Understanding Why Highly Competitive Keywords Take Longer to Rank in SEO
If you’ve ever tried to rank your website for popular search terms, you’ve probably noticed that it can take a significant amount of time and effort. Highly competitive keywords—those targeted by many websites—pose a unique challenge in the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Let's dive into the reasons why ranking for competitive keywords is a long-term process and how you can create a strategy to achieve success.
The Nature of Competitive Keywords
Highly competitive keywords are those that many websites are targeting because they directly relate to popular products, services, or information that users frequently search for. For example, terms like “best running shoes” or “home insurance” are highly sought after by brands and businesses, making the competition fierce. Ranking for these keywords means going head-to-head with established sites that have invested years into building their SEO strategy.
Existing Domain Authority
One of the primary reasons why competitive keywords are difficult to rank for is that many of the top-ranking websites already have strong domain authority. Domain authority is essentially a measure of a site’s credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of search engines. Older, established websites often have built a high level of authority over time through the accumulation of backlinks, consistent content, and trust signals from search engines like Google. For newer or smaller websites, it’s challenging to break through when competing against such well-established competitors.
Saturated Content
When a keyword is highly competitive, it typically means that there is already a large volume of content optimized for it. These competing sites have likely covered every angle of the keyword, producing in-depth articles, videos, and guides. Search engines prioritize content that is comprehensive and provides value to the user, which means you’ll need to offer something unique or better to stand out. Ranking in such a crowded space requires creating high-quality, fresh content that addresses the topic in a new way or adds value beyond what’s already available.
High Backlink Demand
Backlinks—links from other websites pointing to your content—are one of the strongest ranking signals in SEO. Competitive keywords are often dominated by websites with a robust backlink profile. These sites have accumulated hundreds or even thousands of links from reputable sources, making it difficult for a newer site to catch up. Building a strong backlink profile takes time, especially for competitive terms, and it requires a strategic approach to earning quality backlinks.
Constant Algorithm Updates
Search engines are constantly evolving, updating their algorithms to better serve users with relevant and high-quality content. This means that even if you’re making progress in ranking for a competitive keyword, changes to the algorithm can affect your standing. Large competitors often have the resources to adapt quickly to these changes, further complicating the process for smaller sites trying to rank for the same keywords.
The Importance of Long-Tail Keywords
While ranking for highly competitive keywords can be a daunting task, focusing on long-tail keywords can provide a strategic advantage. Long-tail keywords are more specific, lower-competition phrases that often contain three or more words, such as “best running shoes for flat feet” instead of “running shoes.” Targeting long-tail keywords can help your site build momentum and domain authority over time. As you gain traction with these terms, you can gradually target more competitive keywords.
Patience and Persistence Pay Off
When it comes to highly competitive keywords, patience is key. SEO is a long-term game, and trying to rank for the most competitive terms often takes months or even years of consistent effort. However, with a solid strategy, including the creation of high-quality content, a focus on long-tail keywords, and a dedication to building your backlink profile, your website can slowly start to compete for these valuable keywords.
Crafting a Winning Strategy for Competitive Keywords
Here are a few steps to help you succeed with competitive keywords:
- Focus on Content Quality: Make sure your content provides value and answers the user’s query better than your competitors.
- Build a Strong Backlink Profile: Seek out opportunities to earn backlinks from reputable sources through guest posting, partnerships, and outreach.
- Target Long-Tail Keywords First: Gain traction with less competitive keywords before targeting broader, high-competition terms.
- Consistent Optimization: SEO is not a one-time effort; keep optimizing your content and strategy as algorithms evolve and competitors adjust their tactics.
Slow and Steady Wins the SEO Race
Ranking for highly competitive keywords takes time, effort, and a well-executed strategy. It’s not impossible, but the journey requires patience, especially when competing with established websites that have invested heavily in their SEO. Focus on long-term success by building domain authority, creating quality content, and remaining persistent in your efforts. Over time, your site will start to make headway in search engine rankings, and the results will be worth the wait.
How Long Should You Expect to Wait for Results in SEO?
SEO is a powerful tool for driving organic traffic, improving visibility, and growing your business online. However, it’s not a quick fix—it’s a long-term strategy that requires patience and ongoing effort. So, how long does it actually take to see meaningful results from SEO? Let's break down the factors that influence Search Engine Optimization timelines and help you set realistic expectations.
Why SEO Takes Time
SEO is about building a foundation for long-term success. Unlike paid ads, which generate immediate results, SEO focuses on improving your site’s organic ranking. Search engines prioritize websites that demonstrate relevance, trustworthiness, and authority—factors that take time to build. Here’s why:
- Search Engines Crawl and Index Over Time: It takes time for search engines like Google to crawl your site, understand new content, and adjust rankings accordingly.
- Competition: SEO is competitive. The more competitive your industry or keyword, the longer it may take to see results as you compete for rankings.
- Content and Authority Building: High-quality content and backlink building are essential, but they also take time to grow and deliver results.
Factors That Impact SEO Timelines
The timeline for seeing results can vary widely based on several factors. Here are a few key ones:
- Website Age and Domain Authority: Newer websites typically take longer to rank because they don’t have the established authority of older domains. On average, it can take a new site 6 to 12 months to gain traction in search results.
- Competition: Highly competitive keywords may take longer to rank for, especially if you’re up against well-established competitors. Niche markets with less competition may see faster results.
- Keyword Strategy: Focusing on long-tail, less competitive keywords may yield quicker wins, while high-volume keywords often require more time and effort.
- Current Website Health: If your website has technical issues, poor UX, or lacks optimized content, it may take longer to rank as these issues need to be resolved first.
What to Expect at Different Stages of SEO
SEO results are gradual and build over time. Here’s what you can typically expect at different stages:
- First 1-3 Months: The initial phase usually focuses on auditing and optimizing your website. During this time, you might see small improvements in ranking and traffic, especially for less competitive keywords or if the website was not optimized before.
