In the world of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing, the concept of keyword search volume often takes a backseat to metrics like click-through rate and cost-per-click. While these metrics are undeniably important, search volume deserves equal attention, especially for those focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

This article delves into the intricacies of search volume, covering its definition, significance, and practical applications in marketing campaigns. We’ll illustrate key points with real-world examples, primarily from an SEO standpoint, while also touching upon relevant PPC aspects.

Understanding Keyword Search Volume

Keyword search volume, as the name suggests, represents the number of times a specific keyword is searched for within a given timeframe. This metric is generally averaged over a specific period to give marketers an idea of a keyword’s competitiveness and overall popularity. The data is often presented within defined timeframes, enabling SEOs and marketers to observe how particular keywords influence traffic patterns over time. Seasonality has a significant impact on keyword search volume. While some eager shoppers might start looking for “Christmas gift ideas” as early as July, the majority typically begin their search around October or November.

Keyword Seasonality (Image via Energy Circle) Certain search terms remain “evergreen,” implying no seasonal or time-bound trends. Consequently, their search volume remains relatively stable. It’s crucial to remember that a keyword considered evergreen in one geographical area might exhibit seasonality in another. Uncover your optimal keywords with our Free Keyword Tool.

The Importance of Keyword Search Volume

Search volume plays a critical role because search engines serve as primary gateways for websites to attract new visitors and generate traffic. For instance, at nexus-security, organic search contributes to approximately 70% of the total traffic! Therefore, it’s essential to focus your content on keywords that have substantial search volume. Targeting keywords with little to no search volume will make it challenging for people to discover your content. Conversely, solely focusing on keywords with extremely high search volume can make it difficult to compete with larger, more established websites and achieve favorable rankings.

To access traffic source data in Google Analytics, navigate to Acquisition > Source/Medium in the main navigation menu Furthermore, search volume is a crucial factor in shaping your PPC bidding strategies. High-volume keywords often translate to higher competition and increased costs, particularly if they indicate commercial intent.

Obtaining Keyword Search Volume Data

Before incorporating keyword search volume data into your SEO or PPC strategy, you need access to reliable sources. While we recommend exploring our comprehensive list of the 18 Best Keyword Research Tools for Every Need (Paid and Free!), here are a few notable options:

nexus-security’s Free Keyword Tool

Our user-friendly Free Keyword Tool enables you to input your desired keyword, website, or URL to receive a curated list of keywords along with their corresponding search volumes. For enhanced relevance, you can filter results by industry and location.

SEM Rush

SEM Rush stands out as a powerful competitive intelligence tool, providing users with a treasure trove of valuable data, including keyword search volume.

Monitoring keyword search volume using SEM Rush The image above showcases SEM Rush’s intuitive dashboard overview for specific keywords, in this case, “ski jackets”. Users can instantly see the estimated average search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), and the level of competition for the query. The platform also provides a graphical representation of keyword trends over time, alongside related and phrase-match keywords relevant to the initial query. It’s worth noting that the displayed screenshot is from a free search. While subscription plans offer users advanced functionalities and more in-depth data, the free version provides a solid starting point for exploring keyword search volume data.

Moz Keyword Explorer

Beyond producing one of the industry’s top SEO and search blogs, Moz develops a suite of highly effective tools designed to simplify the lives of digital marketers from all walks of life. Among Moz’s most valuable offerings for SEOs is its Keyword Explorer.

Moz Keyword Explorer The image above illustrates a sample dashboard from Moz Keyword Explorer for the same keyword we analyzed with SEM Rush: “ski jackets”. Although there’s a noticeable range in the overall keyword search volume – between 11.5k and 30.3k – the platform provides other valuable data points, including an intuitive indication of the keyword’s competitiveness (labeled as “Difficulty” by Moz), suggestions for related keywords, and SERP analysis showcasing both Page and Domain Authority scores (more on this shortly). Similar to SEM Rush, Moz Keyword Explorer offers a free version alongside its comprehensive Moz Pro suite, catering to the needs of both casual and power users. This tool is undoubtedly one of the best starting points for delving into search volume data.

