Why search volume shouldn't always be your main focus

Intro

In search, both paid as well as organic, search volume has always been one of the most important metrics to decide on what keywords to target. But there are several reasons why search volume should not be the main focus. Or even a metric to consider at all.

Let’s dive into the reasons why keyword search volume isn’t the only metric to look at, and why it can be very legit to target keywords with low or even no search volume. We’ll also touch upon the subject of why low search volume doesn’t necessarily mean low competition.

You will discover why in certain cases low search volume can be extremely relevant and profitable, why not every page on your website should necessarily target a keyword and why low search volume can change to higher volumes, as well as the other way around.

Search volume is never really accurate

Let’s start off by being realistic and acknowledging that search volume is never really accurate. Whatever tool you may use, they all have their own ways of extracting and interpreting data to serve keyword volumes. Some keyword research tools call them ‘guesstimates’, which is a perfect way of admitting that they’re both guesses as well as estimates.

Which is perfectly fine by the way. They will at least give you some insight and by knowing they aren’t ever really accurate, there’s at least some transparency. Also, these guesstimates will at least give you something to work with, especially if you compare different keywords, like variations and synonyms.

Use search volumes as an indicator and use it in context with other keywords as well as other metrics, never as a standalone metric.

Google Keyword Planner may not show any volume

Although it seems like a trustworthy source, Google Keyword Planner might just be the least reliable source for keyword research when it comes to SEO. Google applies some form of censorship by not allowing certain words. You will see that in Google Search as for some words, Google will not give you suggestions with autocomplete.

For example, in some countries, their word for cancer will not give any suggestions as the word is only used for the disease. Apparently, the disease is a sensitive subject so it has been censored in autocomplete and may also not show up in the Keyword Planner.

Or a keyword might not be eligible for Google Ads, so they won’t give you any search volume for it. If for example, you run an escort service, which is a totally legit business in many countries, you cannot advertise for it on Google and thus you won’t find any search volume for whatever related keywords.

In 2016, search volume in Google’s Keyword Planner got even less accurate.

Search volume can change over time

Some keywords might not have sufficient volume now if you would take volume into account in your keyword research. But if there’s no or very low search volume now, it can change over time. Before 2022, people wouldn’t have searched for ‘ChatGPT’ for instance, while queries for anything related to ChatGPT pretty much exploded after November 2022.

People’s interests change, trends come and go, so search volume can change over time. Which also means that high volume keywords can become low volume keywords.

Also, Google has been saying for years that around 15% of the monthly queries are completely new to the search engine. There will always be developments that will influence how people search and what they search for, resulting in change in search volume.

Which is why as an SEO or marketer, you should update your keyword lists at least on a yearly basis. Even if it were just for checking and updating the keyword search volumes.

Focus on searcher intent before search volume

Search volume does not give you all the relevant information you need for a keyword. One of the biggest mistakes I experience is that people want to write articles about keywords we’ve discussed. But it’s useless to publish an article about the current iPhone models if the SERP only shows pages where people can buy this particular iPhone.

This SERP is a signal that people who search for this keyword aren’t looking for information about this smartphone model, but they are ready to buy. And you will never rank for that keyword with an informative page if search engines have determined that the searcher intent is commercial instead of informative.

Like keyword volume, searcher intent can change over time as well. This means that updating your keyword lists on a regular basis is not just for possible changes in search volume, but changes in searcher intent as well.

All long tail variations can add up, too

Apart from the change in search volume over time, low volume keywords can also still be interesting as the volumes will add up for various variations of these keywords. These low volume keywords are also called long tail keywords.

These long tail keywords can be something like:

• what is seo in digital marketing
• what is digital marketing seo
• what is seo digital marketing

In some cases there can be even dozens of variations, including variations with synonyms. One webpage can rank for all of these keywords, meaning that the search volumes for all of these keywords together can provide you with more website visitors than just one keyword.

Don’t go completely down the rabbit hole, knowing of the long tail keywords that exist and which are relevant should be enough. Once you rank for some of them, you’re likely to rank for many of them.

Webshops usually need bigger numbers than service providers

Products in webshops usually have a relatively low price and margins can also be pretty low. This means you need to sell serious numbers to profit from all your efforts and investments, whereas service providers can easily have a higher return on investment.

Let me give you an example. A client of mine sells software, which in itself isn’t cheap due to the nature of the software. They offer implementation services and consultancy as well. One new customer is easily worth $ 175.000 per year.

For services businesses like these, each new customer is worth big money, so low volume keywords are perfectly fine. If they get one new customer per year extra by focusing on the best keywords and ranking higher for these keywords, investing a few thousand dollars in these keywords is an absolute no brainer.

So if you have clients that think they should focus on search volume, you can now convince them that it’s not about the volume, but about the relevance and the potential turnover.

Informative articles should not necessarily serve SEO purposes

Great websites usually also have great informative articles. Writing articles is not something you should do just to rank each article in search engines. Sometimes, things just need to be written to help your target audience, to share something you need to share for whatever reason, or to give an opinion.

So informative articles should not always serve SEO purposes. Although they can impact your SEO indirectly of course. Think of internal linking and backlink opportunities. Those backlinks might not impact any rankings for the article itself, but they do add to the backlink profile of the website as a whole.

Same can go for product pages

This does not only go for articles, but also for product pages. You may offer products or services for which you cannot find any relevant keywords, but that does not mean people aren’t interested in these products or services. It just means they might not know about them or know they need them.

Not every page on your website is something that people should land on via a search engine. You will have pages that you lead website visitors to, so they can get more information. Those pages are relevant, regardless of keywords or keyword volume.

So whatever page or article you want to publish, just do it.

Low keyword search volume does not equal low competition

You may have heard people state that keywords with low search volume will also have low competition. That’s not necessarily the case. Your competitors might not be consciously targeting these keywords, but that does not mean that your competitors aren’t ranking for them. Search engines will always find webpages to rank for a certain keyword, even if it’s a new keyword or a keyword with low search volume.

So even for these low volume keywords the competition can be heavier than you may think. If certain websites are dominant in a specific niche, there’s a huge chance they will rank for pretty much every keyword in that niche. Low search volume for a keyword does not necessarily mean the competition is low as well.

Focus on relevance and content quality

You probably understand by now that the focus of your webpages should be on relevance for your target audience, and quality content to serve them best. Doing keyword research beforehand is definitely worth it, so you know what people are searching for online.

To summarise:

• Search volume is never really accurate and should be used as in indicator, in context and with other metrics;
• Be aware of the way search volumes work in Google’s Keyword Planner, if you use it to get your search volumes;
• Take searcher intent into account for every keyword you research;
• Research long tail variations;
• High profits and/or margins? You’re probably good with low search volume keywords;
• Not all pages have to rank in search engines, so not all pages need focus keywords;
• Even keywords with low search volume can be highly competitive.