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Do Your Organic Searches Convert?

Folks in the search marketing world are often pros at tracking paid search. It only makes sense - when you pay for advertising, you want to know if you're getting a return on your investment. What about organic searches, though? We tend to take the view that, because we don't pay for each click, organic searches are free, but of course we know that companies put a lot of time and money into ranking well on the major search engines and driving that search traffic.

On an even deeper level, while we obsess about keyword research and finding the words and phrases that drive the most traffic, this obsession with quantity has often left us with very little knowledge of the quality of our organic traffic. Fortunately, modern website analytics have made it easier to track the quality of our organic search keywords and a few trends have emerged over time.

Tracking Conversion in Google Analytics

You may be familiar with conversion (goal) tracking in Google Analytics (under the "Goals" menu), but Google actually allows a number of useful breakdowns of conversion tracking that are, unfortunately, a little bit buried. For example, once you've set up conversion goals, you can track your conversion rate by individual traffic sources and even search keywords.

To track search conversion, go to the search summary by clicking on the "Traffic Sources" menu and then the "Keywords" submenu. If you use Google Analytics, this screen is probably pretty familiar. In the data breakdown, you'll see two tabs (see below):

Click on that second tab ("Goal Conversion"), and you'll now get your conversion rates broken down by individual keywords and phrases (either organic or paid). This is incredibly useful information and the "Goal Conversion" tab is available from all of the "Traffic Sources" menu items.

What Kind of Keywords Convert?

Generally speaking, what types of keywords convert the best? Not surprisingly, some of these trends mimic paid search. Your own data should always be the authority on the subject, in my opinion, but here are a few trends I've noticed:

Brand/Domain Keywords
This probably isn't surprising, but if you're "Bob's Fish Shack" and someone types in the search "Bob's Fish Shack" or "bobsfishshack.com", that person is more likely to convert. Just like direct traffic often has a conversion advantage, people who have heard of you and know what they want are more likely to trust you, put up with minor irritations, and give your site a chance. Strategically speaking, I hope it goes without saying that you should be ranking for your own brand.

Long Tail Keywords
I may be abusing "long tail" a bit here - in this case, I really just mean highly specific search phrases. People who search for "blue running shoes" are generally more likely to convert than those who search for "shoes", simply because they know what they want. Whether this is an attribute of the person or the search is debatable, but ranking for specific phrases can be a big boost to conversion. These searches also tend to have another advantage - they land deeper in your site, reducing the steps the searcher needs to take to make a purchase.

Well "Scented" Keywords
No, I don't mean keywords that smell nice, although that's probably a plus. In the conversion business, we talk a lot about keeping visitors on scent. They need to know that each step in the path is a step in the right direction. In paid search, we talk about the importance of landing pages matching search terms (if you search for "blue running shoes", it should be apparent that the page you land on is about blue running shoes), but this is just as important for organic search and should go beyond the landing page. If a visitor sees a clear path from search to conversion and the signposts along the way are consistent, they're much more likely to become a buyer.

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