Conversion Rates For Singular And Plural Keywords - March 18th, 2008

Recently we wrote about the difference between singular and plural keywords in search engine optimisation and the effects on search engine results when using either version of a keyword (e.g. ‘chair’ or ‘chairs’). The conclusion was that figuring out which is best to optimise for is difficult, and so it’s usually best to go for both. This got me thinking about what kind of users will search for either type and if it will have an effect on a website’s goal conversions. Does either the singular or plural bring more traffic than the other? Is one more likely to lead to a sale than the other? Will someone searching for one spend more than someone searching for the other?

I decided to check website statistics across a number of sites that achieve a good number of sales and rank well. More importantly, rank well for both the single and plural versions of a keyword. The following is average data for the past 12 months from 2 websites in the electrical goods industry, for keywords that all rank in the top four in Google’s organic results (above the fold on most computers). Perhaps it’s a sign of our abilities in SEO, but there was enough analytics data to also include statistics for keywords with “’s” at the end of them:

widget

Traffic over the past year: 9000 unique visitors
Average transaction value: £800
Conversion rate: 0.23%
Per visit value: £1.54

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Traffic over the past year: 4000 unique visitors
Average transaction value: £600
Conversion rate: 0.34%
Per visit value: £1.77

widget’s

Traffic over the past year: 1500 unique visitors
Average transaction value: £450
Conversion rate: 0.19%
Per visit value: £0.85

Looking at these results, the first thing you may notice is how the singular version of the keyword tends to be the most searched, and this was generally the case across most of the keywords checked. Not too surprising was that the ’s version of the keywords were searched at much lower volumes.

Average transaction values follow a similar trend, though it is worth pointing out that there was much more variation in this across the different keywords.

Interestingly, conversion rates are generally higher for the plural versions of keywords, and it’s not immediately obvious why this would be the case. One theory could be that people searching for the singular version of the keyword have a particular model or make in mind which they’re not finding on our website, while people searching for the plural version are more open to the options available and choose from what our websites have to offer. Again, the ’s version was quite far behind in conversion rates.

The plural version comes out on top for per visit value too, although figures are much closer between the plural and singular versions. Taking into account the average traffic over the year too, it follows that the singular version has actually led higher levels of revenue than either of the other types of keyword.

Be aware that these figures are not necessarily the case for all keywords. This was only a relatively small sample, and in only one industry. It’s possible that the demographic of people searching for electrical goods have very different searching and buying habits than those searching for, say, beauty products.

It is interesting, however, that there are significant differences in results between the singular and plural keywords in our test. Ideally, broader tests need to be done to include keywords related to more industries but these initial results certainly lead me to believe that there is value in researching this kind of information for your own industry before committing to a search engine optimisation campaign.

Rik
SEO Programmer

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Google Analytics Updates and Improvements - October 18th, 2007

Google have this week announced a number of additions to their free Analytics application, as well as a long awaited update to the software version Google bought years ago, Urchin 5 Software.

The updates to the free online Google Analytics will include the ability to monitor data from internal site searches, a feature many have been suggesting for a while. It will work with many Google-based and non Google-based search products, and will provide valuable information about user navigation and search patterns. This information can then be used to improve usability of the site and provide new insight into keyword research.

Another update being rolled out soon is that of Event Tracking. It has been a problem on many a ‘Web 2.0′ site, where actions such as filling in a form are triggered by the user without changing page, that user actions and conversions are difficult (if not sometimes impossible) to track successfully. Google Analytics will allow you to set up a particular action as an event to be tracked which can include applications such as Ajax and Flash.

For those of you who remember the original Urchin tracking software from which Google Analytics originated, you may be pleased to hear a long-awaited update is being rolled out by the team at Google. Having recently been criticized for seemingly abandoning the desktop version, they have announced the limited beta release of the new Urchin Software. It will include all the expected features and some extra improvements and support. However, it’s important to note it is only available on a 90-day free trial, after which you will have to pay to continue using Analytics from your desktop.

Rik
SEO Programmer

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