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High search volume may be a good thing, or so you might think. However, if that specific keyword isn’t getting any clicks then it becomes a rather redundant one on your list. Thus, you can’t always trust search volume and nor should you choose your keywords based on that alone. Any SEO professional will tell you that ranking a page for a high volume keyword will not necessarily drive a ton of traffic to your website. This can be for a number of reasons which I am going to break down for you:
1. Firstly, keywords are often measured as an annual average. Take “Thanksgiving Dinner” as a prime example. People are not going to search for this term within few months or best part of a year after it has just taken place. Thus, the annual volume average for say, April, would not make sense or at least it would not be accurate to use that figure.
2. Google AdWords combines keywords for search volumes. Therefore, for search words which have abbreviations are likely to be combined. For example, “NHS” or “National Health Service”, may have a popular search volume according to AdWords when in reality, they will both be different.
3. Keyword research tools vary the frequency at which they update their data and thus, search volume data will not always be as accurate as it may seem. There will be a degree of variance depending on which keyword tool you use.
4. Variance even exists within Google’s own keyword tools itself. Google Keyword Planner, for the Google “Forecaster” and Google Search Console “Impressions”, the stats are different for the same keywords.
Essentially, keyword research is an essential part of SEO and takes time. Changes in search engine algorithms, staying ahead of your competition, making sure your content is both relevant and user friendly, on top of a host of other reasons is why you need to have a clear strategy for your website.
We hope that the above reasons help you to understand SEO keyword concepts that little bit more than you did before. Drop us an email or check out our weekly blog and SEO pages for more info!