When managing your site, you most likely have lists of relevant, high-traffic keywords you are paying attention to and trying to rank for against competitors.
Ironically, what some people might not realize is, that going after keywords that are low competition, with zero search volume, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead, can be highly beneficial for your website especially when first starting out.
To further explain, let’s take a deeper look at what zero search volume keywords are and why they are a great way to get more conversions.
What Are Zero Search Volume Keywords?
Zero search volume keywords, also often called long-tail keywords, are words that have a low or no search volume to them but give your website an opportunity to target specific topics that are relevant to your audience and will interest them further. Including zero search volume keywords in your content strategy and on your site can help build interest and engagement around a smaller market or even help target a new one.
Here’s a Real-Life Example to Learn More
For example, let’s say that you’re in the plumbing industry and a high-search volume keyword phrase you target is “commercial plumbing”. It’s important to take note there are so many other sites and competitors that would also be targeting this term. Given its popularity, it would take a substantial amount of time to get your site to the top of search results, especially when you factor in search intent and localization for the term.
How Is Zero Search Volume Beneficial?
According to Single Grain there are several benefits that come along with targeting low search volume keywords. Here are 4 that we found most helpful:
- Jump on trends early – Choose a niche your business is an expert in and create content surrounding that, which will allow you to spot trends early and see what’s working and what’s not.
- Stay relevant to your niche – Create content that is relevant to your audience by using long-tail keywords related to problems solved through your services, products, or expert advice. This plays into Google’s approach with A.T.
- Use commercially intended keywords – Meaning, use keywords that have “best”, “top”, and “vs.” included, as consumers will often use these types of buzz words in the initial stages of the buying process.
- Play with the keyword golden ratio – The KGR formula developed by Doug Cunnington and expressed in their article says, “If KGR is less than 0.25: You should rank in the top 100 once your page is indexed by Google. If KGR is between .25 and 1: You should still rank in the top 250 pretty quickly. If KGR is greater than 1: You know it’s a more competitive term even though the search volume is quite low (under 250).”
As mentioned in the Single Grains article, zero volume keywords might come off as not worth implementing, but as shown above, there are many benefits from using zero volume keywords. As you never know, this can be the extra push your website has been needing to succeed!
