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How many #1 Keyword targets do you have for your main URL ?

by Schwabe
11 replies
  • SEO
    • |
This question is particularly for a new project with a brand new domain name. The question is, how many #1 keyword targets do you aim for with your root URL ?

I'm not talking about long tail search phrases; the ones that you can get with a sub URL. I'm referring to keyword targets for your root domain address.

Do you recommend just picking one really strong (and relatively competitive) keyword phrase? Or do you try to get top spot for 5 keyword phrases (each a little less competitive). Or a combination?
#keyword #main #target #targets #url
  • Profile picture of the author JJOrana
    Honestly, domain name has a little value in terms of SEO nowadays.

    I will choose the one that is short, easy to remember, far from misspelling, and avoid hyphen if possible.

    In short, choose the name that your customers can remember.
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    • Profile picture of the author Easy Cash
      Originally Posted by JJOrana View Post

      Honestly, domain name has a little value in terms of SEO nowadays.
      Depends what niche you are in and what you are creating.

      If you are trying to rank for a keyword - then having the keyword in the domain is going to make a big difference.
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      • Profile picture of the author Schwabe
        Thanks for the replies - however I should rephrase my question. What I actually mean is, regardless of your domain name, how many keyword targets (objectives) do you have lined in your search engine strategy for the root of your home page.

        In other words, how many #1 search results do you want your main homepage to show up for ? Of course ideally your site sits atop a boatload of search terms - but realistically, how many should you aim for as part of your strategy when establishing a new site?

        For example, let's say you are in the niche' of stuffed toys.
        You've done your homework and have identified the main objective of getting #1 Google search result for 'teddy bear'. It has a medium/high level of competition but you think you can do it.

        And in your research you have also identified about 5 other search terms that aren't quite as lucrative but still are related & would be advantageous to have as #1 result. These 5 terms bring about 30% - 70% of estimated search volume that your main objective 'teddy bear' brings in.

        Should you forget about those other terms - and just focus on your main objective? Or is it smart to have a shotgun approach to tackle several #1 search spots at the same time.

        I realize the answer is highly dependent on the niche' and competition - but perhaps you have an example or experience that can be helpful in determining just how many #1 search targets you want to line up as part of your main homepage optimization.
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        • Profile picture of the author dburk
          Hi Schwabe,

          As many as practical.

          It's better to have #1 position on 5 phrases than just one. I do think you should prioritize you main keyword and then see if you can add more after you get that one ranking well.
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          • Profile picture of the author NikkiPatrick
            Hi, I'm kinda new to this forum but i did want to contribute an answer to this questions even tho it's kinda old. Here goes.....

            It's good practice to focus only one to 2 keywords or phrases per page. I like to break down my keywords into 2 categories.
            1. site themed keywords
            2. page themed keywords

            Your site themed keywords are your main keywords for the site and tend to be broad and less focused. When i optimize for the site themed keywords i use them on the home page, about us, contact us and so on.

            The page themed keywords are focused on the content that is for that page.
            Example:
            Dog Collars - Home page (site themed keyword)
            Designer Dog Collars - Category page for dog collars (page themed keyword)
            Pink dog collars - Product page for pink dog collar (page themed keyword)

            If you focus one to two keywords per page you have more of a chance of ranking for that word or phrase.

            Hint:             There are over 60 things that need to be done to each page to fully optimize it. Now, you don't have to hit all 60 in order to get a page to rank but it helps, especially when your competitors get around to optimizing their sites. (Some pages rank well simply because the competition hasn't done a good job at optimizing their own stuff.)

            Work in ranges of pages: this means if you have several keywords that you would like to rank for and you know that you should focus each page on one to two keywords, break them out into their own page with the content focused on that page. Each and every page of your site should be considered a landing page or entry way into your site and should be optimized accordingly.

            Google likes to see lots of unique content as well as new content added on a regular basis. So breaking these keywords out into their own pages of focused content gives you the opportunity to have more of your pages get visibility for multiple search queries than to have just your home page show up for multiple keywords.

            They also like to see a site that has lots of pages. It's been said that you have officially arrived in Google's eyes once you've reached 100 pages or more.

            There is a way however to get your home page listed for multiple keywords and that is thru a well developed link building campaign. It's something we like to call the "Click Here" effect.

            if you go to Google and type in "click here" you get Adobe Reader in the number 1 spot. No where in their title tag, meta description or content is the phrase "click here".

            So why does Adobe show up? Because every site on the planet that has a pdf download says "If you don't have Adobe Reader Click Here". Click Here is in the anchor text of thousands of web pages that link to Adobe.

            You can achieve this same effect by developing a quality link building campaign. This includes inner linking too.

            I've talked too much. lol
            I hope this helps somebody
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            • Profile picture of the author NikkiPatrick
              Well not that old. lol
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            • Profile picture of the author NikkiPatrick
              So Sorry,
              I just realized that I answered that question wrong. It's late and I'm tired.

              I would say go after your strongest keyword phrase. If you can get two to three out of it great.

              for example tampaseotraining.com

              That gets you Tampa SEO, SEO Training, and Tampa SEO Training

              Third one is well focused and niche but other two also drive traffic.

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  • Profile picture of the author Easy Cash
    Originally Posted by Schwabe View Post


    Do you recommend just picking one really strong (and relatively competitive) keyword phrase? Or do you try to get top spot for 5 keyword phrases (each a little less competitive). Or a combination?

    I would pick one or two keywords only for your homepage. With regard to how competitive it is, if it is getting over 1 Mil results in Google - it will be very hard to make it rank well.

    However there are ways to make it rank reasonably well.

    Then I would target this keyword over and over for the homepage.

    Then as a side project, I would create pages linked to the homepage using long tailed keywords.

    And then target these as well.

    Make sense?
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  • Profile picture of the author warriorsellingebooks
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Schwabe
      Allright - this does help clarify - thanks for the input.

      Nikki, your first post was indeed helpful so I thank you for elaborating.

      This was a relatively general question considering the niche was theoretical but I'm satisfied with the basic idea that for your root homepage you should target one big term and then to a lesser extent a couple of other terms too. And like Nikki said, if you can get 2 out of 3 you're happy.

      Ready, fire, aim.

      ---Schwabe
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  • Profile picture of the author lawebdesign11
    Three keywords. Feel like if you go over campaign can become counter-productive as you only want to have 10 - 12 words in index meta-title.
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