How do you optimize for chosen keyword ranking?

[Casinorep]

I've got a few websites that have the keywords I'm trying to target incorporated either fully or partially in their URLs - which in theory, should give me an edge of sites that don't.

However, so far I've only gotten traffic from obscure search phrases that match with words included in my content, but not from the actual targeted keywords themselves.

For example, I have a site that has keyword "online casino" as part of the url, yet it's not even ranked in the top 100 ranking. Pretty frustrating. Now I've heard about domain age, inbound links and all that. But I'm running low on patients here.

[Nandakishore]

My research shows that with "online casino" as keyword you will face competition from around 34.5 million other sites. If you want to rank there under the first 100, you will need lot more than just "online casino" in your url. I would advise you to go for other keywords where you wont face such stiff competition.

[Casinorep]

My research shows that with "online casino" as keyword you will face competition from around 34.5 million other sites. If you want to rank there under the first 100, you will need lot more than just "online casino" in your url. I would advise you to go for other keywords where you wont face such stiff competition.

But I think it's one of the only keywords that make money. Most of the other ones are a waste of time. Stiff competition aside, what will it take to be on the first page there? I think this maybe a question that many will not give a straight answer because they are aiming for it themselves but it doesn't hurt to try.

[TheGooner]

You want to be in the top 10 of 34.5 million sites? And think it should be easy ?


What will you need ?

1) Great content - specifically written and optimised mentioning the keyword the right number of times. Correct on page optmisation - with correct alt tags for images

2) Great links to your site and specific page - and links from high ranking pages as well.

3) Significant age on your site will help. Older sites do rank better.

4) Authority rating. Having your site considered an authority site (with subpages shown) will also help.

Even with all this though - the chances of making position #1-10 in order to reach the first page for "online casino" will be very hard to achieve.

[Casinorep]

Thanks for the tip. So aside from the example above, how would I opt to rank for a specific keyword rather than random search phrases?

[thebookiesoffers]

Thanks for the tip. So aside from the example above, how would I opt to rank for a specific keyword rather than random search phrases?

Your keywords also need to be in the title tag, h1, h2, h3 tags. i'd look for another phrase to target as you'll be competing against huge budgets and expertesse for online casino

[TheGooner]

Thanks for the tip. So aside from the example above, how would I opt to rank for a specific keyword rather than random search phrases?

??? How ???

By following the above and ensuring that it's the specific keyword that the page is optimised for - and that the links to that page carry that keyword and other related keywords.

As the poster immediately above says for a keyword like "online casinos" you will be competing against sites that have spent a great deal to generate plenty of targeted links.

With all things being equal if you have 10, 20, 30 links ... and you competitor has 1000 links - which do you think that Google will rank higher.

[patmcluk]

For starters go to Google Keyword Tool and research some (still popular) but not so competitive keywords. Maybe a longer string like "UK online casinos" or online casino reviews", etc.

Make sure these keywords are used in your text links, and on your top landing pages. Then you may have a chance of reaching top ten.

You have to be very rich and a madman to even attempt to target the first page for "online casino". Are you either of them?

[Nandakishore]

But I think it's one of the only keywords that make money. Most of the other ones are a waste of time.

This is not true. One example here: if you serve the US market, you will find for the search argument 'online casinos accepting quick tender' around 250,000 competitors, which is quite acceptable, and if you have optimized a part of your site for this search argument, you will have a good chance of being on google page#1 and also of getting some regular traffic.

This is just one example.

[Casinorep]

All good feedbacks here. This brings me to my next issue. I'm using the Adwords keyword tool to measure speculated traffic for the keywords I want to target, and sadly I question its accuracy.

Since starting this thread, I have one website that I managed to climb up to the number 3 spot for a keyword that according to the keyword tool, generates more than 20K searches monthly in the UK market. But so far I've retained that position for 4 days and haven't gotten one single click.

This is very disappointing. Any of you had similar experience?

