Is 11k-30k search traffic too high for a small blog with low domain authority to compete for? Is competition all that matters?
-
Trying to decide on a keyword phrase for my next post. One of the two phrases I'm deciding between has 100x more traffic but the priority is wayyy higher and the competition is just one point higher (54 vs 53). I'm hesitant to write on a post that gets 11k-30k monthly volume however b/c it just seems like too much traffic for a small blog with a domain authority of only 18 to compete with. But if the competition is nearly the same and the priority is higher, should I go for it anyway? I generally go for things with lower traffic thinking I will be able to better compete. Thanks!
-
Write the post. Get a couple of links into it. Look at where the competitors got their links into their competing page. Try to duplicate their best links.
Go after the primary keyword. Give it your best shot.
You might not rank on the first page after the first month. But, give it a year... and if your content is really better, I believe that you might move up.
** We can definitely write better content.** If your content is really better I think you will move up.
If you are targeting a high traffic, big money keyword, there will be lots of traffic and lots of money changing hands. You will get long tail traffic and long tail money. In time you might hit the big time.
It is a mistake not to try this a few times. You only need one to connect.
-
Thanks for the detailed response! My concern was that even if we wrote better content that we would not be able to climb the rankings past blogs or health care sites/major hospital systems that have a blog with much stronger domain authority. We can definitely write better content.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond. Very helpful.
-
You are asking a question of "philosophy" rather than "numbers". Before I get to the philosophy, here are some facts.
-
Your present domain authority means nothing. If you do a great job, your domain authority will grow.
-
The present size of your blog means nothing. If you work at it, it is going to grow.
What means something is your ability to produce competitive content and the amount of work you are going to put into your next post.
To determine your ability to be competitive, go search for that keyword phrase and look at the content in the top ten positions. Determine its quality. HOW GOOD IS IT? Then decide if you can beat it. Be honest. Can you write content that will be better than what is out there? Not a little better. A lot better.
If your answer is yes (meaing that you can beat their content). Then do not fear competition or traffic or any other metric. You should attack. Why? Because where there is competition, there is a lot of traffic and a lot of money changing hands. Even if you do not rank #1 you might connect with that traffic and with that money. Attack with the best content that you can produce, good enough that it is truly competitive.
If your answer is no (meaning that you can't beat their content). Then, you are not the person to compete here. Your prattle will not rank against the heavyweights. You need to pick a keyword phrase where you have the ability to compete. Attack there.
Can't find a place where you can compete? Hire someone who can. Get education and writing skill so you can compete. You will not get very far going into battle with a rubber sword.
-
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
SERPs for English search terms in Google.es show NY and USA companies?
Hey Mozzers, I'm working for a client offering legal services in Spain for people from the UK. When I search 'legal services' in Google.es all the SERPs show sites from the US - mainly NY: https://www.google.es/search?source=hp&ei=tRbXWqzRDoSZsgGY6rmgCA&q=legal+services&oq=legal+services&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.2835.4435.0.4512.15.10.0.0.0.0.297.1445.0j4j3.7.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..8.7.1444.0..0i131k1j0i10k1.0.clK-EZ4vVWk There are lots of Spanish sites translated into English and showing sites in Google.es such as http://www.lsosm.org/ offer no value - it's a very weird SERP - any ideas why? Thanks Bush
Keyword Research | | Bush_JSM0 -
Which "search volume" stats should I choose? Moz or Google Keyword Planner?
Hi there Hoping someone can shed some light... The same keywords give different Search Volume results in Moz and Google Keyword Planner. Why is this and which one should I "trust"/use? Thank you!
Keyword Research | | Jana_Joubert0 -
Internal URLs competing for keyword
I have an affiliate site where we have reviews of bookmakers, which are optimized for the bookmakers name as a key word. We have seen a drop in rankings and at this point we are out ranked by a lot of pages including our own. We also have a community forum and write news and articles about the the bookmakers. The thing is, that these forum threads and articles often out rank our review pages, which are the pages we need people to land on in order to convert. This page: http://www.betxpert.com/bookmakere/bet365 is optimized for "bet365" and is at this point outranked by http://www.betxpert.com/artikel/ny-funktion-hos-bet365-afslut-vaeddemaal-foer-tid. This page actually links to the review. What should i do in order to increase ranks for my pages? Make the forum threads and articles crappy for the key word? Would it help to add a canonical link to the articles? Would it help to remove the meta tag for update time of the review, such that Google does not downrank for not being recent? -Rasmus
Keyword Research | | rasmusbang0 -
How to get search volume in Google's keyword planner
I want to know the search volume for ~1000 keywords that I discovered via ubersuggest. Yesterday I could have done this in 5 minutes, but I can't seem to get it to work in the new Google tool and would love some advice. When I either upload or copy and paste my list into the tool I can get it to give me search ideas with volume, but it has all the keywords I am uploading as 0 search volume (when I know that is not true and some of them have thousands of searches). I've tried "entering keywords to see how they perform" and also "searching for keyword ideas" (the second just because the first didn't try after my 10 tries) Any ideas about what I am doing wrong?
Keyword Research | | theLotter
Or is this a bug other people have been experiencing?0 -
Is there any way to track search volume for a particular keyword on a day-to-day basis?
My boss has asked me to track the number of searches for a keyword (a particular company's name) on a daily basis this week to see how the volume fluctuates from day to day. Is this even possible? I should note that his request does not involve an active SEO or AdWords campaign. In fact, the company my boss is interested in doesn't even have a website at the moment. Thanks in advance – either for helping me confirm that it's impossible to track keyword search volume on a day-to-day basis, or for showing me the magical way to actually do this.
Keyword Research | | matt-145670 -
Buying a domain name
Hey, Need to buy a domain name and obviously can not get example.co.nz. Was wondering... can I do examplehq.co.nz is this better for seo or should I find something else. This is for an ecommerce website and I can't use shop or store after it... it's casino related any ideas would be much appreciated.
Keyword Research | | bonmaklad0 -
Best keyword research software / approach for blogging?
We are launching a new blog for one of our B2B business'sand I wondering what's the best keyword research software / approach for deciding blog categories and topics for a B2B company blog? Any suggestions would be very awesome! Rochelle 🙂 PS - also what's the best way to keep our keyword silo's organized?
Keyword Research | | RochelleRietow0