How does search term volume influence your content creation focus?

How low of search volume will you go? Prioritizing content competitive vs too little

Hi, new to the forums.

My question is, how do you personally decide a threshold when writing content if a target keyword/keyphrase volume is too low?

My site is fairly new though I have amassed hundreds of pages working full time for months(full time as in time allocation, not earnings, the site is far off from where I want it, improving and adding daily, I only have two sign ups so far - besides referrals I got the other year through a friend and twitter, the friend was depositing thousands a month before quitting, was so nice I missed it - with one of the two from the blog making deposit so low I wasn't even sure that it was possible-$0.20 commission, they played one round one game, must have been no min deposit because they must have played like $1), I realize it doesn't happen over night and getting a new site established on google can be a very slow process. New to this niche and fairly new to blogging but not new to IM/affiliate marketing. Some of the pages I figure are just essential for a portal website for the website to appear complete(visitors may want to learn more about "slots" or "sports betting" though lord knows general pages for those topics on a new site are not going to rank for anything), though are not pages I expect to rank as the keywords are far too competive because a zillion other sites have similar pages covering the basics.

Anyway, no expecting people to disclose their full strategies at all, I get it. Since I'm focusing on long tail keywords that are not super competitive, and recently focusing on long form content (3000+ words), I am wondering where you draw the line of what's worth your time.

Super high search volume is way too competitive, low volume may be doable, though if it practically is never searched obvious it's not going to do you much good(besides maybe "topical seo", how advanced google's algorithm is in these regards is somewhat of a mystery to me, I don't think anyone knows).

Wondering if people have a upper limit and lower limit for search volume when deciding what to make long form content for? I am going to make a large amount of content over the next 6 months for long tail and specific keywords, though sometimes I feel like maybe I'm going to low where even a high ranking for the low competitive search phrase wouldn't generate traffic.

I know the real answer is pretty much experience trial and error, can see whats was worth it from analytics over the long run, though I'm wondering if anyone is willing to share any insight into what they've found for deciding if there is enough interest.

Thanks!

content, welcome to the GPWA and thank you for your post.

I think the underlying question is interesting, so I have added a poll to your post and have retitled the post based on the associated poll.

We will feature this poll in today's weekly GPWA Times email newsletter.

Besides voting in the poll, I invite folks to share their views on the extent to which they consider keyword search volume when creating content, and the way they consider keyword search volume.

Speaking for myself, keyword search volume is not a factor that influences the content I create.

Michael

Interesting question.

The thing with search volumes is there's a certain amount of skewing based on automated SEO tools, manual searches for 'obvious' keywords which can lead you down a certain path.

Personally I like to look for trends and changes in search volumes, so if I have a page on blue widgets but polka dot widgets are trending upwards in my report then I might refocus my content/build new content accordingly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by content

I know the real answer is pretty much experience trial and error

---

Yes, that is the "real" answer.

As I've said many times before, to many affiliates before yourself... Get your ducks in a row, and traffic will follow. Don't concern yourself with too much statistical-data, because frankly, real-life performance (actually making commission) isn't always about blips on a screen.

Avoid becoming another 'sheep', with another WP 'cookie cutter' site.

Think outside the square. Do what your competitors aren't doing.

Probably doesn't answer the questions you have BUT it definitely gives you answers to what you need ;)

Thanks makes sense. Sorta what my intuition is also leaning towards.

Finding what competitors are not targeting specifically and thoroughly has lead me down rabbit holes of keyword research where I'm like "well hey, doesn't look like people have pages optimized for this search phrase, without a trillion backlinks I could rank for this" but then I second guess myself and am like "well maybe that's because that combination of keywords is really not searched". Though I think at least some of the combos I've found are winners, so will try not to overthink.

I'll just keep publishing without overthinking whether it will work. Especially if it's highly targeted even if some are get little traffic the fact it's highly targeted should be good converting for whatever traffic it does get eventually, and eventually the a large amounts of highly specific pages should add up collectively in regards to traffic better than just focusing on hyper competitive searches, as on those I'd be so low on you'd get arthritis scrolling down to find my site being so new.

