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The problem with search engine submission and optimization is that there are so many variables that
influence a web site's ranking, and it is difficult to tell where the results are coming from. Recently,
though, I have been studying the variables involved, and I am starting to get to where I can visually see
the results and predict them. As an example, at the end of September
2005, www.RabbitHuntingBeagles.com,
had no ranking on Alexa and received 964 unique visitors for the month. The site had only generated
contact from 14 visitors (through the contact form) between January and September.
At that point, the site was getting some action from the search engines, but was not on the front
page for any of its search terms. Here is a sampling of the keyphrases and keywords (along with the number
of times they were returned to search engines:
Stats for the month of September, 2005 (the Search number represents the number of times this site
occurred in Search Engine Results Pages based on the specified keyphrases/keywords)
528 different keyphrases |
Search |
|
256 different keywords |
Search |
rabbit hunting |
59 |
rabbit |
297 |
rabbit hunting beagles |
44 |
beagles |
289 |
hunting beagles |
43 |
hunting |
259 |
beagles for sale |
36 |
for |
139 |
rabbit beagles |
24 |
sale |
132 |
www.rabbithuntingbeagles.com |
22 |
dogs |
86 |
rabbit dogs |
20 |
beagle |
37 |
hunting beagles for sale |
16 |
rabbithuntingbeagles.com |
22 |
rabbit dogs for sale |
12 |
in |
20 |
beagles |
12 |
akc |
16 |
Other phrases |
274 |
Other words |
352 |
I started employing a bunch of different techniques on one of my sites from October, 2005 - January
2006. These techniques included search engine submission, optimization of
the key pages, and one-way link building.
By the end of January, the figures had risen across the board. While the results in Google were
a bit sluggish (as is typical), MSN and Yahoo were producing nicely.
For "hunting beagles", the site was 1st in Yahoo, 3rd in MSN, and in 367 on Google. For "beagles for sale", it was 18th
on MSN and 10th on Yahoo. Add South Carolina to that (Beagles for sale in South Carolina ) and the site was 2nd in MSN and first
in Yahoo. For "rabbit hunting beagles" (the easiest keyphrase, because it is the domain), the site was 2nd
in Google and 1st in Yahoo and MSN.
The Alexa ranking for RHB at the end of January was 284,593, with daily totals often just above
100,000 (before I started, the site had no data registered in Alexa).
Scott received 70 unique contacts (via the contact form) from October 1st - January 31st (up from
less than 2 a month to 17 a month). The unique visits for October, November, December and January were
1231, 1400, 1765 and 3000. The actual visits were 2240, 2501, 3149 and 5000. The keyphrases made a remarkable
jump.
Keyword Stats for the month of January, 2006
581 different keyphrases |
Search |
|
271 different keywords |
Search |
beagles for sale |
272 |
beagles |
1314 |
rabbit hunting beagles |
154 |
rabbit |
1212 |
rabbit hunting |
136 |
for |
902 |
hunting beagles |
131 |
hunting |
901 |
rabbit dogs for sale |
83 |
sale |
892 |
rabbit beagles |
81 |
dogs |
421 |
rabbit beagles for sale |
79 |
beagle |
280 |
hunting beagles for sale |
71 |
in |
127 |
rabbit dogs |
65 |
Carolina |
79 |
rabbit hunting dogs for sale |
49 |
dog |
69 |
Other phrases |
1199 |
Other words |
1620 |
As you can see, we had very positive results for the 4 month campaign. Scott sold every dog he had
for sale during that period - which is probably the best metric of the results. While results may vary
with different web sites (there are still an awful lot of variables to consider), the results are clear
that action beats inaction (in the search engine world).
Now - are these numbers impressive? If you consider that the marketing budget to achieve this was
around $1 per day, I think it is pretty good. If you are spending $10,000 per month, of course the numbers
would be higher. But, since I am working on the cheap (most clients in this niche don't have huge marketing
budgets), the level of comparison and the metrics for results must be measured against the budget. I have
been working with this niche for a few years and have followed the visits very closely. I have determined
success at a few levels. The bottom line is always sales, but the number of visits is a direct indication
of a successful advertisement campaign.
My benchmarks (visits per day / per month / cost per visitor*):
- Goal 1: 10 unique visitors per day, 300 per month, $0.22 per visitor.
- Goal 2: 33 unique visitors per day, 1000 per month, $0.07 per visitor.
- Goal 3: 100 unique visitors per day, 3000 per month, $0.02 per visitor.
- Goal 4: 200 unique visitors per day, 6000 per month, $0.01 per visitor.
- Goal 5: 333 unique visitors per day, 10000 per month, $0.006 per visitor.
Whether or not you agree with those, I think (in the niche of small
farm web sites), they are reasonable.
Now, there are ways to artificially manipulate the number of visitors (through paid sites), but I am not
interested in those (at least within this market - other business models might support, though). I am interested
in a natural rising in terms of rankings, and steady performance (maybe a gain of 5-10% each month). At
the rate rabbithuntingbeagles is going, if we maintain the pressure, his site will reach the 200 unique
visitors per day by the end of May and will reach 10,000 by the end of August (that is increasing by 20%
each month, which is typical of his site over the past 4 months).
*Cost per visitor based off prices for annual hosting and maintenance, and $30 a month spent on
optimization and submission. ($99 + $360 + $360 = $819 per year or ~$2.25 per day).
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