Ever wonder about building science keyword data in your geographic region?
Probably not, right? Well, you should. Keyword data -- which looks at how many people are searching for a particular set of terms on Google and other search engines -- is important for two reasons. First, it gives you useful information about what terms you should be using on your website to drive traffic and increase business. But more importantly, it provides a window into how people are thinking about the industry. In the case of home performance, this provides us with valuable insights about how to drive business industry-wide -- for example, within the industry we're torn between using "energy audit" and "energy assessment" to describe that service. Keyword research using Google's Adwords keyword tool shows that 60,500 people in the U.S. search for "energy audit" every month, while only 8,100 search for "energy assessment." Disregarding other considerations, keyword research says we should stick with "audit."
Anyway, another tool out there lets you dive deep into keyword data specific to your city. This is awesome, because lingo varies across the country (as y'all know), and clearly those search volume numbers aren't distributed evenly across the U.S. So maybe, hypothetically, 60,500 people searched for "energy audit" last month, but they were all in California. If your business is in Kansas, it won't do you much good to keyword your website with "energy audit."
So how does the search term "energy audit" do in Kansas? Let's check it out:
Not bad.
Worth noting that the tool doesn't show actual search volume numbers, but relative interest over time; and, for the record, "0" doesn't actually mean zero searches, but it does mean that there aren't enough searches to count for much in Google's eyes. (For your business, on the other hand, every search counts, because they're all potential customers, and your website could potentially win the #1 spot and grab every one of them.)
One interesting tidbit that this chart shows is that, not surprisingly, people in Kansas are searching for energy audits in the winter months when they're cold. Kind of obvious maybe, but still kind of cool to see.
Now, what about California?
We can see here that "energy audit" is driving more consistent search volume numbers in California than in Kansas -- not a big surprise.
Now let's compare "energy audit" to some other industry-related terms. How about "cellulose"? In Kansas:
"Cellulose" clearly has more consistent search volume than "energy audit," at least in Kansas. While this doesn't mean that you should abandon the term "energy audit" if you're an energy auditor in Kansas, it does mean that you should consider using some other more well-known terms in your site's content so that search engines know your services are relevant to those terms. (e.g., "Schedule a home energy audit to determine the most cost-effective energy saving home improvements -- which may include air sealing, blown-in cellulose insulation or duct sealing.")
Another one just for fun -- check out how search volume for "air conditioner" fluctuates depending on the season. Again, not a surprise, but the fluctuation is pretty dramatic:
Here's another cool feature. You can look at the distribution of search volume over geographic areas, and also track change over time. Looking at the term "home performance" nationwide, you see volume picking up first in California some time in 2008, followed by New York and Texas, with other states seeing more search volume over the next couple years. Right now Idaho seems to be the hotbed for interest in home performance, which is interesting:
Check out the tool and play around a bit. We think you might make some interesting discoveries.
Also, be sure to download the attached free white paper on making your home performance website perform for more insights on web marketing best practices for home performance businesses.