Is it a good idea to optimize for keywords that have no search volume if they're ranked?
-
Hello Moz Community,
I have some questions I hope some of you can help with.
We’re doing SEO work for a client that provides outsourced IT and managed IT services in Phoenix, AZ and cities in the Phoenix metro area (i.e. Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale, etc.) They’re currently ranked for or targeting the following keywords:
• consulting phoenix az (1)
• outsourced it phoenix (2)
• phoenix it support (3)
• it services Scottsdale (5)
• it consulting firm phoenix (targeting)
• it solutions phoenix (targeting)We have recommended the following keywords based on monthly search totals, competitive level and difficulty ratings in Moz.
• IT consulting phoenix
• it consultant company
• outsourced it
• it support services
• it consulting services
• outsourcing it
• outsourced tech supportQuestions
1. While I know it’s a good idea to optimize for keywords that you're currently ranked for, there’s no search volume for any of these. So, I recommended non-geo versions since Google provides search results based on the user’s location. Will this preserve the company's current rankings?
2. If not optimizing for their current keywords will hurt their rankings, will using the current keywords as secondary keywords suffice? If so, do we need to include them in the content for keyword density?
3. Since search engine algorithms now focus so heavily on user intent, I assume we’re covered for all variations of a keyword (i.e. outsource it, outsourced it, outsourcing it, etc.) Is this correct?
4. They want to rank for “cloud services” and “cloud solutions.” Both are very competitive with high difficulty rankings. So, I recommended “cloud migration” and “cloud strategy” as alternatives since these are the main services they provide. Will including “cloud services” and “cloud solutions” as secondary keywords help them increase their rankings for both?If you’ve dealt with a similar situation, I'd appreciate your insight and advice. Thanks!
-
Check if you have clicks (Search Console) associated with these search queries. Google's search volumes are rounded up and down in 10s, so 0 really just means less than 5. You may be surprised to find that some of these keywords bring impressions or clicks to your site, despite the fact that Google says they have no searches
-
1. While I know it’s a good idea to optimize for keywords that you're currently ranked for, there’s no search volume for any of these. So, I recommended non-geo versions since Google provides search results based on the user’s location. Will this preserve the company's current rankings?
** It depends on where your ranking and if there are similar keywords that you would get volume out of?**
If there is zero search volume for those keywords you want to look at similar higher volume keywords that Google would most likely rank you for. if you're getting traffic or conversions through those keywords obviously it's important to keep them.
FYI
(I am in New England right now and the list of keywords does not have the same site ranking even on the same page as what you're suggesting above So yes Google takes your location very seriously..)
2. If not optimizing for their current keywords will hurt their rankings, will using the current keywords as secondary keywords suffice? If so, do we need to include them in the content for keyword density?
**Okay, I need what are you doing to "optimize"? If you place them in your content it depends a lot on the context and power of the content. I would also need for you to tell me the difference between what your site has for transactional keywords and informational keywords **read this post by a good friend of mine
**John Doherty **https://www.getcredo.com/keywords-rank/
3. Since search engine algorithms now focus so heavily on user intent, I assume we’re covered for all variations of a keyword (i.e. outsource it, outsourced it, outsourcing it, etc.) Is this correct?
Yes are heavily on user intent, No not all of them Use tools like answer the publicwhy outsource your it, information technology outsourcing "Information Technology", an outside company to handle your IT more see: https://answerthepublic.com/reports/fc175e7a-724b-4ad7-9c65-eeb389d4838a
https://answerthepublic.com/reports/f1583bd5-dc39-45ff-ad1f-1f16df24a279
4. They want to rank for “cloud services” and “cloud solutions.” Both are very competitive with high difficulty rankings. So, I recommended “cloud migration” and “cloud strategy” as alternatives since these are the main services they provide. Will including “cloud services” and “cloud solutions” as secondary keywords help them increase their rankings for both?
if you want to lower the odds of something being extremely broad and hard to rank for keyword like "cloud migration" use what you have going for you and that you are only servicing companies in a certain part of Arizona. So use **** (i.e. Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale, etc.) **** and other cities at the end. "cloud migration phoenix", "_cloud services Scottsdale"_
**** Any keywords that are very close in relevancy would help your ranking yes including secondary keywords would help their ranking this all depends on the context and quality of the content as well though. Assuming that that's excellent yes it would make a big difference.****
** I hope this is been of help,**
Tom
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
-
What's the average rank update time after site and/or backlink changes?
