Another vital set of information we collect and analyze to help determine our search engine optimization strategies for our clients are our keyword ranking reports. These reports are generated on a weekly basis automatically and give us information about the relative keyword performance of those terms that we’re tracking. On the most basic of levels, getting an idea of movement from month to month allows us to track the effects of the work we’ve done on where the webpages of our clients appear in user’s browsers when they search on Google, Yahoo! and MSN/Bing. The report is simply superficially informative: that is, it tells the reader where their site is from the top down, and its ranking movement over a period of time specified in the settings. It does not give information such as relative competitiveness of the keyword term, nor does it detail how many searches are executed for those keywords in a given period of time (we have other nifty tools for that data!).
However, what this report does inform us about is the potential to act upon heretofore untouched or underloved opportunities. If a particular permutation of an important keyword is ranked #13 (meaning top-middle of the second set of results on a normal 10-result search results page) in a specific cycle, and we have been concentrating efforts on the seed keyword it contains (ie, ‘information technology’ and ‘information technology management’ or ‘information technology consulting’), we can see where we need to focus our efforts to bolster those associated terms that very well may be more in tune with what the searching user/potential customer has in mind– and this translates into targeted traffic that has necessarily carries with it specific interest in what they’ve searched. That kind of targeted result to a targeted search is the best kind of breeding ground for sales and increased conversion rates.
We send these reports to those we work with on a cyclical basis to enable them to gauge the results that our efforts have yielded for themselves in terms of the search engine optimization services we provide and the economy and their sector of industry as a whole. We always are interested in addressing any and all concerns of our clients in terms of branding, marketing strategies (especially those that coincide with traditional print/airwave advertising as well), and their upcoming and underpromoted products and services among many other considerations. We also review the data collected by our reporting tools on a weekly (sometimes daily!) basis to further inform our decisionmaking processes as we move through each cycle.
As Search Placement’s Web Analyst, I find that working with and gaining understanding from the data we collect and utilize for our work is incredibly rewarding as a growing and educational experience– I look forward to meeting new clients and tackling new projects in new niches.