Keyword Search Volume Insights: A Detailed Overview

So you’ve identified the top keywords you want to incorporate into your content. Which ones offer the most bang for your buck, so to speak?

You can find out by analyzing keyword search volume.

Keywords help search engines figure out what a site’s content is about. Keyword search volume can help you assess the potential traffic that specific keywords will generate. With these data-driven insights, you can tweak your content strategy to drive even more targeted traffic to your site. 

Search volume is one of the fundamentals of keyword research. Read on to learn about evaluating keywords for relevance and competition, tools you can use, and valuable context to help you choose the right keywords to target

Key Takeaways

• Keyword search volume helps you evaluate user interest and potential traffic.
• However, leveraging search volume effectively requires also analyzing keyword relevance and competition.
• Tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner help you research search volume to inform your SEO strategies.
• Evergreen keywords offer consistent search volume year-round, while seasonal keywords fluctuate based on specific events (such as holidays).
• Monitoring keyword search volume and tracking performance consistently is essential to optimize your content and keep a competitive edge in search engine rankings.

What Is Keyword Search Volume?

So what is keyword search volume? It’s the average number of times a keyword is searched for within a specific time frame, such as a month or a year. This can help you assess its popularity and potential to bring traffic to your site, whether you are identifying content topics or planning a campaign.

As you can imagine, search volume can change based on trends, recent events, the season, and a host of other factors, which may be foreseen or not.

Keep in mind that keywords with a high search volume are more competitive, so it can be harder to rank for them. However, a high search volume is relative depending on the context. If you are selling cybersecurity software, the competitive landscape is much harder than if you are providing a very specific manufacturing component.

Understanding keyword search volume can help you choose the right keywords for your target audience and ensure your SEO strategy is always on point.

Evergreen vs. Seasonal Keywords

Keyword search volume can fluctuate over time, although some keywords remain popular. These are called evergreen keywords, because they’re always relevant no matter what season it is or what else is happening in the world. 

Some examples of evergreen keywords might include “how to lose weight” or “best credit cards.” Because they provide consistent traffic, they’re useful for long-term content and SEO strategies.

Seasonal keywords, on the other hand, have high search volumes at specific times of the year or during particular events, such as holidays or the beginning of the school year. Examples might include “Christmas gift ideas” or “back-to-school sales.” You can use these keywords to capitalize on seasonal trends, increasing the visibility of your website and attracting more traffic during these periods.

Why Is Keyword Search Volume Important?

If your keyword strategy is already pretty effective, you may be asking yourself if you really need to bother with analyzing keyword search volume. But there are some very good reasons for you to pay attention to it:

• It helps you gauge user interest and estimate potential traffic. High search volume can help you attract more visitors.
• Keyword search volume can help guide your content strategy by uncovering popular and emerging topics that your audience is interested in.
• For PPC campaigns, higher volume keywords can cost more per click, but the traffic and business they bring in can justify the investment. 
• Lower volume keywords may not get as much traffic, but if they are super-relevant for your niche, the users that do search for that query may be ideal customers for you.
• Monitoring keyword search volume over time can help you keep up with trends and changes in consumer preferences, so you can adjust your strategy to maintain or increase traffic.
• A strong mix of high-volume and low search volume keywords to target expands your site’s visibility across a range of searches and users.

What Is a Good Keyword Search Volume?

The answer to this question is it depends! As with many things in SEO and content, it’s all relative. A good keyword search volume for your business depends on your industry, your goals, and various other factors.  

However, in general, a good keyword search volume is enough to bring relevant traffic to your site but not so high that it makes ranking for it extremely difficult.

Larger websites with high authority might target keywords with extremely high search volumes because they can compete for them effectively. For smaller or newer websites, or websites in niche industries, that strategy will not be as effective. 

A better strategy for those smaller websites would be to research lower-volume keywords with less competition. These are often “long-tail keywords,” which are more specific and longer phrases. They’re easier to rank for—and because they often indicate user intent more directly, they may result in more conversions. 

Ultimately, a good keyword search volume is high enough to drive meaningful traffic and low enough to be practical and achievable.

Factors to Consider in Keyword Search Volume

There’s a lot to keep in mind when researching keyword search volume. These are a few of the main aspects to consider.

• Competition. As mentioned earlier, keywords with high search volume are more competitive, which can make it difficult or expensive to rank for them. Low volume keywords may present a better opportunity.
• Relevance. The keyword should be related to your content, products, or services to attract the right audience. Using irrelevant keywords just to bring in traffic can cause user frustration and might even negatively affect your search rankings.
• Intent. It’s important to not just take the keywords at face value but to understand the user intent behind them. People might be searching for information, trying to navigate to a specific page, looking for a local service or product, comparing items, or planning to make a purchase. 

Balancing these factors can help you develop a well-rounded strategy that brings in targeted traffic and ultimately helps you reach your business objectives. 

How to Find Keyword Search Volume

So how do you check keyword search volume? Fortunately, there are various affordable and user-friendly tools available online. 

