Knowing how to find the best low competition keywords can get you ranking much quicker, give you a competitive advantage and ultimately lead to more sales.
In fact, understanding keywords is one of THE most important things you could do online.
I am about to share with you the best way of finding these little gold nugget keywords for free and point out the basics to be aware of when implementing a low competition keyword strategy.
The Rundown On Keyword Research
First of all, a keyword is just search term a person types into a search engine like Google to find something online. Like “best organic garden soil” or “cheap travel packages”. There are endless amounts keywords people use online to find stuff.
Keyword research is the life-blood of any online business or Internet marketing venture so knowing how to choose the best keywords is critical in moving forward. Just choosing a low competition keyword isn’t enough though, there are a couple of other important factors to consider when deciding on a low competition keyword to get rankings for in the search engines.
Let me just share the basics with you real quick…
The Competition
Of course the competition is what we are mostly interested in when searching out a low competition keyword. If it is flooded with competing websites, I don’t even consider it.
It may be getting huge traffic numbers but if I’m never going to rank for it then why bother. Better to have a bigger share of a lower number of searchers than no share of a hugely competitive keyword.
The metric you are looking for here to determine competition is the QSR (Quoted Search Results). This tells you the EXACT number of websites competing for that EXACT search term.
A QSR of 300 or below is the sweet spot and should be easy to get rankings for.
How Much Traffic Is It Pulling?
This is the monthly searches part of the equation. You want to make sure you are choosing a keywords with at least over 50 total searches a month. Of course this number is never 100% accurate as a prediction of your future traffic as no one can ever predict that perfectly, it is an average number.
The good thing about what I am about to share with you is that that ‘average’ number will be a lot more accurate for you to base your content around.
I’ll get to that in a moment…
Are You Human?
After you have identified a good low competition keyword you want to rank for, it is important to make sure it reads well to a human in your headline. Never write a headline or article to awkwardly fit around a keyword phrase.
If it doesn’t fit well within a natural sounding headline that reads well to an actual human, then forget about that keyword.
The last thing you want to do is adversely effect your rankings by jamming awkward keywords in that don’t make sense.
Now that I’ve given you some basics to consider I am going to share with you the best tool to get the job done and start getting you ranked in the search engines under low-competition keywords, and you can try it for yourself for free!
Jaaxy- The Ultimate Low Competition Keyword Tool
Jaaxy is quite simply the best and most advanced keyword tool on the market, let me explain why. When you find keywords using Jaaxy you are not just looking at one metric, you are given every metric that you will need or want to find the best low competition keywords.
Jaaxy provides you with:
- Keyword Idea Generation- Great for coming up with ideas and finding more easy to rank for keywords
- KQI- This is a ‘Keyword Quality Index’ that helps you determine overall how worthwhile a particular keyword is in going for
- QSR- This is your exact competition for a particular search term and the most important metric to consider
- Monthly searches- How many people are searching the keyword on average each month
- SEO Power- Based on a number of factors determines how likely it is you will rank in the search engines with a particular keyword
- Much More- There are many more awesome features within Jaxxy but to keep this article brief and to the point I won’t elaborate any further
These metrics are not only important, but also critical to anyone looking to leverage low competition keywords to get rankings. In particular QSR is the most important, followed by monthly searches. You can access Jaaxy here.
What Makes Jaaxy The Best?
The biggest thing that sets Jaxxy apart from the alternatives is it’s level of accuracy and easy to use interface. A lot of keyword research tools charge people for generic data pulled from Google Adwords, which you can do yourself for free.
The trouble with using Adwords alone is that you are only getting part of what you really need to measure your true competition online. Not to mention you are only getting data from ONE search engine, which does not provide you with an effective competition measurement.
Jaaxy pulls data from ALL the search engines and puts it through an advanced algorithm to deliver you with the most accurate and relevant information you could need when performing a keyword search.
I personally use this tool and have to say I absolutely love it and get incredible results using it. I stuffed around for a month or so with the free version but in the end I took the dive and am glad I did.
Start Ranking For Low-Competition Keywords Like a Pro
The good news is you can get all of this high quality keyword research goodness for free. When you sign up you can test-drive it for as long as you want with 30 free searches. Pretty cool huh?
Final Thoughts
Doing good keyword research is really important to anyone serious about building lasting success online. Going for the lower competition keywords can be a very powerful strategy and one that I personally use.
It may take some work writing good quality content but finding the right keywords makes it all worthwhile because you are giving your content the best chance of ranking.
By starting small and ranking for the easier keywords, your traffic will build up more and more over time and your sales will grow as a result.
Hi, the topic of this text is very interesting and in the same time a bit controversial to me. When you say that with maximum QSR 300 should be easy to rank, I am not convinced. I never go that high, this is simply too competitive.
The problem is that nobody searches with quotes, and QSR in fact gives competition based on quoted search. So the competition is in reality far higher. Google uses any words from the key-phrase, and in ant order, and this is your true competition. I am not so convinced that the data you get from Jaaxy are so useful, but the truth is there is nothing better. Thank you for the text.
