Three misconceptions when conducting keyword search volume analyses for SEO

1. Focusing on target keywords only

When you’re doing keyword search volume analysis, it’s easy to simply focus on your target keyword(s). Ultimately, that’s what you want to show up for, right?

Of course, this is very reasonable. But there’s a blind spot here, that many marketers tend to oversee.

When you search for stats for specific keywords only, you miss the share of volume that these occupy, in the grand scale of the topic these fall under.

Let me explain this better with an example. Say you want to rank for ‘best free CRM alternatives to Salesforce’. You hit a search on Ahrefs or Semrush for this keyword string, and receive all the stats you need.

But what you don’t see, is how ‘best free CRM alternatives to Salesforce’ stands against:

• Best alternatives to Salesforce
• Best free CRMs
• CRM software
• CRM

One can argue that the very last one, CRM, isn’t relevant here. But seeing your target keyword (or even a close variation of it) appear as a highly searched for term under the broader umbrella of ‘CRM’ can really help put things into perspective.

Even if not (and even if search volumes are minimal) it’s still wise to keep optimising content for your target keywords, in most cases.

Which brings me to my next point:

2. Equating low keyword search volumes with low potential

In fact, it could very well be the opposite! Especially for long-tail keywords. Think about the psyche of someone typing a long-tail keyword such as ‘best free CRM alternatives to Salesforce’.

They’re keen on getting the exact scoop for what they’ve typed in. At this point, low search volumes for such keywords are (almost) moot. If there’s a CTA providing them with more assistance on choosing the right product, you can be confident they’re going to engage.

Also read: Steps to build a customer journey: mini-guide/cheatsheet

3. Attempting to use the exact same keyword string when building content

When people type queries on search engines, they’re going to omit prepositions, or stitch together multiple words without any punctuations. Case in point: ‘best places to see Sri Lanka’. This is what the search volume analyses will also show, obviously.

But when writing, make sure to be grammatically correct! Add those prepositions, and tweak the keyword string as needed for contextual relevance. Do not force it in as is, in an attempt to rank.

This is a sign of poor editorial integrity, and as an editor myself, seeing this immediately makes me lose any semblance of credibility I may have started to harbour in my mind, for a brand.

Because doing this means you’re writing for search bots, not humans. And even search bots today aren’t all too impressed with anti-human SEO gimmicks.

Oh and also – AEO is more effective with longer phrases. So you won’t be missing out on the potential to rank by omitting a preposition.

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