Online marketing for vape shops is difficult enough when you’re trying to rank for long-tail searches like the names of individual products. Getting ranked for broad, highly competitive keywords is another matter entirely. We’re talking about incredibly difficult keywords like “vape,” “vape shop” and “disposable vape” – keywords that could potentially bring many thousands of visitors to your site every month even if you were just on the bottom of the first page.

Extremely high-volume keywords tend to have a high level of volatility on Google. You’re rarely going to get exactly the same search results from one day to the next, and that’s because Google is constantly refining its rankings in response to behavioral signals from users.

Getting your vape site ranked for difficult keywords – and staying there – requires a different approach. Helpful content and link building won’t get you over the finish line on their own. You need to understand the signals that Google is looking for and make sure that your site is fully aligned with them.

Here’s how to do it.

Why Broad Keywords Have Volatile Rankings on Google

Understanding the volatility of broad keywords on Google isn’t difficult when you think about Google’s goal, which is essentially to earn money by displaying as many ads as possible. If users are satisfied, they’ll return in the future and see more ads. If another search engine does a better job, people will go there instead. Google tries to satisfy their goal by aligning search results with user intent.

The problem with broad keywords, though, is that user intent isn’t always clear. Consider, for example, what the intent might be when someone searches for a keyword like “vape.”

• Do they want to see content about nicotine vapes or cannabis vapes?
• Are they looking for local or national results?
• Are they looking for products or informational content?
• Are they searching for that keyword in response to a developing story in the news?

When people search for the name of a specific product, Google knows that they want to see that product. With broad keywords, on the other hand, user intent can be ambiguous and might change over time. That’s why broad keywords have volatile rankings – because Google constantly refines its results in response to user behavior.

How Google Evaluates and Refines Its Search Rankings

Google’s ranking algorithm is extremely complex, and rankings come from a wide variety of on-page signals (such as the quality of your content), off-page signals (such as the quality and quantity of other websites linking to your content) and user behavior. Through their vast trove of data sources, Google has the ability to see a great deal of what people do online.

Google can capture and analyze user behavior on:

• The Chrome browser.
• Search results pages.
• Other Google-owned web properties such as YouTube and Gmail.
• Android phones.
• Google-owned mobile apps.
• Websites that display Google ads.

Using all of those data sources, Google monitors user behavior to draw conclusions about whether a particular search result provides a satisfying experience. That’s why you’ll occasionally see a new website appear on the first page for a competitive keyword only to drop off again later. The site is sending the right on-page and off-page signals, but users are showing through their behavior that they’re not having a good experience.

How Google Gauges User Satisfaction

If you want to get your vape site to the first page for tough keywords and stay there, you need your users to show Google through their behavior that your site satisfies their intent and provides a good experience. Here’s how to do it.

• Maximize the click-through rate from the search results pages to your site by promising value and making your site look as appealing on Google as possible.
• Eliminate bounces – people clicking “Back” to return to the search results after viewing your site – as much as possible.
• Keep people on your site longer by providing content that’s informative, helpful and readable.
• Encourage people to complete tasks on your website such as navigating more deeply into your content or adding products to their carts. Google knows what people are clicking, so add-to-cart actions and conversions definitely matter.

SEO Strategies for Improving Your Vape Site’s Rankings for Volatile Keywords

Now that you have a better understanding of why getting and staying on the first page for competitive keywords is so difficult and what Google wants to see from your vape site, let’s put it all together. This process will involve a lot of small changes that individually might take a good amount of time to implement, but the results will add up over time.

Here’s the really fun part, though: giving your users a more satisfying experience won’t just improve your rankings on Google – it’ll also have a direct impact on your revenue because you’ll get more conversions. So, you’ll improve your rankings while earning more money from your existing traffic. That sounds good to us.

Here’s what you need to do.

Improve Your Click-Through Rates from Google’s Search Results Pages

Google wants to show search results that users want to click, so it’s very worthwhile to take the time to make your site look as attractive on search results pages as possible.

• Give each page a compelling title tag that stimulates emotion, arouses curiosity or promises value.
• Create your meta descriptions by hand; don’t use the meta descriptions that your site auto-generates.
• Consider implementing schema markup to increase the possibility that Google will show your site as a rich snippet. Your website may already do this automatically depending on which platform or CMS you’re using.