Though I'm sure theres a threshold where if it's just too low vol I could be wasting my time(I am trying to mainly do 3,000 word+ pages now, figure thats my best chance to rank for anything being new is long well formatted content), and I don't want to spend too much time if I'm aiming tooo low, so I just gotta use my judgement on that one. If some of my pages targeted on a bit higher mid vol searches start getting traffic, I'll know I can aim higher. I think I found some good low competition specific variations of otherwise fairly competitive(too competitive for me at this stage) searches that have been neglected by my competition, may be months before I find out if it was worth while, though I have faith with enough content I'll have some that are winners. I'm not expecting instant results, I am hoping I'll thank myself in a year for the work I'm putting in now. Though the lag (or "sandbox", I realize it's more of a lag than a literal sandbox-mode in software terms) for a new site(my site is less than three months old) is playing tricks on my brain, most of my impressions still come from my homepage even though I've made a ton of content for a site this new(I spend as much of my waking hours I can get myself to focus making content for the past two months straight everyday), which I realize isn't usual early on but at the same time I just wish I could see in the future what I'm doing now that will get impressions in the future for what searches.

Still am curious if people want to through a number out there if search vol is a primary factor used when picking what to write about. Like would low end be 50-150 searches a month, or like 250-750? Or even 20? Or 1000+?(1000+ is competitive, though idk if pages will show up for different lower competition variations of the broader search if enough contextual content on the page on the page that is more unique to my page than others) For min threshold. I really don't know.

I'm not a complete n00b, I have done plenty of affiliate marketing in the past and some CPA networks though different niches and my traffic was youtube(in the old old days of yt it was so easy, niche youtube affiliate makes wayyy more per 1k views than the partner program, but yt is way more saturated now, videos need to be higher quality than in the past and even then way more competition, also with yt was a little faster to see results of what works or not) and social media, but would just direct link or at most a landing page. Seen stuff work and some stuff not work and offers convert or not. Also was a website manager for a e-commerce website, though it was already built. Have been a social media manager before for different projects. Though this type of content blogging marketing is new territory for me, so not really sure until more time passes as site is still too new.

I don't trust the google search vol estimate tools are always thorough, up to date, or accurate. Some results I've seen where some obvious phrasing is missing while other phrasing is there, some the results include outdated stuff but not more recent stuff, so I know those numbers can be bologna.

Earlier on I was using similar web to figure out what other sites were getting and checking their content focuses, now I know similarweb is often wrong, so I don't even bother with that anymore(currently similarweb says I get much more traffic than I currently do, like yeah sure simmilarweb I wish, so now I don't bother with pulling up sites on simmilar web. I did some link building and I think that a number of pages may be what they factor, maybe some basic seo analysis, averages of other sites they do have real data is, but it certainly is not a measure of actual traffic at least for my site).

The minimum search volume threshold for me would depend on the actual KW. Large volume KWs (again, for me) are often very hard to compete for, so might not be worth the effort.
On the other hand low volume KWs usually are a lot easier to compete for and here the second part really boils down to what that keyword actually is.

Sometimes I might stumble upon a KW with <100 searches a month, but it covers a subject that I cam potentially easily monetize and turn into paying players. I consider such KWs as low hanging fruit, all it usually takes is just good-quality content and you get shown either on the top or at least around it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AussieDave

Avoid becoming another 'sheep', with another WP 'cookie cutter' site.

Think outside the square. Do what your competitors aren't doing.

---

Dave is 100% spot-on, IMO. I spend much of my 'working time' away from the keyboard, THINKING hard about the conversion process and how to attract visitors to my sites during that process. Put yourself in the shoes of the player and try to accommodate your sites to serve a need that isn't being dominated.

It's not easy and as has already been hinted at, not everything you try will be a success. It might be a new site, a new section of your site, a new GEO you're targeting, a new ad. campaign... throw lots of things at the wall and see what sticks.

There are so many nuances involved here, that also can vary based on the context of the site/subject/topic in combination with the level of competition and how the SERPs are constructed/presented for specific search terms.

But I'll keep it brief with a viewpoint...

Everything counts...

As long as you do it well enough.

Taking on the higher level terms may be necessary to build foundational authority. For an older site, depends on age. history, links, etc etc etc. Though (you'd hope) there was already some base authority resulting from the natural results of ageing processes). For a new site, almost certainly critical (obviously balanced against the subject of the site and, again, the competition. And some other stuff to varying degrees).

Taking on the terms with reasonable search demand and that you can rank for is a no-brainer, for obvious reasons.

