'Restrict keyword strings' for effective SEM

Using longer keyword strings can assist SEM, but businesses should be careful not to make them too long as they may not reach as many potential customers, says a marketing website.

To achieve successful search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, a company's keyword string should not be too long, otherwise it will not be reached by enough consumers, according to an online advertising website.

Although longer strings achieve higher conversion during tests by Marketing Sherpa, it found that it is counterproductive to use more than six words.

This is because it noted that 95 per cent of searches use fewer than seven words, so the question arises whether it is worthwhile to restrict the number of potential customers to five per cent of the total.

The website observed: "Marketers need to identify, understand and speak the same language used by their target audience, and emphasise words that lead to the highest conversion levels."

It advised using site log files to work out what keywords to focus on, as it is something that copywriters already do.

This week, an eMarketer spokesperson predicted that there will be "increasing commitment" to search in the future, because of its proven return on investment.

02/10/2009