One of the cornerstones of search engine optimization is keyword research. After all, in order to properly target specific audiences, you first have to know what they’re searching for – and in what quantity. Ultimately, keywords help make SEO analysis possible and provide a window into the browsing habits and marketing strategies of both audiences and competitors.

Every keyword or phrase has a specific value, often measured in how easy it is to rank in search results for that term and how many people are searching for the term. Despite the implication of the name, low-competition keywords have real value for brands that use them properly.

To help guide you in the right direction, let’s take a look at what this type of keyword can provide in terms of value.

What Are Low-Competition Keywords?

To first understand the value that low-competition keywords can provide, we must understand what they are. In short, low-competition keywords are phrases that have minimal competition but that are also relevant to your brand. While any relatively uncontested keyword or phrase can qualify as “low-competition”, we’re obviously only interested in ones that relate to relevant niche(s).

Especially important for new and/or smaller online brands and websites, low-competition keywords provide an entry point for SEO success. As a simple example, rather than spending 10 hours contesting 1 SERP for 10 visitors, targeting low-competition keywords involves spending 1 hour contesting 1 SERP for 1 visitor. While the figures aren’t exact, they illustrate the point: low-competition keywords yield fewer hits but also require less work.

Picking the Right Low-Competition Keywords

Now that you understand what low-competition keywords are, the next step (after determining whether this is the best strategy for your brand) is to identify the most powerful contenders for use. A quick bit of research by pinging your website for keywords and specific topics can help get you started.

Again, the goal is to find keywords and phrases that have minimal competition yet are relevant to your website and its content. There is also a certain balancing act: keywords with no competition – but no search interest – aren’t necessarily worth your effort. Additionally, consulting who exactly is competing for these low-competition keywords is important. Even if there’s minimal competition, if the competitors in question have high domain authority and competitive power, then ranking on the first page may be more difficult than it seems.

How Low-Competition Keywords Benefit You

Understanding exactly how low-competition keywords can benefit your brand is important; after all, why target them if they don’t provide benefit? As alluded to before, these keywords and phrases make it easier for brands to break into relevant SERPs and on the first page of results, but also generate less interest in general from the internet.

The key to using these keywords to your advantage revolves around being able to target relevant clusters of phrases. By assembling a portfolio of different low-competition keywords, you can effectively reach as many people as high-competitive keywords by pinging your website and its content across a variety of relevant SERPs.

Bigger isn’t always better: sometimes, targeting smaller niches can produce even better results. By using a combination of low-competition keywords, you can effectively accomplish the same goal as targeting more popular variants – often while doing less work in the process.