What is search volume?
Search volume refers to how many searches are performed for a specific keyword during a given period of time. A keyword consists of words or phrases that a potential customer searches for in order to find a product, a service, or information.
Google has its own tool, the Keyword Planner, which makes it easy to find keywords that are relevant for different companies and e-commerce businesses. Here, you can see the search volume for each keyword and how the number of searches changes over time. Seasonal keywords such as “grills,” for example, naturally have more searches in Sweden during the summer than during the winter months.
So what should you consider when it comes to search volume? It is common to focus too much on large, general keywords with high search volume. What can be said about that type of keyword is that, in most cases, they are highly competitive and therefore harder to rank for—especially if the website is new and has not yet built much authority in Google’s eyes. It is also common that people searching for broad, general keywords are not as close to a conversion as someone performing a more specific search.
Ideally, you want to rank for both large and smaller keywords (and everything in between), but allow it to take time and start with keywords that are closest to what you offer your customers and visitors. Then continue to work on your website on an ongoing basis and make it as optimized as possible from both an SEO and a user experience perspective. Over time, you will gradually gain positions and steadily cast a wider net in Google’s waters.
If you want to learn more, you can deepen your knowledge by taking part in our basic SEO course and reading more about keyword analysis and how to use the Keyword Planner.