I came across an interesting dilemma the other day.  I was asked to create an optimization report for a client where little to no measurable search demand existed for the service being sold by the website.  Typically, in these situations all optimization is based off of keyword research done through Wordtracker or SEO Book’s Keyword Tool, which shows a quantifiable number of searches per keyword phrase.  This makes it easy to determine the demand for a particular phrase, and thus, an entire website.  So what is an SEO to do when it seems as if no search demand exists?

Get creative, of course!

There are a couple of different tactics you can take when attempting to optimize a site that doesn’t appear to have search demand.  The first is a branding based approach.  Depending on the type of site or service your optimizing for, this can be a good tactic.  Instead of optimizing for a commodity or informational based search, you’d be hoping to manufacture a search market through other tactics like social media or traditional advertising.  The theory is that as consumers learn about your brand, they’ll begin searching for you by name – so it would pay to be optimized for that.

A great example of this currently is Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out service.  There is no search demand for the service that Mr. Shankman currently provides – a way for journalists to connect with sources.  However, Shankman has done a fantastic job marketing the service through other channels, and has created a search market for his branded terms.

You can see on his website that he optimizes for three phrases, “Peter Shankman”, “HARO” and “Help A Reporter Out”.  A searcher could use any of those three terms to find his website.

A second tactic, and one that may work out just fine is to simply guess.  Google is known for stating that up to 25% of daily searches have never been searched for before.  That’s a powerful statistic.  Because of the sheer volume of long tail and new searches that are conducted daily, it’s impossible to know for sure exactly what people are searching for.  So, as an SEO you should take your best guess, and optimize for long tail terms that are consistently searched for.  Terms like “top”, “best”, “professional”, “company”, “service”, and any localized terms are good places to start.  Beyond that, try product or service terms or any phrases that might describe a particular need.  This tactic does require that you spend extra time testing and measuring the performance of your target keyword phrases.  You’ll need to adjust consistently overtime to get the right combination of phrases for your website.

How would you optimize a website with no measurable search demand?

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