How to estimate search volume for multiple long tail queries?
-
I am comparing Moz, WordTracker and Google keyword research tools and trying to figure out how I can compare the aggregated search volume for a page which targets several similar long-tail queries.
For instance, according to one tool, the query 'printable guitar sheet music' has 125 monthly searches, but many small variations of this also have a similar amount. Do I just make a reasonable list and calculate them? Or do I just use "125" as an abstract number of measurement with no concrete reference to a **real **number of searchers, but useful in comparing one keyword to the next, and assume that all key words have a similar degree of consorting variations?
I seem to remember Google used to give away some pretty damned useful information in the keyword search tool, including monthly search volume. But now it looks like the metric is not actual search volume, but a 1-100 score based on the search volume.
So my questions are:
-
Should I try to convert these numbers into real search figure estimates or just use them for comparing one to the next?
-
Should I worry about trying to combine the aggregated variations of long tail keyword searches, or should I just choose one good keyword and let that represent all possible variations?
-
-
I'm taking our web pages and trying to figure out if they're targeted poorly or written using terms that the average searcher would not think to ask.
This is good. Nice work.
-
Thanks! I'm checking that out. As I mentioned in another response, these are super-long-tail keywords because rather than looking for opportunities for new content, I'm also looking for opportunities to reshape some existing content to get more matches. Sometimes, as an Educated Person, I sit down and write some page title that, as it turns out, nobody else in the world would think of except me. I have 10 years of experience in my topic and my audience sometimes has 1 week of experience, so they will use different vocabulary. In order to make sure my content can reach people who need it, I'm looking backwards to see how I may have used the wrong words.
-
That's a good point. Another thing is I'm looking at really long-tail stuff. That's because some of my efforts are going backwards. I'm taking our web pages and trying to figure out if they're targeted poorly or written using terms that the average searcher would not think to ask.
I'm not quite up-to-speed on the Knowledge Box but considering the places where I have seen it used, I don't think it quite works yet on my niche.
I am waiting for them to implement this feature for guitar diagrams. People often search for reference guitar information such as scales and chords. I'm happy to markup my content for the Knowledge Box.
-
I highly recommend checking out Long Tail Pro. It uses the GAKP but its interface is much easier to use rather than using Google directly. Also, you can plug in a couple of keywords and generate thousands of long tail keyword phrases and filter by search volume, organic competition, keyword difficulty (uses the Moz API), etc. While the data is still from Google and the keyword data may not be 100% accurate, I think it will get you a lot closer to what you are trying to accomplish than you would using any of these other tools.
-
Or do I just use "125" as an abstract number of measurement with no concrete reference to a real number of searchers
I take a quick look at the numbers in wordtracker. I am not trying to get into a big mathematical exercise. When looking at wordtracker I am just trying to make a "yes" or "no" decision about creating content.... or trying to make a "this keyword" or "that keyword" decision on how to optimize.
I am highly inclined to mathematics but I don't spend much time on these numbers. I do know some people who would make a three-day study about this with spreadsheets because they are thinkin' about writing a two paragraph page. That is a total waste of their time.
Is the wind blowing or ain't it? Get to work or abort. It is that simple.
The more important question about these number is: "Are people really searching for the same meaning of the keyword?"
Take an example the word "sapphire"..... You got in mind a blue gemstone... but that word could be used for graphics cards, pokemon, credit cards, mobile phone windows, Ford motor cars, strippers, who knows what else... so most of that volume that you saw in wordtracker and got excited about is not relevant to what you are selling.
In this Q&A we see lots of people pouring buckets of money into a website and their competitors are not who they think they are. They just looked at these numbers instead of trying to understand what people are lookin' for and more importantly, who is competing.
Sometimes the strength of the sites going after the small part of the volume is overwhelming compared to the sites who have the information that everybody is lookin' for. That, in my opinion, is why Google started Knowledge Box... and where they now display Knowledge Box they have given minor volume competitors better positions in the SERPs and pushed the sites with what people are looking for down to second and third page - because they want you to use the Knowledge Box. They want searchers to think "Google got the info" - even though they scraped it from my site and gave me a link in microscopic black font while links to alternative searches on money keyword with lots of ads are in big blue font.
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
-
Page ranking well for multiple keywords but which to optimize for?
