Keywords that bring in sales

how to identify them

[bluecorr]

I have a website that ranks high for a wide range of combination of keywords that include widget. The site is non commercial and I am not looking to turn it into a big business. It currently offers small widgets.

What I want to do is offer big widgets for those who initially searched small widget and were persuaded by my content that they want to see more of widgets and want big widgets.

Basically I would like to know how I can identify the keywords that sell and not just those that generate traffic. I am at a loss because I don't know where to search for this type of information. If anyone can suggest some method of research.

I have tried wordtracker and the overture tool but unless the keyword includes "buy" it is not clear whether people look to buy widgets or not. Hope it makes sense.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Thanks

[WebGuerrilla]

Keyword tools like WT won't help identify the words that result in sales. To do that, you need to use a tracking system on your site. Typically, you store the initial referral information in a cookie. Then, when a visitor completes a purchase, you grab the original referral info and log it.

That will show you what words actually turned into money.

[bluecorr]

Hi WebGuerrilla, thanks for the reply. That's a very good idea and solves part of my problem. What I'm trying to determine is whether there is a market for big widgets in the first place. Sure there are competitors but how do I know how much they're selling, if at all?

I really don't know where to start research. Any ideas?

[martinibuster]

Basically I would like to know how I can identify the keywords that sell and not just those that generate traffic.

Sounds like WebGuerrilla answered your question, and answered it well.

What I'm trying to determine is whether there is a market for big widgets in the first place.

That's an entirely different question, one hundred percent different from the topic of this thread: Keywords that bring in sales - how to identify them.

Are you in the United States? If so a great place to start your research is the FedStats [fedstats.gov] web site. It is a collection of stats collected by the United States Government.

Of course, you can always look up the sec reports filed by your favorite publicly held companies, or if you are especially lazy you could just go to Hoovers and pay them for the information.

:) Y
Ahhhh, happy Hour: Love it or leave it.

[dwilson]

If you are interested in the keywords that have sold items on your site, a log analyser would be in order. Webtrends is a pretty good one, but there are plenty. I think Webtrends will match search keywords to paths through your site ... obviously those ending on the SALE page(s) are those you're interested in.