Often when carrying out keyword research for articles you come across certain keywords. These are often keywords that people talk about their rankings for quite openly to other members of the industry. Very few SEO’s I know however talk about what keywords they rank for & where, except for one group of keywords – ones that give you bragging rights.
You may hear bloggers talking about their ranking for these keywords, but my advice is to avoid them – here are three reasons why.
Bragging Right Keywords Have High Competition
It makes sense, if you’re number one for a certain keyword & brag about it (like – say – John Chow for “Make Money Online” was a few years ago), then people are going to go for it. A lot of SEO’ers won’t brag what they are trying to rank for, the reason? People will try and knock you off the perch. Keywords with bragging rights behind them will likely have a lot of people going for it. Not great.
Bragging Right Keywords Have Little Real Search Traffic
Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion Tool may have a thousand people searching for that keyword, but how many of them are actually useful? If your competitors are keen to rank highly for that keyword, then likely they’ll be searching for said keyword to see where they rank, either using manual search or by ranking tools. So although – say – 1000 people may be searching for your bragging right keyword, probably 90% of them will be your competitors, who will rarely click on your link.
Bragging Right Keywords May Be Low Converting
Those who will click on your link – who are they? Are they your customers? Bragging rights keywords really attract competitors, and it may be tricky to target on a large site (people will be targetting bragging rights keywords sitewide, as opposed to a page that you will be targetting).
Bragging Right Keywords are also home to people who can boast an obnoxiously high conversion rates – scammers. A McAfee report gives a list of dangerous keywords. You should therefore avoid these keywords so you protect your brand.
However Bragging Right Keywords Give you Bragging Rights
Of course, ranking high for a keyword can give you an air of authority. Particularly if you’re not the one creating a false economy around said keywords. By beating the perpatrator of said keyword, you can give yourself a remarkable boost in the blogging world.
With that said, I wouldn’t peruse any Bragging Rights Keywords.