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
-
German Keywords
Hi I wanted to check the volume of a keyword in German but unfortunately, it shows no data available.?
Keyword Research | | Raymonda
Is this actually possible to research German keywords with your tool?0 -
Long tail keyword research
Hi guys, what is the best practice to find the long tail keywords, like Google Instant Suggestion, people also search, or moz keyword explorer I have experienced a lot in MOZ pro Keyword Planner, but now I want to know easiest way to find long tail keywords for my website olehana Makeup, still I'm using just 3 keyword that I already ranked in Google SERP top 3 positions now I also want that some long tail keywords also gets ranked.
Keyword Research | | daimon670 -
Is it a bad idea to hyphenate keywords?
Hello, my understanding was that Google reads hyphens in keywords as spaces, but if that's accurate how come keywords with hyphens that I research with Keyword Explorer — for instance, hospital-acquired infections — rank lower when I include the hyphen? If the hyphen hurts SEO, do I have to remove them all from the blog or page in question? Removing hyphens means a blog or page will have punctuation errors, which is irritating to an editor, but I don't want to sacrifice the effectiveness of keywords, either. Thanks, in advance, for your response!
Keyword Research | | SallieJ0 -
YouTube Keyword Research
MOZ has some really powerful tools available to us, but I was wondering if there are any tools for conducting keyword research for YouTube? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | Alaeddin1 -
How many redirects on a redirect can you have?
Since 2007 the best keywords for a good rank in seo have changed. In some cases we have changed urls to maintain a good ranking. That was 2 years ago ... and now we see we need to upgrade the keyword phrase we use and are thinking about changing the urls once again to keep our ranking. It seems absurd to have a redirect for your redirected page. Are there different ways to approach updating your keyword phrases without the 301 redirect? For example, it has been 2 years since we did a 301 redirect on a group of our pages. Are we better off having the original url deleted (which has been up since '07) or is it better to redirect the original page and the redirected page to the newest page? We already incorporate the updated keyword phrase changes into our titles, images and body copy to reflect the changes. Thanks
Keyword Research | | Manifestation0 -
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 -
What is the ideal keyword difficulty percentage?
I am trying to establish my best keywords using the keyword difficulty tool. So if I want to come up with the best keywords, should I use the ones that come in at 50%??
Keyword Research | | mmookie0