After running a not-so-successful website for a few years, Charles knew he had to do something if he wanted his business to take off on the Web. He had a plan all worked out which he thought was simple -- he just needed top ranking for 2 specific keyword phrases: "cat vitamins" and "cat food vitamins" (please note that these were not his actual keyword phrases). I spent some time talking with Charles about his business, his products, his target audience and the possibility of other keywords that may work even better. Despite offering him a number of solid online marketing solutions, he was dead set on his "must have" phrases.

What Charles didn't realize is that optimizing any site for only 1 or 2 keyword phrases is just nonsense, and we just don't do it! I do understand the importance of rankings. I also know that ranking for 1 or 2 keywords should never actually be the ultimate goal of any website. People only want to rank for certain keywords because they believe those keywords will help them reach their true goal. What was Charles' true goal? To sell his products on the Internet. Would spending all my time and effort on 2 keyword phrases (even if they are awesome) help accomplish this true goal? No. At least not effectively.

My discussion with Charles went something like this:

“Charles, why plan your whole Web business around only a couple of keywords that may or may not perform well for you? I doubt that this is the best route for you to go. What if these keywords fail? Then what do you do? Do you quit? Start over?”

Charles answered, “Well, Leann, I have poured my life into making this product and I'm at my wit's end with this website. If I can't make it work I may have to quit. Competitor X and competitor Y are ranking well for “cat vitamins” and “cat food vitamins”; therefore I need to rank for them as well. I just can't see spending time working on other keywords when I know these are the important ones.” Sigh…

I tried my best to get through to him. “Charles, your keywords are just product-related and this concerns me. Do most cat lovers even know they may need your cat vitamin? Your product is designed to solve problems…let's think about this a bit more. The cat vitamins provide benefits to cats, so let's think along those lines. Cat owners are more likely to be in search of an answer to their cat's various problems. Our job is to solve their problems. Let's research the keyword phrases people might be typing into search engines if they wanted to solve a specific cat problem, but were not really sure what they needed. Suppose their cat is shedding or itching, etc. – do they even know that they may need to look for a cat vitamin? Probably not! They are simply looking for relief for their itchy, shedding cat. As you can see, the possibilities are endless when you think in this manner!”

Once Charles thought about it some more, we worked out an awesome compromise. I agreed to optimize his website for his “must have” phrases – “cat vitamins” and “cat food vitamins” – as long as he agreed to expand his thinking and write content for the 25 or so other types of phrases we came up with. It was hard work for him and for me…but it was well worth it!

What We Accomplished and Discovered:

The "must have" keywords now rank #1 on Yahoo and MSN and are consistently in the top 3 in Google. Wordtracker and other keyword tools show good numbers for these phrases, so you might think this is great, right? Wrong! We quickly discovered that these impressive keywords do not actually bring traffic! Had we focused only on those keywords the results would have been devastating for Charles. He would have accomplished his goal for high rankings, but that's about it.

As for the other keyword phrases (i.e., cat shedding, cat itching, etc.), well, what performers they turned out to be! His traffic has grown exponentially and his sales have literally quadrupled over the past 18 months! Charles tells me that his visitors love all the great info he writes, too.

To date, we still maintain his must-have phrases because it makes him feel great to see his competition eat his dust (which is fine with me!). But now that Charles sees things differently he can't get enough. He keeps writing up a storm so that his traffic and sales will continue to grow.

About the Author

Leann Pass has been providing custom web design and solid SEO solutions since 1998. As an Internet Marketing Consultant , Leann heads up SEO Services for Increase Ranking and custom Website Designer services for Leann's Designs.

This article, entitled "Using Keywords that Provide Solutions", originally appeared in the High Rankings Advisor on August 3, 2005.