In an effort to gain visibility, many companies are focusing their marketing efforts on boosting their page rank position for the keyword "digital signage." On some level this makes perfect sense; however, there are problems with this strategy that you need to take into consideration.
Perception Versus Reality
Odds are your company has many competitors offering the same types of products and services. New hardware, software, and service-based solutions are being launched into the digital signage marketplace on a regular basis. In fact, if you Google the search term "digital signage," more than 3 million results are returned. While it's true that Internet search volume for the keyword “digital signage” has increased, it's important to recognize that your customers may not be finding your products and services through this search term.
Here’s why:
Don’t assume that customers know what to call a new technology that is just beginning to gain momentum. Search terminology needs to be relevant to end-users. A keyword’s real value is completely dependent on how common it has become in regular English usage. “Digital signage” is not currently in the mainstream of English usage. While many people have seen digital signage, few people know specifically what to call it. If you don't believe it, ask around. If you ask people outside of this industry what "digital signage” is, most people will not know the answer.
This fact becomes even clearer if you examine the broad range of terms people use to describe this technology when searching on the Internet. For example, some of the search queries we see on Digital Signage Universe based on our traffic analytics include the following phrases: electronic signs, electronic displays, flat panel displays, video signage, video advertising networks, retail networks, networked displays, menu boards, media signage, media displays, plasma screens, LCD screens, LED signage, audio visual signage, and AV displays. Less than 20% of traffic is being generated by the keyword “digital signage.”
Many people search the Web using trusted brand names as part of their search string. Some of the current search trends we see include top brands such as Samsung, Sanyo, 3M, and Cisco. Digital signage news portals are able to capture additional Web traffic as product and corporate news stories are picked up by search engine spiders.
Reports of increased search volume are not accurate. There's a direct parallel that can be drawn between the rise in search volume for the keyword “digital signage” and the increase in the number of registered domains for providers and services within the space. As one might expect, a percentage of this increased search volume has been generated by the industry itself, creating an artificial rise in search queries for digital signage; therefore, some of this increase should be discounted.
The digital signage market is a global growth industry. If you’re marketing your products and services to other regions of the world, you need to factor in online search variables for other languages and cultures. Mandarin Chinese is the most widely used language on the Internet, followed by Spanish and then English. Within the United States, more than 22 million people (322 million people worldwide) use Spanish as their primary language, and they’re not using “digital signage” for their keyword search. It’s more likely that they’re searching using: “señalización digital.” Try Googling señalización digital and see for yourself. There’s a whole world of customers out there that your company is missing out on.
Read the full story on Digital Signage Universe