Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
How can a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition?
-
Sometimes I notice in Google keyword tool that a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition? Why would anyone go for a keyword with very less search volume ??
(note: If Checked in Google keywords tool with Exact match)
Though I understand this tool doesn't always have exact data but still any explanation to that question?
-
Because you only pay if they click. There's no reason not to target anything you think could convert.
-
Yeah that's very true that for some industries search volume might be low but margin is high!
-
That's a good point you mentioned there! Though I wonder why would someone pay money and go for low volume keywords esp, not necessarily low volume keywords has high conversion rate!
-
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the obvious: The Google AdWords keyword tool assesses competition based on AdWords, not based on SEO. A high competition keyword is a keyword that many advertisers are bidding on. It's common practice in AdWords to bid on low-volume high-conversion keywords. Those can actually get you the best ROI sometimes.
-
Hi Vikas, I think there are a number of factors. I would agree with Explainafide about the main one - lots of webmasters don't even consider SEO or keywords. Also as Christopher says, the potential ROI could make a low volume, highly competitive keyword worth optimising for. And as you say, the keyword tool isn't totally accurate and webmasters may be seeing different results from what Google estimates.
Unless the keyword is highly valuable with a good conversion rate,I wouldn't put too much effort into optimising for low volume, highly competitive keywords. However the worth of that keyword is different to different sites.
-
There are many website owners that know little to no SEO and keywords aren't even a consideration.
I work with a lot of artists and this is true in many cases. The competition for sculptor City XYZ is huge but the volume is relatively minor. It just means there's A LOT of sculptors in that city.
-
It is my understanding the search volume and keyword competition are independent. For example, many people purchase socks, but the potential for profit is relatively low which limits the pricing competition. In contrast, awards for medical malpractice could be quite high, but the search volume for a rare medical procedure could be very low.
Best,
Christopher -
Your keyword selection should depend on the conversion probability related to the keyword combined with the search volume. You dont want to put too much SEO effort on a keyword with very little search volume however as you mentioned correctly, Google's keyword tool info is not always accurate.
Low volume search terms might be very valuable for some industries as even one sale resulting from those keywords can mean a lot of revenue for the client.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Inconsistent Keyword Search Volume & Difficulty Across Tools (e.g., Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush)
Hi there, Moz Community! I'm reaching out for some guidance on keyword research discrepancies. I'm currently targeting the keyword "sui gas bill" for my blog, sngplbill, which focuses on information related to Sui gas bills. I've used several keyword research tools, including Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush, and each platform provides different search volume and keyword difficulty scores: Moz: No search volume data, Keyword Difficulty (KD) 24
Keyword Research | | Faizali.786
Google Keyword Planner: Search volume 100k-1M, Difficulty (Low)
Semrush: Search volume 90k, KD 31
Ahrefs: KD 1 (Very Easy)
These varying results are causing some confusion. Ideally, I'd like to understand which platform offers the most reliable data for search volume and keyword difficulty. Here are some additional details that might be helpful: My target location: Pakistan My Questions: What factors might contribute to these discrepancies in keyword data across different tools?
Considering my niche (Sui gas bill information in Pakistan), which platform would you recommend for the most accurate search volume and keyword difficulty estimates?
Are there any additional factors to consider beyond search volume and keyword difficulty when selecting keywords for content strategy?
Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Capture sui gas bill semrush.PNG Capture moz sui gas bill.PNG Capture gkp sui gas bill.PNG Capture ahref sui gas bill.PNG
Thanks,0 -
How much does Domain Authority effect the keywords I can rank for?
I've been doing some keyword research and i've found a few gems. My site is currently sat at a 18 domain authority up from 12, so it's great to see the improvement. Although I was wondering, if my domain authority is sat a 18, can I compete with keywords that have a difficulty of 50-60? Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂 Sam
Keyword Research | | sammecooper1 -
How many keywords do you recommend tracking?
I am working through thousands of organic keywords and would like to create a list of core keywords. I want the list to be small enough that we can really go after these keywords and track progress. I work for a B2B software company. I am thinking between 20-30 but I would love to hear any tips, opinions and recommendations! Thank you!
Keyword Research | | NikCall0 -
Setting Up a Keyword Matrix
Greetings MOZ community!! My real estate web site contains about 500 pages with perhaps 70 pages targeting low volume, somewhat valuable but not very competitive keywords. Three to four URLs target very competitive terms. The following terms are among the most valuable: New York City office space,
Keyword Research | | Kingalan1
New York office space,
Manhattan office space,
NYC office space Such variants as: Office space in New York City,
Office space in New York,
Office space in Manhattan,
Office space in NYC
ETCETERA convert really well How would I match different terms to different URLs? For example I have just re-written the following two critical URLs: www.nyc-officespace-leader.com (home page)
http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/commercial-space/office-space (product page) Would it make sense to use "Manhattan office space" and variants on the home page while excluding "New York City office space" variants? At the same time I would use "New York City office space" variants on the "office-space" product page while excluding all mention of "Manhattan office space". Is this logical and does it conform to SEO best practices? For the "NYC office space" terms I would add them to http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/listings. This URL has almost no text but a strong potential to rent because of a high number of incoming internal links. Is this approach sensible? In general what measures should I take to prevent URLs from competing for the same keywords? Also, is there a software package or tools that I can use to come up with keyword variants? As a non SEO professional, can I create my own keyword matrix or is this really in the realm of a professional SEO consultant? Thanks, Alan0 -
Google Keyword Tool: What is considered a unique keyword?
I'm trying to research keywords using Google's Keyword Tool. After looking at results, I have the following questions: 1. Does singular/plurals of a word count as two different keywords to Google (ie: photobooth and photobooths)? Would I need to have a unique page targeting each word or will one page on my site be sufficient for targeting both? 2. I've noticed that different variations of keywords have the same global monthly search results. This leads me to believe that Google see's all of them as one keyword. ie: "photo booth props" and "props for a photo booth" and "props with photo booth", all have 22,200 search global monthly search resluts. On the other hand "moustache prop" and "prop moustache" have different global monthly search results (480 and 590). Can anyone explain this?
Keyword Research | | Alchemist230 -
Is there an ideal ratio of keyword difficulty to search volume?
I used the keyword research tool to pull data on potential keywords, the report returns a percentage to represent the competition and difficulty of a keyword. Is there an ideal ratio of percent difficulty to search volume
Keyword Research | | AdviceElle0 -
Keyword Research (dash or no dash)
I have a client that has been optimizing for "print and apply" for the past 5 months. Yesterday they decided it was more grammatically correct to use "print-and-apply." There question to me was "is this going to effect our SEO?" So... I checked the difficulty using the keyword analysis tool, both keywords had the same broad/exact adwords traffic as well as difficulty percentage. When reviewing the top 25 listings for each keyword it looks like the same sites rank in the SERPs between 1-8 and then after that it is completely different. So, is there a better keyword to target? Are these two keywords different enough to truly have separate search results?
Keyword Research | | kchandler
The top 8 results didn't even target "print-and-apply" in there content or title tags... Thanks for the input/discussion - Kyle0 -
How can i track keywords history
i need to keep a record for all keywords history , is there any way that we can track keywords history so we can compare each week with the previous weeks ?
Keyword Research | | omarfk0