Check Every Keyword Manually
We need to check every keyword manually we write about. We still start with QSR, but after we have found our low QSR keywords, we manually check them by entering the keyword into Google. If there are only authority sites listed, and the articles are all ON topic, forget about it. Search for another keyword.
Now if the keyword you enter is "Why Do Cats Scuba Dive in Italy" and the results are mostly authority sites, but the topics they cover are "Why Do Dogs Scuba Dive in Italy" or "Why Do Cats Scuba Dive in France", then you can still go for your scuba diving cat in Italy article. Kind of a silly example, but I hope you get the point.
However, if the first page is dominated by big sites covering exactly scuba diving cats in Italy, run for your life. Don't write about it, search for a better keyword.
If on the other hand, only smallish blogs are ranking for the keyword on page 1, we know we have hit the jackpot. Also, if Reddit, Quora, Yahoo Answers, Pinterest or forums are ranking on page 1 that is almost always a sign that the keyword is a low hanging fruit.
Google doesn't like to rank forums & Quora type of websites, so if it does rank them, it simply didn't find anything better to rank for that keyword.
Use Kwfinder
Another great tool to analyze the competition of a keyword is kwfinder.com. You can do 2 keyword searches a day for free, or if you register a free account you can do 5 keyword searches a day for free.
It's not a perfect tool (manually checking is better), but it's pretty accurate. It will show you how strong the competition is for every search term. If there are only authoritative sites on page 1, the rank will be in the 50s or higher. If only small blogs are on page 1, the rank will be below 20.
If you have a new website, you want to find keywords that are below 30, ideally below 20, but these are hard to find.
Don't forget to change the location from anywhere to united states and the language to English to get correct search volume for each keyword.
How to Find Low Hanging Keywords That Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic
You're tired of wasting your time writing great articles, and they just won't rank? Then try this time saving, proven method, that actually works. It will cost you $7 (no, I don't earn anything from it). So if you're not willing to invest $7, skip this lesson.
If you stick with me, this can potentially bring you enough real low competition keywords to keep you busy for a year (or longer) and drive an insane amount of traffic to your blog with less effort.
Ready? Alright, let's do this!
You are probably familiar with other small blogs in your niche.
Write down every single URL of your competitors websites, that seems kinda weak. You know the smallish kind of niche sites & hobby blogs, just like yours and mine. You will find a lot of them when you are manually checking your keywords in Google.
Find Weak Competiton By Using Semrush
Or you can find weak competitors by using semrush.com. You simply enter your site or a competitors site (without the www. and https:// ; this is important) and it will show you many similar sites in your niche. Choose the sites that don't have much traffic, below 50k will work fine.
You can get a free semrush trial by googling "semrush free trial", but don't forget to cancel your trial to not get charged. It's an expensive tool after the free trial ends. I was able to get a 30-day free trial just by googling it.
And again, you write down all the website URLs of your competitors that either seem weak, or are on the level you want to be, simply by using this little tool.
How do you know if a competitor is weak? Right, if they have less than 50k visitors/month according to semrush or type:
site:yourcompetitorsurl.com into Google
It will show you how many pages the site has. If it's under 100 it's most likely weak. Any site with just a few hundred pages, write them down.
By now you should have gathered maybe 50 or even 100 weak sites in your niche? It will be less or more, really depends on your niche and effort.
The Next Step: Find the Real Low Hanging Fruit
Now it's time for ahrefs (ahrefs.com). This tool has a $7 1-week trial (again don't forget to cancel your subscription, it's an expensive tool after the 7-day trial).
You enter all the URLs you have gathered on semrush or by manual analysis into ahrefs.
This tool will show you the big money posts of every single site you enter, the posts that give them the most traffic and the exact keywords these posts are ranking for. If these weak sites can rank for these keywords, you can rank for it, too!
Double check each keyword using kwfinder.com. More likely than not, by now you have found some real gems using this method.
I certainly did. Keywords that have 5.000 search volume a month with a QSR of less than 20 and the kind of pages that are ranking on page 1 are mostly Bobby's Hobby Blog & small niche sites with 500 word-articles.
