Search engine optimization (SEO) is quite often viewed through the lens of traffic. There is a widely held belief that you should only concentrate on keywords that have a high search volume, because pages utilizing those keywords will send more traffic to your website, giving you more opportunities to convert visitors into leads.
What that belief fails to account for, however, are the ways all pieces of content on a website -- not just the highly trafficked ones -- can be beneficial. Low traffic keywords may still be worthwhile to pursue; not because they have the potential to deliver hordes of visitors, but because they have the potential to deliver inbound links.
Links Are the Mission
Though a lot has changed with the Google search algorithm in the past decade and a half, one thing has remained very consistent: inbound links continue to serve as a reliable ranking signal. The more high quality links you have coming in, the more authority your website holds in the eyes of Google. And the more authority your website has, the easier it is to rank for the more competitive keywords you’re targeting.
This is where the low traffic keywords come into play. These keywords may not get you hundreds or thousands of visitors a day, but they do still have a role to play in your overall SEO strategy. Because their traffic upside is low, they tend to have less competition and less “keyword difficulty,” and are therefore a lot easier to rank using on-page SEO alone.
If you create blog posts or pages targeting a few of these less attractive keywords, you have a much better chance at getting them to rank on Google’s front page (or even better, in the top spot). And if someone creates a piece of content on the same topic, your website will be one of the first they see. They could end up citing your post or page, giving you a free inbound link without requiring you to do any “link building” outreach whatsoever.
Keep this in mind the next time you start the keyword research process and someone tells you the low traffic options aren’t worth pursuing. When considering traffic numbers alone, that may be a valid argument. But these keywords can still have an impact if you think about the bigger picture.
Talk to the SEO Experts
Are you interested in improving your website rankings on Google? Do you want to put your product or service in front of more potential customers? We'd be glad to help. Reach out to HexaGroup today to learn more about our SEO services and how we've helped countless companies just like yours be seen by more people.