[TheGooner]

Since starting this thread, I have one website that I managed to climb up to the number 3 spot for a keyword that according to the keyword tool, generates more than 20K searches monthly in the UK market. But so far I've retained that position for 4 days and haven't gotten one single click.

That doesn't sound like a fair share does it?

Typically - the 3rd position down the list should expect 10%-12% of the clicks - and at 20,000 per month that's 666 total per day (on average) so you should be expecting 60-70 a day.

A couple of things spring to mind as potential explanations :

1) You're not REALLY at number 3.
Googles new optimising formula means everyone gets a unique search - based partly on websites that they use - so webmasters often see their site at a high point because they visit it so often.

So others may not see you at #3 or even see you on the first page? If you are on the first page you should be getting at least 1% of total no matter where you are - so at least 6-7 clicks a day.

Also (if you are outside the UK) you are targetting a UK phrase - are you #3 in UK Google - or just ion your local Google

2) Your description that appears in the listings sucks.
If you are really at #3 and you are not getting any traffic - thne I suspect it's because the listing that appears in google does not appeal at all to potential searchers. They are seeing your listing and skipping over it.

I don't think this explains it - I would not expect a complete absence of clicks - but a badly worded sentence can drastically reduce clickthroughs.

[Nandakishore]

I'm using the Adwords keyword tool to measure speculated traffic for the keywords I want to target, and sadly I question its accuracy.

You may doublecheck by using the WordTracker tool. If both tools bring similar results, then I think you can rely on that.

[Casinorep]

You may doublecheck by using the WordTracker tool. If both tools bring similar results, then I think you can rely on that.

I did a search and a bunch appeared but not sure which one is the one that actually still offers it for free. Can you post the link to the one you mention? Thanks.

[Casinorep]

That doesn't sound like a fair share does it?

Typically - the 3rd position down the list should expect 10%-12% of the clicks - and at 20,000 per month that's 666 total per day (on average) so you should be expecting 60-70 a day.

A couple of things spring to mind as potential explanations :

1) You're not REALLY at number 3.
Googles new optimising formula means everyone gets a unique search - based partly on websites that they use - so webmasters often see their site at a high point because they visit it so often.

So others may not see you at #3 or even see you on the first page? If you are on the first page you should be getting at least 1% of total no matter where you are - so at least 6-7 clicks a day.

Also (if you are outside the UK) you are targetting a UK phrase - are you #3 in UK Google - or just ion your local Google

2) Your description that appears in the listings sucks.
If you are really at #3 and you are not getting any traffic - thne I suspect it's because the listing that appears in google does not appeal at all to potential searchers. They are seeing your listing and skipping over it.

I don't think this explains it - I would not expect a complete absence of clicks - but a badly worded sentence can drastically reduce clickthroughs.

These are valid points and were the first things that came to mind.

1) Yes I have been doing many searches for that particular keyword phrase. (The Google Webmaster tool still indicates that I am at #19 instead of #3).

2) I always conduct the search for that listing on Google UK, and choose the (page from UK) button

3) I made changes to my title and description to ensure that it's not only longer and more visible than the other listings, but that it describes my site very accurately so that users won't click on it and expect to find something else.

Based on these analyses, I would have to say that this issue has something to do with analysis # 1, which means that my site isn't really ranked as #3 as it appears - which is the only sensible explanation I can think of for the absense of traffic. But then again, I did a search for it from a computer at a library, and saw that my listing WAS indeed at #3. So this baffles me.

[Nandakishore]

Can you post the link to the one you mention? Thanks.

http://www.wordtracker.com/

[Casinorep]

Also to achieved ranking in the UK version of Google, I set my geo target setting to United Kingdom in the Google Webmaster tool. However as stated before, it is showing that I am at #18 rather than #3, which I'm not sure if it is measuring it with the US or UK search results. But when I typed in that keyword in Google UK, I see that my site is listed at #3 with zero clicks and that is troubling.