More Traffic vs More Keywords | Which Would You Choose?

rox94

rox94

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Joined
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Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and opinions on SEO growth strategies.

Here’s the situation:
I have a new website that has been indexed for about 3 months. When I check SEMrush, I see that:
  • 381 keywords are currently ranked.
  • Around 1,300 organic visitors per month.
Meanwhile, I’m comparing it to a competitor who has been around for almost 2 years. Their site shows:
  • Around 150 keywords ranked.
  • About 10,000 organic visitors per month.

I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?



My current keyword growth:

1745861272642.png



Really interested to hear your thoughts and experiences! Thanks a lot in advance!
 
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rox94 said:
I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter, this is a non-issue. The number of keywords your site ranks for fluctuates. It increases and decreases, you should try to not just rank for as many keywords as possible, but rank for useful and valuable keywords. Some sites cover all kinds of weird topics just to say they rank for 50k keywords, meanwhile, more than 80% of that is garbage that'll ultimately hurt the site's reputation.
 
It doesnt matter. What matters is conversions. Lets say you have garbage traffic with 1% conversion and you have good traffic with 10% conversion. Then 100 visitors and 1000 visitors will have same result.So, what matters is conversions and traffic quality.
 
rox94 said:
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and opinions on SEO growth strategies.

Here’s the situation:
I have a new website that has been indexed for about 3 months. When I check SEMrush, I see that:
  • 381 keywords are currently ranked.
  • Around 1,300 organic visitors per month.
Meanwhile, I’m comparing it to a competitor who has been around for almost 2 years. Their site shows:
  • Around 150 keywords ranked.
  • About 10,000 organic visitors per month.

I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?



My current keyword growth:

View attachment 440506


Really interested to hear your thoughts and experiences! Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
Early keyword growth is your asset, now work on it. Refine your content around intent, improve authority (backlinks + internal structure), and your traffic will follow.
 
I’d say focus less on the quantity and more on the intent of the keywords. I’d rather rank higher for 5 buyer intent keywords than 100 information based keywords.

The buyer intent keywords will bring the cash flow in
 
For long-term SEO growth, I would definitely prioritize having more keywords even if the traffic is initially low.
More ranked keywords usually mean more entry points for organic visitors, and over time, many of those keywords can climb higher and bring consistent traffic.

Immediate traffic is good, but building a strong keyword footprint ensures stable and scalable growth in the future.
Keep focusing on keyword expansion + optimize your best-performing pages for better CTR and user experience!
 
Opulentos said:
I’d say focus less on the quantity and more on the intent of the keywords. I’d rather rank higher for 5 buyer intent keywords than 100 information based keywords.

The buyer intent keywords will bring the cash flow in
Click to expand...
well said. Can you tell me, if you have seen any instance where some keyword didnt convert earlier but with time, rankings improved and even conversions improved? Or , if initially keyword isnt converting, it wont convert in life time?
 
Focus now on improving rankings for your most relevant and promising keywords, building topical authority, and acquiring quality backlinks to turn early visibility into sustainable traffic.
 
rox94 said:
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and opinions on SEO growth strategies.

Here’s the situation:
I have a new website that has been indexed for about 3 months. When I check SEMrush, I see that:
  • 381 keywords are currently ranked.
  • Around 1,300 organic visitors per month.
Meanwhile, I’m comparing it to a competitor who has been around for almost 2 years. Their site shows:
  • Around 150 keywords ranked.
  • About 10,000 organic visitors per month.

I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?



My current keyword growth:

View attachment 440506


Really interested to hear your thoughts and experiences! Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
  • Keep broad keyword coverage to build authority.
  • Identify a few high-potential pages and optimize them for traffic and conversions (on-page + backlinks).
 
Thanks guys!

I currently have 422 keywords, and the number of pages ranking in positions 51–100 is gradually shifting toward positions 21–50. It's important to note that these are all keywords specifically related to my niche/market.


1745952421414.png
 
Depends on your goal, but if I had to choose — more traffic wins.
Why? Because traffic = actual users, and users drive revenue, conversions, and engagement. You can rank for 10,000 keywords, but if they’re low-volume or low-intent, you’re not getting results.

That said…
✅ More keywords = long-term SEO power.
If you're building topical authority or trying to future-proof your site, growing your keyword footprint (especially long-tails) can eventually bring in more qualified traffic. It also means you're less reliant on a few high-traffic terms.

Ideally, you want both:
  • Short term → Traffic-focused (optimize for CTR, intent, conversion)
  • Long term → Keyword-focused (build topical clusters, internal links, content depth)
Personally, I’d choose more traffic today, and then reinvest that into scaling keyword coverage for tomorrow.
 
HenryObi said:
Doesn't matter, this is a non-issue. The number of keywords your site ranks for fluctuates. It increases and decreases, you should try to not just rank for as many keywords as possible, but rank for useful and valuable keywords. Some sites cover all kinds of weird topics just to say they rank for 50k keywords, meanwhile, more than 80% of that is garbage that'll ultimately hurt the site's reputation.
Click to expand...
How to get pinterest traffic quickly without ads
 
What people actually choose is “More Money”
 
rox94 said:
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and opinions on SEO growth strategies.

Here’s the situation:
I have a new website that has been indexed for about 3 months. When I check SEMrush, I see that:
  • 381 keywords are currently ranked.
  • Around 1,300 organic visitors per month.
Meanwhile, I’m comparing it to a competitor who has been around for almost 2 years. Their site shows:
  • Around 150 keywords ranked.
  • About 10,000 organic visitors per month.

I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?



My current keyword growth:

View attachment 440506


Really interested to hear your thoughts and experiences! Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
I'll prioritize scaling broad reach campaigns first, then retarget high-intent audiences. This strategy achieves the optimal equilibrium between brand exposure and performance ROI.
 
rox94 said:
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice and opinions on SEO growth strategies.

Here’s the situation:
I have a new website that has been indexed for about 3 months. When I check SEMrush, I see that:
  • 381 keywords are currently ranked.
  • Around 1,300 organic visitors per month.
Meanwhile, I’m comparing it to a competitor who has been around for almost 2 years. Their site shows:
  • Around 150 keywords ranked.
  • About 10,000 organic visitors per month.

I'm trying to figure out:
For long-term growth, would you prefer having more keywords early on (even if the traffic is still low), or would you prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords?



My current keyword growth:

View attachment 440506


Really interested to hear your thoughts and experiences! Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
For long-term growth, more keywords early on is better, it shows content breadth and ranking potential. Traffic will grow as your authority builds
 
Hi there,
Depends on the business model — but for gambling affiliates, more traffic wins if it converts.
A few proven landing pages driving volume from branded or intent-rich queries usually outperform hundreds of “meh” keyword pages.

We'd rather have 5 high-CVR traffic sources than 500 low-quality long-tails.That said, keyword expansion still matters — but only if it targets GEOs and funnels that are already showing promise.
 
Seeking advice on whether to focus on ranking more keywords early on for long-term SEO growth, or prioritize immediate high traffic with fewer keywords.
 
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