Google Trends

While not as feature-rich as SEM Rush or Moz Keyword Explorer, Google Trends can be a valuable asset for evaluating keyword search volume data. Google Trends provides unique insights into this type of data, including geographical popularity, growth and decline patterns for specific terms, and related topics – extremely helpful for identifying branded terms associated with more general keywords. Let’s take a look at the Google Trends data for the term “ski jackets”:

Utilize Google Trends to track keyword search volume data The image above depicts the interest over time for the search query “ski jackets” during the previous 12 months. While this specific graph represents worldwide interest, users can refine their search to display data for specific regions, as shown in this graph focusing on the United States:

Tracking keyword search volume data for specific regions using Google Trends Here’s a glimpse into the intriguing data regarding related topics and the comparative popularity of related search queries:

Evaluate the popularity of related search queries using Google Trends Despite its usefulness, this data alone doesn’t reveal the competitiveness of the chosen search query. While it’s a good starting point, it may lack the comprehensiveness and depth required by most SEOs and digital marketers.

Google Keyword Planner

You might be familiar with Google Keyword Planner, a component of the AdWords interface, for conducting keyword research. It’s a powerful tool offering a range of useful data points, particularly for those performing keyword research for PPC campaigns.

Google Keyword Planner Interface The image above illustrates how Keyword Planner presents keyword search volume data. Users can view average monthly search volumes over time (with adjustable timeframe parameters) and find suggested related keywords and ad groups below the graph (not displayed in the image). Conveniently, hovering over each column in the graphs reveals tool-tip figures for quick reference. However, it’s important to note that due to recent updates to the AdWords interface, this level of data is now accessible only to users actively running AdWords campaigns. Those without an active campaign will only see a simplified, condensed version of the data, lacking graphs or other visual representations. Now that we’ve covered that, let’s return to the matter at hand – utilizing keyword search volume data effectively.

Determining the Ideal Keyword Search Volume Range

Regardless of your role as an SEO, PPC specialist, or a digital marketing generalist, keyword search volume is a crucial metric often overshadowed by others like click-through rate. Nevertheless, keyword search volume should form the bedrock of your efforts. The question is, how do you determine the optimal range of search volumes to target?

Striking a Balance Between Volume and Competition

When dealing with keyword search volume, two primary factors demand consideration: volume and competitiveness. Higher-volume keywords offer greater potential exposure (or impression share) but tend to be significantly more competitive. This increased competition makes it more challenging to rank for these terms, especially when competing against established publishers and websites, or facing higher CPCs in paid search campaigns.

Analyzing the average monthly search volume for an ad group compared to the competition of its keywords The ideal type of keyword to target largely depends on your specific circumstances and goals. New websites or those with lower domain authority might benefit from targeting low-volume, low-competition keywords initially to build domain authority and gain traction. Conversely, well-established websites with strong organic rankings might consider venturing into slightly more competitive territories to maintain their advantage.

How Site Authority Influences Your Targeting Strategy

Within the realm of SEO, thousands of factors can potentially influence your rankings. Some of the most prominent include your location, the nature of your website or business, and the quality of your content (more on this later). However, domain authority stands out as one of the most critical factors. Before we delve into how site authority should inform your targeting strategy, let’s briefly define some key terms.

Understanding Domain Authority

While domain authority is a broad SEO concept, it’s also a specific metric developed by Moz that assesses the strength of a website (or domain) on a logarithmic scale ranging from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates a stronger, more authoritative website.

Sample data showcasing the domain authority of bbc.co.uk. Image via Moz. Moz utilizes approximately 40 ranking signals, such as the total number of links pointing to a specific domain, to calculate a website’s domain authority.

Factors Affecting Domain Authority

While Moz considers around 40 signals for domain authority, a website’s link profile stands out as one of the most crucial.

