I’m Ranking For My Keywords But My Phone’s Not Ringing!

I’m Ranking For My Keywords But My Phone’s Not Ringing!

This is a common complaint with business owners trying their hands at online marketing. Maybe they've tried writing some SEO articles themselves, but just as often they've worked with some local SEO companies and haven't seen the bang for the buck.

If you've seen the ranking reports and can confirm your rankings for your keyword list are solid, what gives? The phone should be ringing right?

The issue is usually twofold. First, the more frequent problem of keyword research, and second, the still very important issue of content.

1. Are you sure those are good keywords?

If you're a pizza place in Greensboro then of course "pizza place Greensboro" is one of the first keywords you think of. But because it's obvious so has everyone else. It will be very competitive and hard to rank for, and even if you rank for it there's no guarantee it even has worthwhile search traffic.

The problem for a lot of these folks is that their keyword lists contain mostly low search volume words. Words that seemed logical to pick, but some extra research would've revealed that they weren't very useful. For example, ranking #1 for a term with 5 searches per month means you might get 1-3 site visits from it.

In these cases it's a numbers game. The business might only be getting 100 visits to their site per month total, and depending on your conversion rate that's not a lot of phone calls. Or serious phone calls anyway. There's a critical mass of traffic a site needs to get the kind of qualified leads that make a difference, but you also need to keep your goals aligned with what the numbers support.

TL;DR Sometimes a business ranks for a bunch of low traffic terms and, while the ranking report looks good, there's no traffic to support the goals the business has. Find better keywords.

2. Is your site built to convert traffic?

We've harped on this point before, but it's significant here. Even if you've picked a series of strong keywords, and even if you rank pretty well for all of them, is your site designed to convert those visitors into customers?

Some businesses that do their own SEO sort of blow through the site content, just throwing something functional there. Other times, the SEO firms they hire do the same thing. Ranking tactics without a copywriting and design focus for usability — to steer users toward an action — are useless.

Think of a conversion as a phone call, a request for quote email, or a click-to-navigate to your location.

You could have 5000 local site visits per month, but if your website has a 1% conversion rate or less that's only 50 conversions. Conversely, even with half that traffic (2500) and a 10% conversion rate you're looking at 250 conversions.

The impression your site creates with readers is the most important thing about it. It can be as pretty as can be, but if it's hard to navigate, loads slowly, or doesn't help readers reach a decision it's not helping you.

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If you've been confused about your ranking reports and why your business doesn't seem to be growing, call us today for a free consultation!

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