Search Volume: A visitor typically searches all or part of a given search term when looking at the search volume. This means they are searching for information on a topic. The keywords most used are also usually the most important. Thus, the importance of search results reflects the popularity of a search term. The most commonly searched keywords will always be at the top. A high search volume also indicates a high level of traffic, indicating both popularity and profitability.
Search Volume Breakdown by Keyword: The search volume of each keyword found in the search engine metadata will fluctuate and vary. There are generally several ways to look at keywords within a website. Visitors can typically find the most frequently used keywords within the Source Link, summary, headings, and tags sections. However, for some keywords, the search volume data is more challenging to analyze.
Average Monthly Searches Data: When looking at the search volume, it’s important to look at the average monthly searches over time. The keyword planner allows you to view your site’s historical keyword trend data. This historical keyword trend data shows how your competitors’ keywords have been ranked over time. You can determine your current competitive position. By looking at your competitors, you can learn how to optimize your website for the keywords that bring you the most business.
Keyword Difficulty: The primary focus of a search volume analysis should be keywords. If you have very few keywords, it’s likely your site is ranking well for a similar phrase. However, when your competition has hundreds of thousands of keywords to choose from, it becomes more difficult to rank for the phrases that really capture the attention of your audience. In fact, many experts suggest writing an original keyword phrase if you don’t already have a competitive niche. Otherwise, a good keyword difficulty analysis will help you target the keywords that your competitors are not ranking for.
Popular Searches: Although a search volume analysis may show your site is ranking for popular searches, it doesn’t mean the search volume is what your visitors are really looking for. Many people use popular searches in the search engines to discover information. For example, someone looking for “motor parts” in the United States may type in “my car engine”, “my car part” or “my car parts”.
Average Search Volume Metric: One other way to compare the search volume is to compare it to the average search volume for each keyword in your meta-tag list. Meta-tags are a list of words or a set of words. If you have a site about “fishing gear”, but you appear in the search results for “saltwater fishing gear” nearly three times as often, it’s because people are searching for those keywords more often. But, if your keywords are appearing less than the once-in-a-month average of all other meta-tags, then those keywords may be too competitive.
Keyword Research Tool: A keyword research tool can help you analyze the competition for your keywords. If you haven’t used one of these tools before, they are easy to find on Google. Just type in “free keyword research tool” and you’ll see what comes up. Usually, you’ll get a free web page that provides you with a list of keywords you’re competing for, as well as how many searches each of your competitors are getting each month. You can then modify your website to make it more competitive.
Long Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are phrases and keywords that are less specific. For example, if you were advertising the “best plumbers” you’d want to get a more specific phrase, such as “great plumbers”. The long tail phrase will allow you to rank for those particular words, rather than just choosing any word and hoping that searchers will come across your site. This can also increase the amount of searches for your main search term, since searchers are searching for something related to your long-tail keyword. Using a good keyword research tool like Overture can really help you analyze your competition, and adjust your website so that you get a high search volume but low competition.
