Don’t Let Search Volume Influence Your Keyword Research

Guest Post - This post is contributed by one of our guest authors Aditi Datta. See how to become a guest author on our blog.
When a client contacts a search engine company for website optimization, the agency usually starts the process by doing a full fledged keyword research. I am in the SEO business for the past 5 years and currently own a SEO agency. When I receive an assignment, my first job is to check all pages of a client website one by one. I make a list of the current keywords which are driving traffic to the site and start searching for new ones that can be good addition to the SEO campaign.

Generally, I target the long tail or broader keywords and most of the time my clients disagree with me about the choice of keywords. The most common comment I have heard, at least 100 times, is “If X keyword is getting only 200 hits per day, why should I include it in my optimization strategy when the keyword Y is getting 10000 searches per day?” This is a huge misconception. People who have never worked with any SEO company before think that it’s always good to target the most poplar keywords. “If a keyword is getting thousands of hit, I must target it as well.” I am not saying that you should pick a keyword that people are not interested in, but you should also not pick a keyword that millions of people are searching for everyday. Seems illogical? Let me explain why it’s a quite logical strategy.

Keywords with high search volume are more competitive 

Before you decide which keywords you want to target, take a look at your website’s age. Have you started your business just a few months ago? Are you doing business for 5 years or is your company the leader in the market? The age of a website is a major deciding factor for the effectiveness of the SEO campaign.

If you have just opened a site and want to lock horns with the established leaders, it’s a suicidal attempt. For example, if you sell organic food and just set up a site to expand business, then it’s not wise to target the “organic food” keyword. This particular keyword gets approximately 368,000 searches per month and the established companies are already targeting it. Since you have entered the market just now, search engines won’t trust you much. You just need to make some money and sustain in this competitive industry to earn the trust of consumers and search engines. You can target long tail keywords like “organic fruit snacks” or “natural baby food”. These keywords may receive less than 1000 hits but less search volume means less competition, which means you have a better chance of conversion.

Long tail keywords = targeted traffic 

When somebody types “organic food” in the search box, he may search for a vast range of information. He can look for an organic food recipe, food store near his locality, how to start a garden for organic products or search for cheap organic stuff online. When you target a generic term, it’s hard to determine whether you will attract buyers or people who are looking for information only.

On the contrary, long tail keywords such as “organic food snacks” is mostly used by people who want to buy some food. Since such a keyword is typed by less people, not many people will visit your site but then out of those who do, most will become your loyal customers. So, what is more important – 10000 visitors but 100 buyers or 1000 visitors but 200 buyers?

Search volume doesn't guarantee relevancy 

Let me explain this in simple words. Suppose “organic baby food” gets approximately 15000 hits per month but you don’t sell it.  In that case, never target it. It’s never good to misguide buyers because a disappointed buyer seldom comes back. If you mainly supply organic food to restaurants, then optimize your site for “organic food supplier” keyword. Your target customers will possibly be less than “organic baby food” but those who type “organic food supplier” and visit your site will be very happy to find exactly what they are looking for.

Always remember that keywords are not static. They evolve continuously as users’ search habit changes with time. In future, you may notice people using the term “natural” instead of “organic”. If that happens, you have to optimize the site for “natural food” by changing the content. Besides, if the business grows and your client starts selling products directly to online buyers instead of restaurants, then you need to modify your strategy as well. The owner of a search engine company always keeps track of the current popular keywords for every business sector to offer efficient services.

About the Author: Aditi Datta is a Professional SEO Analyst who has built her expertise as an experience Search Engine Optimization Strategist and Consultant. She works in a leading search engine company. She also concentrates her skills on the diverse fields of SEO and SEM,