Keyword targeting

[edward-may]

Hi guys,

Are there any restrictions around targeting for keywords? For eg: a competitors name can we target for that keyword?

Would appreciate some advice around this

Thanks

[Alick300]

Hi,

No there is no such restriction in SEO. There is some restriction in paid advertising(Google Ad Words) only, you can't use competitors keyword/brand name in Ad copy but you can add those keywords in Ad Words Ad group.

In short you can target competitors keyword even in Google Ad Words Campaign.

I am quoting Google "Google will not investigate or restrict the use of trademark terms in keywords, even if a trademark complaint is received."

Thanks

[Dezzign]

Hi Justin, It all depends on whether or not that business has that word, phrase or term trademarked. If they don't have their name or 'money term' trademark protected, then feel free to use it as you see fit.

Trademarked terms and business names are used to prevent you from gaining a financial advantage from their branding and marketing efforts, and to prevent brand confusion in the marketplace.

Even without a trademark, the biggest infringement you can make in this situation is to attempt to trick the potential customer into believing that they are dealing with the official brand or business. Provided you don't do that, you can use the terms or words as much as you want legally. Am I going to see you ranking for 'Apple Computers' tomorrow?

[edward-may]

Lol hey Richard,

Thanks for your response Great feedback and good to know the legality behind this kind of situation.  I have been doing some extensive keyword searching for long tail keywords and noticed there is a low search volume in NZ for the keyword Psychic Readings, Online Psychics, or even online psychic readings and I'm wondering why the search volume is so low.

I know NZ is a small place, but I know there is a particular psychic medium in NZ that has a huge following, on fb her fan base is 100k most of those people are based in NZ so surely the search volume for google can't be that low?

I go over and search terms in Australia for that same keyword, only to find they have alot more search volume.  My only guess is the population is alot more then NZ, but I find it hard to believe that only 10 people on average search for the keyword Online Psychic Readings in NZ each month with the competition being HIGH according to google keyword tool...

So this boggles my mind....

Your advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[edward-may]

Hi Alick300

Thanks for your feedback.  Is there a restriction using a "celebrity" name to rank for a keyword...

I know you mentioned trademark and I don't think her name is a registered trademark?

Thanks

[Alick300]

Hi Justin,

First of all that would be difficult if you want to rank for 'celebrity' name. Now coming to your question yes you can target "celebrity" name to rank for a keyword but If you you’re using competitor brand terms on your own pages – a risky proposition from a legal standpoint.

So try to avoid to use exact name on webpage content. Rest there are no restriction.

Thanks

[Dezzign]

Hi Justin, Ahhh the bias of the Google keyword tool. I once read an experiment where a guy built a site, based on a hunch, around a keyword that had zero search volume.

After ranking 1st for that keyword for a month, he checked his analytics only to find that his site had received a 1000+ visitors that had all arrived via his main keyword. (This was when analytics used to show your main keyword)

For cases like this, I'd just go with my gut instinct Justin, as that's sometimes the best keyword tool. Even your instinctive keyword tool search volume varies a lot, depending if you've had your morning coffee or not.

For any keywords with search volume under 1000, I don't pay too much attention to the keyword tool. I have a few home renovation sites targeted to specific areas. All keyword research on these keywords is usually zero searches per month. These are keywords such as 'Home Renovations (Suburb)'. After I rank first for those medium density suburbs with the keyword 'Home Renovations (Suburb)', I usually get about three calls a month for that service. Remember these are home renovation jobs at $20K+ a job, so they turn out to be pretty lucrative jobs leads I can give to my clients. And all from '0' searches per month!

Perhaps you'd have better luck asking the physic for next months search volume ... lol.