The success or failure of your SEO strategy largely depends on the keywords you choose. Keywords have a very important role to play in deciding your search engine rankings.
The problem is that all of your competitors are also likely to focus on the same keywords. And chances are, some of them might already be ranking for relevant keywords in your niche. So, you need to focus on finding keywords that have low competition and yet, high search volumes.
Low-competition keywords are crucial because your competitors might not have used them yet. So, they can help you acquire top ranks in search engine results. They can also help you generate high-quality organic traffic to your website.
Having said that, it’s not easy to find low-competition keywords. Here are some ways you can find and select relevant low-competition keywords:
1. Start with Keyword Research
This is the first step in the process of finding low-competition keywords. You need to conduct thorough keyword research to find keywords that are relevant to your niche and business.
One way to do that is to use Google searches. You should search for your primary keyword on Google and make sure to note the results.
Say, your keyword is “diabetes health care,” you need to search for this keyword on Google. The search engine provides you with the approximate number of results available for that keyword.
If the number of available is equal to or less than 1,000,000, you can consider the search term to be having a decent search volume. This can be your first step to finding low-competition keywords with high search volume.
The next step is to conduct searches with “allinurl,” “allintitle,” and “allintext.” Perform an “allinurl” search and note down the number of search results. These are the results in which the page URL includes the keyword.
Similarly, search for your keyword with “allintitle.” The search results will include posts that have the keyword in their titles.
If the number of these search results is less than or equal to 1000, you have a chance to rank for the keyword. Performing searches using these terms can help you find low-competition keywords, which are comparatively easier to rank for.
You can also search for your potential keyword with “allintext.” If the number of search results with “allintext” are greater than the number of original search results by 50% or more, you should not target the keyword.
This exercise will help you understand how competitive your main keywords are.
2. Find Long-Tail Low-Competition Keywords
Now that you have an idea of how competitive your broad keywords are, it’s time to discover long-tail keywords. Ensure that your long-tail keywords are related to your main keywords.
Low-competition long-tail keywords can help you drive more organic traffic to your website. They can also help you drive qualified leads and can lead to more conversions. This will help you get an edge over your competitors.
Long-tail keywords usually consist of three or more words. When you search for your main keyword on Google, they appear as related searches towards the end of search results.
Say, your main keyword is “how to blog.” When you search for it, Google suggests you to also look for related search terms.
In this case, you can target long-tail keywords such as:
- How to blog for free
- How to start a blog and make money
- How to start a blog on WordPress
To simplify the process of finding low competition long-tail keywords, you can use Google Auto Suggest, Keyword Tool, and Google Search Related Terms. This can make the job easier for you.
1. Google Auto Suggest
When you type in a keyword, Google Auto Suggest will show you some of the frequently searched terms by users. The suggestions that appear here are more likely to have a high demand. Targeting these keywords might prove beneficial to improving your SEO.
2. Keyword Tool
I would also recommend that you use free tools like Keyword Tool. This tool can make it easier for you to find relevant yet low-competition long-tail keywords.
The free version of this tool allows you to generate more than 750 long-tail keyword recommendations for every term you search. You can filter the list based on your target country.
3. Google Search Related Terms
In my opinion, this is one of the most effective ways to find low-competition long-tail keywords. Just like Google Auto Suggest, the keywords that appear under “related searches” on Google also have a high search volume.
All you need to do is to search for your potential low-competition keywords and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Here you will find some of the most frequently used, related search terms for your main keywords.
These long-tail keywords can help you beat your competitors and secure high rankings in search engine results.
3. Analyze Top Web Pages for Your Keywords
Merely adding low-competition keywords to your content might not ensure high rankings in search engine results. Let me break this down for you.
You might have identified and created a list of relevant low-competition keywords. Now, it is time to analyze the top web pages for these keywords.
Check out the top posts that are ranking for your target keywords to see how your competitors have optimized their content. Analyzing the top-performing content on your keywords can improve your chances of outranking them.
You can check your competitors’ content for parameters such as Page Authority, Domain Authority, and the number of high-quality backlinks, and social shares.
This analysis will help you figure out the strategies that are working well for your competitors. You can identify their strengths and weaknesses, and use this to your advantage to secure high search results rankings.
However, you should not copy their strategies as is. In fact, you should tweak their successful strategies to best meet your business goals.
Sometimes, the biggest opportunities could come from your competitors. I recommend that you should leverage an effective competitor analysis tool such as SpyFu to turn threats into opportunities.
This tool enables you to examine your competitors’ content and keywords. You can also identify the domains that are your closest competitors and beat them one by one.
Identifying the low-competition keywords they are using can help you outrank them in less time and effort. You can target those keywords to improve your search results rankings and drive more high-quality organic traffic to your website.
4. Create Engaging Content
Now that you have analyzed your competitors’ content and identified the low-competition keywords they use, it’s time to create engaging content.
Make sure that you create content that satisfies user intent and answers their queries perfectly. I would recommend that you should follow the below tips to create great content:
- Create long-form content (more than 2000 words). High-quality long-form content can help you rank better as compared to shorter pieces. Also, include relevant visuals such as images, videos, and/or infographics in your content.
- Write short sentences and paragraphs. Use bullets wherever possible to make the content easy-to-read and grab the attention of your target audience.
- If possible, include your low-competition keywords in subheadings. This will not only help you get the attention of your readers but also help you rank better in search results.
- In addition to all of these, make sure that you create original content. To avoid any sort of plagiarism issues, I would suggest that you check your content with plagiarism checker tools such as Copyscape.
Final Thoughts
Keywords have a huge impact on your search results rankings. So, you need to perform effective keyword research and find low-competition keywords for your niche.
Make sure that you analyze what’s working well for your competitors and what isn’t. It is important to identify the keywords they are ranking for.
Targeting the low-competition keywords they are using can help you outrank them faster and drive more high-quality organic traffic to your website.
Do you know of any other ways to find low-competition keywords? Please feel free to share your preferred strategies in the comments below.