- 3-6 Months: As optimizations take effect and content grows, you’ll start to see more noticeable improvements in rankings, traffic, and possibly conversions. Long-tail keywords may start to rank well, and your domain authority will begin to grow.
- 6-12 Months: By this stage, your website should have a solid SEO foundation. Your rankings will continue to improve for more competitive keywords, and you’ll likely see consistent traffic growth.
- 12 Months and Beyond: SEO truly hits its stride after the one-year mark, as your website builds authority and becomes a trusted resource in your industry. Continued optimization and content growth lead to sustainable, long-term results.
The Importance of Continuous Optimization
SEO isn’t a “set it and forget it” strategy. Search algorithms change frequently, competitors adjust their tactics, and consumer behavior evolves. Continuous monthly optimization—updating content, refining keyword strategies, building new links, and monitoring performance—ensures that your website stays competitive and continues to climb the rankings.
Faster Isn’t Always Better
While everyone wants fast results, it’s important to remember that quick fixes—like black hat SEO tactics—can lead to penalties that hurt your site in the long run. Ethical, white-hat SEO is focused on sustainable, long-term growth, and that’s worth the wait.
Be Patient, SEO Delivers Long-Term Success
So, how long does it take to see results from SEO? In most cases, businesses start seeing meaningful changes within 3-6 months, with full results often visible after 6-12 months. However, the wait is worth it. SEO is an investment that delivers lasting value, unlike short-term solutions. By focusing on a solid strategy, continuous optimization, and playing the long game, your business will reap the rewards of a strong online presence.
6 Reasons Why your Facebook Ads aren't Generating Leads
If your business relies on leads to come in, then you have probably tried running ads on various mediums in an attempt to bring in more leads. One of those platforms that you probably have tried is Facebook.
Meta (Facebook) has an abundance of benefits including its audience size, low cost per acquisition, and variety of platforms and ad formats. A lot of these benefits will be for nothing if you are not running optimized ads on Facebook.
If you’re currently running Facebook Ads and you are finding that you’re not generating the leads that you want, there are some steps that you can take to improve your results. Running any ad, whether it is on Facebook, Google, or even older mediums like print, requires testing, analyzing, and optimizing in order to find the recipe for success.
Through our many years and many dollars spent, we have come up with 6 reasons why your Facebook Ads aren’t generating leads and tips on how to fix them:
Budget is too Small
The next 5 steps after this one basically outline the order of potential issues that need to be optimized and tested. Until you have that right recipe that works, Meta (Facebook) needs to properly learn the exact behaviours of your audience. This cannot be achieved with a small budget.
If you are constantly running Facebook campaigns with the intention of generating leads on say a $100 budget, and you are not seeing any results, increase your budget.
Facebook needs to learn who your exact audience is and what you are trying to accomplish, which can take time. Let’s not forget that your ad or copy for your ad might not be resonating with your audience either, which could further delay any lead generation.
Once you have figured out a comfortable cost per lead formula, you can reduce or increase your budgets since, in theory, you will know exactly how many leads you will receive for every dollar spent.
Tip: When you first start your campaign, set your budget to a significantly higher amount to force Facebook to learn faster. When you set your budget, Facebook paces itself to ensure they land exactly on your budget, and this unfortunately also means they will slowly learn if your budget is small. Once Facebook passes their learning phase and they understand what you’re trying to accomplish, decrease your budget back in line with what you were intending to spend.
You Chose the Wrong Objective
If you are trying to generate leads, there really are only 2 objectives that you should be using on Meta (Facebook):
- Leads Objective
This objective on Facebook helps businesses create campaigns to attract potential customers by collecting information that moves them through the buying process. You can use this feature to gather lead information through forms, prompt users to call your business, or connect with them via Messenger. When someone clicks on your ad, they can fill out a form with their details, call your business directly, or engage in an automated conversation through Messenger. The Leads objective is unique because it allows you to include built in lead forms, which are the only forms on Facebook ads designed to capture names, email addresses, and other relevant information, making it easier to follow up with qualified leads. - Traffic Objective
If you have a landing page that you know already works, or perhaps you want to retarget on other platforms like Google, you may want to lead the Facebook user to your website. Pros: Typically a lower cost per lead than the Lead Generation objective. You will also generate more “first-click” traffic through this objective, giving you an opportunity to re-target individuals that may not be ready to convert today. Cons: As you will discover on a later point, your landing page is a huge success factor to whether or not this objective will ultimately convert. If you have a poorly designed landing page, revert to using the built-in Facebook form and go with a Leads Objective.
If you are using any other objective to try and generate leads, this is probably the reason you are not generating leads. Moreover, if you are using one of these 2 objectives, you might need to analyze which of the two is best for your business.
Incorrect Audience
When running Facebook ads, it’s crucial to continually evaluate whether your audience targeting is working effectively. If you’re not seeing the leads or conversions you expect, it’s time to take a closer look at your audience strategy. To get a clear understanding of what’s working, start by setting up at least two ad sets to compare performance. This way, you can identify which audience is driving better results. Without this comparison, it’s difficult to pinpoint whether audience targeting is the issue.
We recommend avoiding Facebook’s detailed targeting options, such as choosing specific demographics, interests, and behaviours. Instead, set up two distinct ad sets. The first should use Meta Advantage+ (their AI-powered audience), which leverages artificial intelligence to find potential customers based on real-time data. The second ad set should use a lookalike audience based on website traffic or conversions. This will help you reach people who share similar characteristics with users who have already visited your site or taken meaningful actions, such as making a purchase.
Additionally, enable Advantage Campaign Budget, which allows Meta to distribute your budget automatically to the better-performing ad set. This strategy ensures that your ad spend is being used efficiently, maximizing results based on real-time performance data. By running these two ad sets simultaneously and allowing Meta to optimize your budget, you’ll get a clearer picture of which audience delivers the best results and make informed adjustments going forward.
