How to increase traffic based on specific keywords?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

• 
  Padmanabh Daga: Hi,
  I am new here and to SEO.
  
  I have an important question.
  Lets say my main keyword is 'Build' which I want to rank for.
  
  I create a landing page. When searchers type 'build' they reach here.
  My main content will be about 100 to 1000 'how to build ____' pages.
  
  Like 'how to build a toy' or 'how to build a boat'.
  
  Technically my landing page for 'build' query will be only introductory and navigational and people will more often search the direct 'how to build __' query and be directed to the particular page.
  
  So how do I increase my traffic for 'build' as that is what I need to rank for. The specific 'how to build __' will be too tough to rank.
  
  So now that I have told you the context. How do I get traffic to 'build' without SEO cannibalism?
  
  Lets say when users type 'build' instead of being shown my main landing (introductory and navigational page) of 'build' they get shown my most searched deeper pages - 'how to build a boat' and 'how to build a toy' and 'how to build a card house' as they have high traffic and include the word 'build'?
• 
  Suraj Gadage: +Padmanabh Daga ;Since you are new to the SEO, I will try to be detailed as much as possible.
  
  Take a look at this image (http://goo.gl/fxtqBl), this shows that general (short tail) keywords (like build) are very competitive in nature. Whereas long tail keywords (like how to build a solar toy car) are less competitive. Also, a searcher who is entering the term 'build' in Google search, his/her intention is not clear on what the searcher is really looking for. However, if the same searcher is searching with a long tail keyword like 'how to build a solar toy car' then the intention is very clear.
  
  So to answer your question, you might want to focus first on long tail keywords than on the short tail (considering the relevancy, time and efforts required).
  
  Hope this helps.
• 
  Padmanabh Daga: Hi,
  Thank you for your input. That image is quite good.
  
  Although that does not answer my question.
  I do know about targeting long tail instead of short keywords.
  
  My question is slightly different though.
• 
  Jim Munro: Hi +Padmanabh Daga ;, thank you for your participation here. :)
  I'm not going to try to top Suraj's perfect answer but would like you to consider that you are probably not the only person who woke up this morning intending to rank first for your coveted search result so the outcome is in a state of flux. If you focus intently on a competitive term and make frequent changes, you might overwrite a winner. Consider that your efforts might be better spent making each of your pages the best possible reference for their subject and leave googlebot to evaluate worthiness once you are certain that all technical elements have been implemented to serve your pages to the best advantage.
  
  In other words, make sure all your ducks are lined up in a row first, then spend the majority of your work time focussed on the quality of your content.
• 
  Padmanabh Daga: OK Sir.
  
  Thank you.
• 
  Tim Capper: Hi
  
  To add to +Suraj Gadage ;brilliant answer, you should also consider the "why do i" want to rank for build.
  
  As Suraj pointed out, a user that searches for "build" has no intent, they might then add "a boat" after they realise the result has not produced what they are looking for. This also means that the estimated monthly searches for "build" is probably significantly lower then what Google tells you, because the user then changed their search query.
  
  In almost all cases I see, when a client is ranking for a short tail like "build" the actual traffic is significantly lower ( because people change their search or you are not what they had in mind ) and also the bounce rate on that page / query is significantly higher then other pages that satisfies a specific query.
  
  To cut a long story short, you will get significantly better, engaged and paying customers for longer tail queries then short tail queries.
• 
  Padmanabh Daga: Ok sir, understood.
  Thank you!
• 
  Jim Munro: From the expert panel in this week's SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:07:40 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/how_to_increase_traffic_based_on_specific_keywords +Padmanabh Daga
  
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