Why You Should Stop Looking at Keyword Search Volume

Hey there,

You need to stop looking at keyword search volume and start creating content your audience actually wants to read.

Here’s why:

Every industry has recent and highly relevant topics for which you won’t see any search volume in SEO tools.

The topic might be so new that very few people are searching for it.

Or maybe a lot of people are searching for it—but the data for search volume in your SEO tool hasn’t updated to reflect that yet.

Being among the first to create content around these topics will give you a good chance of ranking at the top of the search results and driving more valuable traffic to your site.

How do you discover these topics? There are three main ways:

1) Stay updated on what’s going on in your industry

Read industry blogs, attend conferences, and follow the top industry influencers on social media.

And look for topics you could cover and give your unique take on.

2) Talk to customers regularly

Interview customers on a weekly or monthly basis to learn what issues they’re dealing with and what kind of topics interest them the most at the moment.

Make sure to ask open-ended questions and let customers do most of the talking.

3) Check in with customer-facing teams

Your sales and customer support teams talk to potential and existing customers all day.

They know exactly what kind of problems customers are having and what questions they keep asking.

Check in with them regularly to learn about the most pressing topics you should be covering with your content.

Then, create content answering customers’ questions and discussing topics that are on their mind right now.

Do this long enough and you’re bound to see your organic search traffic increase.