Tip: You should always have a retargeting strategy in place for previous Facebook users that have engaged with you. Retargeting will always be cheaper than acquiring new Facebook users to engage with. So with that being said, exclude previous website visitors from your other ad sets. If done properly, the users that engage with your ad will be put into a funnel and see different ads. We wrote an article, Step-by-Step Guide to Facebook Funnels for Lead Generation, which goes into more detail about creating a funnel strategy.
Bad Creative and/or Copy
If you’ve already tested your audiences and ad sets but your Facebook ads are still underperforming, it’s time to take a closer look at your ad creatives. Facebook offers a variety of formats for your ads, including photos, videos, stories, carousels, and more. Each format has its strengths, and choosing the right one can make a significant difference in how your audience engages with your ads.
Additionally, your ad creative consists of more than just visuals. There are key sections like ad copy, headlines, link descriptions, and buttons, all of which play a crucial role in how well your ad performs. With so many variables in play, optimizing each element is essential to getting the best results.
We recommend using Dynamic Creative, a feature you can toggle on in the ad set section of your campaign. Dynamic Creative allows you to upload multiple versions of your creatives—such as photos or videos—as well as different ad copy, headlines, and calls-to-action (buttons). Meta will then automatically test various combinations of these elements to determine which works best with your audience.
The advantage of Dynamic Creative is that it removes much of the guesswork. Instead of manually testing one creative at a time, Meta does the heavy lifting by finding the best-performing combinations. You can then review the performance data and make adjustments, such as removing underperforming creatives or refining your ad copy and headlines.
By leveraging Dynamic Creative, you give Meta the flexibility to optimize your ads in real-time, improving the chances of finding the perfect mix of visuals, messaging, and targeting that will resonate with your audience.
Your Offer
Now that you’ve identified the right audience, optimized your creatives, and fine-tuned your ad copy, but your Facebook ad still isn’t converting, it’s time to take a closer look at what you’re offering.
The strength of your offer depends on where your audience is in your funnel and what you’re trying to accomplish. If your goal is to generate traffic for future retargeting, you may not need a highly aggressive offer. In this case, a compelling message that piques interest and captures the user’s attention is enough to bring them into the funnel for later engagement.
However, if you’re deeper into the funnel or aiming to generate leads immediately, you need to ensure your offer is strong enough to entice action. When asking users to provide contact information, you need to provide a compelling incentive—whether it’s a valuable piece of downloadable content or an irresistible “buy now” or “get a quote” offer.
It’s essential to be equipped with multiple offers to test and optimize. If everything else in your campaign is running smoothly, testing different offers can help you lower your cost per lead and increase conversions. Remember, the right offer can make all the difference in turning an interested viewer into a qualified lead or customer.
Landing Page
Once you’ve optimized your audience, creatives, and offer, the next step is ensuring your landing page aligns with the rest of your campaign. If you’re using Facebook lead forms, these built-in forms are a great way to capture leads directly within the platform without requiring users to leave Facebook. These forms are pre-filled with user information, making it easier and faster for users to convert. This can be especially helpful when your goal is to reduce friction and increase the number of leads.
If you prefer using an external landing page, it’s crucial to test different variations to determine what resonates most with your audience. A/B testing is essential here. You can test landing pages with less information, focusing solely on the offer and lead form to keep it simple and direct. This approach is great when you want users to focus purely on taking action without being overwhelmed by too much content.
Alternatively, try testing a landing page with more detailed content, including testimonials, “why us” sections, and clear explanations of what your product or service can do for your customer. This approach works well for audiences that require more convincing before providing their information.
Tip: When using a landing page, it’s important to remove any distractions that might take users away from converting. Avoid including menus, navigation links, or any options that allow users to leave the page. The goal is to keep the user focused on completing the action—whether that’s submitting their contact information, requesting a quote, or signing up for an offer. The fewer opportunities they have to navigate away, the higher the chances of conversion.
Conclusion
Facebook ads have the potential to be a powerful lead generation tool, but they require careful planning, testing, and optimization. By fine-tuning your audience targeting, improving your ad creative, aligning your landing page, and leveraging the full range of ad formats, you can turn underperforming ads into lead-generating machines. Don’t forget to continually monitor and adjust your ads based on performance metrics to ensure they stay effective over time.
Why Website Age and Domain Authority Matter for Long-Term SEO Success
In the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), not all websites are created equal. Two crucial factors that often determine how well your website performs in search engine rankings are its age and domain authority. While new websites can certainly make an impact, it’s the combination of time and trust that can elevate a site to the top of search results. So, why exactly do website age and domain authority matter so much in the quest for long-term SEO success? Let’s dive in.
Website Age: The Benefit of Longevity
When it comes to SEO, time is a powerful asset. Older websites tend to rank higher in search results for several reasons:
- Established Trust: Search engines, particularly Google, tend to favour websites that have been around for a longer time. Why? Simply put, an older website with consistent activity shows stability and trustworthiness. It signals to search engines that the site is legitimate and not just a temporary page with short-lived value.
- Indexed Content: Over time, older websites have the advantage of having more content indexed by search engines. As you build and publish content over the years, it adds depth and relevance to your site, which contributes to better rankings.
- Proven Track Record: Websites that have been around for years often have a proven track record of user engagement. They’ve had more opportunities to attract backlinks, social shares, and user interactions, which are all factors that search engines consider when ranking a site.
However, website age alone won’t guarantee a high ranking. In fact, domain age is not used as a direct ranking factor by Google. Instead, it’s the quality of content, user experience, and domain authority that help push a site further up the search engine results pages (SERPs). Although domain age isn’t a ranking factor, older websites often benefit from having built a stronger backlink profile and established trust over time, which can indirectly boost their search performance.
Domain Authority: Building Trust with Search Engines
Domain authority is a metric that reflects the credibility and trustworthiness of your website in the eyes of search engines. While it’s not an official ranking factor used by Google, it’s a strong indicator of how likely your site is to rank well for relevant keywords. Domain authority is influenced by several factors, including the quality of backlinks, user engagement, and overall SEO health.
