Should You Target Zero Search Volume Keywords? Answer these 3 Questions

Want to know if you should target zero search volume keywords?

Find out with the #zerovolume challenge

But before then, let’s talk about everything you need to know about no search volume keywords…

And answer 3 questions that will determine if you should target them or not.

What are Zero Search Volume Keywords?

Zero Search Volume Keywords are exactly what they say they are – keywords that have no search volume. At least by keyword research tools.

They’re also called “no volume keywords”

Take a look at this:

The keyword “target zero search volume keywords” has no data at all which means that it is a zero-volume keyword.

Are No Search Volume Keywords and Long-Tail Keywords the same?

Yes, they are the same.

Think of it this way.

A long-tail keyword has more than 3 words in it.

And there’s no limit to the number of words a long tail keyword can have. And the longer it gets, the less volume it has.

PS: Even if a keyword is 17 words long, it’s still called a long-tail keyword.

But you should know that there are tons of ways users can phrase and rephrase these keywords even when they all have the same user intent.

For example:

Fairytale story books for children
Children story books about fairytales
Children’s fairytale story books

Why does this matter?

It does because while one keyword may have no search volume, all the keyword variations together may have considerable search volume.

But how?

There’s something called Phrase Match.

According to Google, “a phrase match keyword will match all the searches as the same keyword in an exact match”

This just means that in the example above, all the different keywords mean the same thing in the eyes of Google because they have the same user intent.

So, if you create content on ‘fairytale story books for children,’ Google is going to show your content in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) for all the other related keywords.

Can Keyword Tools be Trusted?

No. At least not 100%

But don’t take my word for it, let’s do a little comparison:

I’ve searched for the keyword: “zero search volume keywords” on both Semrush and Ahrefs – two of the best SEO tools out there and they’ve both given me very different results.

It’s a lot easier to believe the data that Keyword tools give when they have a relatively high search volume because even if 2 tools are giving different numbers, they’re usually within the same range.

But when it comes to zero-volume keywords, you’ll often find that these numbers differ and often by a very large range.

So, should you believe the data from keyword tools?

Let’s dive deeper.

16-20% of all keywords searched on Google each day are brand new

Each day on Google, new queries are made.

Queries with one search intent are written and rewritten in completely different ways and sometimes people just have new stuff they want to know!

This is why most keyword tools may not have data for a specific keyword yet.

So How Do Keyword Tools Get Their Search Data?

Keyword tools get their data directly from Google’s keyword database.

But there’s a major problem with this – Google’s Keyword tool is purely commercial intent-based.

In fact, it does not collect data for informational queries, which means it excludes a ton of searches.

But does this mean that Keyword tools are completely unreliable?

No.

As a matter of fact, most of the best SEO campaigns, we specialists perform today are possible thanks to keyword tools.

So, what am I saying?

While keyword tools may not be 100% accurate, use them as a guide instead of throwing them out completely.

How Do You Know If a Zero Search Volume Keyword is Worth It?

The user intent.

User intent simply refers to the intention a user had when searching for a specific keyword. User intent can be categorised into 4:

Informational Search Intent – users are searching for specific information. For example: how to change a car tyre.

Transactional Search Intent – users want to buy something or conduct a transaction right away. For example: buy gift cards online

Navigational Search Intent – users are looking for directions to a physical or online location. For example: when users search for Facebook. They’re usually looking to go to Facebook.com

Commercial Search Intent – users are looking to investigate brands and services

Ultimately, if you can determine the search intent on that zero-volume keyword, then it is worth it and by all means, go for it!

Benefits of No Search Volume Keywords

Remember when I said there were conversations as to whether it’s worth targeting or not?

Well, let’s look at some benefits of targeting them:

1. Generate Organic Traffic

SEO is a very competitive field, and this isn’t to scare you.

There are lots of businesses looking to rank for keywords that you also want to rank for.

And the worst part is that the online businesses that have been around for a while have already called shotgun on the short-tail keywords.

And what’s more? 70% of long-tail keywords make up most of the search queries on Google.

It’s almost as if, newbies have no keywords left for them.

But this is where no search volume keywords come in.

Remember how 16-20% of search queries are new?

Well, that’s 16-20% of organic traffic that you can pillage!

To put this even more clearly, that’s an untapped pool of potential customers who become paying customers!

Companies already successful in the SEO game, can dominate even more and make competition almost impossible if they focus on these kinds of keywords.

(but please don’t, let the newbies shine)

2. Less Competition

More than 547,200 new websites are created globally every day!

And if all these websites want to rank, they’d need a great SEO strategy to go against websites with higher domain authorities that are stealing the short-tail and now long-tail keywords.

These websites that have been around longer have:

A higher domain authority
More backlinks even from industry top dogs
Optimized content for lots of short-tail keywords and even long-tail keywords

So a new website would face so much competition, going against them.

But with no search volume keywords, you have way less competition because not a lot of companies will want to rank for them.

Face it, what are the chances that a website with a successful SEO strategy generating over 100% ROI will want to shift its focus to zero volume keywords?

So with the little competition you have to face now, simply create content that’s capable of outranking theirs and you’re good to go.

3. Answer search queries concisely

When someone searches for: ‘how to find low volume keywords in a competitive industry,’ it’s a lot easier to know what they want and give them exactly what they want.

So you create simple and easy content without racking your brain.

How to Target Zero Search Volume Keywords and Get Results

1. Perform a keyword research

Check out the autofill section on Google for long-tail keywords and also the people also ask section

They provide actual queries that people search for.

To make it more effective, you can check the volume of these keywords in any keyword tool.

Learn more about choosing the best keyword for your website

2. Consider phrase matching, keyword variations and LSI keywords

As I mentioned earlier, you want to include related keywords in your content.

One keyword alone might not give you any traffic but after including LSI keywords, these can altogether boost your traffic.

3. Consider User Intent

The user intent of the keyword is just as important as every other step here.

Don’t create content that’s not relevant to your user’s intent.

Should You Target Zero Search Volume Keywords?

After going through this post, you must have learned a thing or two about zero volume keywords.

But if you’re still wondering if you should target them or not, just answer these 3 questions:

Can you rank for short and long-tail keywords?

If you can, you really have no use for zero volume keywords.

What are your company goals?

If you’re already crushing the keywords in your niche and want to annihilate all forms of competition, then you can give zero volume keywords a chance.

Do you have the time?

Time is of the essence. If you can think of 5 other things you can do to scale your business rather than focusing on zero volume keywords, then don’t waste your time.

#ZeroVolume Challenge

Still wondering if you should target zero search volume keywords? I’ll do it so you don’t have to!

I wrote this blog using zero volume keywords, and if you’re attentive enough, you’ll know what keyword that is.

The reason for this challenge is to show you firsthand how much volume a zero search volume keyword can get

Follow me on LinkedIn so you’ll be notified immediately I share the results!

And if you’ve got a website too, hop on this challenge too!

Just tag me on LinkedIn and use the #zerovolume hashtag.

Need More Help?

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It’s as low as $99.99 and you’ll still rank and convert!

Amanda Nze

Amanda Nze, the founder of AmandaTalksSEO, is an SEO specialist who has successfully boosted her client's website traffic from almost zero to over a thousand organic clicks with limited backlinks.