Terms

Generic Keywords

Generic keywords are broad, non-branded search terms that describe a product's general function, category, or purpose. People use these terms when they don't have a specific brand in mind and are instead searching based on a need or interest. For example, a user might search for 'photo editing app' or 'fitness tracker' rather than a specific company's product.

Importance of Generic Keywords in SEO

Generic keywords are vital for reaching new audiences who aren't familiar with your brand. They boost your visibility in search results by targeting users looking for a general solution, not a specific product. This strategy helps capture a wider segment of the market and drives significant long-tail traffic to your site.

Strategies for Using Generic Keywords

Effectively using generic keywords involves a multi-pronged approach to capture users at the top of the funnel. The goal is to increase visibility and attract new customers who are searching for solutions rather than specific brands. A solid strategy combines competitor research with careful keyword placement.

  • Long-tail: Focus on less competitive, low-volume keywords that cumulatively drive significant traffic.
  • Competitors: Analyze which generic keywords are driving installs for your competition and target them.
  • Placement: Optimize metadata fields with relevant generic keywords that describe your product’s features or category.
  • Acquisition: Use generic terms to reach new, untapped audiences who are not yet familiar with your brand.

Generic Keywords vs. Broad Keywords

While often used interchangeably, generic and broad keywords serve distinct functions in a search strategy.

  • Generic Keywords: These are non-branded terms describing a product, like 'photo editing app'. They are crucial for SEO, helping new and mid-market companies gain visibility and enterprises reach untapped audiences. However, they can be highly competitive and often have lower conversion rates than branded terms.
  • Broad Keywords: This typically refers to a 'broad match' setting in paid ad campaigns. It offers the widest reach by targeting variations of a keyword but can result in lower-quality traffic and wasted ad spend. Enterprises might use it for maximum brand awareness, while mid-market companies may prefer more targeted approaches.

Common Mistakes with Generic Keywords

While generic keywords are powerful for reaching new audiences, they come with common pitfalls that can undermine your strategy. Misusing them can lead to wasted effort and poor visibility. Avoiding these frequent mistakes is key to a successful campaign.

  • Repetition: Repeating keywords across metadata fields, which offers no ranking benefit.
  • Irrelevance: Targeting terms not closely related to your product, leading to poor conversion rates.
  • Neglect: Ignoring the long-tail by not targeting a diverse set of specific generic keywords.

Analyzing the Impact of Generic Keywords

Evaluating generic keywords shows their significant role in expanding audience reach despite lower conversion rates.

  • Visibility: Increases your presence in broad, category-level searches.
  • Traffic: Captures a high volume of users through long-tail queries.
  • Conversion: Results in lower conversion rates compared to branded searches.

Frequently Asked Questions about Generic Keywords

How do generic keywords impact my ad spend?

They can be expensive in paid search due to high competition. The real value often comes from organic SEO, where they drive top-of-funnel traffic and build brand awareness over time without a direct per-click cost, making them a long-term investment.

Are generic keywords too competitive for smaller brands?

Not necessarily. Instead of targeting broad, high-volume terms, focus on long-tail generic keywords. These more specific phrases have less competition and can attract highly relevant users who are closer to making a decision, leveling the playing field.

How can I measure the ROI of generic keywords?

Look beyond direct conversions. Track metrics like organic traffic growth, new user acquisition, and brand visibility. Generic keywords fill the top of your funnel, so their impact is often seen in assisted conversions and long-term brand recall.

Other terms

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No Spam

“No Spam” is a commitment to sending only relevant, solicited messages. It means avoiding bulk, unwanted emails to respect the recipient's inbox.

No Spam

Sales Prospecting Software

Sales prospecting software automates the process of finding, contacting, and tracking potential customers to help sales teams build their pipeline.

Sales Prospecting Software

Outbound Lead Generation

Outbound lead generation means proactively reaching out to potential customers who haven't yet expressed interest to introduce them to your brand.

