How To Find Low Competition Keywords For SEO [8 Actionable Techniques]
If you’re trying to rank for a keyword in your industry and you don’t have a ton of backlinks, it will be an uphill battle to get there.
That’s why your best bet is to target valuable keywords with low competition.
In this post, we will show you exactly how to find low-competition keywords for your SEO strategy, step-by-step.
So, let’s dive right in.
What Is a Low Competition Keyword?
A low-competition keyword is a keyword or search query that is less difficult to rank for. This means few sites are competing to rank for it, or those that do rank have low authority or backlinks.
Common misconceptions about low-competition keywords
There are some common misconceptions about low-competition keywords.
Misconception # 1: Just Because a Keyword Has Low Competition Doesn’t Mean It’s Valuable
Having low-competition doesn’t mean a keyword is valuable. To be valuable your keyword still needs to exist in a competitive niche or industry.
If you need help identifying a trend, you can use a tool like Google Trends.
Misconception #2: Just Because a Keyword has Low Competition Doesn’t Mean It’s Worth Pursuing.
There are plenty of low-competition keywords. The challenge is finding one worth pursuing. The most promising keywords signal buying intent.
Buying intent is suggested by certain words or phrases that are used along with your keywords.
For example, ranking for “how long does it take to burn 1,000 calories walking on the treadmill” may bring lots of traffic but is informational.
On the other hand, “best treadmill for walking under $1,000” tells us that the searcher is actively looking to make a purchase.
Misconception # 3: Just Because it’s Low-Competition Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy to Rank For.
Keyword difficulty is relative. It’s measured differently depending on what tool you’re using. If you don’t have great domain authority or quality backlinks, it will still be challenging to rank on the first page of Google.
Amazon could rank for virtually any keyword it wanted to. Just check out the backlink profile tool from ahrefs.
If your site is newer and you have a small backlink profile, you’ll have to work harder to rank.
8 Techniques to Finding Low Competition Keywords.
Here are 8 actionable techniques that can help you find low-competition keywords.
# 1 Explore Reddit and Quora Threads
Reddit is known as the homepage of the internet for a reason. Popular Reddit threads are great places to find keywords.
Try searching your topic and looking for keywords that attract lots of discussions.
You can also search for Reddit threads from Google by using [topic + Reddit.] This will return multiple related searches. Keep track of all of these keyword variations.
You can do the same search query with Quora. Use your topic + Quora to find questions people are asking.
# 2 Find a Growing Niche, Topic, or Angle with Google Trends
Make sure your keyword is related to a popular niche, topic, or trend. There are several ways you can find trending ideas.
For example, you can find a valuable niche, industry, or topic using Google Trends. Just filter to a specific category and find a trending topic.
Let’s say you wanted to do this for the “Pharmaceutical & Biotech” category. Google Trends will show you the category's search growth over time.
From here, It will also show you trending topics and queries.
You can explore related topics to find other popular queries. It looks like “Gummy Candy,” is a rapidly growing topic.
You can explore topics to analyze growth patterns, filter by region, and find more related topics.
It looks like “keto gummies” is a potential topic.
Once you find an ideal trending topic or niche, you can begin collecting keywords.
# 3 Collect a Bunch of Keywords
Now it’s time to collect as many potential keywords and queries as possible that fit your topic.
Try maintaining an excel sheet. You can create several tabs, one for each topic. That way, you can update the list as you discover new keywords.
Don’t get hung up on the competition of each keyword just yet. We will get to that later.
Eventually, you’ll rank your own keywords based on their competitiveness.
The following methods are some ways you can quickly collect valuable keywords.
# 4 Use Google’s “People Also Ask”, “Additional Search,” and “Auto Suggest.”
Google’s “People Also Ask” and “Additional Search” sections are effective ways to collect valuable keywords and long-tail queries that people are actively searching for.
For example, let’s say a trending product you discovered is ACV Gummies.
If you search for “ACV Gummies” in Google and scroll down a little, you’ll see the “People also ask” section.
Check out these great keyword options.
You can add all these keywords to your running list.
Now, scroll down a little further and check out the “Additional searches” section.
The best part?
Entering any of these queries back into Google will lead you to more related searches.
Another thing you can do is leverage Google’s auto-suggest. This happens when you begin to type in a query in Google, and it makes search suggestions for you.
You can keep entering related searches into Google and find as many keywords as possible.
# 5 Use AnswerThePublic
Using AnswerThePublic is a great way to collect long-tail and related keywords. It tells you what questions people are asking about your topic by listening to Google autocomplete search data.
For example, you can search “ACV Gummy,” and Answer The Public will provide you a breakdown of almost any type of question being asked about it.
You’ll get 3 free searches daily and access to keyword data by registering. For a paid subscription, you get more searches and the ability to view CPC and difficulty rating.
# 6 Use ChatGPT to Generate Keyword Variations
Say what you will, ChatGPT is a great resource for keyword generation. You can use ChatGPT to quickly spit out more keyword variations.
For example, you can ask, “can you give me long-tail and related keywords to ‘ACV Gummies’ that may signify buying intent?” Check out the results.
ChatGPT may not know what keywords are competitive, but it is great at generating ideas. and the goal in this stage is to generate as many keywords as possible.
# 7 Use a SERP Tool to Research SEO Keyword Difficulty
Now it’s time to analyze your list to find low-competition keywords. They should signal buying intent without too many sites ranking for them.
To do this, you can use a SERP tool like UberSuggest and the SEO Difficulty measurement. You can also use any SERP tool to do this, like SEMRush or Ahrefs.
Lets check a few of our collected keywords to look for one that has lower competition.
“ACV Gummies for Weight Loss” has a high difficulty rating and very high CPC. This means it is both valuable and competitive, so it may not be an easy one to rank for. Let’s see try another.
With a slightly different keyword variation, like “Best ACV Gummy for Weight Loss,” you can lower the SEO difficulty considerably. It doesn’t have as high search volume, but it has great buying intent.
Now, check out the top sites that currently rank for this keyword. Although some of them have very high domain authority, some that are in the top 5 don’t have many backlinks.
This would be a good keyword to target.
Most SERP tools also let you create and manage your own list of keywords.
These tools will also suggest keywords. You can set filters on CPC and SEO difficulty. Generally speaking, a low SEO or Keyword Difficulty and high CPC indicate promising low-competition options.
# 8 Look for Opportunities from Your Competitors
One of the best ways to find low-competition keywords is to use a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to evaluate competitor keywords.
You can crawl their website and analyze their most valuable keywords.
For example, If you sell an ACV Gummy product, you can use Ubersuggest’s “Keyword Ideas” and enter a competitor's domain. The tool will return thousands of keywords your competitor ranks for.
Now you can apply filters on SEO Difficulty and CPC. You can also filter on a keyword. For example Goli.com sells multiple products, so you can narrow it down to “Apple Cider.”
You’ll be able to quickly generate low-competition keywords.
Collect high-value, low-competition keywords and repeat the process for other competitors.
Conclusion
Finding low-competition keywords is easy, but it takes a little time and effort. If you follow a regular routine of collecting and analyzing keywords, you’ll be able to rack up an impressive amount of low-competition keywords. Happy hunting!