What's currently the typical time, ON AVERAGE, it takes to see ranking changes when significant improvements are made to significant ranking signals on a long-established (as opposed to brand new) website? Does the rank update associated with on-page optimization happen sooner than addition of quality backlinks?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JCCMoz0 -
Im scoring 100% in the page optimization, wht else I need to do, because I rank 7-12 in search results
Hi All, Pls check the below url http://www.powerwale.com/inverter-battery for inverter battery keyword in google.co.in im scoring 100% in the page optimization, wht else I need to do, and also I still rank in between 7 to 12 in search results.. How can be in Top 3 search results.. Pls suggest.. Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Rahim1191 -
What's with the Keyword Apocalypse?
Hi, 9 of my tracked keywords have dropped by over 20 ranks since last week. The nastiest drops in ranking are by 36, 38, and 46 places. For the last month I have been chipping away at the duplicate content with 301 redirects and was expecting my keyword rankings to improve slightly as a result of this; not the opposite. I don't have any manual actions logged against my site and am at a bit of a loss to explain this sudden drop. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | McCaldin1 -
Optimized pages ranking lower than homepage with keywords
Ok, I know this question has been out there before, but i don't know how fo search for it specifically enough. I have several keywords that rank higher on my home page. As you know MOZ assigns keywords to whichever page on your site popping up in search first. So even though i have A-grade optimized pages for a particular keyword, that page may not pop up BEFORE the homepage for instance, on searches. In many cases, the homepage is grade "F" for a particular keyword, yet its pulling up first for most of my keywords. I know that my homepage has more rank because it gets the most visits and i'm sure we can't really optimize the homepage for EVERY keyword. What is the best thing to do in this situation? Do i just need to wait for my optimized page to catch up in rank, or is there a trick to optimizing homepage to ALL key words at grade "A" level? Do i need to keep back-linking to my optimized page directly to get the juice up? I created all these great optimized pages for specific keywords, but my homepage which shows "F" grade is the one pulling up 4th or 5th on searches Help??
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DrMcCoy0 -
Cannot Increase Ranking For a Keyword Phrase
I've been working on the keyword phrase, "Niceville Assisted Living" for the website: http://nicevilleassistedliving.com and my increase in rankings has pretty much stalled. When I first started working on this website, a lot of the content was duplicated (which we took care of by plugging in unique content), there were locations listed on the homepage that were throwing my rankings off, I've created blog posts each week (we've even tried posting one post every day for a week), added the Facebook feed to the homepage, corrected errors in the theme, and I'm trying to get a resources page built. I know content is a very, very large part of SEO.. but it seems like the content I am plugging in isn't helping. There aren't any errors in Webmaster Tools and my keyword density is fairly close to the website ranking #1. I think my biggest problem is backlinks. Other websites have quite a few whereas the website I'm working on doesn't have any (I'm working on that, but the number I have doesn't compare to the websites ranking in the top three). I'm stumped as to what to do next. Does anyone have suggestions to improve the ranking for this keyword phrase?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ReviveMedia0 -
Suggestions for good ranking
Hello, My blog http://www.pakearning.com/ was having page rank 1 and now its doped to 0 and less ranking, please review my site and help me how can I improve ranking and traffic ? Suggest me what to do for best ranking ? Directory submission ? articles submission ? also for home page, how much keywords are good ?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | softcorner0 -
Can re-directs decrease your rankings??
Hi Guys, I need some advice here please - I have the chance to put some links on a few websites to my website in hope it will help with my rankings.. BUT - I have noticed that the webstites are being re-directed to another websites.. so my questions is ; Can re-driects decrease your rankings?? Thanks Gareth
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GAZ090 -
What's a good place for a copywriter to start researching the more technical aspects of SEO?
I've been working as a copywriter for about a year and a half now and I feel like the more advanced SEO topics (rel= tags, .htaccess files, etc) are a bit over my head. Is there a website where I can read up on all of these things? I have a basic understanding of them but I couldn't talk about them for very long, and I want to become more well rounded as a search marketer. Thanks!!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | nxmassa0