Hunters - I need your perspective

[dc dalton]

I am doing an SEO (search engine optimization) report (campaign) for a hunting outfitter review type site (do not want to disclose the company name here) and seeing as how I have the unique position to have so many hunters here I wanted to see if I can get some input from you all.

Let's say you want to plan a hunt out, can be anywhere in North America. What I need is what terms you would use in a search engine to find a good hunting outfitter or reviews of outfitters to help you plan your hunt.

What I am doing is called "keyword research" and the 2nd important part of it is getting input from potential clients, something that is usually next to impossible to do unless you know a big group of people that would be interested in the product or service.

Any and all help would be very much appreciated!

[coat4gun]

I would use the words
"hunt" (I like to keep the word in simple form instead of using "hunting"),
"outfit" (again instead of "outfitter"),
"review",
the name of the State "MT" or "Montana" I would like to hunt in and
probably the species I wanted to hunt like "elk"

[phillyd2]

A good idea is to find this companies top 3 competitors to see what keywords they used. Remember, McDonalds spends millions on new store site research while Burger King spends very little - they just build across the street

[Dredly]

Hunt
guided hunt
guide
Name of the animal being hunted
Archery
Bow
Rifle
Gun
name of state
name of county
name of area
name of lodge
make SURE you include "trophy" words like Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young
Monster / Trophy / Lifetime / Record / World Class

If there is a lodge:
All Inclusive / spectacular / furnished / well appointed / Panoramic Views ... etc

And then of course you'll want to include the usual Cheap / Affordable / Budget / ....

[dc dalton]

A good idea is to find this companies top 3 competitors to see what keywords they used. Remember, McDonalds spends millions on new store site research while Burger King spends very little - they just build across the street

Trust me, already been done

There's three phases to keyword research:

1. building keywords and phrases YOU think people will search on

2. Finding potential customers and finding out what they would search on

3. Ripping through the competitions sites seeing what they use

1 & 3 are done ... just looking for some input on #2 because, as I said before, you don't often get to ask this many potential customers what THEY would search on.

[P89]

To hunt in other states you may need various certifications such as:
http://www.nbef.org/

Would suck to get somewhere only to find out you don't meet the requirements the state wants in order for you to hunt.

[phillyd2]

Seems to me that the keywords will be so generic and broad that optimization will be a real bitch. In that case they will need to spend real money to build up their brand name. Good luck with it all.

Maybe post this in the Hunting section?

[matty70]

I think most people would search by species and state. I know I first pick a destination I want to visit and then would plan a hunting trip around that. If I wanted a wild boar hunt I would type *guided hog(or wild boar) hunting (or hunts) SC(South Carolina)*Other key words would be *hunting reserves SC*-for returns with more relevancy
But then the broader terms like deer hunting, bear hunting etc might end up with more hits on the site

[adymond]

Do the outfitters specialize in seasonal hunts? Like fall and winter or are they more year round? Might be something to think about.

[dc dalton]

Seems to me that the keywords will be so generic and broad that optimization will be a real bitch. In that case they will need to spend real money to build up their brand name. Good luck with it all.

Maybe post this in the Hunting section?

Yeah this is going to be a tough one that's for sure, not as tough as some I have done but in the top 20. The 'trick' here is to come up with 'combination' phrases that people are likely to use. Many sites try and rank on one or two word 'generic' phrases and it is next to impossible to get rankings but using 'targeted phrases' you can get decent rankings.

Do the outfitters specialize in seasonal hunts? Like fall and winter or are they more year round? Might be something to think about.

This is not for any individual outfitter, it is an outfitter review / listing / directory site that is trying to make it in the 'big leagues' and they have some serious competition. The #1 ranked site for the term 'hunting outfitters' in Google has over 100,000 inbound links to them!