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When people first decide to run a PPC campaign or an Organic Search Engine Optimization Campaign a very typical problem that they face is which search phrases to go after. With no list to choose from and no one to guide them on what the best strategies are, they become bogged down with all of the possible combinations of geo local (Texas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, etc) and service based phrases (defense attorney, plumbing, foundation repair).

The question is how many do you go after, which ones do you choose and how do you know which are the best?

This is a very common problem we refer to as "Keyword Confusion."

In order to be successful - you must focus on a core set of search phrases and get listed for those first before concerning yourself with additional phrases. Usually we go after sets of 10 at a time. Then once we have placed our clients under that set we move on to the next set.

The trick is figuring out which 10 phrases to go after - you want phrases that are applicable to you so that when people type them in and find your site they are like "AH HA - just what I was looking for" This results in high conversion rates.

If you are a lawyer in Dallas, there is NO NEED to go after "Defense Attorney." For one it will be super tough to actually get listed under such a competitive phrase and two - somebody who types that into Google who is located in California is going to get to your site and immediately leave as soon as they see you are in Dallas. This is referred to as Bounce Rate.

In the example of a Dallas Attorney, they would need to focus on doing keyword research to determine high volume search phrases with the least amount of competition:

Suggestions:
Dallas Defense Attorney
Dallas DUI lawyer
Probate Attorney Dallas

Search phrases that have a geo-local element and are likely to be phrases that potential clients would be using to search for your business.

In fact in highly competitive markets and geographic locations you might even want to go after even less competitive phrases at first so you can see some exposure them move on to the more competitive terms.

Some easy to place phrases for the Dallas area would be:

Plano DUI attorney
McKinney Defense Attorney
Flower Mound Probate Lawyer

In the end it will all come down to writing unique content, proper on site optimization and high quality inbound link building.

Don't be overwhelmed concerning yourself with how to place for EVERY search phrase possible for your business. Just figure out where you want to focus your efforts geographically and then branch out from there.