- Backlinks Are Key: One of the most significant factors in building domain authority is acquiring high-quality backlinks. These are links from other trusted websites that point to your site, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and credible. The more authoritative the site linking to you, the greater the impact on your domain authority.
- Consistent Content Creation: Domain authority isn’t built overnight. It requires a steady flow of high-quality, relevant content that keeps users engaged and encourages them to spend more time on your site. Content that solves problems, answers questions, or provides value is more likely to attract backlinks and improve user engagement.
- Technical SEO: Domain authority is also influenced by how well your website is optimized for search engines. This includes factors like website speed, mobile-friendliness, and secure connections (SSL certificates). A well-maintained site not only provides a better user experience but also sends positive signals to search engines.
The Synergy of Age and Authority
While website age and domain authority are both powerful on their own, they work best when combined. An older website with high domain authority is likely to rank more consistently for competitive keywords and maintain long-term visibility in search results. However, even new websites can begin building domain authority by focusing on quality content, acquiring backlinks, and optimizing their technical SEO.
How to Build Domain Authority as a New Website
If your website is new or relatively young, there’s no need to worry. While older sites may have an advantage, there are actionable steps you can take to build your domain authority and grow your presence over time:
- Focus on High-Quality Content: Prioritize creating valuable, relevant, and well-optimized content that addresses your audience’s needs. This helps attract natural backlinks and keeps users coming back to your site.
- Acquire Quality Backlinks: Reach out to other reputable websites for guest blogging opportunities or partnerships that can earn you high-quality backlinks. Make sure these links come from sites with solid domain authority.
- Optimize Your Site for Search Engines: Ensure your site is technically sound by improving page load speed, using a mobile-friendly design, and optimizing for on-page SEO elements like meta tags, headers, and keywords.
Patience is Key in SEO Success
SEO is a long-term game that requires ongoing effort and continuous optimization, and while website age and domain authority play important roles in your success, patience and persistence are equally crucial. Building domain authority takes time, but with consistent effort, a focus on quality content, and an eye on technical SEO, you’ll steadily climb the ranks—even if your site is relatively new.
Time and Trust Lead to SEO Success
In the ever-competitive landscape of SEO, website age and domain authority are vital factors in determining long-term success. While older websites with high domain authority have an advantage, newer sites can still thrive by focusing on building trust, acquiring quality backlinks, and creating valuable content. Over time, your domain authority will grow, and so will your chances of ranking higher in search results.
The Importance of Fresh Content for SEO
In the constantly evolving world of digital marketing, one thing remains clear: content is still king. But it’s not just about having content—it’s about having fresh content. Search engines like Google prioritize websites that regularly update and add new content, recognizing them as more relevant and engaging for users. Here’s why consistently updating your website with fresh content is crucial for SEO success.
Search Engines Favour Fresh Content
Search engines aim to provide users with the most up-to-date and relevant information. Websites that regularly update their content are seen as more current, which boosts their rankings in search results. Google’s “Freshness” algorithm update underscores the importance of regularly adding new, high-quality content. Whether it’s new blog posts, updates to existing pages, or fresh product descriptions, regularly refreshing your content signals to search engines that your website is active and relevant.
Why It Matters for SEO: Regular updates show Google that your site is current, giving you a higher chance of ranking well in competitive search results. Fresh content also opens opportunities to target new keywords and trending topics, further improving your SEO.
Improves User Engagement and Experience
Users are more likely to engage with websites that offer fresh, relevant content. Stale, outdated content can lead to higher bounce rates, as visitors may not find the information they’re looking for. By continually updating your content, you not only improve SEO but also keep visitors interested and engaged with your site.
Why It Matters for SEO: Google pays attention to user engagement metrics, such as time spent on a page and bounce rates. By offering updated content, you can improve these metrics, signaling to search engines that your website provides valuable information to users, which can positively impact rankings.
Increases Crawl Frequency by Search Engines
Search engine crawlers visit websites regularly to index new content. When search engines detect that your site frequently updates, they will visit your site more often to crawl and index the fresh pages. This can lead to faster ranking improvements for your new content.
Why It Matters for SEO: A site that’s regularly updated is crawled more frequently, meaning your new pages and updates are indexed and ranked faster. This can be a significant advantage when targeting new keywords or reacting to trending topics.
Boosts Keyword Relevance and Rankings
As user behaviour and search trends change over time, so do the keywords they use. Fresh content allows you to continuously update your SEO strategy, incorporating new keywords and optimizing for changes in search intent. This is especially important for industries where trends shift frequently, as fresh content keeps your site relevant in search results.
Why It Matters for SEO: Regularly updating your content with new keywords ensures that your website stays relevant to current search trends. By consistently optimizing for the latest keywords, you’ll maintain or even improve your rankings over time.
Establishes Authority and Trust
Creating fresh, valuable content on a regular basis helps you build authority in your industry. When users see that your website consistently offers the latest information, tips, or insights, they’ll view your site as a trusted resource. This can lead to higher-quality backlinks, which are crucial for boosting your domain authority.
Why It Matters for SEO: High-quality backlinks from authoritative sites are one of Google’s top ranking factors. By offering fresh content that’s useful and trustworthy, you’re more likely to earn backlinks, which directly contribute to better SEO performance.
Keeping your website regularly updated with fresh content isn’t just a best practice for SEO—it’s essential because SEO requires ongoing effort. Fresh content plays a crucial role in improving your rankings, maintaining keyword relevance, and increasing user engagement. Regular updates signal to search engines that your site is active and authoritative, which helps boost domain authority and improves visibility. By committing to a consistent content strategy, you’ll not only stay in favour with search engines but also build lasting trust and authority with your audience, ensuring long-term SEO success.