Outbound Lead Generation

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that works with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell their products, software, or services to customers.

Channel Partner

Marketing Operations

Marketing Operations (MOps) is the engine of a marketing team, managing the technology, processes, and people to run campaigns effectively.

Marketing Operations

SAM

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is the portion of the market your business can realistically serve with its current products and sales channels.

SAM

De-dupe

De-duping, or data deduplication, is the process of eliminating duplicate copies of data within a dataset to improve accuracy and save space.

De-dupe

Closed Opportunities

Closed opportunities are potential deals that have concluded. They are categorized as either 'closed-won' (a sale was made) or 'closed-lost'.

Closed Opportunities

Objection Handling in Sales

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

Objection Handling in Sales

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Precision Targeting

Process Builder

Process Builder is a Salesforce automation tool that lets you create 'if/then' business processes with a user-friendly visual interface.

Process Builder

Shipping Solutions

Shipping solutions are services or software that streamline the logistics of getting products to customers, from label printing to final delivery.

Shipping Solutions

Webhooks

Webhooks are automated messages sent by an app when a specific event occurs. They push real-time data to another app's unique URL.

Webhooks

Direct Sales

Direct sales involves selling products directly to consumers in a non-retail setting, such as at home, online, or person-to-person.

Direct Sales

Lead Qualification

Lead qualification is the process of determining which prospects are most likely to become paying customers based on predefined criteria.

Lead Qualification

Sales Intelligence

Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.

Sales Intelligence

Lead Generation Funnel

A lead generation funnel is a systematic process that guides potential customers from initial awareness of your brand to becoming qualified leads.

Lead Generation Funnel

B2B Intent Data Providers

Learn about B2B intent data providers, including evaluating intent data quality, leveraging intent data for growth, & B2B intent data: key providers comparison.

B2B Intent Data Providers

Lead Enrichment Tools

Lead enrichment tools are platforms that automatically add missing data to your leads, like contact info, firmographics, and buying signals.

Lead Enrichment Tools

Sales Coach

A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.

Sales Coach

Buying Signal

A buying signal is any action from a prospect that indicates they are interested in making a purchase, helping sales teams prioritize leads.

Buying Signal

Buying Intent

Buying intent is the collection of online cues and behaviors that signal a prospect is actively researching and moving toward a purchase decision.

Buying Intent

Sandboxes

A sandbox is an isolated testing environment where new or untrusted code can be run safely without affecting the host device or network.

Sandboxes

Value Statement

A value statement is a clear, concise declaration of the unique benefits a company provides to its customers, outlining its core purpose.

Value Statement

Account-Based Everything

Account-Based Everything (ABE) is a strategy aligning sales, marketing, and success teams to focus on a specific set of high-value accounts.

Account-Based Everything

Buyer Intent

Learn about buyer intent, including understanding buyer intent signals, strategies to capture buyer intent, & buyer intent vs. customer interest.

Buyer Intent

Sales Calls

A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.

Sales Calls

Sales Objections

Sales objections are reasons or concerns raised by a potential customer as to why they are hesitant or unwilling to make a purchase.

Sales Objections

Logo Retention

Logo retention is a key B2B metric that measures a company's ability to retain its customers, or 'logos,' over a specific period.

Logo Retention

Warm Outbound

Warm outbound is a sales strategy for contacting prospects who've shown interest in your brand through prior engagement, like website visits.

Warm Outbound

Sales Intelligence Platform

A sales intelligence platform is software that provides sales teams with data and insights about prospects to help them sell more effectively.

Sales Intelligence Platform

Data Appending

Data appending is the process of adding new data fields to your existing database records to enrich and complete your information.

Data Appending

Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business's products or services.

Lead Generation

Single Page Applications

A Single Page Application (SPA) is a web app that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current page rather than loading new pages.