Now, finding 5.000 search volume keywords with low competition is rare, I'll admit that. But you will find a lot of keywords that will drive hundreds of visitors to your site every month per post, that are really easy to rank for.
Using this method I have found over 100 keywords, that are low competition. Enough to keep me busy for a year. And it only did cost me a total of $7.
We are picking the best keywords from our competitors, and ignoring the ones that don't rank well. Our competitors already did the work finding out for us, what works and what doesn't. Imagine how much time you can save by only writing about keywords that are proven winners, and ignoring the ones that don't rank well.
After you have found your keywords using this method, your job is writing better posts than anybody else ranking for these keywords. If they have a 1.000-word article, you write a-2.000 word article, or 3.000. You write the best article that has ever been written on that particular topic.
You can analyze how long a competitors article is by using wordcounter.net, simply copy & paste the article and it'll show you how many words it has.
You focus on the best keywords available, and you know you will rank for it so you can put all the time into these posts that they deserve.
You have pointed out some in-depth techniques leveraging your competitors to get keywords that have high potential to get ranked.
Appreciated this. Bookmarked.
Joe
Reply
My site already 1-month-old and nothing got ranked in Google.
Should I stop and focus on something else?
Other things that I like that can be a new niche for me:
1. Electronics gadget - laptop, smartphone (premium one)
2. Arduino and Electronics component
3. Planets and Universes
4. Mobile Gaming
5. Anime
But of course, all these I've no experience and using it. Can I make money with one of this niche if I quit my money making niche?
Yes, you should continue. Every niche can be dominated, just analyze your competition and see what has worked for them.
1 month is not enough time to succeed in any niche as I said before: It usually takes 6 months of work to get the first sustained traffic spike from Google. Sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes later, but don't expect too much during your first 6 months in ANY niche. That's why so many people quit during the first few months, they don't see any progress and they stop. Don't let that be you.
To your niche ideas:
1. You will have to write a lot of content, as your posts age. Nobody wants to read about 1-year-old smartphones.
3. How to monetize it? Ads?
Every niche can be monetized, but some niches are obviously more profitable than others.
Go for the niche you are truly passionate about, then analyze your competition and see what has worked for them and outrank them by writing better content. And as I said, don't get discouraged during the first few months or even one year.
I have noticed, rather infuriatingly, that sometimes when I find what i think is a great keyword and write a post on it, I still can't find it even when I write in the exact title in the search bar. For example, I had a post on best weight loss supplements of 2018 and when I do that exact search Google starts showing me posts that don't have ANY part of the keyword in such as best diet pills etc. It seems to know that these two things are the same thing even though the words are completely different. This makes it even harder to compete with as my post title was actually pretty low competition, but it's still not showing it in a Google search. What can we do about that?
So I think I am going to go back to the drawing board and do the training you have suggested here. I was wondering, is it ok to find better keywords for old posts and change them as long as you keep them still with the main keyword? (not the url). I have read conflicting advice on this.
Thanks for your time :)
best weight loss supplements 2018 is a good example to demonstrate what I'm talking about in this tutorial. The first page is dominated by: healthline, amazon, http://bodybuilding.com, medicalnewstoday, http://heavy.com, webmd, verywellfit
These are all the major players in the health industry. It will be hard to rank for that term.
Google became very intelligent in the last few years. Even though these sites don't exactly match the search term, Google knows that the post is on topic.
The point is if Google didn't allow smaller niche sites to rank for the exact term "best weight loss supplements 2018" up till this point, it's very unlikely that your niche site will be the first to rank for it. That's why manual analysis is key, especially if you are in a competitive niche like weight loss. QSR alone is not enough.
So, what can you do about it? Look out for small niche sites in the weight loss industry, gather as many URLs as you possibly can. You know, the ones with less than 50k visitors a month. Then analyze their high traffic posts using http://ahrefs.com trial, and write better posts using these exact keywords. Double check the keywords using manual analysis and http://kwfinder.com like I suggested in this tutorial.
You can change the keywords of your old posts, as long as your content is still on topic and matches the new keyword.
One tutorial like this is worth the monthly WA membership alone.
You've explained everything clearly and it's easy to follow.
Your advice is great and all the things you suggest make so much sense!
Thanks again, have a great evening.
Best,
Alenka
