What is Search Volume?
What is search volume?
Search volume is a metric that shows how many people are searching for a particular query. When creating your content strategy, taking search volume into account is vital because it reflects the popularity of the query. Ideally, you want to find keywords with a high search volume and a low rate of search competition. However, finding long-tail keywords that appeal to your target audience with low competition can also be an effective strategy.
Why is monitoring search volume important?
Looking at your search volume can provide you with important insight about the popularity of certain keywords and how it fluctuates throughout the year. Exact match data will tell you precisely how many searches were run each month of the year. Rolling average data, on the other hand, will account for all of the volume for all the searches throughout the year and find you the average. This can be helpful if you are working with highly seasonal keywords, such as "Super Bowl" or "Halloween Costumes." If you only used the exact match and started to do research in May, it might be a challenge to ascertain the true value of the keyword.
How do you use search volume data?
- Armed with the data gained from search volume research, you can target optimal keywords throughout the year. Since you will know the value of particular keywords and how their usage fluctuates throughout the year, you will be able to identify optimal opportunities to target them.
- You will be able to understand historical trends and make future projections. As you compile historical search volume for particular keywords, you will be able to see if drops indicate a loss of value for the keyword or if it is a part of regular, yearly cycle. This will help you make future projections about the keyword’s performance and inform your decisions about the best keywords to use in your content.
Using search volume can help you begin to compile the keywords that you will use to build a successful website. Understand the difference between the exact match data and the rolling average data and use them as needed to better understand a keyword’s performance.
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