Single Page Applications

AI Sales Script Generator

An AI sales script generator is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to create personalized sales scripts for any outreach scenario.

AI Sales Script Generator

Cold Calling

Cold calling is a sales tactic where reps contact potential customers by phone who haven't previously expressed interest in their product or service.

Cold Calling

Load Testing

Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.

Load Testing

Awareness Buying Stage

The awareness stage is the first step in the buyer's journey, where a potential customer realizes they have a problem or an opportunity to explore.

Awareness Buying Stage

Canary Releases

A canary release is a deployment strategy where new software is rolled out to a small user group first, minimizing risk before a full release.

Canary Releases

Sales Enablement Content

Sales enablement content refers to the materials and tools that empower your sales team to engage prospects and close deals more efficiently.

Sales Enablement Content

Cold Emailing

Cold emailing is sending unsolicited emails to potential customers you haven't contacted before, aiming to start a business conversation.

Cold Emailing

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable income a company expects to receive from its customers over a one-year period.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Data Security

Data security protects digital information from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft throughout its entire lifecycle.

Data Security

Contact Data

Contact data is the set of details, like names, emails, and phone numbers, used to get in touch with a person or business for outreach.

Contact Data

Dark Funnel

The Dark Funnel describes customer buying activities that are untrackable by companies, such as private chats and word-of-mouth referrals.

Dark Funnel

Audience Targeting

Audience targeting is the process of segmenting consumers into specific groups to deliver more personalized and relevant marketing messages.

Audience Targeting

Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost a business spends to gain a new customer. It includes all sales and marketing expenses.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue is the extra money a business makes from its current customers via upgrades, new products, or additional services.

Expansion Revenue

SFDC

SFDC stands for Salesforce Dot Com, a popular cloud-based CRM platform that helps companies manage their customer interactions and data.

SFDC

Marketing Attribution Model

A marketing attribution model is a framework for assigning credit to the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to convert.

Marketing Attribution Model

Closed Lost

Closed Lost is a sales term for a deal that didn't go through. The prospect decided not to buy, or the sales team disqualified them.

Closed Lost

GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliance means following the EU's strict data protection laws to ensure the secure and lawful handling of personal data.

GDPR Compliance

Hadoop

Hadoop is an open-source framework designed for the distributed storage and processing of extremely large data sets across clusters of computers.

Hadoop

Custom API integration

A custom API integration is a bespoke connection between software, enabling them to communicate and share data to meet unique business requirements.

Custom API integration

Sales Acceleration

Sales acceleration refers to strategies and technologies designed to speed up the sales cycle, enabling reps to close more deals, faster.

Sales Acceleration

Email Verification

Email verification is the process of confirming that an email address is valid and deliverable, which helps improve campaign performance.

Email Verification

Event Marketing

Event marketing is a strategy where brands engage directly with target audiences through live events like trade shows, conferences, or webinars.

Event Marketing

Responsive Design

Responsive design is an approach where a website's layout adapts to the user's screen size, providing an optimal experience on any device.

Responsive Design

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is the process of assigning points to leads based on their attributes and actions to determine their sales-readiness.

Lead Scoring

User-generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) refers to any form of content, like images, videos, or text, created and shared by users on online platforms.

User-generated Content

API

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other and exchange information.

API

Sales Lead

A sales lead is a potential customer—an individual or organization that has shown interest in your company's products or services.

Sales Lead

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

Elevator Pitch

B2B Sales

Learn about B2B sales, including key strategies for B2B success, types of B2B sales models, & B2B vs. B2C sales: understanding the differences.

B2B Sales

White Label

White labeling is when a company puts its own branding on a product or service that was actually produced by a different company.

White Label

Account-Based Sales Development

Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) is a focused strategy where SDRs target key stakeholders within specific, high-value accounts.

Account-Based Sales Development

Network Monitoring

Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.

