If you sell widgets. The metrics you’re measuring for each keyword are Rank in Google, Orders, Revenue, Profit and Profit Per Order... For the sake of simplicity, we’ll say that you only sell one product: the widget.

Let’s say that your keyword was “widget” and your ranked number 4 in Google, received 12 orders for a revenue of $2,400 with a profit of $540 and a profit per order of $45. Next keyword is “easy widget” that ranked 8 in Google, which received 14 orders for a revenue of $2,800 with a profit of $630 and a profit per order of $45. Then a final keyword of “fast widget” that ranks 11 in Google, which received 3 orders for a revenue of $600 and a profit per order of $45.

From the look of things, you should focus your efforts on increasing your ranking for easy widgets! If you're on the bottom of page 1 of Google, imagine how much you could sell if you were at the top.

Let's look deeper and we'll see the power of good analytics.

How would cost per conversion affect profit per order? Cost per conversion includes the amount of time on the phone that you spend with customers helping them make a purchasing decision as well as the cost of the 800# and product returns. Let's take another look with these stats added:

For the keyword “widget”, the cost per conversion is $8, with a profit per order of $37. For the keyword “easy widget”, the cost per conversion is $36 and a profit per order of $9. Finally, for the keyword “fast widget”, the cost per conversion is $7 for a profit per order of $38.

Now, with that single data point, you see that it's probably in your best interest to put your SEO resources into the terms “widget” and “fast widget”. With their far lower cost per conversion, these terms are far more profitable per order.