Updated January  31, 2020

Low Competition Keywords: Finding And Analyzing

Choosing the right keywords for your web marketing campaign is one of the things that will determine your business’s success or failure. Having targeted, keywords with low competition that draw in targeted traffic will play a key role in your success online. There is a lot to think about when it comes to keywords and becoming an expert is no easy task. However, if you take your time, you too can find online success and learn how to find low competition keywords. 

An Uphill Battle: Generic Keywords

Many small businesses and site owners find that marketing their site for general terms is an uphill battle. Attempting to rank in the search engines for generalized keywords is a common mistake that many people make. The search volume for any given keyword is only half of the puzzle.

Generalized keyword terms are hard to rank for due to the high level of competition. For instance, the term “pizza,” has over half a billion competing sites with six million searches.The front page of Google for the term “pizza,” is dominated by big brand names like “Pizza Hut,” “Domino’s,” and “Papa Johns.”

If you are using a Pay Per Click Campaign to advertise your small town pizza business you can expect it to be costly. The average cost per click for the term “pizza,” is a whooping $6. This will bankrupt you faster than you can make your first online pizza sale. Usually, campaigns like this are destined to fail because only a small percentage of the visitors will convert into a sale. If you’re hoping to rank nationally or globally for the search term ‘pizza’ – well, good luck with that. You could spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to rank for ‘pizza’ and never get anywhere.

An Alternative Answer: Find Low Competition Keywords

Low competition long-tail keywords are the ultimate alternative answer to generic, competitive keywords. While most of the long tail keywords that you find might not have huge volume, the competition is much lower. Less competition means you will most likely rank well on Google and other search engines more easily.

Why You Need Low Competition Keywords

Building a site with proper backlinks, domain authority, and dozens of SERPs takes time. In many instances, it can take more than six months to get the SEO results that you are looking for.

Though clients can understand why this happens, they can also become antsy if they don’t see some type of growth after a few months of working together. Using low competition keywords to get the initial growth started can be incredibly beneficial.

Think about it like this:

• Low competition keywords are much more easy to rank with than keywords with higher competition levels.
• Ranking on low competition keywords will create traffic and potential conversions.
• Ranking on low competition keywords will help to improve long-tail rankings in the future.
• Low competition keywords provide a base that can be built up from as you move into more competitive keywords.
• Some low competition keywords are high volume enough to bring in profitable conversions that you and your client may not have expected.

For some sites, low competition keywords might be all that you need to use for your marketing plans. For others, these keywords are just the beginning and can provide the needed foundation to make your way into a more competitive area.

Brainstorming: How To Find Low Competition Keywords Of Value

When you first seek keywords out, there are a few tools that will help you brainstorm some low competition long-tail keywords. These tools are as follows:

• Social Media hashtags are a great for determining current hot topics. With this tool, you can find out what your target audience is talking about and interested in right now. This allows you to appeal to your niche target market by enabling you to create relevant content. Creating relevant and keyword rich content that appeals to your audience can be lucrative.
• Google Keyword Planner is an effective starting point to get a general idea of your niche market and keywords surrounding it. The only pitfall is that chances are your competitors also use this tool and get the same results you do. So, other tools may also be required to get ahead of your competitors.
• Google Instant is a good way to preview profitable long-tail key terms that are being searched for and have active potential. With this tool you enter a keyword and Google will attempt to guess what you are searching for as you enter it. This guess is based on searches others searchers have made regarding your keyword terms. Looking into the guesses than Google Instant provides can provide you with low competition keywords that are very long tail (in some cases, they don’t even appear to have search volume).
• Google Searches Related to is a way to follow up on Google Instant. With it you can generate even more unique ideas that could benefit your business. Once you have these results for a term scroll down to the bottom of Google to find other related suggestions. You will be surprised by the endless amount of possibilities. Again, these are after low competition keywords that don’t always show up in Keyword planner.
• Competitor Keywords can be used to see how companies and sites in the same sector as yours are trying to make their way. Checking which pages have the best ranking in your area and then researching their top-performing keywords can be a good way to diversify your keywords. You can also use their lists to determine if your new keyword ideas are a logical next step or not.
• SERPs can be used to reverse engineer low competition keywords in your sector. Start by typing in a primary keyword that you would be interested in ranking for, and then look at the related search terms that appear. Work through these until you get more specific long-tail keywords. Then, check what kinds of domains are trying to rank for these keywords and how difficult the keywords are. It takes time, but you can use your base instincts and SERP pages to find openings for your client and pages to make new rankings.

