Keyword Research for SEO and PPC in 2020

@spyfu
Keyword Research 2020
The search landscape is constantly changing. Learn about next
generation metrics and tips to get ahead and stay ahead.

@spyfu
Mike Roberts
Founder and CEO, SpyFu
@mrspy
/u/sporktopus

@spyfu
What I’ll cover:
• Emerging trends creating new challenges in search
• Next generation metrics provide context
• New approaches maximize opportunity
• 10 Keyword research tips to help you win

@spyfu
(everybody’s talking about it)

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History: In the beginning search sucked.
That meant that a lot of searches were unsatisfying; they
didn’t deserve our clicks.

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Google search quality over time

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Number of searches has also grown

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But, recently a lot less searches are getting clicks

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I wondered whether this could be normal fluctation

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It is not normal fluctuation.
The change is too significant, and consistent.
60%→56% over the past year (61% → 60% in the previous year)

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Paid clicks continue to increase

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No-click happens much more often on mobile
Just 43% of mobile searches get clicked
vs
65% of desktop

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Mobile searches are growing as a percent of total

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But, remember: total searches is still growing

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So, you’ve got a 8% decrease in the size of the pie
slice, but it’s a ~10% bigger pie.

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This is less of something to freak out about – and
more of an opportunity understand (and exploit).

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I know I’m supposed to be super pissed off…

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Relatively recently, Google’s started to take things to
a new level.

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They used to write
crappy “summaries”,
now they write
“featured” snippets.

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They’ll make a “Best” list out of anything.

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Seriously. It’s kind of awkward.

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There’s a lesson here:
When someone searches for “best _____”, Google
wants to show them a list.
That’s the searcher’s intent.

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Your page about your microphone optimized for
“best podcast microphone” isn’t going to rank.

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In fact, there
are no single-
product
pages.
(I stopped looking
after page 3)

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Google started doing similar stuff with questions
(and will probably do even more because of BERT)

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Questions (about airpods)

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Big differences in % of searches clicked.

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Gain context and exploit new opportunities with
Next Generation Metrics

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See how many clicks a keyword gets.
Metric: # of Clicks
Use to prioritize keywords much the same way you use
Search Volume.

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“How much are airpods” vs “new apple airpods”

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How often do people click?
Metric: % no-click (and % clicked)
Use to understand the user’s behavior – (or Google’s
manipulation of it).

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If a low percent of users click on a keyword, you
need to understand why.

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…or maybe just heavy mobile?

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How mobile is the keyword?
Metrics: % mobile vs % desktop
Use to drive the user experience. Mobile-first?
Image heavy? Video?

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“due date calculator” vs “gpa calculator”

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How much is Paid vs Organic clicks?
Metric: % Paid and % Organic
Use to understand where the user is in the purchase
process.

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From an SEO perspective, it tells you how many of
those clicks you can get.

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Much more context about how to optimize.

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Tip #1: Prioritize based on # clicks instead of
Volume

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Tip #2: Filter out keywords with high % non-click

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Tip #3: Snippet-Optimize for high no-click keywords

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Tip #4: Optimize your On-SERP presence for no-click
keywords
• Get in the lists that are part of the
snippets
• Fill out profiles for anything that
ranks in your space.

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Tip #5: High % mobile searches need a mobile-first
experience.

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Tip #6: Build a Desktop-first experience for high %
desktop keywords.

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Tip #7: Build your content around the questions
people ask

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Be sure to:
• Match the search intent.
What does Google want to
promote?
• Understand mobile vs
desktop
• Understand click vs no-click

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Tip #8: Zero in on “buying” keywords using % paid
clicks.

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Tip #9: Use “Transactional Keywords” to find
opportunities in the buying cycle.
Best ___ → Reviews → Shop for ____ → ____ Cheap → Buy ____ → ____Promos

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Then, filter by:
• Clicks or Search Volume (go after the big ones)
• Keyword Difficulty (go after the easy ones)
• Low % no-click (if you want to avoid snippet optimization)
• High % Organic Clicks - (if you don’t want to compete w paid)
• High % Paid Clicks – (if you want a proven paid keyword)
• High % mobile or desktop (depending on the user experience
you provide)

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Tip #10: Focus on clusters of keywords

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Google is going to continue to do this.
In ads their Northstar is eCPM.
But, more broadly, it’s ARPU (Average Revenue per User)
• Quicker answers = more searches
• More searches = more ads served

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Next?
No-click searches → No-search searches
(not joking)

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No-search searches are here!

@spyfu
But, that whole more searches thing…
They’ve been
making that happen
for 20 years.
Honestly, it’s worked
out pretty well for all
of us.

@spyfu
Things are a bit more complicated. But…

@spyfu
Questions?
@mrspy
/u/sporktopus

Keyword Research for SEO and PPC in 2020

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