Does Keyword Difficulty Of Zero Mean It Leads Traffic Near 0 too?



Discussion 3: Does Keyword Difficulty Of Zero Mean It Leads Traffic Near 0 too?

Odowa
Hello SEO users, sorry if am sounding stupid.
This year in January, I began SEO work on my own blog, so am a newbie in SEO, my niche is not all that competitive as most of the main keywords have KD of zero and atmost 3. But I don't have any traffic yet the competition is so low in my niche, Most of the time I have been writing blog articles and doing on page SEO. I can't afford backlinks, so I have not been doing any linking building on my blog posts. But since the competition is low, someone told me I don't need backlinks so much, Am targeting international traffic (USA). What am I doing wrong? What can I do inorder to start getting some traffic? Should as just post articles in bulk hoping that by chance one of them will rank?
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Daniel
You have a few good answers here. Backlinks done the right way are always helpful though. I will kind of curtail off of princesses post here and tell you that you should research schema markup and learn it inside and out. For a low competitive niche you should easily be scoring position zeros with how to type, paragraph type, list type, there are many more. Get your schema markup fully optimized and you will see your traffic exponentially grow, once again especially in a low competition vertical.

Mike Β» Daniel
Can u suggest the best resources or apps to learn/do schema?
Daniel Β» Mike
I only use Google's native tools for the most part. Plus I usually hardcode it right into the header. But there are some schema engines out there that you can use to make things a little easier for yourself. So the resource you should use is really Google. Also go ahead and Google schema markup engines. Just research research research and it will take time and trial and error but if you put the effort in it is a gold mine.
There are many but your main focal points are usually going to be how to schema type, list, paragraph, and for those you're going for position zero. Then you want to make sure also to go after FAQ, and PPA types. Along with all of the formal ones that fit your business type whether it's a local service, organization, nonprofit, etc etc.
Rienzi Mosqueda Β» Daniel
– at low KD you still need backlinks????
– you don't need schema to win featured snippets. Where did you get that?
Daniel Β» Rienzi Mosqueda
Nope reread. I did not say you need backlinks. I said backlinks done right are always helpful. How can you argue otherwise.
Furthermore maybe you're not familiar with the zero search method but part of the method principle is that you are going to make low search volume keywords high volume keywords. Which is where a strong enough strategic backlink campaign will come in handy big time.
Lastly, fine don't use schema and try and get your featured snippets that way. I will stick with schema markup, all day. I will stick with tracking the very questions people are asking all day. Not only online based on my clients industry and competitor analysis but also by keeping track of my clients websites search field.
But I wish you good luck getting a position zero list type with no schema markup lol
Rienzi Mosqueda
I don't need luck.
I know schema markups don't contribute to featured snippets or your so-called position zero. πŸ™‚
To test your theory check this out:
https://validator.schema.org/
What part of the schema article is responsible for them winning the featured snippet? πŸ™‚

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Rienzi Mosqueda
"I said backlinks done right are always helpful."
– still, a no-no when there's literally low backlink competition going on.
Daniel Β» Rienzi Mosqueda
That is without question JSON schema, and it even says it right in the validator "Type = Article". You can achieve the same with numerous types of schema. Or are you joking with me?
And ok cool, if you have a chance at getting a link from an authority because they like your content go ahead and be my guest telling them "it's a no no."
Rienzi Mosqueda Β» Daniel
Are you saying you can win featured snippets with Schema article?? πŸ˜ƒ
"and ok cool, if you have a chance at getting a link from an authority because they like your content go ahead and be my guest telling them "it's a no no."
– circumstantial at best.
Daniel Β» Rienzi Mosqueda
That's enough because I see what's going on and I'm not going to waste anymore of my time.
You can have multiple schematypes on one page and you chose to show article in the validator. There is the source code on the left and if I pour through that I can tell you every type of schemma they have on the page but not going to waste my time. I have already given these instructions. I have already made these points. What are you doing?
Rienzi Mosqueda
If what you are saying is a fact – Could you pinpoint which schema influences the featured snippet? just so we all know.
This is the back end of that particular item that made it to the featured snippet:
<h4>Standard Knot: Tying a basic knot</h4>
<ol role="list">
<li>Place the shoes on a flat surface. Tie a basic knot.</li>
<li>Make a loop with one of the laces </li>
<li>Use your other hand to wrap the other lace around the loop. </li>
<li>Pull the shoelace through the hole to form another loop. </li>
<li>Hold both loops and pull them tight.</li>
</ol>
obviously no structured data there.


