If you’re like most marketers, you’d have probably debated (against yourself) whether or not to write about a certain topic.
On the one hand, you’d like to write about the topic since you think your audience will love it; while on the other, you’re hesitating since your keyword research tool shows that it barely has any monthly searches. Yes, we know #TheStruggleIsReal
Lucky for you, that’s what we are going to dive into today.
We’re going to look into just how much you should pay attention to the keyword search volume, the factors that make a “good” search volume, and even how keywords affect your overall SEO.
Why Check The Keyword Search Volume?
Just like the term implies, the keyword search volume is the number of times (or volume) searches are conducted for a certain keyword for a specific time-frame (often on a monthly setting).
The definition alone gives us a picture of why the metric shouldn’t be ignored when determining whether a keyword is “target-worthy.” After all, if a keyword doesn’t have an ample amount of searches, then chances are, no one’s really using the keyword when searching online.
That tells us that ranking for that specific keyword isn’t worth it since no one’s using it anyway.
How To Get Keyword Search Volume Data
If you’re still new to the marketing space and you’re wondering “How do I know keyword search volume data?” we get it! This isn’t an intuitive step for new marketers or business owners, but it is a technique that is easily learned thanks to keyword research tools.
With access to the right tools, you’ll be able to look up and understand the impact of keyword search volume data as you work your way through future marketing campaigns.
One great tool is Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner. AdWords Keyword Planner is a very useful free tool that can help you assess potential keyword performance. This planner can be found in the Planning section of your AdWords account. The tool will show you the average search volume for entered keywords, but the monthly ranges can be quite large, which makes it hard to narrow in on a marketing strategy.
Not only will the tool show you several keyword suggestions — which you can use to expand your keyword portfolio — but you can also see other crucial metrics to help you determine if the keywords are worth targeting.
Now that you know how to find the search volume of a keyword, let’s talk about choosing which search volumes to look for.
Which Keyword Search Volumes Should You Be Targeting?
After you have done some analysis of your potential keywords and gathered the search volume data about each keyword and its variations, you might be wondering what to do next.
How do you decide which search volumes are the right ones to target?
There are a few different factors that you should look at when choosing keywords based on their search volumes. The fact of the matter is that search volume cannot, on its own, predict the success of a keyword. It is simply a data point in a larger picture.
To determine which keywords to target after researching their search volume results, consider the following three factors:
- Does it have a good search volume for your niche?
- What is the keyword competition like?
- Is there buying intent for the keyword?
Let’s get into more detail about each of these factors so that you can complete each analysis to create a final, tailored list of keywords.
What Makes A Good Search Volume?
As much as I’d like to give you a specific number you can use as a boundary of some sort to determine whether a keyword search volume is good enough (or not), I’m afraid there just isn’t a one-size-fits-all number for this.
Depending on the niche you're in, your marketing goals, and even your budget (among other things), the phrase “good search volume” can look very different.
The better approach, however, is to perform a competitive analysis while using your top competitor’s backlink data as a benchmark.
Why backlinks? Because they also reveal your competitor’s keyword targets in their link-building strategy.
As far as a keyword’s profitability goes, here are other factors you need to consider:
- CPC (Cost Per Click). This refers to the price you pay for every click your audience makes to your ad campaigns.
- Buying Intent. Refers to the readiness of the searchers to buy a product.
- Competition. This refers to the number of advertisers targeting a specific keyword.
Why Does Keyword Competition Matter?
The next factor that needs to be considered is keyword competition. Put simply, keyword competition lets you know how difficult it will be to rank highly in a search about the given keyword.
For popular keywords, it will be very hard to beat out long-established sites, and the effort that you put into a keyword might end up wasted. Keywords with high search volumes may also have very competitive keywords, so you need to find an achievable balance.
A real golden ticket moment is when you can find a keyword with a good search volume for your industry that does not have a very high competition score. Those are the keywords that you should aim to secure!
Buying Intent And How It Affects Keywords
If your goal in driving more traffic to a particular site or page is rooted in the desire to sell more products, then you need to consider if the keywords that you find with good search volume also have buying intent.
Buying or purchase intent is the idea that people who search a keyword with buying intent will, at the end of their searching, make a purchase. By targeting keywords that have buying intent, your work will have a better chance of converting into a sale.
Working the keywords into your site’s content and product listings will help drive home the conversion.
Key Takeaways
It’s crucial for marketers and business owners to learn how to find search volume when conducting their keyword research.
Not only does knowing the search volume give marketers a better idea of what to expect should they rank for certain keywords — as far as traffic and sales would go — but it also helps them with market research.
Overall, keywords, keyphrases, and search volume play a huge role in your SEO. The more keywords, specifically niche keywords you use appropriately the higher you will rank in search results.
We know that SEO can be very daunting, this is why we offer Search Engine Optimization services. Ready to partner with Good Commerce and improve your website SEO? Let us tailor an SEO strategy that provides long term organic growth for your business. Contact us to book a Brand Discovery session and let’s start achieving your business goals together.