Which one is right for you depends on the features you need and your budget. Here’s an overview of some of the most popular tools out there today.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer pulls from a database of 29 billion keywords. Simply enter a keyword and it will show you the search volume and keyword difficulty. It even breaks down global traffic by country and shows you the potential traffic for each keyword.

You can also play with the filters for search volume and keyword difficulty to find high-volume, low-competition keywords, as well as that align with your preferred user intent.

Ahrefs’ prices start at $129 a month, but you get a lot of value for the investment.

Semrush

Semrush’s keyword tool is similar to Ahrefs. You enter a keyword into the search bar, then navigate to “Keyword Analytics.” Go to the Keyword Overview to see the search volume results.

You can also see how the search volume for a keyword has trended over time, which is helpful for tracking fluctuations and seasonal spikes. 

The overview suggests keyword variations, including the keywords in the form of a question and the volume for those options, which can aid in exploring related keywords 

Pricing starts at $129.95 a month, also similar to Ahrefs.

Moz Keyword Explorer

As in other keyword tools, you just need to input a keyword into the search bar and Moz does the rest.

Moz provides a monthly volume, which you can see in either a single number or a range. Some marketers like seeing a minimum and maximum volume. This also makes it easier to track changes over time.

A particularly nice feature is the Priority score, which can point to potential opportunities. The higher the score, the higher the volume and the lower the difficulty for ranking for that term. 

You can see keyword search volume on Moz with free keyword searches a day with limited features. Beyond that, plans start at $99 a month.

Google Keyword Planner

Good news: Anyone with a Google Ads account already has access to this tool. If you don’t, signing up is easy and free. Once that’s done, go to “Tools” in the left-hand menu, then click on the Keyword Planner.

In addition to monthly search volume, this tool gives you the change in volume over three months and year over year and rates the competition.

You can also go to the Forecast tab to see the estimated search volume and cost per click, plus other metrics. There’s also a nice chart showing the devices users are likely to be using when searching for a keyword.

The range of features plus the free access makes Keyword Planner a great option when you’re considering how to check keyword search volume.

Google Trends

Another valuable free tool, Google Trends lets you enter a phrase to see interest in that term over time. While interest doesn’t necessarily equal search volume, this does give the opportunity to identify queries that may potentially have higher search volume. 

 Plus you can adjust the filters to explore different countries, subregions, and timeframes.

You can also see what searches are trending in different categories, like business, health, and technology. This might give you potential keyword ideas as well.

Overall, Google Trends is less precise than the other tools, but it can be a complementary resource to a more refined tool.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is my own keyword research tool, and it can be very handy for exploring the search volume for a keyword, among other things.

It breaks out the difficulty for both organic and paid, cost per click and provides added insights like how many backlinks the average top-ranking web page for that keyword has and its domain authority. 

You can also see the percentage of people who click on results for that keyword as well as the age range of users who search for it. 

In addition to the top suggested keyword variations and their search volume, it will show you content using the keyword, which you can use as a starting point to kick off your own content ideas.

The free option gives you three searches every day. Monthly plans start at $29 a month, and I also offer a unique option to pay once for lifetime access—which starts at just $290!

What Keyword Search Volumes Means for Your SEO Strategy

As fascinating and valuable as keyword search volume is, it’s just one piece of the SEO puzzle. High search volume is just that—search volume. There are so many other factors in play, from user intent to competition, that must also be considered in your strategy.

Search volume can also change dramatically over time in response to everything from fashion trends to news events to a popular TikTok. That’s why you need to consistently monitor keyword search volume and other metrics. 

Using the tools I’ve mentioned here as well as your own internal resources can give you hard data to inform your decision making. By adjusting your keywords and SEO strategy in line with trends and consumer preferences, you can position your site to attract more traffic and convert more visitors. 

FAQs

What is keyword search volume and why is it important?

Keyword search volume refers to the number of times users search for a particular keyword or phrase over a specific period of time. It helps marketers assess how popular a keyword is and whether they should include it in their SEO strategy.

How can I find keyword search volume for my targeted keywords?

There are a number of tools available online, including Ahrefs, Semrush, and Ubersuggest. Some have free options you can use for a limited number of searches.

Is there a way to determine local search volume for specific keywords?

Most keyword planning tools include filters that you can use to adjust results to focus on regional or local areas.

What tools can I use to monitor keyword search volume and track performance?

Most keyword planning tools include features to help you monitor changes in keyword search volume over time. You can use dedicated tracking tools like Google Analytics to monitor performance, or choose an all-in-one platform like Moz, Semrush, or Ahrefs.

Are there different types of keywords based on search volume trends?

Yes, there are several different types of keywords. Evergreen keywords show consistent levels of search volume for a keyword over time, while seasonal keywords show spikes around events like holidays or seasons. Long-tail keywords are longer keyword queries with more specificity compared to short-tail keywords. Those are just a few of the categories that keywords can fall into.

Conclusion

Now that you understand keyword search volume, you may be itching to try out these tools. Go ahead and check the volume for keywords you’re already using, and look for new ones you might incorporate into your SEO strategy moving forward.
Just remember that successful SEO is a constantly moving target. But by understanding concepts like search volume and its role and impact on SEO basics, you’re already ahead of the game.