How Low Should You Go?

One thing to keep in mind when you are searching for low competition keywords is that simply being a low competition keyword isn’t enough to determine if it is the right keyword for your needs!

How low should you go when looking for keywords with low competition?

Figuring this out is actually less about the amount figuring what the lower limit should be for low competition keywords and more about looking into how those keywords will perform. Is there a high search volume?

If you can rank for them, will those conversions work out?

Sometimes, the only way to figure this out is to do some testing. At other times, using keyword tools to estimate your conversions and profits from these low competition keywords. Once you have put together a list of low competition keywords, take the time to analyze or test these keywords before you fully scale them.

With some analysis, you can figure out which low competition keywords are low competition because they don’t perform well and which are hidden gems. The hidden gems are the ones that you want to move forward with!

Analyzing the Results: The Best SEO Keyword Tools

Finding the best SEO Keyword tool to so you can distinguish between low competition and high competition keywords be a daunting task. However, there are some useful resources to help analyze and find keywords with low competition. Here is a list of the top tools for keyword discovery and analysis:

1. LongtailPro is excellent for keyword competition analysis. While it is pricey, chances are this tool will end up paying for itself in a short amount of time.
2. SEMrush can be toted as the best SEO Keyword tool on the market today. It has a variety of incredible features and will allow you to generate an in-depth audit of your website.
3. KeywordTool.io is a low competition keyword finder. Especially, because it integrates Google Instant and Google Suggest in an easy to follow and understand manner.
4. Buzzsumo is the ultimate keyword tool for content analysis. Using custom content reports this tool will let you know where your strengths and weaknesses are.
5. UberSuggest has the benefit of being able to find those golden nugget keywords that seem so elusive. This tool will make a difference in your search and keyword analysis strategies. It doesn’t give you any indication of competitiveness, but on the other hand, it’s free!

Each tool is unique and special in its own way. All these tools have different benefits and pitfalls. Take the time to do your homework to find the tool that will work best for you. No matter which tool you decide to use, chances are it can boost your profits and pay for itself in a short amount of time.

Low Competition Keywords FAQ:

What Are Low Competition Keywords?

Low competition keywords are keywords that have fewer results and/or competition than the more general and generic keywords. Our earlier example, “pizza,” is a very generic and general keyword that would be considered high competition.

A low competition alternative for a pizza shop in your area might be “town name pizza deals.” 

Low competition keywords tend to have lower pay-per-click pricing and often can perform with higher conversion rates depending on the sector and how effective the marketing content is. Ideally, finding a low competition keyword with high volume will be your ultimate goal.

How Do I Find My Competitor’s Keywords?

You can start finding these competitive keywords by directly visiting your competitor’s sites and then checking out their blog and other content to see what they are trying to rank for. Using Google to filter through search results and related terms can help you to get some ideas of what other companies are using as well.

Alternatively, you can use an optimized tool like the Agency Plan on LongTailPro to find your competitor’s keywords. Through filters and specific competitor keyword tools, you will be able to get a great look into what is being used and working for businesses in the same sector.

What Is A Good Keyword Difficulty?

Keyword difficulty is a number that represents, generally, how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword. High difficulty numbers typically represent keywords that will be very hard to rank for while low numbers represent the opposite. Of course, there are some variables.

There isn’t a simple answer about what is a “good” difficulty because the difficulty changes depending on what type of site you are trying to rank. High-powered sites can rank even on keywords with a difficulty score over 60 while new sites will struggle with a score of just 20.

Focus on keywords that have a low keyword difficulty and a high volume for the best results when moving into low competition keywords.

Learning How To Find Low Competition Keywords Takes Time

Becoming a keyword expert is a process. It takes time and practice to grasp how to move from generic, competitive keywords into low competition keywords in the long tail that are easy to rank for. It is a skill you build through trial and error over time. Along the way there are many great tools to help you brainstorm idea such as Google Instant Search and Google’s Keyword Planner. You can even use social media hashtags across all platforms to know what your audience is looking for and talking about in the moment.

You can use both free and paid tools to develop site reports and competitor reports. As well as, find profitable, targeted keywords that are lower competition. Usually, if used right the paid tools are worth the investment. Remember, with web marketing you need to put in the effort, time, and appropriate energy, you will see results and yield profits.

Get your FREE 7 day trial with Long Tail Pro and start ranking today.