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The problem is: customers likely to *buy* are not likely to search under these words. Still, I feel that a find like this is too good to pass up (the searches per month/volume of pages ratio for this is .03 compared to 30-60 for all the other terms).
Is there any way I can use this to my advantage? Perhaps through themes, perhaps to improve click through? Any ideas?
With only 1800 pages, your chances of success are pretty good. My only real question is how is it that you determined that the people that are likely to buy, wouldn't be searching using the slang?
WebGuerilla, you asked how I know that people who will buy don't use those words: well, there are two types who are interested in what I research : businessman & coroporates, who are likely to buy, and specialists & other researchers, who are interested in reading what I have to say, but not in hiring me (they can do their own work). Right now, most of my traffic is from the latter - my articles are sometimes quoted, etc, and search engines for specific technical area will sometimes direct to my site. But this does not really bring the businessman, who are basically ignorant of the technical details, and just want the job done.
Now, there is a third category who are interested, mainly spectators and hobbyists who enjoy the nature but don't follow the technical aspects. There are *alot* of these - and I'm pretty sure they're driving up all those searches on these slang terms. *But*, most sites really target either group one or group two, not this group three - and so the ratio is very high. Yet group three really isn't interested in buying anything, and the're not interested in the research either, so I'm really not targeting them. But... maybe there is an opportunity here.
I hope that provides you with the details you asked me about
For example, before I became an SEO I was a web developer, and I was also a Macromedia Evangelist. As such, I posted thousands of posts regarding Dreamweaver in their forums and sat back and hoped that it might bring in some business. However, my efforts went largely unrewarded.The reason? It's simple! Everyone who was reading my posts was also a web developer. They did not need to hire one! For the most part they were my peers - not prospective clients.
However, after making the transition from web developer to SEO and continuing my postings there I gained many new clients. All of a sudden I was posting in a place where my services WERE needed and, in fact, were in great demand.
Continue your postings in your trade groups. However, also find the groups that need your service or product and start post there.
That is where the money is.
Regardless of your decision, I think the most positive thing you have going for you is the fact that you realize that there is a difference between the two groups, and that simply increasing traffic doesn't mean increased sales. To this day, I'm often stunned by how many people looking into SEO don't see that.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to determining how much time you'll need to put into it, and whether or not it would require an ongoing investment of time.
Regarding JK's comments, I would basically agree with what he said. However, I'd be willing to bet that all his previous posts as a web designer played a fairly significant role in people deciding to hire him. The level of credibility and trust that develops over time from "unprofitable contributions" can be quite a powerful thing, but it is extremely hard to measure.