Reduce Your Site’s Bounce Rate

A bounce occurs when someone clicks the “Back” button to return to the search results immediately after viewing your site. A bounce is a strong indicator that the user didn’t find what they were looking for, so you want to keep your site’s bounce rate as low as possible.

• Improve your site’s loading speed as much as possible. Google PageSpeed Insights is a good tool for this, but there’s no need to burn yourself out trying to get a perfect score in every category.
• Create great content that aligns tightly with user expectations. Promising value is only the first step; you also have to deliver on that promise. Every time you write content targeting a specific keyword, think very hard about what the people who search for that keyword are likely to be looking for.
• Make sure that your site looks great and that the content is highly readable, especially on mobile devices.
• Ensure that your site’s navigation structure is as clear and simple as possible. That reduces the likelihood of the user clicking away if the content they’re viewing isn’t exactly what they’re looking for.

Increase the Time Users Spend on Your Site

Even if some users ultimately end up clicking back to the search results after viewing your site, there’s a big difference between an immediate bounce and a longer visit. You should do everything you can to encourage interaction and maximize dwell times.

• Try adding interactive content like surveys, comparison tools and product filters to encourage people to click around your site.
• Add multimedia elements like videos, image galleries and animations to maintain interest. Make sure that your product photos are as appealing as they can be.
• Add elements that help to surface products and content by showing related or recommended items.

Improve Your Conversion Rates

Optimizing your site’s conversion rates is a large enough topic for an entirely separate article. It’s important to understand, though, that having a vape site with a high conversion rate doesn’t just improve your bottom line. It can also increase your rankings for tough keywords because buying a product – or completing a desired action such as joining your mailing list – is the ultimate evidence that you’re providing a satisfying experience.

• Do your best to keep your prices reasonable and avoid surprise charges during the checkout process. Offer a free shipping deal if you can.
• Offer value-driven calls to action, such as product bundles and discounts for mailing list signups.
• Build trust with elements like customer reviews, social media feeds and security badges.
• Make sure that your contact information is very easy to find. People will always be wary of buying from a business that appears to be avoiding calls or emails.

Unlock Top Rankings with Branded Searches

Have you noticed how often some major sites – like Reddit and Wikipedia, for instance – show up at or near the top of the results for a huge variety of different search terms? A big part of that has to do with users’ search tendencies. Lots of people specifically look for results from those sites by using terms like “(keyword) reddit” and “(keyword) wiki.”

The fact that people search for those major brands by name has a knock-on effect in that it trains Google’s algorithm to understand that many people want to see content from those sites. It helps them appear high on search results pages even when people aren’t searching for them by name.

If you can get people to add the name of your vape brand to searches, it’ll have a tremendous effect on your overall traffic – both because you’ll obviously be the first result for those searches and because Google’s algorithm will eventually come to recognize your site as a top authority for vape-related keywords. To do that, you need to build brand awareness and trust. You can do that by:

• Having a memorable domain name.
• Having strong branding throughout your website.
• Establishing a strong and active social presence.
• Partnering with major vape influencers and publications.
• Conducting digital PR and guest posting campaigns.
• Having well-researched informational content that encourages authoritative websites to link to you.

Final Thoughts on Ranking Your Vape Site for Competitive Keywords

If you have a vape site that already generates a decent amount of traffic and ranks well for specific product searches and other long-tail keywords, getting ranked for broader and more competitive searches is the next step that can really move the needle. It’s not going to be easy, but the good news is that while you’re working on improving your rankings over the long term, you’ll also see a benefit to your bottom line immediately because it basically all comes down to providing an incredible experience.

• Make your site look as appealing as possible on Google’s search results to encourage people to click through.
• Ensure that your site provides a great user experience and satisfies the intent of the keywords you’re trying to target.
• Keep people on your site as long as possible and optimize for maximum conversion rates.
• Turbocharge your rankings by increasing awareness of your vape site, so people begin including your brand name in their searches.

Are you in over your head? We’ve helped our clients get on the first page for the most difficult vape keywords in all regions of the world. Get in touch now and find out how we can help you.