Fion
It a very good question. Unfortunately there is no simple answer. You need to find article keywords that no one has answered yet, but that some people are searching for. Never mind keyword difficulty scores. Look at the search results with your own eyes. Are they full of pages that answer the question or are they full of junk that really doesn't answer the question? If its the latter then you will rank even with very little links. But the latter scenario is hard to find.

Odowa ✍️ » Fion
Ok since I can't afford backlinks, do you think it is still possible to get organic traffic? What strategy can I use?
Daniel Β» Odowa
Great answer and it perfectly curtailed off of what I was saying. Part of schema method requires that you pay attention to what people are asking. One such place you can get very valuable information is your own websites search field and if you don't have one you really need to put one on there and track it. The other place you can find that answer is a lot of sem tools, like SEMrush, ahrefs, market Muse … And finally it's just like the gentleman said you can simply manually do it especially if you're a local service company SEO.
I like to use every tool I can and every method I can but I am a big fan of manual that's why I was saying about schema markup you should look up instructions straight out of Google and use their tools to accomplish it. But I'm not sure where you're at with your web development abilities. You may be a designer. Idk ..
Fion Β» Odowa
You can afford backlinks. All you need to do is search for "write for us" + keywords related to your topic, in Google. Find 2 or three high traffic blogs that have DoFollow links in their content, or allow you to link to your site from an author bio. Then write a few posts for them, linking to your own articles where relevant. This should be enough to get enough authority to rank for keywords that are not competitive. If you choose the right keywords and write engaging and informative content, then yes. The hard part is choosing the right keywords
Daniel Β» Fion
Well technically you're right you don't have to pay for backlinks but also technically that's not even possible why because time is money. Right? So by doing "Manual Outreach" you are still paying for backlinks and therefore to some degree at least save your time, therefore money, and simply buy, at least some to supplement your manual outreach efforts. At least this way you end up with extra time.
Odowa ✍️ » Daniel
Thanks for your response, that aside, do you think it is possible to get traffic without backlinks in a low competitive niche? Where most keywords have utmost 4 KD, and ranking articles on Google page one have zero backlinks? Though the sites have a high domain authority and are not niche websites but directory websites?
Daniel Β» Odowa
Now there's some important information I didn't have before. It doesn't mean I take back anything I said it just means there's more for me to say now. The answer is it's going to be very hard for you to rank in this case. This is why I try not to ever really talk definitively about SEO because there are so many circumstances and situations that can change the general rules of thumb that we go by in our industry.
Because you say page one of the SERP is dominated by high authority sites the answer is it's going to be difficult to rank. It doesn't matter that these are directory websites they are still websites. Furthermore just because there is no direct link to the article you're looking at that does not in any way shape or form mean that the TLD doesn't have thousands of backlinks. And then this is where your internal anchor strategies come in. They are without question somehow feeding a lot of Link equity to these articles you're talking about via internal anchors.
However once again this is where schema markup comes in to save the day, because while their articles may be ranking well, there might be a whole lot of questions related to the topics of these articles that aren't quite being answered in the coveted position zero spot and therefore you should try to find some of those questions that aren't being answered and next thing you know you're going to be above all of them including the local pack and ads if there are any.
I would also advise taking everything everyone says with a grain of salt because none of us know your exact situation and would have to do an audit to truly be able to give you more definitive advice then you're getting.

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Discussion 2: Does Zero Search Volume Mean It Leads Traffic Near 0 too?

