Search Engine Optimization Question

It is not so much a question as a challenge. As SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) firms jockey for position on your marketing budget I have come up with an interesting challenge/question:
What keywords or keyphrases are completely unrelated to your company, products or services that would still drive immense traffic and convert the casual surfer into a lifelong customer?
It seems like an impossible question to answer, but rest assured that after two years of Blogging I am finding out that the answers are astounding, powerful and way more interesting than any standard SEM fare.
Here’s just one example: If someone happens to be searching Google for “IAB Canada” – which is the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (a place I happen to also be the Vice-Chair of Quebec) – a couple of Blog postings that I have written on IAB Canada rank us second on Google.
How qualified of a lead is that? Yes, it does depend on what the user was looking for, but I am beginning to uncover an incredible power in Blogs, search engines and customer’s thinking patterns. A day does not go by that Twist Image does not receive some kind of business inquiry based on a Blog posting on a random topic.
The link?
The topic is of mutual relevance and the content within is not a sales pitch for Twist Image. In fact, it’s just personal ramblings and musings on the marketing and communications space. The fact is, that’s enough and much more than someone who is ranked on the first page of Google for the keyphrase “Montreal web design” but whose site, design and content speaks little to their capacity to truly deliver. Usually these prime rankings speak more to that person’s ability to front-load relevant keyphrases and back it with powerful links.
This is only the beginning of future Blog posts on the power of Search Engines and Blogs. In fact, you can be sure that I will be covering this exact topic at upcoming Search Engine Strategies conferences and at other related events.