What is Keyword Cannibalization in SEO and How to Fix It
In the ever-competitive world of SEO, it’s crucial to make sure every piece of your content works together rather than competing against itself. One of the common issues that can arise when managing SEO for a website is keyword cannibalization. Let’s explore what keyword cannibalization is, why it can hurt your SEO, and, more importantly, how to fix it.
What is Keyword Cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your website are optimized for the same keyword or similar keywords. Instead of one strong page ranking highly in search results, several pages compete with each other, which can confuse search engines and lower the rankings of all involved pages.
For example, if you have three blog posts about “best energy efficient windows” all targeting the same keyword, they may end up competing for the same search queries. This can dilute the performance of all three pages rather than allowing one authoritative page to shine.
Why is Keyword Cannibalization Bad for SEO?
There are several ways keyword cannibalization can negatively impact your SEO strategy:
- Reduced Rankings: When search engines encounter multiple pages optimized for the same keyword, they struggle to determine which one is the most relevant. As a result, all of the competing pages may rank lower than they would have individually.
- Split Traffic: Instead of concentrating traffic on one page, keyword cannibalization splits that potential traffic across multiple pages, reducing the overall impact of your SEO efforts.
- Diluted Link Equity: Backlinks and internal links pointing to multiple pages on the same topic dilute the authority of each page. This means none of the pages will rank as well as they could have if all the link equity was focused on a single page.
How to Identify Keyword Cannibalization
Before you can fix keyword cannibalization, you need to identify it. Here are two methods to do so:
- Use SEO Tools: Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz can help you analyze which pages on your site are ranking for the same keywords. You can easily spot cannibalization when multiple URLs show up for the same search queries.
- Manual Search: Another method is simply searching your target keyword on Google and seeing how many of your pages rank for that term. If more than one page shows up, you may have a cannibalization issue.
How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization
Once you’ve identified keyword cannibalization on your site, it’s time to fix it. Here are some effective strategies to resolve the issue:
- Merge Content If you have multiple pages targeting the same keyword, consider merging them into one comprehensive and authoritative page. This approach can create a more valuable resource for users and search engines, improving your chances of ranking higher.
- Reoptimize Pages Assign each page a unique keyword or topic. By doing this, you ensure that each page targets a different aspect of your subject matter, helping prevent overlap and confusion for search engines.
- Use Canonical Tags If you need multiple pages on similar topics (such as different product variations), applying canonical tags can inform search engines which page is the primary source. This ensures the preferred page gets priority in rankings.
- Internal Linking Strategy Revise your internal linking to direct traffic to the most relevant page. This helps search engines understand which page is the most authoritative for a particular keyword and can help boost its rankings.
- 301 Redirects If you have outdated or underperforming pages that are cannibalizing traffic from a stronger page, consider using 301 redirects to consolidate SEO value. Redirecting these pages to your main content page helps funnel all authority and traffic to the page you want to rank.
Not sure what all these SEO terms mean?Our SEO Glossary breaks down everything you need to know, from keywords to link building. Start mastering SEO today by getting familiar with the essentials. |
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Not sure what all these SEO terms mean?
Our SEO Glossary breaks down everything you need to know, from keywords to link building. Start mastering SEO today by getting familiar with the essentials.
How to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization in the Future
The best way to deal with keyword cannibalization is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Here are a few tips to keep your content and SEO strategy in check:
- Conduct Thorough Keyword Research: Ensure that every page targets a unique keyword or topic to avoid overlap.
- Regular SEO Audits: Regularly audit your website’s SEO performance to identify any cannibalization issues before they become major problems.
- Use a Clear Content Hierarchy: Structure your content so that different topics are addressed on different pages. Consider using a pillar page strategy, where one broad topic page links to several more specific subtopic pages.
Keyword cannibalization is a common but often overlooked issue that can undermine your SEO efforts. By identifying and fixing cannibalization, you can improve your site’s rankings, consolidate traffic, and enhance user experience. Regular SEO audits and smart content strategies can prevent future cannibalization, ensuring your website performs at its best.
How to Generate Leads Online
One of the more challenging aspects of running a service-based company is generating leads. There are a lot of techniques that have been used for decades that companies have tried, including cold calling, print distribution, trade shows, etc. Although these techniques might still work, using online platforms has become a popular choice for companies to use to generate leads in more recent years.
In today’s digital landscape, lead generation has evolved significantly with the rise of social media, search engines, and email marketing. Companies are now able to reach a global audience, attract leads with highly targeted advertising, and use data-driven insights to optimize their strategies. The shift towards online lead generation offers businesses a scalable, cost-effective way to connect with potential clients, and tools like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn make it easier than ever to focus on the specific needs and preferences of your target audience. By integrating digital platforms into their lead generation efforts, companies can not only generate leads more efficiently but also nurture those leads through the entire sales funnel with automated email marketing campaigns, retargeting ads, and personalized landing pages.
Below are some of the strategies that will help you generate more leads online:
1. Embrace Multi-Channel Solutions
There isn’t one way that people use the Internet which also means there isn’t one platform that you should use exclusively.
Some people find companies by searching for their services and others get drawn in by a Facebook ad. Even drilling deeper, some people click on Google paid ads as they are the first thing they see on search results, while others ignore ads and scroll to organic search results.
To master online leads, you need to do a lot of tests and you need to utilize multiple channels to be effective. Some of the channels we have found to work to generate online leads include:
- Google (paid ads and organic)
- Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn for B2B, Twitter)
- Email Campaigns
- Online Directories (Homestars, Better Business Bureau, Yelp)
We have successfully generated thousands of leads each month for our windows and doors clients by combining a variety of digital marketing techniques, including Google Ads, SEO, and targeted social media campaigns. Our approach focuses on reaching high-intent audiences with precision, allowing us to consistently attract qualified leads. By optimizing campaigns through data-driven insights and continuously refining our strategies, we help businesses in this industry grow their customer base effectively. This strategy can be applied across various service-based industries to achieve similar success in lead generation.
