During keyword research process how many times have you stumbled upon this result? 

Imagine the initial keyword perfectly reflects your business goals, however the search volume is extremely low.  

Is there a real value for your SEO campaign? 

1. What is search volume? 

Starting with definition, search volume column in your favourite keyword tool indicates how many times this word or phrase has been searched. Most of the tools use the average monthly search volume in the last 12 months and by default set the location to United States.  Sometimes those results are unpredictable. You can inevitably witness trend between search volume and competition. There is a possibility for highly searched keyword to be extremely competitive. 

2. Long-tail keywords and search volume 

Before defining the value of search volume, let’s look at the relationship between this tricky parameter and long-tail keywords. In your blog post, long-tail keywords are 3 to 4 word phrase, that specifically defines the user intent. 

Indeed, long-tail keywords will be affected by low search volume. If you run the search at LSI keyword tool, Twinword Ideas, you will notice multiple long-tails with little to no search volume. Should it stop you from including this keyword in your list?

Consider these factors first: 

– If you target general short-tail term, like “watch” or “car”, you will enter the ranking game with hundreds of competitors. There is no doubt, high search volume might justify your choice, but it does not guarantee ranking. Instead base your strategy around determining the user intent and satisfying the interest of your audience. Even with a low searched terms you can rank high, providing valuable content to users online. 

– At the very beginning of content generation and blogging journey, startups and small sized companies often encounter extremely low search volume keywords or absolutely new terms with no past history. Turn this obstacle into your unique advantage. In other words, ranking for keywords that your audience have interest in is much more valuable and can bring you organic traffic and potential conversions. 

– Finally, why this parameter of search volume is the defining factor of your successful keyword strategy? Remember, that the best performing keyword contains not only high or low search volume. Popular keyword research tools now give high credit for relevance, opportunity, difficulty score and other parameters. 

So let search volume data be a guidance in choosing the keywords for your blog post, but do not let this parameter define your success for traffic and conversion. Another tip to try is to combine the army of long-tail keywords around your content. Your blog post can rank for more than one keyword at once, so make sure you diversify your copy with LSI keywords too. 

Would you choose a keywords with search volume of 10?

What is your reasoning? Share your thoughts in the comments down below!