Keywords with on-page optimization activities thrive much better than those without on-page optimization activities – about 13 positions better, according to Conductor. Long-tail queries are most affected by on-page optimization activities.
According to Conductor’s report, titled “The Long Tail of Search: Why the Fastest Path to More Traffic Might Not Be Where You are Looking,” the approach of going where the eyeballs are has seeped into SEO. However, too much focus has been directed to these “head terms,” or those with the largest monthly search volumes, according to Conductor.
“Yet, the savvy search marketer understands that it is often significantly easier to move up the search rankings for multiple keywords whose search volumes, when combined, total or exceed that of the one desirable keyword.”
On-page optimization is essential to moving keywords up search rankings – this tactic often has the most immediate impact on keyword visibility, according to the report.
Using data from Conductor’s SEO platform, Searchlight, the report segmented keywords into three groups:
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keywords whose on-page issues were shrinking (being resolved by the SEO)
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keywords whose on-page issues were growing (not being resolved by SEO tactics)
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keywords with no on-page issues
According to Conductor, keywords that had Searchlight’s on-page recommendations consistently applied had an average rank improvement of 11.00 positions, or more than a full page of search results. Keywords that had unresolved issues (i.e., no on-page optimization) dropped an average of 2.46 positions. Keywords with no issues had an average upward movement of 0.53 positions.
The study found that long-tail (low-volume) queries were most impacted by on-page recommendations more than queries for head (high-volume) terms. Long-tail terms with on-page optimization experienced an average rank boost of 11.24 positions, versus 5.28 positions for head terms with on-page optimization.
Long-tail keywords without on-page optimization experienced an average dip of 1.72 spots, versus a dip of 3.57 spots for head terms without on-page optimization. Meanwhile, long-tail keywords with no issues dipped an average of 2.15 positions, while head terms with no issues dipped an average of 0.59 spots.
The study also found that long-tail (three or more words) queries boasted a website conversion rate of 26.07 percent, about 2.5 times higher than the 10.60 percent conversion rate for queries for head terms (1-2 words).
Conductor suggests marketers should use this data to move beyond the “tunnel vision” on the most searched terms in their industry.
Source:
http://ww2.conductor.com/rs/conductor2/images/Conductor-Research-Long_Tail_of_Search.pdf
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