Tip: When testing multiple lead generation channels, it’s essential to track and analyze the performance of each one using tools like Google Analytics or social media insights. Focus on refining the channels that deliver the best results, but don’t hesitate to experiment with new ones. Regularly reviewing your data will help you allocate your budget effectively and ensure you’re investing in the platforms that bring the highest-quality leads.
2. Separate Service Pages on your Website
If your business offers more than one type of service, it is always in your best interest to separate these services onto their own dedicated pages. Doing so not only allows you to better showcase each service but also improves your chances of ranking each one organically on search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about relevance, and when you combine multiple services on one page, it becomes difficult for search engines like Google to determine which keyword or phrase you’re aiming to rank for. Each service-specific page provides an opportunity to target precise, relevant keywords, making it easier for Google to match your content with user search queries.
Additionally, many of your competitors likely have their services broken down into individual pages, giving them a significant SEO advantage. By dedicating a page to each service, they can increase the relevance and focus of the content, allowing Google to better understand what that page is meant to rank for. As a result, Google is more likely to rank their pages higher than yours in search results because their pages are clearer and more optimized for specific services. Furthermore, separating services on individual pages allows you to write more detailed, relevant content that addresses user intent and answers their questions, leading to better user engagement and higher conversions.
Tip: When creating dedicated pages for each service, focus on writing unique, high-quality content that addresses user intent. Use targeted keywords naturally and include supporting elements like testimonials, FAQs, and case studies specific to that service. This not only improves your chances of ranking higher on search engines but also increases engagement and conversion rates by providing relevant information tailored to each service.
3. Online Contests
If you already have an online presence, hosting an online contest is a fantastic way to generate leads while also expanding your email list and social media followers. Contests tend to attract a lot of attention and engagement, especially if the prize is valuable to your target audience. Participants are often required to provide their contact information (such as an email address) or follow your social media accounts to enter, which helps you build a warm audience that’s already familiar with your brand.
To run an effective online contest, you need to develop a clear strategy that outlines who your target audience is and what you aim to achieve with the contest. Are you looking to generate leads for a specific service, build brand awareness, or grow your online community? The more specific your goals, the better you can tailor your contest to attract the right people. The prize you offer should be directly related to your business or services, ensuring that entrants are genuinely interested in what you offer rather than entering just for a generic prize.
If done properly, online contests allow you to tap into warm leads for your service, but they also give you an audience you can directly advertise to in the future. For instance, you can nurture these new contacts through targeted email marketing campaigns or social media ads, increasing the likelihood of conversions down the line. Additionally, contests can help build brand loyalty by fostering engagement and interaction with your followers, strengthening the relationship between your business and potential clients.
Tip: When creating your contest entry form, include qualifying questions that help identify participants who fit the criteria for your service. This not only helps you segment your audience, but also gives you the opportunity to ask those qualified leads if they’d like a quote or more information about your offerings. This proactive approach can immediately turn contest entrants into potential customers.
4. Create an Online Lead Funnel
An online lead funnel is a structured technique for guiding potential customers through the buying process, step-by-step. Rather than expecting visitors to convert right away, the funnel acknowledges that most buyers need multiple touch-points with your brand before making a final decision. These touch-points can include interactions with your social media posts, visiting your website, reading reviews, or receiving an email. Each stage of the funnel brings the user closer to a purchasing decision by gradually building trust and offering more relevant information along the way.
We’ve previously written about the buyer purchase decision process online, which dives deeper into this topic and explains the psychology behind how people make decisions. One of the most common mistakes businesses make when advertising online is trying to capture leads only at the final stage of the buying cycle, ignoring the earlier phases like awareness and consideration. This approach can be costly and ineffective, as potential customers may not be ready to make a decision yet, and you risk losing them to competitors who nurture them throughout the entire funnel.
Developing a well-thought-out lead generation funnel as part of your online strategy not only helps you capture leads at every stage of the buying journey but also saves you money in the long run. By targeting individuals who have already engaged with your brand, you can focus your advertising efforts on people who are genuinely interested, making your campaigns more cost-efficient. Over time, this precise targeting leads to higher-quality leads, better conversion rates, and a more sustainable, effective marketing strategy.
Tip: When building your lead generation funnel, create content tailored to each stage of the buyer’s journey. Use educational content for the awareness stage, detailed comparisons or case studies for the consideration stage, and compelling offers or testimonials at the decision stage. This approach nurtures leads at every point in the funnel, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
5. Produce Consistent and Relevant Content
This is more of a complementary technique to some of our other points as opposed to a technique that will directly generate leads. With that being said, it is still a crucial point in your long-term lead generation strategy.
In point number 4 we discussed creating a funnel to generate leads. The first stage in most lead generation funnels is bringing people into the funnel through addressing a need or answering a question. This is where having blogs, infographics and videos can help. As soon as a user engages with your content, you are now given the opportunity to either retarget or identify similar users that you can advertise to.
Having consistent and relevant content is also a crucial part of SEO, which will help boost your rankings, which will then help boost your leads.
Moreover, when potential buyers do research on your company, it is always a confidence booster to see that you know what you’re talking about through your content.
Tip: Use retargeting ads as part of your lead generation funnel to re-engage potential customers who didn’t convert initially. By showing them tailored content based on their previous interactions, you can keep your brand top-of-mind and gradually move them closer to making a decision.
Generating leads online is an essential part of growing your business, but it requires a strategic approach. From embracing multi-channel marketing to creating an effective lead funnel, businesses must adapt to the dynamic digital landscape to capture and nurture potential customers. By diversifying your lead generation efforts, optimizing your service pages, and ensuring you’re engaging users at every stage of the buying process, you can increase both the quantity and quality of your leads. Remember, it’s not just about driving traffic—it’s about building relationships and trust with your audience over time. The more targeted and thoughtful your strategy, the more effective and cost-efficient your lead generation efforts will become.
