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If, for example, a key term is searched on 1000 time per week and you expect you should be able to obtain a first page listing in at least 1 or 2 of the major search engines for that client -- how do you estimate the potential number of visits to the site for that week?
I realize this is not an exact science, but any feedback as to how current key term visit projections are being done (if at all) would be helpful.
youll no doubt find the navigation structure of your site, if its a good one, will indicate which words provide more traffic. No doubt when you search for more generic keywords in general, there will be more searches on these more popular generic keywords.
every site has unique circumstances. Even though a keyword might produce X amount of referrals for one site, it will be different for another site that has different PR, inbound links etc etc
so checking on past referrals is a good start to indicate any future trends on keywords.
There are also tools like wordtracker that provide stats on how many times keywords are search for on particular engines.
Search google for zeigeist and you will get more info on popular searches there
IMO focus on niche keywords and let link pop and other "push" factors bump up the value of your SERP's for more generic keywords.
It may also be wise to plan for holidays like easter if you are wanting a true projection of traffic
You don't. IMHO you should never make traffic predictions off of search counts. There are far to many variables to take into consideration. It is something that is impossible to predict.
When we use data from Wordtracker, the only number we show is the count. That number is valid because it shows estimated popularity in relation to the other keywords in your set. (i.e. keyword A is searched on twice as much as keword B)
So you never guarantee a traffic amount or a percent increase in traffic to your clients?
What happens if the client is unsatisfied with the traffic you are able to obtain?
Just wondering what the best approach would be in selling SEO services to clients when they ask for some type of guaranteed results...
The biggest issue is that you likely do not know what their traffic is. And even if they tell you how many uniques or visitors per month, you still don't know how many come from search engines. Even if they tell you that, you still need to scour the server logs to determine what areas you can make gains in.
It just isn't possible to have a feel for what you can gain for them until you see their data.
We went into a client with poor search engine placement. We knew we could get them good improvements in that area. Our sales guy has a bad tendency to blindly throw out numbers (200% increase...350% increase...etc) in "hypotheticals". He threw out a number like that and then we found out they get 500K visitors per month from lots of very intelligent marketing strategies.
Well, our achievements will be small compared to that...but fortunately we were able to point out that what we expect to bring in will result in a lower (estimated) cost per visitor than their average cost per visitor as it stands now.
But boy did I want to crawl under a rock when I heard 500K.
The gains you can make are absolute in terms of visitors. What PERCENTAGE that would mean in their traffic is often unknown to you.
We guarantee best effort, as our goal is to become a longtime partner in helping their web initiatives. There's only so much search engine traffic and the client has to be realistic about what can be provided via SEO.
I just took on a new client. One look at their logs and I'm scratching my head. They have top three rankings on Google, MSN and AOL for a principal keyword phrase - Overture says 187,000 searches last month.
But this company only got 26 referrals from that phrase in MArch, even with all those top rankings. It's a mystery to me right now (their title and descrip aren't THAT bad!) and I'm very glad I didn't promise anything outrageous. I've entered the Twilight Zone.
