Niche Research: Broad Match V.S. Exact Match
-
Hey SeoMozzers,
Do you guys use broad match or exact match to gauge whether or not there's enough volume to be worth your time?
Take the freelancing niche for example. These are the results for broad match:
<a class="aw-ti-resultsPanel-details">how to be a freelance writer [2,740,000]</a> how to freelance [165,000]
In exact match however:
<a class="aw-ti-resultsPanel-details">how to become a freelance writer [1,000]</a> how to freelance [480]
In this niche in particular, there's not really any keyword that gets more than 20,000 exact match searches a month. However, the broad level keywords have more than 2 million searches.
Here's my thinking: Instead of targeting highly specific terms to optimize for, I'm just going to optimize for broad terms and aim to capture the long tail. It seems there's a lot of people searching for things, but they're all spread out across different keywords.
So my instinct is to go with the broad match results, assume there's enough traffic to support a profitable website and ignore the low exact match results.
Your thoughts ... ?
-
My advice for keyword research is too not just factor on exact match and broad match, you need to factor in other forms of research to supplement your data.
You need to remember this data is only a guide from Google Exact match data is in no way an accurate determination of what traffic the specific keyword gets.
MY advice it the following -
Split up excel into the following:
1. line Exact 1. line Broad 1. line other research 1. line competitive analysis for the term.
You need to pull information from various sources, do not rely only on Google.
Kind Regards,
James Norquay.
-
Hey Derek
First, check this out to be sure of your understanding of broad, phrase and exact match: google documentation
I almost always use exact match to gauge search volume. A search for "how to be a freelance" counts as a broad match. Even "freelance" or "writer" counts as a broad match. These aren't relevant at all, so thus a very bad assessment of search volume.
Even phrase match is misleading. "Hire a freelance writer" could count as a phrase search, totally not relevant and therefore shouldn't count.
It is therefore, I ONLY want to know how many people are searching, exactly for "how to become a freelance writer". Its guarenteed to be that exact search, which guarentees relevance.
If you optimize and rank for "how to become a freelance writer" you may also rank for similar or related phrases, like "how to be a freelance writer" or "be a freelance writer".
Exact match is your best bet when judging search volume, because phrase and broad are way too unpredictable, as to whether the search variations are going to at all relevant.
So choose a good phrase with a decent amount of exact search volume, optimize for that, and you may also naturally rank for related long-tail more specific phrases as well - like "how to become a freelance writer from home", etc.
-Dan
-
I guess I meant something different by long tail. I'm not talking about targeting specific longtail keywords, but just aiming to get the broad phrase ranked and taking the incidental search results.
In my experience, a ton of traffic doesn't necessarily come from the keywords you're targeting, but for these weird incidental searches.
The #1 search result for "freelance writing" has just 68 linking root domains. The #1 and #2 results for "how to freelance" don't have enough data in OSE, but #3 has 250 linking root domains.
A lot of the competition is using pretty weak link strategies as well. Do I think I can get on Page 1 - Yeah, I do, I think the content that's up there right now is pretty weak, as is the backlinking.
My question isn't so much about the competition - But whether or not there's volume. I'm seeing two DRASTICALLY different numbers between broad and exact. I'm thinking of just going for the main keyword, and the other searches (I'm guessing) will come from incidental long tail searches that I'm not necessarily aiming for.
-
Derek,
The key component you didn't mention is competitiveness. My decisions in this area are based primarily on competition for the term.
Using your example, if I can earn rank #1 for the longtail phrase "how to become a freelance writer" then I would expect on average 440 visits to my page. This figure is based on the stats 44% of searches choose the top search results. I also know I can improve upon the CTR with a solid page title and meta description so lets call it 500 visits.
If you go for the broad match, where will you rank? Can you even make page 1?
This particular example isn't ideal. The entire idea of long tail is you are focusing attention on a less competitive version of a keyword phrase, but in this case there are sites focusing this exact phrase. The overall point is you need to determine how much traffic your site will likely receive by using each method, along with how qualified that traffic is for your web page. Long tail search results are more focused and I would expect the bounce rate to be substantially lower then broad searches.
-
Interesting, I am fairly new to the nuances of seo, although I have been doing seo writing for almost six years. I mostly work with small businesses and so look for seo competition and the current status of the optimization of those competing for the term and variations of it. My assessment is focused on lower numbers of traffic but targeted specific to the business and its offerings.
Long tail is what I work with almost exclusively. So, I look at the broad to phrase match results (percentages) and the existing competition first and toss quite a few terms in the process. Usually the exact numbers tend to be low but if you find the sweet spot, it helps a lot with organic.
I'd be interested in what some of the veteran seos have to share as I am currently pondering the same question for a new site that wants to go national.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Point of diminishing returns for keyword research?
