multiple low searched keywords vs one high searched keyword

Just wondering what the better strategy is here. It seems like anything over 50K+ searches per month on google has more competition and is harder to raank on the top page. Is it a good strategy to just go for multiple low search words.

So for instance just write an article on a topic that gets only like 1000 searches/month, but get ranked on the first page, and then just do that a bunch of times, vs trying to rank keywords that get searched say 100K times/month, but requires a lot more work to get ranked on the first page on google?

I suppose the best is a mix of both strategies?

Yes a mix of both is good. It's the classic short tail vs long tail conundrum.

Short tail gives you large spurts of traffic and it's relatively easy to convert because you can accurately predict exactly what the surfer is looking for. It's much harder to rank and the rankings are more unstable because of the intense competition.

Long tail gives you much more stable traffic and it's much easier to rank for all those long tails - many of them have almost no real competition because everyone focuses on the short tails. However, it can be more difficult to convert the traffic effectively because it will be a whole range of queries from people in different stages of the buying time line.

I am far more a fan of broad long tail campaigns because it gives you that stability and longevity you want, at a lower cost. You can end up chasing your tail if you just go for short tails, especially if you have limited resources.

Of course, with stemming, often if you can rank for short tails you will rank for a number of long tails as well.

Thanks Autumn, thats a great reply.

I'm currently experimenting with both, so I'll post back some results over the next few weeks. Right now I'm trying to find that sweet spot number. I'm starting with ~1000 and trying to link those keywords to articles on my site, from there I'm just going to plus/minus from that. I'm also just strictly focusing on traffic right now, not converting it to dollars, so that will definitely affect the results, but gotta start somewhere.

What's a good number to shoot for? Am I on the right track with a thousand, should I move upwards or downwards from that?

Choose 5 similar keywords with limited number of searches say 1000 Global monthly searches. Optimize your page with 1 keyword. So that you will have 5 pages targeting 5 different keywords. SEO each and every pages separately. Ping, backlink etc., for each individual pages. You can rank easily .
Its a easy way to get more visitors with a single site, rather than using sub domains.
But most of them not using this strategy, i don't know why.

rebel.man said:

Just wondering what the better strategy is here. It seems like anything over 50K+ searches per month on google has more competition and is harder to raank on the top page. Is it a good strategy to just go for multiple low search words.

So for instance just write an article on a topic that gets only like 1000 searches/month, but get ranked on the first page, and then just do that a bunch of times, vs trying to rank keywords that get searched say 100K times/month, but requires a lot more work to get ranked on the first page on google?

I suppose the best is a mix of both strategies?

Click to expand...

I'd go for both! The high competition KY's may take a year or more of consistent work but it sure is worth it once you hit paydirt!

I would say that you should choose keywords based on your "backlinking power". If you dont know too much seo and you use only blog commenting or only directories or forums or social media or etc etc you should go for a maximum of 2000 / month, imho, but if you know how to use different methods to get backlinks and you have experience using them, go for some higher numbers.
This all depends on your skills.

Hey scorpion_king,

not sure if I follow, so do you mean something like this:

page1: "key1 key2 key3"
page2: "key1 key3 key4"
page3: "key1 key2 key5"
page4: "key1 key2 key4"
page5: "key1 key3 key5"

each set of keywords for instance "key1 key2 key3" ~ 1000 global/monthly, SEO each of those to the page.

Optimize each page with "key1" keyword.

big difficult kw for lonv term. long tails for immidiate results . start working on both. i will be more inclined towards buyer kw even if its too small. even 60 targeted searches a month can get you 5 sales for $125. depends on niche n wat ur promoting

Page1: KW1
Page2: KW2
Page3: KW3
Page4: KW4
Page5: KW5

This is what i mean.
Considering each of your selected KW has 1000 searches.
So that you will have 5000 searches per month in total.

SEO each and every page. Make sure your page looks like this.

www.yoursite.com/KW1 - Page1
www.yoursite.com/KW2 - Page2

Hope you understood now.

rebel.man said:

Hey scorpion_king,

not sure if I follow, so do you mean something like this:

page1: "key1 key2 key3"
page2: "key1 key3 key4"
page3: "key1 key2 key5"
page4: "key1 key2 key4"
page5: "key1 key3 key5"

each set of keywords for instance "key1 key2 key3" ~ 1000 global/monthly, SEO each of those to the page.

Optimize each page with "key1" keyword.

Click to expand...

Okay, I see what you're saying scorpion king, thats pretty much what I'm trying right now. Although I could definitely pay more attention to the use of my keywords in the url/title/page etc. So I will go for a more fine tuned approach with the next batch of articles.

Thanks.

depends. sometimes the more targeted the keyphrase, the less traffic BUT the better the conversion. if youve got some cash to test it, do an adwords campign and see exactly the conversion rate per KW and SEO the ones that are most profitable.

It depends on the Searchs that this low keywords have and the competition.

Sometimes is more easy to get 5k visits for a lot of low searchs keywords,than just one keyword.