Network Monitoring

B2C2B

Learn about B2C2B, including how B2C2B transforms sales, key strategies for B2C2B success, & differences between B2C2B and B2B2C.

B2C2B

Personalization in Sales

Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.

Personalization in Sales

Closed Won

Closed Won is a CRM status for a sales deal that has been successfully concluded, resulting in a signed contract and a new customer.

Closed Won

Email Personalization

Email personalization uses subscriber data—like their name, interests, or past behavior—to create highly relevant and targeted email campaigns.

Email Personalization

Integration Testing

Integration testing is a software testing phase where individual modules are combined and tested together to verify their interaction.

Integration Testing

Consumer Relationship Management

Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with its customers.

Consumer Relationship Management

Cohort Analysis

Cohort analysis is a behavioral analytics tool that groups users with common traits to track their actions and engagement over time.

Cohort Analysis

B2B Data

Learn about B2B data, including sources and types of B2B data, leveraging B2B data for sales success, & ensuring the accuracy of B2B data.

B2B Data

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of developing and reinforcing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.

Lead Nurturing

Technographics

Technographics is data that outlines a company’s technology stack, helping B2B teams identify prospects based on the software and hardware they use.

Technographics

Account-Based Marketing

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.

Account-Based Marketing

Site Retargeting

Site retargeting is a marketing strategy that shows ads to people who have previously visited your website but left without converting.

Site Retargeting

Lead Enrichment

Lead enrichment adds third-party data to your raw lead lists, creating fuller prospect profiles for more effective and personalized outreach.

Lead Enrichment

B2B Intent Data

Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.

B2B Intent Data

Demand Generation Framework

A demand generation framework is a strategic process for creating awareness and interest in your product, ultimately driving new business.

Demand Generation Framework

Sales Operations Analytics

Sales operations analytics is the practice of analyzing sales data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire sales process.

Sales Operations Analytics

Outbound Sales

Outbound sales is when reps proactively contact potential customers through cold calls or emails to generate leads and build a sales pipeline.

Outbound Sales

Channel Partners

Channel partners are third-party firms that help market and sell a company's products or services, acting as an indirect sales force.

Channel Partners

Account

An account is a company or organization that you're targeting for sales. It can be a prospective, current, or even a past customer.

Account

CRM Enrichment

CRM enrichment is the process of adding third-party data to your existing customer profiles to make them more complete and accurate.

CRM Enrichment

Operational CRM

An Operational CRM is a system that automates and improves customer-facing business processes like sales, marketing, and customer service.

Operational CRM

AI Data Enrichment

AI data enrichment uses artificial intelligence to automatically enhance and update raw data, making it more complete, accurate, and valuable.

AI Data Enrichment

Video Selling

Video selling uses personalized video messages to engage prospects, build rapport, and guide them through the sales funnel to close more deals.

Video Selling

Buyer’s Remorse

Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret or anxiety that can arise after making a purchase, often questioning if it was the right decision.

Buyer’s Remorse

Sales Enablement Technology

Sales enablement technology refers to software and tools that equip sales teams with the resources they need to close more deals efficiently.

Sales Enablement Technology

Contact Discovery

Contact discovery is the process of finding accurate contact details for potential leads, including names, emails, phone numbers, and job titles.

Contact Discovery

B2B Data Erosion

Learn about B2B data erosion, including causes of B2B data decay, strategies to combat data erosion, & measuring the impact of data erosion.

B2B Data Erosion

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.

Workflow Automation

Buying Criteria

Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.

Buying Criteria

Cross-Selling

Cross-selling is a sales tactic of encouraging customers to purchase products or services that are related to what they're already buying.

Cross-Selling

Event Tracking

Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.

Event Tracking

Sales Territory

A sales territory is a specific group of customers or a geographic area that a salesperson or sales team is responsible for managing.

Sales Territory

System of Record

A System of Record (SoR) is the authoritative data source for a specific type of data. It acts as the single source of truth for an organization.

System of Record