What Is NAP and Why Does It Matter for Your Local SEO Strategy?
When it comes to improving your local SEO, one of the most overlooked yet crucial elements is NAP, which stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. Ensuring that this information is accurate and consistent across all platforms is essential for search engines to recognize your business as credible and trustworthy. We will discuss what NAP is, why it’s vital for local SEO, and best practices to ensure you’re fully optimized.
What is NAP?
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. It refers to the consistent use of a business’s exact name, address, and phone number across all online platforms, such as your website, Google Business Profile, and directories like Yelp or Yellow Pages. Maintaining uniformity in your NAP details ensures that search engines recognize your business as legitimate and trustworthy.
Importance of NAP in SEO
Consistency in NAP information is essential for local SEO. Search engines, like Google, use NAP data to validate a business’s identity and its location, especially when showing search results for local queries. Accurate NAP data increases your chances of appearing in the Google Local Pack (the list of businesses with map locations that appear at the top of search results). Furthermore, consistent NAP improves user trust, as potential customers are more likely to reach out when contact information is correct and uniform across platforms.
Key Reasons NAP Matters for SEO:
- Improves Local Search Rankings: Google looks for consistency in NAP when evaluating businesses for local searches. Discrepancies can hurt your chances of ranking in local search results.
- Enhances User Trust: Accurate and consistent contact details build trust with both search engines and users. Incorrect NAP details could lead to lost customers.
- Boosts Credibility: Inconsistent NAP across directories can confuse search engines, reducing your business’s authority and leading to lower rankings.
- Helps in Citation Building: Citations are online mentions of your business. They play a major role in improving local rankings, but only when the NAP data is consistent.
Not sure what all these SEO terms mean?Our SEO Glossary breaks down everything you need to know, from keywords to link building. Start mastering SEO today by getting familiar with the essentials. |
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Not sure what all these SEO terms mean?
Our SEO Glossary breaks down everything you need to know, from keywords to link building. Start mastering SEO today by getting familiar with the essentials.
Best Practices for NAP SEO
To ensure that your NAP data works in favor of your local SEO efforts, follow these best practices:
- Be Consistent: Use the exact same business name, address, and phone number on all directories, your website, and social media pages. Even minor discrepancies, like using “St.” instead of “Street,” can create issues.
- Use Local Area Codes: Always list a phone number with a local area code, as this reinforces to search engines and users that you are truly a local business.
- Monitor Citations Regularly: Set up periodic checks on key directories to ensure your NAP details remain consistent, especially after rebranding, moving, or updating phone numbers.
- Utilize Google Business Profile: Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important places to have your NAP data accurately listed. Ensure that your details are up-to-date and regularly reviewed.
- Manage Business Listings: Use tools like Moz Local, BrightLocal, or Yext to track and correct NAP inconsistencies across directories and citations.
- Implement Structured Data Schema: Adding LocalBusiness Schema Markup to your website’s code provides search engines with a clear and structured way to understand your NAP information. This structured data helps search engines display your business details accurately in local search results and can increase your visibility in rich snippets.
Tip: How to Add LocalBusiness Schema Markup
- Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper
Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper is a free tool that helps you easily add schema markup to your website. Simply tag the relevant elements on your webpage, and the tool will generate the necessary code. You can access it here. - ChatGPT for Generating Schema Markup
You can also use ChatGPT to generate LocalBusiness Schema markup! Simply describe the business details you need structured, and ChatGPT can produce the schema code for you to implement on your site. - Plugins and SEO Tools
For WordPress users, consider using plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. These plugins automatically add schema markup, including LocalBusiness details, without needing to manually edit the code.
By following these practices, you’ll ensure that your NAP information strengthens your local SEO efforts, leading to better visibility, more leads, and higher customer trust.
Why Your Landing Page isn't Converting on Paid Ads
Are you running paid digital ads with the intention of generating leads? Have your attempts led to little to no success? If this is the case, there could be several reasons for the lack of leads ranging from the paid media source, to the ad creative/copy, to the offer or even the audience. From our experience in running paid digital advertising campaigns for our clients, we have found the most critical factor in generating leads through paid digital advertising is having an effective landing page.
Before we jump into what makes a good landing page for paid digital advertising, let's first define what is considered paid digital advertising. Paid digital advertising is a marketing method that involves businesses paying an online platform to show advertisements to consumers in either a pay-per-click or pay-per-impression model. The most popular forms of paid advertising are paid search, social media and banner advertising.
Now if you are doing one of these forms of paid digital advertising and you are not seeing results, here are some reasons why your landing page isn’t converting on paid ads:
Landing Page was Designed for SEO
When designing a page for SEO (search engine optimization), it is usually put together in a way where it is packed with a ton of information pertaining to the product or service that you are trying to rank high on organic searches.
There isn’t anything wrong with this when you are looking at it from a perspective of SEO. Moreover, when consumers are working through the journey of a purchase decision process (read the linked article to learn more about a buyers purchase decision process), having such pages with a lot of information helps satisfy the discovery and research phases.
When you send potential consumers to this page with the intention for converting them to leads, you will find all of this information is too much.
When advertising to generate leads, you are advertising to an audience that is much further down the process in their purchase decision process. Overloading them with more information will likely cause the future customer to overthink their decision and potentially draw them back into a research phase.
If you are running paid ads and you want to convert leads, do not send these customers to your SEO designed landing page.
Too Many Options on your Landing Page
If you are indeed sending paid advertising clicks to your SEO landing page, now you know to send them to a dedicated page which only those that click on paid ads will see.
Now there are businesses that do this already, knowing that their SEO designed pages are not the best destination for paid ads. Are you still having conversion issues? If so, it is probably because you are giving your visitors too many options to click on.
The first thing that you want to do is eliminate your menu and eliminate your footer. When you paid good money for someone to visit your site and convert into a lead, you do not want them to start exploring your website.
