In this issue, we will be talking about ‘zero search volume’ & how you can leverage to your benefit. We will also debunk some myths about search volumes.

No tool is perfect in determining the exact search volume for the keywords. That’s exactly why you should educate yourself about this.

Ever wondered why the search volume are always even numbers?

All tools make an “guesstimate” before suggesting keywords, especially the search volumes. Lesser the guesstimate, better the tool.

Always optimize for the questions people search & not for the search volume.

You will never fall in the trap of search volumes & waste time if you understand this by heart.

When you focus on ‘zero search volume keywords’, here’s what you get:

1. Low competition keywords (easy to rank #1)
2. Targeted users & chances of converting them into paying customers is super high
3. Variation of keywords that gives you traffic enough that you won’t get otherwise

Checkout this keyword, “number of people on social network”. The tool I use shows the search volume is 0. I’m 100% certain that there are people searching for this (and the variations) keywords for sure.

Most people aren’t focusing on such keywords. Remember, 15% of all searches on Google have never been searched before. Google doesn’t want to embarrass itself by showing empty SERPs.

But there are people who target long tail keywords & ignore ‘zero search volume’ keywords.

It’s peculiar how people forget the accuracy of keyword research tools. When you search for a term & tool says that that is term is search 0 times, you know it’s wrong. Just like you searched, there would be so many people who’d search the same. Isn’t it?

Here’s how ‘Zero search volume’ keywords & Long tail keywords are different:

• Long tail keywords are one of many phrases of ‘Zero search volume’ keywords. Collectively, all the phrases have significant search volume.
• Long tail keywords focus on search intent, but, zero search volume keywords (& all the variations) focus on one outcome.

“Good SEO Is Paying Attention to All the Details That Most Bloggers Ignore.” – Ryan Biddulph

Don’t end your subscription to the keyword research tools, just yet. They’re still gonna help you so much.

Pro Tip: Specifically, look for low/zero search volume keywords.

Let’s see how to optimize a page for ‘zero search volume’ keywords

Step 1: List the pages that are targeting ‘zero volume keywords’

Identify the list of pages that are already ranking for low/zero search volume keywords. Checkout Google search console & see if you can update the page with new data/information.

Further reading: Here’s a video and/or this guide that you can go through to learn more about keyword research.

Step 2: Identify the search intent

Low/zero search volume, long tail are high on search intent. Optimize the CTA depending on the type of keywords. It’s okay that you weren’t getting any traffic so far, but now you know how to leverage ‘zero search volume’ keywords.

Step 3: Internal linking

Audit again & find pages that you can link to & from these pages. This will help you with informing the search crawlers about the updated information. You can get some traffic from newly created pages as well.

Step 4: Promote the pages on social media

Update the posts with zero search volume keywords & create posts on social media to promote.

Think of the scenarios, the user would find it useful & create short posts on that. You can even send out emails & push notifications to bring people to that page. That’s initial traffic, and more to come from search.

TL;DR

1. Begin with optimizing the existing pages for low/zero search volume keywords
2. Identify the search intent of the keywords & optimize the CTA accordingly
3. Leverage internal linking for traffic boost & internal SEO
4. Promote pages with scenarios on social media

That’s it for this issue. I’ll see you in the next week.

If you’re looking forward to win online, here’s how I can help:

1. Sit with you 1-on-1 & create content marketing strategy for your startup. Hire me for paid consulting.
2. Write blogs, social posts, emails for you. Get in touch here with queries (Please mention you found this email in newsletter to get noticed quickly)