BacklinkCompany
Registered Member
- Feb 11, 2020
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- 11
How do you guys check a keyword competition manually without any TOOL? There are many ways but I'd like to collect all ways in one thread. So let's do this here.
Keyword COMPETITION without TOOL.
- Thread starter BacklinkCompany
- Start date
BacklinkCompany
Registered Member
- Feb 11, 2020
- 50
- 11
if there are big websites in the top 10 results but there are fewer searches on that keyword? What would you say then?
BacklinkCompany
Registered Member
- Feb 11, 2020
- 50
- 11
I'm referring to tools like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs KW, Semrush, and other famous tools.
- Sep 8, 2015
- 5,598
- 5,424
Just the keyword scores or tool as a whole?
- Oct 28, 2020
- 11,663
- 14,635
I usually follow this process (sometimes I might mix / omit things, but in general it's pretty much the same process):
1... I skim over the top 10 results. If all of them are high authority and / or reputable sites in that niche I don't even consider that keyword for a new website (if I have established site I might consider it if other elements fall into place)
2... I look at the DA / DR of those sites to get a rough idea of how tough they are to outrank with content and topical authority alone. If all those sites ranking in top 10 have DA / DR of at least 40 I don't even consider that keyword and I move on to another keyword. If at least 2-3 of those sites have DA / DR under 40 I might check other things
3... I then check the number of D0FOLL0W links pointing to the pages that rank (not to the entire site, but only the URLs that rank). If most of them have no / few d0foll0w links (by "few" I mean under 5, but most of the time under 3) I might consider that keyword, otherwise I move on to another keyword, or run other checks
4... I then check the content (although, sometimes, this is the 1st step that I do, it really depends on the feeling that I get by skimming over those sites and it also depends on my SEO experience). If at least 2-3 of the pages ranking in top 10 have no content on that keyword, or very little content, or very bad content, I almost always mark that keyword down as good keyword and then move on to analyze another keyword.
Like I said, depending on the circumstances / feeling / vibe that I get about a particular niche / keyword I might check other things, as well, such as content optimization, number and quality of the RDs pointing to the ranking sites, etc.... But in general those 4 steps are pretty much done for each keyword that I check before finally looking at what the SEO tool says about the keyword.
As for search volume I usually go for at least 10 monthly searches, but if I find keywords with high search volumes (100s or 1000s of monthly searches) but which seem decently competitive but still approachable I might still mark them down as good. Again, I'm using my SEO experience and flair in such cases if I feel like I could outrank someone for a keyword that I like, despite of what the SEO tools tell me.
Now, I know that your title asks about assessing the competition of keywords without using tools, and for such a case @davids355 gave you a really good answer: if you see other sites like yours in top 10 it means that you can approach that keyword. If you only see big brands (not necessarily Wikipedia, but big brands in your niche, like for example if you're in the pets niche you preferably don't want to see petsmart and the alikes ranking there, although they can still be outranked but it takes more time and effort) that's a sign that you should stay away from that keyword until your domain gets enough authority and trust with google (which can be anywhere from 1 to 2 years or more)
1... I skim over the top 10 results. If all of them are high authority and / or reputable sites in that niche I don't even consider that keyword for a new website (if I have established site I might consider it if other elements fall into place)
2... I look at the DA / DR of those sites to get a rough idea of how tough they are to outrank with content and topical authority alone. If all those sites ranking in top 10 have DA / DR of at least 40 I don't even consider that keyword and I move on to another keyword. If at least 2-3 of those sites have DA / DR under 40 I might check other things
3... I then check the number of D0FOLL0W links pointing to the pages that rank (not to the entire site, but only the URLs that rank). If most of them have no / few d0foll0w links (by "few" I mean under 5, but most of the time under 3) I might consider that keyword, otherwise I move on to another keyword, or run other checks
4... I then check the content (although, sometimes, this is the 1st step that I do, it really depends on the feeling that I get by skimming over those sites and it also depends on my SEO experience). If at least 2-3 of the pages ranking in top 10 have no content on that keyword, or very little content, or very bad content, I almost always mark that keyword down as good keyword and then move on to analyze another keyword.
Like I said, depending on the circumstances / feeling / vibe that I get about a particular niche / keyword I might check other things, as well, such as content optimization, number and quality of the RDs pointing to the ranking sites, etc.... But in general those 4 steps are pretty much done for each keyword that I check before finally looking at what the SEO tool says about the keyword.
As for search volume I usually go for at least 10 monthly searches, but if I find keywords with high search volumes (100s or 1000s of monthly searches) but which seem decently competitive but still approachable I might still mark them down as good. Again, I'm using my SEO experience and flair in such cases if I feel like I could outrank someone for a keyword that I like, despite of what the SEO tools tell me.
Now, I know that your title asks about assessing the competition of keywords without using tools, and for such a case @davids355 gave you a really good answer: if you see other sites like yours in top 10 it means that you can approach that keyword. If you only see big brands (not necessarily Wikipedia, but big brands in your niche, like for example if you're in the pets niche you preferably don't want to see petsmart and the alikes ranking there, although they can still be outranked but it takes more time and effort) that's a sign that you should stay away from that keyword until your domain gets enough authority and trust with google (which can be anywhere from 1 to 2 years or more)
Last edited:
Black Belt Spodermen
Elite Member
- Jan 18, 2016
- 2,803
- 1,684
I always manually check the competition because I have found the tools super inaccurate.
I manually check the SERPS, the number of competitive pages, and their content. This helps me know if it is possible for me to rank on the first page or not.
I manually check the SERPS, the number of competitive pages, and their content. This helps me know if it is possible for me to rank on the first page or not.
BacklinkCompany
Registered Member
- Feb 11, 2020
- 50
- 11
Tool as a whole.
Yes, I know many of them but I want to know the manual procedure.
What metrics do you measure to understand that a specific keyword you could rank?
quit impressive.
Kinu Actaz
Elite Member
- May 13, 2020
- 2,266
- 1,443
I look whether weak forums or Q/A sites in the top 10.
As @tazarbm says, often a quick scan can give a very early indication.
I'll pop the sites into a couple of tools to check the links etc to them, their onpage etc.
You can sometimes outrank Walmart, Amazon etc, if their on-page is non existent.
Also it depends on what you are doing. Affiliate SEO, local, etc etc.
I'll pop the sites into a couple of tools to check the links etc to them, their onpage etc.
You can sometimes outrank Walmart, Amazon etc, if their on-page is non existent.
Also it depends on what you are doing. Affiliate SEO, local, etc etc.
- Apr 4, 2014
- 6,453
- 4,860
I check if reddit or quara rank for those keywords in top 10.
Forum posts indicate low competition as well.
Forum posts indicate low competition as well.