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Search Engine Keyphrases and the Power of the Modifier
by Scott Buresh ©Copyright 2004

Most search engine optimization experts agree that the keyphrase 
selection process is the single most important step in a search 
engine optimization campaign.  However, clients frequently ask 
their search engine optimization company to target very general 
and competitive search engine keyphrases. While targeting such 
terms is usually not worth the effort, the addition of a simple 
modifier can take an ultra-competitive, general keyphrase and 
transform it into something useful - a phrase that attracts a 
large percentage of people that are looking for exactly what you 
offer, and for which high rankings are attainable.  

Geographic

The first obvious modifier is geographic. If your products or 
services are limited by geographic area, it is probably not 
worth going after a highly competitive term that does not 
specify a region. For example, a homebuilder who worked 
exclusively in the Atlanta area would probably not find it 
worth his time or effort to target the general keyphrase
"homebuilders", considering that good positions for one word 
keyphrases are exceedingly difficult to obtain and that the vast 
majority of people who type this keyphrase are not looking for a 
homebuilder in the Atlanta area. Adding geographic modifiers (in 
this case "Atlanta homebuilders" or "homebuilders in Atlanta") 
makes search engine keyphrases easier to target and also attracts 
a much more targeted visitor.

Descriptive (adjective)

If you only sell blue widgets, and there are many other colors 
of widgets available to the public, a large percentage of people 
searching for "widgets" are probably not your target audience. 
As with geographic modifiers, the addition of descriptive 
adjectives makes your search engine keyphrases easier to target 
("blue widgets" will almost always be easier to target than 
"widgets" alone). Also like geographic modifiers, descriptive 
adjectives help attract visitors who are looking for exactly the 
products or services that you offer. Why should you expend huge 
amounts of effort to achieve high rankings for a phrase when the 
traffic from it isn't comprised primarily of your ideal visitors?

Descriptive (noun)

The addition of a descriptive noun can take a keyphrase that 
attracts diverse, non targeted traffic and transform it into a 
phrase that attracts exactly the type of traffic that you seek. 
Assume, for example, that you owned a company that specialized 
in internet marketing. When you consider the keyphrase "internet 
marketing", it's easy to see that a person searching for that 
phrase can have many motivations - not the least of which would 
be trying to learn how to do it themselves. When you add a 
descriptive noun modifier, such as "companies", "consultants", 
or "firms", you are suddenly targeting exactly the type of 
traffic you want - someone who is at the point where they are 
looking for a company that offers the service (not information 
on the service itself). Of course, as with all other modifiers, 
this also has the additional benefit of making the keyphrase 
much easier to target.

Low Quality Modifiers

The likely motivation of the searcher always comes into play 
when you are trying to decide upon keyphrases, and there are 
many modifiers which generally (but not always) attract the 
wrong type of traffic. These include "free", "sample", "ideas", 
"advice", etc. Let's assume you have a company that specializes 
in email marketing. Adding low quality modifiers would give you 
terms such as "email marketing advice", "email marketing ideas", 
"free email marketing", etc. These terms would probably attract 
what can be called "conversion traffic". Are there a handful of 
these people, clearly looking to do things on their own, that 
might convert to paying customers? Certainly. Should you make an 
effort to attract this traffic when you have better terms, such 
as "email marketing consultants" or "email marketing firms", to 
target? Probably not.

Conclusion

Modifiers in search engine phrases are used for two main reasons: 
to increase the percentage of ideal prospects in the traffic the 
phrase attracts, and to find terms that are easier to target on 
search engines. Adding the right type of modifiers to your search 
engine keyphrases will increase your chances of success. Good 
luck!

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Scott Buresh is managing partner of Medium Blue Internet Marketing, 
an Atlanta search engine optimization company that works with 
clients all over North America. His articles have appeared in 
numerous publications, including SiteProNews, ZDNet, WebProNews, 
MarketingProfs, DarwinMag, PromotionData, and Search Engine Guide.
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