Hi Jovo,
The 300 QSR is an approximate guide that I work with and it doesn’t guarantee that it will be easy to rank. This article and the use of Jaaxy is about using a proven formula to give yourself the best CHANCE at ranking. SEO is not an exact science and Google works hard to ensure people cannot ‘crack the code’ to getting ranked at whim. In times past there were little loopholes like backlinks and keyword density etc. but those days are gone.
In my opinion getting ranked well comes down to three things:
1. Using a good keyword research tool to find the best keyword opportunities
2. Learning what works and testing to develop a general ‘system’ of how you do your SEO
3. Making sure your content is high quality, helpful and authoritative
Personally I go for a QSR much lower than 300 because I try and fill a void where other blog owners have overlooked somewhat. If you focus on providing value to Googles search engine users where there may be a need then you are setting yourself up for longterm success. In other words Google will always want to rank content that provides value to its users and will continue working hard to bring those kinds of posts to the top.
While QSR might not be perfect it is a good indicator of who else is trying to rank under a specific term and Jaaxy also provides a few other key indicators to consider as well. It has definitely helped me get posts on the front page and get traffic, and it saves me a ton of time.
Again, there is no exact formula but following a general guide as to what is known to work (without trying to game the system) and focussing on providing quality content will give you the best chance at getting ranked in the search results.
Hope this helps and thanks for commenting.
Great article. I have always struggled with SEO. Especially when I was first starting out. You have some great tips here. I think the “human” element is the most important. I just took part in a webinar a few days ago and the host really emphasized the fact that you have to use keywords that make sense.
As far as tools go, I don’t personally use Jaxxy, mostly because of the monthly fee. I use a combination of Long Tail Pro(one time purchase) and the keyword tool at Wealthy Affiliate. That has worked pretty well for me so far.
Hi Kyle,
Ok sounds like I’m somewhere on the right track then by the sounds of things. It seems Google is really bringing websites into line with the user experience and weeding out the ones only looking to make evertyhing look good to the search engines.
I have not used Long Tail Pro but glad you have a good system that works well for you, thanks for commenting.
This is a great article, thank you. I’m just wondering about the monthly traffic, I usually also go for about 50 searches per month and find traffic is slow going.
Then again my website is only 5 month old!
My organic traffic is steadily increasing, I am getting on average 15 organic search visitors per day now. Do you think this is good? Sorry it is a bit off the keyword topic but it is related…
Hi Lynne,
Glad you liked my article and thanks for commenting 🙂
I think the 50 or more search rule is a good one. The thing is the search volume does vary from month to month so I wouldn’t think 50 is set in stone, it is an average. Sometimes more sometimes less. The other thing to consider is that you my rank for additional keywords as well as the one you are trying to rank for depending on the keyword itself. In other words you may rank for 3 or 4 variations of that targeted keyword thus getting way more traffic.
The most important element to consider when starting out though is the QSR. This is really important as if you choose lower competition keywords (300 QSR or below) then you have a much greater chance of ranking more quickly.
I think 450 visitors per month is a good start! It really depends on your niche as to how much traffic you are potentially going to get, and the sort of website you have. The more targeted and narrow the website the less you may be able to write about and potentially rank for, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The more targeted the higher it will convert. Having said that you might be surprised at how much you can write about a narrow niche if you get creative.
Whatever your website is about, focus on producing content regularly (minimum 3 times per week) and always post it in as regular pattern as possible as Google likes consistency.
The more content you have out there, the more traffic you are going to get.. so get creative and get posting! Soon enough you could be adding a zero to the end of your traffic number 🙂
Hope this helps and thanks for visiting.
I couldn’t of asked for a better answer. That is very true…Focus on excellent content and the rest will happen on its own. Good content = more readers = better business. : )
Thank you very much
Your very welcome Cj and I wish you all the best with your online endeavours, sounds like you’re on the right path 🙂
Thank you for this blog. I think that what you are saying about first learning, is very important. I am also a big believer of self education. With Wealthy affiliate, it just makes the process a bit easier!
What is the amount of money you can make it what time? I know there is a lot of variables, etc. but it will be good to have a more or less figure.
Regards
Hi Cj,
Your very welcome 🙂 Yes learning is something that should be continuous for anyone wanting to be successful in any business venture I think. I think you are right to believe strongly in self education.
College and the like can be good, but for business I think it is way more relevant to just get in there and have a go… learn the theory yes, but also learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward. You will see results I can personally attest to this.
What you can learn and take action on inside Wealthy Affiliate is incredible. I am always learning new things every single day and I’m loving it. The support you get is really encouraging, the place has a good culture about it where everyone wants to help out and teach what they are learning. Very cool stuff.
I think the best answer is, don’t focus on the money to start with. I think we all get caught up doing this and fair enough, this is a business after all. But if you can turn your complete focus onto what you are doing, adding value to your visitors and continually improving what you are doing then the money will just flow as a bi-product.
I think anyone serious should think about investing at least 3-6 months before gaining traction with a consistent income. It is entirely possible to create some exciting profit in that time and keep it building and snowballing to achieve your income goals.
I hope this answers your questions Cj and thanks for visiting my blog, I really value my readers comments!