Taking on the terms with low/zero volume (and remember, is it really zero? or just some tool telling you it is?) can get you high rankings, impressions, clicks, visitors that interact with the page (assuming it's 'good')....all of which have multiple benefits. In potential signups (low, but still might be valuable financially, and also contribute to meeting quotas if any), and in the search engine's eyes which tells it you have useful info that answers a query, and potentially 'encourages' it to believe your other content/pages that focus on more competitive topics/terms might be worth considering, too.

And, as a whole, the whole show combines to demonstrate an air of topical (yes, that word again!) authority.

In other words, a holistic view and approach which really (I believe, although it's obvious anyway based on all known info around how it all works) has been a major part of the game for a long time, and one that says 'do everything' is the most effective way to proceed.

'Do everything' of course involves a lot more than just the above. But, equally, 'a lot more' also revolves around much of the above.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PaulEchere

The minimum search volume threshold for me would depend on the actual KW. Large volume KWs (again, for me) are often very hard to compete for, so might not be worth the effort.
On the other hand low volume KWs usually are a lot easier to compete for and here the second part really boils down to what that keyword actually is.

Sometimes I might stumble upon a KW with <100 searches a month, but it covers a subject that I cam potentially easily monetize and turn into paying players. I consider such KWs as low hanging fruit, all it usually takes is just good-quality content and you get shown either on the top or at least around it.

---

That was what I was hoping. I've been creating some content like that in that threshold just too early to see results.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chaumi

Taking on the terms with low/zero volume (and remember, is it really zero? or just some tool telling you it is?) can get you high rankings, impressions, clicks, visitors that interact with the page (assuming it's 'good')....all of which have multiple benefits. In potential signups (low, but still might be valuable financially, and also contribute to meeting quotas if any), and in the search engine's eyes which tells it you have useful info that answers a query, and potentially 'encourages' it to believe your other content/pages that focus on more competitive topics/terms might be worth considering, too.

---

That's helpful and encouraging. Based on all the SEO research I did, including about topical authority though not having enough experience to see it happen myself, pretty much what I'm hoping for. When first starting, seeing the searches I'd like to show up for but are currently unrealistic(and I don't mean like "online casino", there's some other more specific searches that have dozens of exact match title pages in the serps which is pretty intimidating to me considering some of those searches I woundnt assume to be as highly competitive though in the online gambling niche are). So I've been trying to do pretty much what your saying in the hopes showing high for a large number of low competitive searches(eventually, god willing, I feel like im in that mad max movie yelling "witness me" to google lol). Like I'm going allll out on some pages with custom images and 3,000-5,000 words, throwing in F.A.Q. sections for the most specific dang things, nice formatting, like overkill, for searches I don't even have great expectations for even if I had top rank just because I want to have a good number of pages ranking for something since those searches currently don't produce many if any close match titles.

I'm glad to hear that maybe it will have a positive effect for my general website. The first few months are brutal on the mind as can have a boatload of content and not get rewarded for it yet so sometimes I feel crazy for spending most of my time just making more and more content without seeing the results for content I've already made. Honestly posing this question aside for ballpark numbers for keyword research was more for reassurance that the strategy can provide benefit and focusing on content is in fact what I should be doing. Publishing daily for two months and do not plan on stopping, though will be a major relief whether next month or six months or whenever to finally load GSC and see some more impressions for more searches so I don't feel like I'm just publishing content for ghosts.

Excellent input from everyone, much appreciated.

If you're in the early stages of building a site, do NOT spend ANY energy considering search volume.

Pretty much, if you're doing KWR using Ahrefs or any of the popular KWR tools out there, and the tools are reporting KWs w/ even 0-10 mo/search volume.....then I consider those KWs

Whatever Content Plan Surfer generates should be the content plan you follow.

In the beginning, you're going to HAVE to rank for these KWs first before you can rank for the more competitive terms.

We ensure that we target longtail KW searches w/ min 3+ KWs.

IMO, the #1 ranking factor is creating topical authority....so it's in your best interest to write as much content as possible (For now)

Anyways, point being is, don't concern yourselves w/ search volume.

Focus on creating as much high quality content as possible

I am still new to SEO and learning how to use Ahrefs better.

I look at search volume but one tip I got is to check sitemaps of good competitors and learn of new content being produced or sometimes updated.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by onlinebetdotcom

I am still new to SEO and learning how to use Ahrefs better.

I look at search volume but one tip I got is to check sitemaps of good competitors and learn of new content being produced or sometimes updated.

---

I'm not sure if you've noticed though says hosting suspended your account mate