Increasing Margins via Keywords SEO Optimization (maximizing high cpc / low keyword competition)

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Increasing margins via Keywords SEO Optimization (maximizing high cpc / low keyword competition)

This post is designed to increase your ad revenue thru incremental increases in your margins. Technically it’s not margins because the only cost is your time. Stated another way, the goal is to communicate a method to increase the ad revenue that you are likely already making, by being more monetarily effective for each ad click that is occurring on your website or websites. I’ve really begun digging in to my Google Analytics and Google Search Console reports to understand what keywords are driving visitors to my sites. By doing so I am gaining an understanding of my potential audience and likewise creating opportunities for additional revenue by fine-tuning my keywords SEO optimization (search engine optimization) targeting. Ultimately this will allow me to attract even more visitors with the expected byproduct of creating additional opportunities for revenue increase for each visitor who enters my websites. In simpler terms I am seeking and want you to get more proverbial bang for your buck.

Google Analytics and Google Search Console

I’ll start with using Google Analytics and Google Search Console reports to understand what keywords are driving traffic to my sites. I review Google Analytics Acquisition Overview and get hints on what searches are triggering site visits. To determine this I specifically, click on the Organic Search block to display the keywords that are driving search traffic to my site. In one case on my directory site I determined that someone from Colorado and Massachusetts was visiting my site looking for information in my directory. I had not yet gotten to adding those two states to my directory. But because I have been following my own advice on Urgent Execution I quickly focused on adding them to the directory site. (You can access geographic location data from Google Analytics via Audience Geographic Location.)

As a result of that data and information, I effectively and rather efficiently moved my site into known areas where interest had been expressed. And in doing so I bumped into a low keyword competition opportunity with high cost per click (CpC).

Scanning Google Search Console, I've been able to determine and understand what searches from Google Search Console Keywords are causing my site to show up on Google search pages. I then focus on using those keywords; those with relatively high keyword traffic values, higher CpC (cost per click) values and low competition. And then I enter these higher value keywords in my Yoast SEO Meta Description’s for the applicable website.

Higher CpC Targeting

Defining some terminology, CpC is cost per click. It is the rate that Google or another advertiser charges an entity for an ad based on a particular keyword in which each time the ad is clicked on a publisher site (yours and mine) the entity pays that ad rate. Conversely, it is the rate (some portion thereof) that you or I, the publisher, gets paid when someone comes to our site and clicks on an ad that was created based on that keyword. So, if your website is showing up in keyword traffic searches with higher value CpC keywords you increase your chances that someone will view the higher CpC ad on your website and click on it. It could be the same individuals who were already coming to your website but are coming based on searches on lower value CpC keywords. In that case, there is no overall change in traffic pattern to your website but due to the lower CpC keyword pathway then theoretically a lower CpC ad based on that keyword may be shown on your site and clicked, resulting in a lower ad revenue earning rate. I check the strength of my targeting thru the (CpC rate) shown on Google Adsense. As I’ve worked to target more higher-value keywords, I’ve noticed that the rate has increased resulting in higher revenue earnings for traffic I was likely already receiving. Thus, more bang for the buck or increased margins. In the past eight months my CpC rate is up over 65%.

Keyword Research Tool

Ok this is all cool, but how are you keeping track of all of those keywords you might ask? Well I’m glad you did. I use the free keyword research tool, free for SEO keywords called Keywords Everywhere. I’ve integrated it into my Google Chrome Search browser, and it displays detailed information about the keyword of interest. It displays the information when I perform a straightforward Google Search. It likewise displays when I am reviewing keywords in Analytics and Search Console. In either of these forums I see the keyword traffic monthly search volume, the CPC (keyword value), and the keyword competition level. Side note keyword competition scores above .30 are beginning to be competitive, so I typically, though not always, avoid those.

Yoast SEO Meta Descriptions

So, I hinted a bit earlier that once I see what keywords are driving my traffic, I then work to optimize my earnings by updating the Meta Descriptions in my post and pages. I do this via the Yoast SEO plugin and specifically the Yoast SEO plugin for my WordPress site. This is one of those key standard plugins that I have listed on my resource page. Interestingly enough early on in my website build days I wrote a distressed post questioning that the Yoast SEO Plugin was not working effectively. It’s here and kind of funny thinking back on it. I distinctly remember writing about trying to get green SEO scores on my pages but not receiving any or little traffic back to my site. I thought the plugin was ineffective. So, let me dispel the notion as succinctly as I am able. The Yoast SEO plugin works to ensure that your page is ‘capable’ of being found in web searches, it does not guarantee that when found, people will click on your site. Thus, the niche you’ve chosen, the competition level in the niche, the interest in your topic and quality of your post are paramount.

That said back to Meta Descriptions. Once I know my site or page(s) are ranking for certain keywords then I adjust my Meta Descriptions to include some of those higher CpC keywords. I take great care to ensure that I am not destroying the tone of the messaging in my posts by targeting search engines, but I do want higher value keywords or keyword phrases in my Meta Description. Yoast SEO makes this as simple as right clicking and editing. From there you monitor results and adjust as necessary.