Ranking for broad search terms

[TP_Marketing]

Hello,

ive been getting some good organic traffic lately, i always run the live real time analytics and have noticed that the site is ranking for very broad terms and not specific exact keywords that i have the pages optimized for. Is there a reason for this?

thx

[RebekahMay]

By broad do you mean more long-tail search terms?  This is pretty normal, especially if the exact keywords are in a competitive space.

[TP_Marketing]

yes sorry they are more long tail

[RebekahMay]

Is the website new, or is it pretty well established?

[TP_Marketing]

it is approx 2 yrs old. why do you ask?

[RebekahMay]

Sites that are new are not as trusted, and have a more difficult time ranking for exact terms.  As your site gains authority you should start seeing some additional traffic for more specific terms - depending on your site's level of optimization, industry and keywords you are targeting.   Traffic will always be a mix of brand, long tail, and more exact KWs though.

[TP_Marketing]

Thanks Very much, I was not 100% sure as this new traffic spike is new to me, in the past i was relying on ppc and just very minor organic traffic. It seems as though the spike started after BOTW added my link? Im not sure if that is directly the cause? I have been optimizing now for quite some time, individual pages, blogs, PR's, Social. Its unbelievable actually just how much work goes into it!