Everyone desires to rank highly for keywords with substantial search volume. After all, who wouldn’t want a surge in traffic, conversions, and sales originating from organic search results? However, achieving high rankings for such popular keywords is not feasible for every business. These sought-after keywords are intensely competitive, with numerous websites vying for the limited spots on the first page of search engine results. So, what options are available to smaller businesses with less authoritative websites?
Fortunately, a straightforward solution exists: incorporating long-tail, low-volume keywords into your SEO strategy. Allow me to elaborate.
The objective is to attract visitors specifically seeking information related to your business or those prepared to make a purchase, ultimately leading to sales. How can this be accomplished? One effective method is identifying and targeting low-competition keywords to significantly enhance your chances of ranking higher.
Here are four strategies to pinpoint low search volume keywords and accelerate your SEO results:
- Maximize user-generated content and online communities
- Leverage social media for conversational language insights
- Extract keyword ideas from YouTube
- Consult your customer support team
Expanding beyond conventional keyword strategies
It’s widely acknowledged that the overall success of SEO is intrinsically linked to keywords.
Numerous website owners rely on traditional keyword strategies to boost their site’s ranking. They focus on high-volume keywords, create content around them, and patiently wait to show up on the first page of Google.
While this approach can be effective, it’s often time-consuming, expensive, challenging, and may not always yield desired outcomes.
Fortunately, alternative SEO strategies exist. Instead of solely pursuing high-volume keywords, consider prioritizing low-volume keywords, particularly long-tail keywords.
According to Search Engine Guide, Amazon attributes 57% of its sales to long-tail keywords. This statistic alone highlights the potential profitability of a long-tail keyword strategy. By adopting this practical approach, you can circumvent intense competition while still attracting potential customers.
Now, let’s explore four methods to gain insights into your target audience’s mindset and uncover relevant low-volume keywords that will contribute to your SEO success.
1. Extracting valuable insights from user-generated content and communities
User-generated content platforms and online communities are invaluable resources for discovering untapped keywords. Since users on these platforms are less targeted with content but cover a wide array of topics, they present diverse keyword opportunities. People turn to these platforms to seek answers to their questions.
By dedicating even a few hours to exploring these sites, you can quickly grasp the topics and questions that pique your target audience’s interest, unearthing numerous keyword ideas in the process. Thankfully, a plethora of general and industry-specific content sites, blogs, forums, and online communities like Reddit and Quora exist.
Let’s examine an example relevant to a law firm. A brief exploration of threads on the FreeAdvice forum reveals a multitude of potential keywords, phrases, and questions.
The term “child support payment” on Quora yields the following results:
A promising keyword, wouldn’t you agree? These keywords and questions, despite potentially having lower individual search volumes, often relate to broader topics generating hundreds or thousands of search queries and presenting significantly higher traffic potential.
Don’t limit your exploration to mainstream platforms like Reddit and Quora. Numerous websites feature user-generated content that often goes unnoticed. For instance, eBay and Amazon host countless user-generated reviews for various products, often brimming with potential keyword ideas.
To discover untapped, low-competition keywords, consider exploring platforms like Craigslist, AliExpress, Zappos, and similar sites. Regularly browsing these user-generated content hubs will consistently unveil fresh keyword opportunities.
2. Unveiling conversational language insights from social media
Social media networks serve as go-to platforms for individuals seeking advice or recommendations. The content shared on these platforms differs slightly from search-optimized content; users typically express their questions or problems using everyday language, mirroring their natural speech patterns.
Reaching your target audience necessitates understanding how they discuss your subject matter, share their thoughts, and engage with fellow customers. Platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn excel in this regard, offering valuable insights into low-volume keyword ideas. Users on these platforms tend to phrase their questions conversationally.
For instance, a brief scan of a Facebook group focused on legal practices revealed numerous posts structured as questions, presenting potential untapped keyword opportunities. Consider the following examples:
While these may not be fully formed keywords, they serve as excellent starting points for identifying interesting low-competition keywords and ideas to explore further using your preferred keyword research tools and Google search results.
In the B2B realm, LinkedIn profiles can be powerful resources for uncovering relevant keywords. This is because professionals often provide comprehensive descriptions of their achievements, skills, and experience within their respective niches.
3. Extracting keyword inspiration from YouTube
YouTube has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception in 2005. With counts 2 billion active users every month, reflecting a 5% increase over 1.9 billion logged-in monthly users, YouTube is a treasure trove of keyword ideas, as people often employ different search behaviors on the platform. Exploring tutorials, how-to videos, industry news, Q&A sessions, and product reviews on YouTube can unveil new avenues for your content strategy.
Interestingly, YouTube comments often offer more valuable and insightful information than the published video data itself. Viewers from diverse backgrounds, specialties, and experiences engage in discussions, often highlighting areas of confusion, disagreements, and personal perspectives. This makes YouTube an essential platform for understanding how people discuss specific topics, their language choices, and the keywords they utilize.
However, it’s crucial to note that YouTube should not be your sole source for keyword research on a particular topic. The platform can contain inaccurate information, mislabeled content, and biased product promotions.
4. Tapping into the knowledge base of your customer support team
When brainstorming new keyword ideas, consult your customer service representatives—they are the front line of your company, interacting with prospects and customers more frequently than any other department.
Your customer support team possesses invaluable real-time insights into common questions, concerns, issues, and positive feedback your customers express regarding your products or services. Engaging with them can help identify information gaps on your website and spark keyword inspiration for your content marketing efforts.
Furthermore, reviewing live chat logs and emails can provide valuable insights into the genuine questions posed by potential customers. Alternatively, consider conducting a mind-mapping exercise with your team to gather their collective keyword knowledge. For instance, you could start with a central topic like “local SEO” and branch out into related subtopics and sub-subtopics.
Revolutionizing your SEO approach with low-volume keywords
SEO can be challenging, especially when competing against large corporations with substantial budgets and seemingly limitless marketing resources for high-competition keywords. To enhance your overall SEO performance, delve into the minds of your target audience and customers, understanding the topics they actively seek.
Identifying the right low-volume, low-competition keywords can significantly increase the visibility and reach of your online content. Start enriching your content and strategically position it to attract traffic, generate leads, and drive sales!