If you have never thought about what keyword research can do for your business and content marketing plan, now is the time to consider why it matters. Any search engine only knows how to find you because of the words that a page contains. They weigh search intent, relevancy, LSI keywords, and more to determine their organic rankings.
This is why keyword research is important for Google search, but you don’t have to take our word for it.
We’ve compiled nine statistics that will prove to you that your SEO keywords are about more than just filling a quota on the page. Move beyond keyword stuffing and target the right keyword from the very outset. Here is why it pays to invest in search engine optimization with an SEO agency that understands your industry.
95% of Keywords Have a Search Volume of 10 or Less Per Month
According to Forbes, you might be surprised at how little traffic a specific keyword gets in the grand scheme of things. Some phrases are a potential gold mine for local businesses, but others are a graveyard for your content strategy. With a search volume of 10 or less per month, you won’t be able to move the needle forward as much as you might have hoped.
What does that mean for your SEO keyword research?
It means you might not want to double down on creating content for a search term that nobody is interested in. If the keyword is very niche and specific to your business, it might warrant a page. However, you don’t want to invest too much money in landing pages and blog posts for something that nobody is searching for.
It’s a waste of resources and won’t have the return on investment you want.
Creative Collective helps you balance your target keyword with what else is doing well in the market. It may even open your eyes to the possibilities of new products or services that you hadn’t considered before.
Google Keyword Planner Overestimates Search Volume 91.45% of the Time
Most people trust the tech giant to yield accurate results and help them locate a seed keyword. Much like Google Analytics, Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that promises to help you locate the words people are looking for when they want help from a local business. While they are free, they might cost you in the long run.
Ahrefs found that Google Keyword Planner overestimates search volume 91.45% of the time.
That means that you’re almost guaranteed to see an inflated search volume when you type in your seed keywords on the free tool. It won’t help you narrow down which ones fall into the 95% of terms that have low search volumes that might not be worth your time and effort for ranking.
This is why it can pay to use premium keyword research tools like Keysearch. Not only do you see honest results from the search engines and their volume, but you can also see related keywords that might have better traffic.
Long Tail Keywords Get 1.76X More Clicks
Once you narrow down your keyword research, it might be time to dial it in a little further. A short tail keyword (just one or two words) is going to have fiercer competition. Not to mention, the search intent for these shorter phrases tends to be more informational than transactional.
That means that people aren’t looking to buy a product or invest in a service; they simply want to learn more.
Backlinko found that a long tail keyword (10 to 15 words) gets 1.76X more clicks than these shorter, more general terms.
Plus, the people who find you by typing in a very specific phrase are more likely to be ready for what you have on offer. Their search intent is often more transactional, as they specifically know what they want and need instead of being mired in the research stage.
Keywords in the URL Have a 45% Higher CTR
Want to get more traffic on your website without doing anything to your content marketing? One way to increase your odds of being a top search result is to include your relevant keyword directly in the URL.
That means that if your search term is HVAC maintenance, your URL would be: www.ABCompany.com/HVAC-maintenance.
If you’re trying to compete with other websites and you have a higher keyword difficulty, then this is a smart and savvy way to boost your ranking. This one simple item yields a 45% higher click-through rate. Who couldn’t use traffic like that?
This is easily done with WordPress plug-ins like Yoast SEO where you can modify the SEO title, meta description, and page URL with just a couple of clicks. It isn’t rocket science and doesn’t require the help of a developer to get things switched over. You just need an idea of what your primary keyword is for each page.
75% of People Never Scroll Past the First Page
Why is keyword research important? In a nutshell, it increases your likelihood of ranking for a specific term on the first page of Google’s results. You might be satisfied with a second-page spot, but you shouldn’t be. A demotion from spot one to spot eleven has a serious impact on your traffic and visibility.
Think of it this way: when was the last time you scrolled to the second page of the SERPs to find what you were looking for? Chances are, you figured that those results were less relevant and didn’t capture your attention.
The research supports this with 75% of people never scrolling past the first page.
When you look at the results from your keyword research tool, consider how hard it will be to rank on page one. If you can provide tremendous value and beat out the top spot, then go for it. If you can’t contribute anything new or more relevant to your audience, you might want to head back to Google Trends and look for other avenues to get that traffic.
8% of Searches are Phrased as Questions
When you’re trying to come up with new keyword ideas, you need to keep search intent in mind. The Moz Keyword Explorer found that 8% of all search queries are phrased as questions which should give you some insight into what people want when they land on your page. In other words, their keyword intent is to solve a problem and answer the question.
If your business can provide valuable insight and solve a problem, then you can convert a potential customer into a paying customer.
In other words, transactional keywords aren’t the only ones you should try to highlight as part of your SEO strategy. You also need to think about the purpose of a user’s search on Google and come up with content that positions your brand as an authoritative expert in the field.
Once they have their answers, then they can consider becoming your customer.
0.0008% of Keywords Get 100,000+ Searches
If you’re hoping to break into the top search engine results for a highly-trafficked keyword phrase, then you might want to think again. Not only is the competition for these spots fierce, but only a very small sliver of the market is going to get 100,000+ searches per month.
Experts place it around 0.0008% of all keywords searched on Google.
A keyword tool can help you spot them, but it’s a lot like finding a needle in a haystack.
You could make this part of your keyword strategy, but just know that your results may vary. These high search volume keywords are going to have lots of pages that are trying to rank, so you’ll have to provide infinitely more value than you do for pages with lower or more specific search traffic.
You may be better off looking at long-tail keywords with less traffic but more transactional intent.
16-20% of Searches are Brand New
Even though search engines have been around for a while, you’ll find that Google Suggest doesn’t always have the answers that you or your customers are looking for. When that little drop-down box appears as you type in your query, it may not have the exact question that you want answered. Why is that?
In part, it’s because roughly 16% to 20% of all searches are brand new and have never been typed into Google before.
Your SEO tool won’t be able to predict a search query like this, so you might just get lucky and rank for a brand new query that will later be incorporated into tools like the Google Ads Keyword Planner. Researching keywords is tricky because you have to balance what is working right now with what might work in the future.
If you feel strongly about a particular keyword, consider building a page around it and seeing what happens.
It might not pan out or it could become a valuable resource for your ideal customer avatar. May the odds be in your favor.
Investing in Keyword Research with Creative Collective
Here’s one more statistic for you: 36.3% of SEO experts spend the majority of their time on keyword research. At Creative Collective, we know how important it is to understand your ideal customers and what they might look for on a search engine.
Without a deep understanding of your customers and the market as a whole, your content strategy is likely to fall short.
We leverage premium keyword research tools to find out what your customers want most from businesses just like yours. Our experts help your brand come up with local long tail keywords and a custom content calendar that sets your business apart from the competition. While the Google algorithm is always changing, one thing is for certain: Google prioritizes helpful, well-written content.
This is ultimately why keyword research is important. It gives your audience a clear pathway to connect with you by leveraging SEO keywords and creating high-quality content that is more likely to rank in the top spot (which gets you 28.5% of the clicks).
Let Creative Collective help you come up with a content strategy that blows your competition out of the water so that you can rank higher. Contact us today to learn more about our SEO services and content marketing that help you on Google search.