Keyword Attracting Wrong Customers?

[palmpal]

I have a question about the keywords I have optimized my site for. Basically I have a high Google ranking for the phrase "widget keyword." I'm getting a fair amount of hits but now I'm starting to think I'm attracting the wrong people. You see, the keyword I'm using is one that people would use to get ideas about the type of product I sell. My site offers completed widgets but many people surf the Internet looking for ideas to complete their own widgets. The keyword is also more known in the community of people who actually do this type of thing.

So . . . they seem to be looking, but not buying. The keyword that actually describes the widgets I sell is very competitive so I'm not sure how I would rank using that word alone.

It is feasible that the people who do for a hobby what I'm trying to do as a business may want to pay for my services. It is more likely they are looking at my products to get ideas for their own projects.

I'm debating whether to remove these keyword phrases before the next crawl and to try a different approach. I would need to research alternative keywords. Does this sound like a good approach or could this affect my Google ranking? Any thoughts are welcome.

[HitProf]

What you describe sounds logical.

Perhaps you could try to find some keywords that describe the solutuins your products offer. Also try words like 'complete widget', 'finished widget' and 'widget in a box' if they are appropriate.

[creative craig]

I would plan your new strategy fully before you actualy put it online, if it wasnt to go well then it might effect your traffic and then you might be left with no hits to your site at all.

My 2c's :)

Craig

[topr8]

if you have traffic you can always try and use it some other way.

maybe set up some affiliate links to other products in your field,

if you are attracting hobbyists then books always sell for instance.

if you are ranking well i would think carefully before
changing what you have done already ... if you want to target new/different keywords then build new sections/pages for the new keywords ...

as a bonus just by making your site bigger you will gain overall benefit as well

[gingerbreadman]

I had a similar situation with one of the sites that I look after.

Some of the content, which ranked quite well for certain keywords, got a fair bit of traffic from university students. At first I thought I was attracting the wrong customers as the students certainly weren't buying anything.

However, after some thought, I created new pages of content particularly for these students and created products (widgets with student pricing and licensing deals) targetted to students. The turnaround has been suprising.

The students have arranged content deals with us and their universities which is a source of income we never had, we have had a large amount of relevant links added to the site (these students are on courses for some of the services we offer) and we also have taken on students for work placement and graduate recruitment schemes which has saved us in recruitment fees.

In the same way as 'any news is good news' I also believe that 'any traffic CAN be good traffic'.

cheers
Ross

[2oddSox]

Hi palmpal,

I agree with Ross, a.k.a. Gingerbreadman.

Even if the traffic that you are receiving isn't exactly what you would like, try to take advantage of that existing traffic anyhow - in addition to optimising for more relevant hits.

If there is one thing that I have picked up from reading the material on this board, it's the principal that 'if it's not working, then change it or move on'. But equally I'm of the notion that traffic earned already is potential profit.

Do what you have to do to attract more meaningful hits but do what you can to keep, and take advantage of, the traffic you are getting already. Easier said than done tho', I'm sure.

Good luck,

2odd...

[Brett_Tabke]

>I created new pages of content particularly [for keyword]

There's the rub. You don't determine what a search engine sends you, but you do determine what you do with those people when they arrive. The conversation for 2003 has to include coversion, coversion, and more conversion.

<true story>
It's like the guy named "Pizza" who tried to start a pastery shop called "Cakes and Donuts by Pizza". Does he argue with everyone that shows up wanting pizza, or does he just get busy making pizzas?
</true story>

[palmpal]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. So, if I have visitors who don't want to purchase my premade widgets I may be able to offer them a widget holder to put their own widgets in. I guess I'm okay with offering more of a selection but I just don't want to stray too far from what the focus of my business is.

Well, back to analysing those log files closer!