.

          Steve.
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          • Profile picture of the author mrtrance
            Originally Posted by StevieJK View Post

            Thanks Scott.

            That's understandable, I expect you have a lot of info

            Just to clarify: would I just enter 'plumber' into the insights tool? Then I can select my country & area from the drop down lists and it shows me the popularity for the cities in that area....

            But which keywords would I then optimize the site for and link build for? would it still be keywords like 'plumber in <cityname>'? because surely just 'plumber' would be too broad to optimise for?

            Thanks for any pointers.

            Steve.
            Scott,

            Ya I'd like to know the answer to this as well since it would be very helpful for me to do local SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author jr1228
    Don't forget that many searches are unique and don't show up in the Google Keyword Tool. Of course it's impossible to quantify that and sometimes hard to explain to a client until they see it, but it's definitely true. It never fails to amaze me to check out Google Analytics for local clients -- some of the keywords (many of them with a local modifier) are crazy, but hey, at least it got them to my client's website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Screw the how many searches/traffic volume topic.

    What its really about is presence! Mr. Business owner you want your site at the top of all the search engines for presence in your market. That is a much better way in my opinion to quantify the extra money.

    What business owner who really wants their business to be as successful as possible would balk at the prospect of being at the top of search results.

    Turn the table on them by asking them a couple of questions. Your gonna target exactly how he/she searches on Google and make your point with the question.

    Mr. Business owner, I know you use Google, who doesn't right? When you search for something do you just skip page 1 and start at page 2, or do you look at the top few results and click any of those if you perceive them relevant to your search.

    Mr. Business owner, I do the latter and usually click one or two of the first few results.

    Mr. Offliner, why is it that you click these first few results instead of just going to page 3 or 4 or whatever?

    Ding ding light bulb goes off in Mr. Business owners head.

    Because the top results are the most trusted or authoritative etc. etc.
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