Thomas
Hey guys, what's your strategy if your new client's keywords have zero to no search volume?
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Jake
Find profitable keywords
Ammon πŸŽ“
It depends. Yeah, I know. But it really does depend on *why* there is no volume. I've had a few clients with a product or service that is so unusual or new that nobody *knows* to search for it, sure, but they still search for things related to the issue or problem that the product or service helps with.
For an example, one client in the past was the inventor of an electronic fly swatter, back when there were no rivals or awareness of such a thing. So nobody was going to be searching for an electronic fly swatter. But they were still searching for how to get rid of flying insects, etc.
It is usually about moving up the chain of events that might lead to a purchase, backtracking to the research they do *before* selecting which solution is the right one for them, and providing content that helps them to see where your innovative, previously unknown solution would fit in, and how it compares to other options (advantages and disadvantages).
Then, there's rarity – the ultra niche markets. A product or service that very few people want, but which is still very much a viable market given what those few who want it are prepared to pay.
Those kinds of markets are usually all about the content marketing and selling the dream. For instance, think about super-cars, whether Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti, or whatever. Very few people are ever actually in the market to buy one of these, and yet still people will search for images, calendars, posters, and all the latest info because content marketing has made these into aspirational searches.
With a rare, niche, high-ticket product or service, whether that is custom itinerary private cruises, luxury homes, or whatever else, if it can be made into something aspirational, something even those who can't afford it will talk about, share, dream of one day being in a position to buy, then content to spark that aspiration is the way to go.
Somewhere between these, sometimes a combination of the two, is where your answer probably lies. But you'd need to be a lot more specific to get a more specific answer.
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Patil Β» Ammon
That's interesting Ammon


Ryan
I don't even take them on. Ride them out ranking them for zero kd or volume. Mine as well rob them. Tell them to run ads, do some growth or brand hacking. How does this challenge an SEO? Would any of you write and share a case study on an achievement like this?
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Rupp Β» Ryan
Might as well rob them? Is that what you suggested? OR get in a profession where you actually know how to DO what you are getting paid for. Both of you. Smh
Ryan Β» Rupp
Lol. Case study- achieved multiple keywords with 0 volume – was able to achieve top positions for a Keyword Difficulty (KD) of 0. what I said was, i wouldnt take on a client with zero volume – you're ripping them off. Getting them ranked for what?


Trenton
1. If the keywords show up in a tool, then there's more than 0 volume.
2. Write about other things that will help the target audience. Example: A mattress company helps people sleep, right? Sleep is an important part of having a good day. What else makes a good day – eating, exercise, relationships, self awareness, personal growth, whatever whatever.
Write about the other things that overlap with the client's service.
3. If it's low volume because you're including local terms, then research the topics without the local term.

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Ousley
If the keyword is showing in some kind of tool, chances are the volume isn't actually zero, just very seasonal or specific.
For seasonal keywords, think of something related to Christmas that gets about 50 searches in December. Averaged out, which is what almost every keyword tool does, that's 4.1 searches/month, or not enough to round up to 10, so on average 0 searches/month. If those 50 searches are around a very expensive, niche product, it could still be worth going after for the entire year, even though you know the traffic only comes during one month.
For very specific keywords, that's usually a keyword related to a new topic that hasn't hit tools yet. Not a commercial intent search, but just imagine a search for "omicron variant symptoms" 3 months ago. You likely would've gotten a lot of math related results, none of them including COVID references, and almost all excluding "symptoms" and possibly "variant." As Google starts to figure out that a search for Omicron also containing the words "variant" and "symptoms" relates to COVID, they'll change results accordingly. In keyword tools, even ones that have picked up on the sudden bump, you're talking about roughly 1 month of data averaged across an entire year, which is likely to be 0, even if it's really not.
The other type of specific search could be a very localized search. Think searches containing zip or post codes, specific street names, etc. For medium-smaller areas those rarely show up with volume. Given how Google connects entities though, a search for "bulletproof coffee near 74037" from a mobile phone could be interpreted as "bulletproof coffee in Jenks, Oklahoma." For local, I still see pages that include things like surrounding zip codes, neighborhoods, etc doing very well on a multitude of search terms that have 0 volume, but somehow drive traffic.
Finally, if it's a commercial product doing well on other channels like social or email, look to those for keyword ideas that do have more volume. Are most of the customers a certain age? Gender? Profession? Interested in certain hobbies? Expand your keywords on the basis of those answers and personas. Example scenario, your client sells peel and stick farm wall murals for children's rooms. Probably not a lot of search volume around that specifically. But looking at their customers you find most are 25-45, live in apartments and are fans of Peppa Pig. They never said specifically that they're parents of young children, looking for artwork that won't damage walls since they don't own their homes, and may want to do something different as their child/ren grow, but you can stitch those things together as you're looking at keywords. With that, you'd then know you could expand to searches around removable wall art, nursery wall art, daycare wall art, etc even though they may not have come up as primary.
Jeff
Look for new keywords! Usually, when I hear "the client's keywords" it means, "the keywords the client thinks they want to show up on" not "the keywords that will drive real traffic, revenue, etc. that their actual customers used to find their products, etc." When you end up with terms like that and they come up with zeros, tell the client exactly why and why your job will be to find the right keywords for them.