Ideally, you would want this landing page to be as simple as possible with only 1 outcome, fill out the form and convert! Now, if your business sees a high conversion rate on phone calls, this might be the 2nd option available, but that should be it.
If the page that you directed them to has many links or opportunities to leave that area, you run the risk of them leaving before they convert.
Lead Capture Form Needs Attention
So, now that we are sending customers to a dedicated landing page and we’ve reduced the options available to click on, we need to figure out what else can be a barrier to submitting information on your landing page.
One other area that we have found affected landing page conversions was the amount of inputs required for a visitor to fill in before they can submit their information. In some cases, having the extra inputs leads to higher intent inquires, but on the flip side this could potentially deter someone immediately as it might optically seem too cumbersome.
With all of our lead generation landing pages, we incorporate quiz style lead capture forms. What is a lead style capture form? This is a form that hides all of the required fields as steps so that the initial shock of what needs to be completed is not initially realized from the start.
Moreover, with this style of form, you can ask questions that can either filter people out based on criteria, or it can ask specific questions based on answers provided. As an example, if your company installs both windows and doors, you probably shouldn’t ask your visitor for how many windows that want replaced if they came for a new door. This form will help you ask the right questions at the right time.
Do these techniques work?
We ran an A/B test with 10 of our home improvement clients where we sent half of the ad viewers to a page on their website pertaining to a service, and then we sent the other half to a proper landing page designed to convert paid advertising visitors.
Our test ran for 30 days and we made sure that the traffic to landing page A and landing page B were of similar size. The results were as follows:
Landing Page A - Regular Page on Website
- 5.82% of all visitors converted
- Best client had a 8.61% conversion rate
- Worst client had a 2.02% conversion rate
Landing Page B - Landing Page Designed for Paid Advertising
- 11.86% of all visitors converted
- Best client had a 18.57% conversion rate
- Worst client had a 8.06% conversion rate
How We Generate Thousands of Leads a Month for our Windows and Doors Clients
If you are in the Windows and Doors industry, then you know that generating leads is essential for your business. From our experience we have seen Windows and Doors businesses utilize one of the following to generate leads:
- Mail drops through the postal service
- Buy recycled leads from online companies
- Hire a digital marketing agency to do SEO and online advertising
- Do nothing and rely on word-of-mouth
While all of these techniques probably generate a moderate amount of leads, Retailors Group has worked with dozens of Windows and Doors businesses over the last 3 years and we consistently generate over 1000 leads per month for our clients using a tried, tested and true system.
So how do generate these thousands of leads every month?
Facebook Ads Using Lead Forms
Maybe you have tried Facebook/Instagram ads in the past and have not seen the results that you were hoping for. But why is it there are still over 3 million businesses that use Facebook for paid digital advertising?
The reason for this is simple, certain businesses and industries have found the right audience and Facebook campaign that generates consistent and reliable results.
When we launch Facebook Ads for Windows and Doors clients, we always use Facebook’s built-in instant forms. The built-in instant form allows you to collect contact information from people who may be interested in your business or service without requiring those people to leave Facebook or Instagram.
We have found that we generate 4 times more leads for windows and doors clients using lead forms vs taking potential leads to a website or landing page.
Google Search Ads Straight to Lead Capture
If you are generating online leads for your Windows and Doors business, you have either tried Google Search Ads or you are already running Google Search Ads. You are probably also aware that the cost-per-click for keywords associated with Window and Doors tend to be higher.
So how do we maximize on converting the clicks? We have found that straight-to-the-point landing pages that lead consumers to an action work better than leading consumers to a regular website. Moreover, we have found that getting straight to the lead capture form upon the click from a Google search ad, eliminating all of the distractions from a landing page or website, generates 27% more leads.
On top of knowing what works for where to bring clients that click on your ad, we also have the experience specifically with Windows and Doors clients which means we have the list of negative keywords and have the winning copy for ads, both of which help maximize on higher intent clicks.
SEO for Window and Doors
There is a big difference in hiring an SEO company and hiring an SEO company that specializes in Windows and Doors. A lot of our current Windows and Doors clients have worked with another SEO company prior to working with us. What we have seen is other SEO companies treat Windows and Doors companies like they would treat any other industry. Unfortunately, this strategy puts an emphasis on “ranking” keywords vs generating leads.
At Retailors Group we have an SEO strategy that works for Windows and Doors:
- Separate your window pages from your door pages to rank higher intent searches
- Create city pages to maximize local searches
- Content writers dedicated to writing Widows and Doors content for better ranking
Moreover, we will also make necessary changes to your website as required to ensure when consumers land on it, they convert into leads.
Contests that Generate Leads
We see a lot of contests being run by companies nowadays. For the most part, these contests are designed to increase social media followers, increase email subscribers and increase general brand awareness and exposure. While these are all good reasons for contest creation, we have found the formula to utilize these contests to generate leads.
What we do is ask contest entrants a set of filtering questions. Essentially, we want to find entrants that fit the criteria of an ideal Windows and Doors lead. If entrants answer questions that do not meet criteria (ie they are renting or live in a condo), they will be simply asked to enter the contest.
If the entrant does meet the criteria, they will be shown a promotion and asked if they want to get a quote. If they say no to the quote, we at least know that this individual meets the criteria of an ideal customer and we will ask this individual to opt-in to an email list and continue to nurture them through emails and retargeting ads.
Customer Nurturing
As touched on above, when we work with Windows and Doors customers, we help nurture known customers. Who is a known customer? A known customer is one that we have either captured through a contest, email opt-in form or one that we know anonymously through a Facebook Pixel or Google Analytics Cookie.
For those that we know through an email address, we will send them monthly newsletters with offers. For those that we only know via a cookie, we will retarget these individuals through social media ads as well as Google display ads.
To summarize, we are a trusted Windows and Doors Marketing Agency. We put the focus on generating leads vs other vanity metrics that our competitors like to talk about. Still skeptical? Try our guaranteed leads package to experience first-hand a good sample of what we can deliver.
