SEO firms spend the majority of their time and efforts implementing strategies to drive traffic to their sites. One of the main factors to consider when doing this is keyword search volume. Keywords are the backbone of SEO and, when used wisely, your website has higher chances of ranking at the top of SERPs.

Search volume is the average number of user queries generated for a given keyword within a specific time frame, usually searches per month. A high score here means that topic, product, or service is of high interest to users.

Knowing how many searches a specific keyword is generating, is crucial when optimizing your site. Why? If you use keywords that no one is looking for, all your efforts will be pointless. If, on the contrary, you use highly sought after keywords, then you need to look into other factors to ensure you focus on the right ones to position your site.

This factor is an essential metric for your SEO campaign. It shows you the relevance of specific keywords and allows you to evaluate the potential traffic they could generate. This is vital not only for your site’s optimization but also if you are running a PPC campaign.

Keywords with a high search volume often imply more traffic, but also, greater competition. The greater the competition, the more effort you need to make to rank high for these keywords. Lower scores indicate lower competition, as well as traffic.

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of high and low search volume keywords for PPC campaigns:

High search volume keywords advantages:

  – More people are likely to see your ad.

  – More people are likely to click on your ad.

  – You are more likely to increase sales.

Disadvantages:

  – Higher per click costs. More clicks, higher costs.

  – Less qualified leads.

Low search volume keywords advantages:

  – Lower costs per click. Fewer clicks, lower costs.

  – More qualified leads.

Disadvantages:

-Fewer ad views.

-Decreased likelihood for people to click on your ad.

-Fewer people are likely to buy your product or service.

Some search volume values are seasonal, while others don’t vary much in relation to the time of the year. For example, it’s unlikely that many people look for “cheap Christmas trees” in July. On the other hand, “women’s shoes on sale” might have a more constant search volume throughout the year.

How can I Use Search Volume to choose the right keywords?

Search volume makes the keyword decision process somewhat easier. But, how can you choose between high or low search volume? Each of them brings something different to the table and, ultimately, a balance between the two is recommended.

In any SEO campaign, a balance between head and long-tail keywords must exist. The first one refers to those that are more general and have more considerable competition. Thus, they have a high search volume. On the other hand, long-tail keywords are much more specific, and the competition involving them is not that big. Integrating both of them on your site is the best way to increase its visibility and authority on SERPs.