Analyzing link profiles using Moz Moz’s data, along with independent research conducted by leading SEOs worldwide, strongly suggests a direct correlation between robust link profiles and higher organic rankings. Your website’s link profile is influenced by both the quantity and quality of external links pointing to your site – links from other websites to yours. For instance, an external link from a reputable and well-established domain like a .gov website or a site like BBC News carries significantly more weight than a link from a small, unknown blog hosted on WordPress.com. A higher number of high-quality links translates to a stronger link profile.

Choosing the Right Keywords to Target

Now that we have a basic understanding of domain authority, let’s address the million-dollar question – which keywords should you prioritize? The answer, unfortunately, is not straightforward: it depends. I understand that’s not the definitive answer you were hoping for. However, as with most aspects of digital marketing, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Ultimately, your choice of keywords hinges on your domain authority, your specific goals, and the search volume and competitiveness of the keywords you’re targeting.

This screenshot, taken from a Russian AdWords account, illustrates that the query “jpg to pdf” enjoys healthy average search volume with low competition However, this doesn’t mean there are no general guidelines to follow when it comes to SEO. Newer websites or those with lower domain authority might benefit from initially targeting lower-volume, less competitive keywords to attract external links and establish authority within their niche. Over time, as your site gains authority, you can become more confident and ambitious with your keyword targeting. Always ensure that the chosen keywords remain relevant to your business and website as a whole. But what if you’ve set your sights on a highly competitive keyword with massive search volume? Let’s explore that next.

Ranking for Keywords with High Search Volumes: A Strategic Approach

Whether you’re new to SEO or a seasoned professional, pursuing keywords with high search volumes presents a significant challenge. These search terms hold immense value, potentially driving substantial referral traffic and attracting a growing number of external links. However, this value also means intense competition to rank for them.

Ranking for keywords with high search volumes can feel like an uphill battle So how do you successfully rank for these competitive, high-volume keywords? The answer lies in crafting truly exceptional content.

High-Quality Content: The Cornerstone of Organic Rankings

While optimizing your content for maximum discoverability is essential, your primary focus when targeting any keyword – regardless of its search volume or competitiveness – should always be on creating the highest quality content possible. This principle should guide your content strategy at all times. We don’t have access to the exact formula for how Google’s algorithms work, nor do we know the precise ranking signals Google employs when evaluating a website or a piece of content. However, we do know that quality and relevance are paramount for achieving high organic rankings. Think of it from a PPC perspective. We know that a portion of Google’s ad auction algorithm considers how well ads exceed the expected CTR for a given keyword:

Google’s ad auction algorithm considers how well ads perform compared to the expected CTR for a given keyword [graph via nexus-security] As depicted in the image above, AdWords accounts with higher Quality Scores consistently surpass the expected CTR for their targeted search terms. By exceeding the expected CTR for a specific query, Google can infer that the ad is effective and relevant, evidenced by its higher click-through rate compared to others. This principle extends to content and SEO. When your content consistently achieves higher-than-average click-through rates, it signals to Google that your content is relevant, high-quality, and deserving of greater visibility. While the figure above is based on nexus-security customer data, this theory is supported by other sources. Consider this graph that originally appeared at Moz:

The impact of higher-than-average click-through rates, as corroborated by Moz This graph demonstrates that search results with higher click-through rates occupy higher positions on the SERP, reinforcing the idea that higher-quality content naturally ranks higher than content with lower CTRs. (To learn more about improving your website’s “organic Quality Score,” we recommend Larry’s insightful post on Google RankBrain.)

In Conclusion: Amplifying Your Search Volume

Keyword search volume is a multifaceted topic that varies significantly from one business to another. Hopefully, this article has provided clarity on some of your questions regarding search volume and how to leverage it effectively in both your SEO and PPC campaigns. As always, feel free to share your questions, insights, or personal tips in the comments below!