I have a home page of a website that ranks well for multiple keywords and is the main source of conversions for the site. Obviously I would like to optimize the page to increase its rankings and click through rate on search results. But I cannot optimize for all can I? If I optimize for one or two then it seems to me the others will suffer. What is the best strategy here? Should I focus on creating new pages for each individual keyword and work on those instead?
Keyword Research | | Azam_Khan0 -
Google: Is There a Way to Find Your "Unknown Search Terms"
I believe Google stopped reporting search terms for privacy reasons. All my searches show as "unknown". I found a video that showed how to get around this but it's not current. Is there any way to get your Google terms search information? Thanks, Jo-Ann
Keyword Research | | VinJGirl0 -
Description in the snippet varies from search to search.. Have you seen that?
Hi everyone. I'm noticing that when searching the same web, but from different queries the description shown in the snippet is different.
Keyword Research | | Gaston Riera
I've attached 2 images to clarify this topic.
Searches done:
1) https://www.google.com.ar/search?q=http://www.dawebrokers.com/
2) https://www.google.com.ar/search?q=http://www.dawebrokers.com/testimonios Also, I do know that google indexes the text from description that seems more accurate for the search. But, I've understood that the text should be the same on every search.
Can anyone enlighten me in this subject?
I'm starting to believe that it's becoming useless the meta description Thanks!
GR. ac59298975.png 8cda20bc60.png0 -
To switch high-ranking keyword for one with higher volume?
I have a client who already ranks very well for the keyword "odor removal service" (#3 average rank). I'd like to use this as my primary keyword phrase, but the search volume is not very high (avg. monthly search of 90). A similar keyword phrase like "odor eliminator" has a search vol. of 4400 and the same competitiveness. Even its long-tail derivatives like "natural odor eliminator" still have a much higher volume (360) and would be a more accurate description of the service. In cases like this where you are already ranking well for a relevant keyword (but are still not generating much traffic), is it worth losing that keyword ranking in the hopes of ranking better for a keyword with higher volumes. Just to be clear, I'm not referring to a secondary keyword, but to the main keyword phrase around which we'll be building primary and secondary related keywords. Thanks for any feedback.
Keyword Research | | Mike_E0 -
Does Using Brand/Company Name in Title on Multiple Pages Cause Cannibalization
I'm trying to rank for brand-name related keywords for a website. Most of the titles on the site include the page topic followed by the brand-name separated by bars or dashes (ex: title= widget | My Brand). Is this creating cannibalization for the brand-related terms? I was wondering if it was better to leave the brand out of the title all together except on a dedicated page. However, due to the nature of the business I work for there are multiple recognized iterations of the name including acronyms and long-form and short-form versions and creating content for each targeted iteration seems superfluous.
Keyword Research | | BiskEd1 -
What is the best way to research long tail search queries?
Hi, I am wondering if there is any special way to seek out long tail search queries? For example, when I search in Adwords or Ubersuggest for a particular group of keywords, I only ever seem to get 1 to 3 keywords. I am looking for the longer search terms like actual questions i.e. "Where is the best yoga studio in Doncaster?" Currently I rely on not hitting in Google in enter but I figure that there must be a better way? Thanks guys!
Keyword Research | | StoryScout0 -
How to get search volume in Google's keyword planner
I want to know the search volume for ~1000 keywords that I discovered via ubersuggest. Yesterday I could have done this in 5 minutes, but I can't seem to get it to work in the new Google tool and would love some advice. When I either upload or copy and paste my list into the tool I can get it to give me search ideas with volume, but it has all the keywords I am uploading as 0 search volume (when I know that is not true and some of them have thousands of searches). I've tried "entering keywords to see how they perform" and also "searching for keyword ideas" (the second just because the first didn't try after my 10 tries) Any ideas about what I am doing wrong?
Keyword Research | | theLotter
Or is this a bug other people have been experiencing?0 -
Google algo mistake in persian search?
I recently wanted to work on a high important persian keyword (شارژ ایرانسل) and analysis it on moz.com Difficulty SERP. But the result was very Surprised me. because the second top site in SERP used more than 15 time the keyword in home page and Google doesn't mark it as spam. why Google doesn't apply the spam algo in some language? akg2NqH.png kcHgx0D.png gUSez3B.png
Keyword Research | | vahidafshari450