Hey, something I've been thinking about lately is "where is the point of diminishing returns for keyword research detail?" I get that keyword research is important for finding out stuff like "people generally search for 'doctor' way more often than they search for 'licensed medical professional'", but what about after that? Is there much useful information to be found by sifting through spreadsheets of stats about "doctor" vs "dr" vs "doctors" vs "physician" vs "physicians" etc? Especially when Google seems to treat a lot of those as interchangable? Or another example: If a remodeling company did basements, do you think there's much to be gleaned from AdWords data comparing "basement remodeler", "basement remodelers", basement remodeling", "basement remodeling contractor", "basement remodeling contractors", "basement renovation", "basement renovations", "basement renovators", "finished basements", "basement finishers", "basement finishing", etc.? Should those variations be analyzed and each targeted by their own sets of pages and pieces of content (e.g. a blog post that specifically targets "basement remodeler" and a blog post that targets "basement finisher" and a third blog post that specifically targets "renovated basement") Or should the takeaway be "there aren't any combinations that people overwhelmingly prefer to use, so let's just make content about basements and topics relevant to basements. Keyword research complete."
Keyword Research | | BrianAlpert782 -
How to leverage keyword research on-page.
I'm a newbie and I'm a little embarrassed to ask this question, but here it is. Let's say I've done my keyword research and have 200 keywords. How do I use that for on-page/site optimization? Or do I not use it for on-page/site optimization? I guess I'm unclear about the relationship of keyword research and on-page/site optimization. Thanks.
Keyword Research | | swolock0 -
Keyword research for new website
Hi guys, I'm pretty new to all this so please bare with me if I sound like a total noob. I've been tasked with doing keyword research for our new website to work out what we want to rank for. We are a b2b outsource provider of telecommunication services, contact centres etc. I'm looking for advice on how best to start the keyword research, what I should be looking for etc. At the moment I'm using a list of keywords provided by the sales team, running these through uber suggest for other variations and then putting them through Google's keyword planner. Once I've done that I'm looking at ones with higher volumes of searches with low competition. Is there anything that I'm missing? I'm trying to cross reference this with intent, looking for searches linked to people wanting help, a provider, to buy etc. Thanks in advance for any help guys, I really appreciate it. Leo
Keyword Research | | Leo_Woodhead0 -
Google Keyword Research Tool - Monthly Totals for Similar Keywords?
Hi! I am doing some Google keyword research using the Google Adwords Keyword tool to decide what content to create for the masses. That is, to find opportunities to create content that is in-demand where the current offering is not satisfying the need effectively. Here are some keywords I picked out. I hope to produce a single piece of content optimized for some or all of these keywords. (See attached imgur link) The first thing I notice when doing this kind of work is that many similar-sounding keywords are showing the same sum of average monthly totals. This suggests to me that they may not actually be unique. For instance, the first two searches "guitar strings order" and "guitar string notes" each have ~5400 monthly searches. Does that mean 5400 each, or 5400 total between the two? So does anybody know if these are individual numbers or part of a bigger total? And if they are part of a bigger total, how could I estimate the average searches for a piece of content that targets all 8 keywords? If I tally all of the searches, I have over 23,000 potential searches per month. But if some of them are being counted more than once, so to speak, then the number could be much lower. ghmFYOZ
Keyword Research | | garney0 -
Finding new keyword research tools
Does anyone have any recommendations for tools to help speed up the initial keyword reporting process? I'm looking for tips to streamline the current system of manually researching competition reports. Thanks.
Keyword Research | | Doug_Hay0 -
What came first the content or the keyword research?
So I've been searching high and low to try and answer this. I just cant seem to get this part down and i know its the most important part. I always run into the issue where i am building a e commerce or some other site and i have it all set up but no content. So i start doing keyword research. In which the market niche that i am working on now is really broad, so its really hard to research. I then end up getting frustrated because the competition for the words are really high. But back on track, i get frustrated and then kaboom! i don't get the results i want and i am back to square one and no content is made or nothing. So my webpage gets nothing. So i took a step back and wondered, should i make all the content first and then the keyword research and then go back and "revise" my website content with all my keywords that i a trying to target? Sounds like a dumb question but i just wanted feedback and input on how people do this and go forth with everything.
Keyword Research | | Dante130 -
What is the best guide to keyword research you have found?
I am looking for a comprehensive guide to keyword research. Anyone read articles or guides they would recommend? Thanks 🙂
Keyword Research | | inhouseseo0 -
Whats the exact different between broad match and exact match. thnx.
Hey, On Keyword Difficulty Tool: pls explain, whats the exact different between broad match and exact match. Thx. Seb. 🙂
Keyword Research | | TheHecksler0