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Tips to Improve Organic CTRs (Click Through Rates)
Discussion 1: Does Keyword Difficulty Of Zero Mean It Leads Traffic Near 0 too?

Odowa
Hello SEO users, sorry if am sounding stupid.
This year in January, I began SEO work on my own blog, so am a newbie in SEO, my niche is not all that competitive as most of the main keywords have KD of zero and atmost 3. But I don't have any traffic yet the competition is so low in my niche, Most of the time I have been writing blog articles and doing on page SEO. I can't afford backlinks, so I have not been doing any linking building on my blog posts. But since the competition is low, someone told me I don't need backlinks so much, Am targeting international traffic (USA). What am I doing wrong? What can I do inorder to start getting some traffic? Should as just post articles in bulk hoping that by chance one of them will rank?
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Cohen
Even if you can't afford any backlinks you should have SOME traffic. Sounds like you're messing up your keyword research. I would advise you to invest into a tool like Ahrefs (you can use the $7 trial) and look for long tail keywords that you can rank for. BTW, if the niche is truly low competition then there may not be any search traffic which means there is no money to be made either.
Zafar
Just KD is not enough to verify the competition of your niche.
You should do competitior analysis to know what your competitors are doing. If no one has backlinks in your niche, you can compete them.
But if your competitors has good backlinks, it will be hard for you to compete them.
Have you done competitior analysis? Do you have idea how many articles & backlinks you will need in your niche?
Sometimes we can get traffic without backlinks too but for that, the niche must be less competitive & your content should be well researched.
You check KD by which tool?

Odowa ✍️ » Zafar
SEMrush and Ahrefs Free versions, the websites in top 3 of the SERPs are not actually niche websites
Zafar Β» Odowa
KD of both tools is not accurate.


Orford
Can't afford backlinks? Are you kidding? In less than one year, I got 7k backlinks- for free… for a personal finance blog!!

Odowa ✍️ » Orford
Thanks for your response sir, what strategy did you use and what type of links did you get? Someone said social profile links, foundational and web 2.0 Links are of no value, is that right? Thank you for your response once again Sir.
Orford Β» Odowa
The only links that are valuable are the ones that are hard to get. Adding a link to a web2.0 is like UGC. As for how did it do it? Build relationships… that's all πŸ™‚
Odowa ✍️ » Orford
Then it's really hard.
Orford Β» Odowa
No, it takes work.


Ammon Johns πŸ‘‘
Backlinks that you can buy are almost the very worst backlinks possible to get. They have value ONLY for the traffic they can deliver, and even then, only if some of that traffic converts, or perhaps gives you a genuine link.
I say *almost* the worst because the absolute worst are links you can place for yourself in comments, forums, etc. If you can find these sites and recognize them as easily usable for spam, I absolutely guarantee you that the hundreds of brilliant scientists working at Google were able to find them too. They pass zero value unless they drive traffic, and the chances are far less for that, since generally any visitors to those sites are only other spammers, and people have learned quickly that any links posted lead to crap nobody would ever link to based on quality.
And yet, genuine people link to genuine stuff all the time. They link to stuff that is remarkable, that they want to share with others. If you bother to create some pages that are remarkable in some way, and that people will want to share with others, then that could be you earning those genuine, valuable links.
Okay, links aside, the other issue you have is traffic.
Guess why some keywords are not competitive and people are not fighting over them for the traffic. Can you guess? Yep, because they drive no traffic.
Sometimes this is because the search volumes are almost nonexistent but for a few people automatically running searches via tools to see where they rank. Sometimes it is simply that while they drive a little traffic, the traffic never converts.
Traffic aside, are you actually ranking in searches for any of the terms you are targeting? If so, then that tells you there is either no volume, or that what volume there is is going to one of the other sites listed. Look at the SERP in the mindset of a searcher who doesn't own one of the sites. Is one of the listings clearly more 'attractive'? Is one of the listings a better known brand?
Buth
What does it mean by "low competition"? Low competition can mean low/no traffic.
Do keyword research, content audit.

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