This guide covers what to do with low search volume keywords. Should you skip them or use them to bring traffic to your site?
The Wrong Mindset About Low Search Volume Keywords
Many people tend to skip over low search volume keywords because the keyword tools show that they may not bring in enough traffic to the site. Many people think one keyword is responsible to bring all the search traffic to a blog post.
What's wrong about this is that a low search volume keywords can actually bring in more traffic. Keyword tools are just estimates, and sometimes they are wrong. The search volume alone can't show us the hidden gems.
A Blog Ranks For Many Other Keywords
A low search volume keyword that may have 0 - 20 searches a month is not the only thing that drives traffic to the content. The content itself will actually rank for more related terms.
Overall the blog post actually gets more traffic cumulatively from all the keywords ranking.
In many ways, site owners can start piece of content revolving around low search volume keywords, then let the search engine index them, and see what the blog posts can rank for. If the content does better with other keywords, then it's time to edit the post to focus on those keywords.
Find Related Keywords
If a low search volume keyword isn't giving you a lot of options to work with, it's okay. What we can do next is to focus on the seed keyword and find other useful keywords without getting stuck.
We can do this with Google Autosuggest like this:
Can you buy a used car with low mileage is a reasonable search term that many people type in, but it shows 10 searches a month. However, this search term shows all the suggested search terms that others have searched on the search engine that we can use.
Another way is to use the chrome plugin Keyword Everywhere. This plugin shows a lot of relevant keywords on the side of the browser based on what was searched like this:
It shows a lot more keyword variations based on what was searched.
Build Domain Authority With Low Search Volume Keywords First
If building a new site by ranking low competition keywords, the chances of ranking is higher than going after high search volume keywords. Because the search engine is not going to give trust to a brand new site attempting to rank competitive keywords. It's just not
If the site ranks for low search volume keywords, and cover the topics thoroughly that other big sites are not covering. As the age of the domain increases, and more backlinks the site receives, then the domain authority will increase too.
At this time, the site has a better chance ranking for higher search volume and competitive keywords.
Learn More - 15 SEO Best Practices to Rank Blog Posts
Low Search Volume Keywords - Examine Search Intent
Some low search volume keywords with the right intent can lead to expensive clicks. It's very important for a blog post to focus on:
- Intercept the customer in the middle of the purchase decision
- Piggyback on the authority of an established player in a related field
- Offer a better solution to a problem
Sometimes the odd or obscure keywords are the golden nuggets in some niches to bring a tons of traffic, or lead the visitor to something else. Think about these low search volume keywords as small entry points to bigger topics.
They are not very competitive to rank, and it's the perfect opportunities.
For example:
LAS to MOT is a airline flight search term from Las Vegas, NV to Minot, ND. The search volume is about 20, but that's enough to get people to fill up the seats on those flights and there is exchange of money.
Another example:
best used cars low gas mileage only shows about 20 searches a month based on Ahrefs data. This is absolutely wrong because there are a tons of search engine result pages showing relevant car buying listings, and it's a huge market, and this is a targeted keyword that people use when they are at the bottom of the funnel ready to buy a used car.
Examine SERPs
If a low search volume keyword you found shows a lot of relevant search results such as:
- Discussion board
- Forums
- Quora
- Outdated content
This means people have searched for it, and there is an opportunity to gain some traffic. In this case it's a good idea to create a new piece of content using that low search volume keyword. Make the content unique and create a dedicated page covering the topics to make it look official.
People tend to look at a page dedicated to an topic more than reading forum comments.
If there is no SERP showing anything remotely close to what the search terms is targeting, then it's okay to skip it.