Inside Scoop

The more regional and specific your words, the less competitive they will be, making it easier to get to the top of search engine rankings and the rankings of bookmarking and article marketing sites. As an example, “Billy Joel’s Beach Front Concert in Miami’s Grand Pavilion Hotel” may rank higher in search results, whereas “Billy Joel Miami” will be difficult to rank for at all but if you did, you would get a lot of traffic. If you planned your keyword strategy six months before the concert was big news, no one will own the phrase “Billy Joel Miami” in Google rankings, allowing you to consolidate it well before any other marketers can. If done right, you could secure all 10 search results on Google for that keyword phrase through having multiple content pages optimized for it, like a couple of blog posts, a video page, some articles, an aggregated page like Friendfeed with a mash up of Billy Joel content, some bookmarked pages and most importantly your event page where you would be selling tickets. All these content pages would be cross linked in a way to lead your prospects into your sales funnel. So when people start to find out about the concert, they will use the search engines and guess whose pages they will click into?

Also, please understand that words are important because they also indicate a person’s level of commercial intent. Someone who searches for “Billy Joel” may not be ready to spend money. (Besides this header keyword will cost a huge amount of time and money to rank for). Someone searching for “Billy Joel Miami” is closer to spending money on a ticket, but not assured. But someone who searches for “Tickets Billy Joel’s Concert Miami’s Grand Pavilion” has their credit card on the keyboard ready to buy a ticket…

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  • jkoritz
    I like your view of the importance of the keywords to use to promote the event. Just putting a name means someone is just searching for information however, if they want to find out where they are or what they have to offer they will add another word into their search making it more specific. Start planning for the event ahead of time with the right keywords to promote the special event is very important in the overall strategy
  • The Billy Joel concert example is a nice one. I explored some long tail keywords and I still need to look for a strategy or, even better, change the strategy. The point is all about mixed language contents at websites. I need to segregate domains only for the Portuguese language from English language.
    I already tried to have different directories and different pages. In both cases I never get a good rank than using different domains for different languages.
    Search engines do not see relationships, and it would be worst if a good translation would lead to duplicate content penalty.
    Now I can make the changes and apply the long tail concept. I should have planned ahead but I was making tests to see the results with my own eyes.
    Thanks for sharing Simon!
  • Particularly like the directness of the instructions in the book on Social Traffic. It has taken me months to work some of these 'inside scoops' out for myself and the book just highlights the method and leaves it there to follow for success. A generous approach from the author Simon Ford
  • I had no idea you could get the video's to be watched 'automatically' and in so doing raise the number of times it has been viewed...therefore raising the rankings. the book on social traffic is full of useful information that can be used in the here and now to increase the possibility of taking people into the sales funnel. Effective and pragmatic. Cool Simon
  • An interesting comment from kboode ... she wonders why others aren't following suit. I think its simple - one has to read simon's book on social traffic to grasp the fluidity of te system and from all the books i've read on the topic this one affords us a clear insight into the importance of using specific words to generate traffic and SALES - the funnel is meaningless unless their is a closed deal. the right words make it happen
  • Simon's research in social traffic makes me clear that he knows how to DIRECT that traffic - he shows us in his book how to differentiate between those who are browsing and those who are BUYING - a vital skill when you are not doing a sale face to face. And in this online world so little will be face to face! Invaluable tips tx Simon
  • Brilliant point from Simon Ford on economic intent - words definitely tell us how far down teh sales funnel a person is when they are searching so keeping it strategic is important. Simon is generous with his thinking and his research - good on you mate!
  • I've heard of the long tail strategy for a while now, but not like this. It's interesting how just a few words can differentiate the tire kickers from the people who are ready to make a purchase.
  • Yes Jonathan, it is refreshing to hear such practical talk about how to actually achieve your objectives. So often we hear that Google is such a mystery that no one can truly figure it out. Not so as Simon's Social Traffic book outlines.
  • Keyword searches were knew to me but now understanding that those are what everyone uses when seeking something online it would make sense to seek the ones out in advance that we know will help people find us.
    Building a 6 month strategy gives one time to get a great overview and really build up on the word of mouth marketing as you will have had a longer time to get connected and add a lot of related content for the seekers.
  • halicea99
    This is awesome and Very True! When just browsing for something a search is pretty vague, but when I'm ready to Buy I will narrow my search to be more specific. I never though of how that would be marketed, Thanks for Shining the light on this for me, Simon.
  • Like Kboode I really see the value in what Simon is saying about planning a campaign ahead of the pack. It helps to get the social traffic buzzing in ways that people all try to do when it is really too close to the event. Add to this Simon's great tip on long tail key word phrases and we should all be winners. Great advice Simon - thanks
  • This campaign strategy is one more element of social proof for the value of targeted conversations. It can't be just about spamming and noise in the blogosphere. It has to be finding people that are really looking for what you are selling or talking about it. Simon has clearly cracked the code here. Stay tuned for more social proof, which is sure to come since Simon truly understands word of mouth media and marketing.
  • bobbicknell
    Another great point is going after 10-20 long tail specific phrases in an area several months ahead of time knowing these are buyers versus a general term that has more searches but less qualified. Excellent input and gives me more to think about when setting up keywords.
    Optimizing several content pages for that specific keyword phrase can definitely get you to the top of google driving an audience into your sales funnel with cross linking. Before your teachings I didn't understand Friendfeed where now I see it in action and the results. Thanks Simon!
  • Simon's use of geographic focus for Events Listed and the myriad of global events going on at any one time is a perfect example of the practical application of his theories here. He has truly mastered long tail marketing, cross utilizing various platforms to get maximum reach and exposure.
  • After a re-read, the inside scoop on this article is about Time versus specificity. If you start working with a relatively general term long before anyone else the search engines get to know YOU as the owner of the term. The later you leave it, the more Specific and (longTail) you need to be with your Key Words and Key Word phrases. So the bottom line is ... plan ahead, start early, and have forsight of the Key Words you want. Another great article to re-read.
  • racerx12345
    Hi Steve:

    Great insight about the time vs. specificity aspects of Simon's post regarding keywords. Once again, this article stresses the importance of using keywords in one's campaign. I didn't realize how much of an impact this could make, but now realize that the implications are huge. I see this quite clearly with my use of YouTube.

    I also appreciate the distinction of using short vs. long tail keywords, and have been aware of it whilst doing my own search engine queries on Google.
  • Long Tail keyword strategy is something I knew of. The 6 month before it starts being relevant or in competition was new to me. I appreciate that this was timely for the campaigns I will be assisting with. Its a great scoop, thankyou.
  • bobbicknell
    Excellent points about planning ahead on an event 6 months and by giving great content through blogs,video,article marketing etc you really can get the top Google rankings for long tail phrases! Thanks Simon for tip!

    Makes a lot of sense and dollars and cents if you are driving them to sales funnel ending up on Events listed page to buy tickets. Can see how you would get more traffic as you got jump on everyone else by giving value and planning ahead of everyone. Thanks for this tip and the great ones in your book "Social Traffic"!
  • I really like your suggestion to plan your campaign 6 months ahead of the event. This has many advantages. First of all, you give yourself time to prepare, but also you can build a presence with solid content and bring those pages up in the search engines. When the time has come where others start to enter the market you can submit to the bookmarking sites and now that people are starting to look for info on the event, you will stand a fair chance to get votes. This will all result in more traffic than you could possible have attracted to your event, if you had started promoting at the same time as everyone else.
    You almost wonder why not everybody is doing this.....
  • Love the long tail keyword strategy. While it is commonly noted people tend to go after general keywords for the higher search volume, it is proven that long tail specific keywords are more fruitful. Better conversion numbers. Love the Billy Joel concert example. Thanks
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