Everything you want to know about keyword search volume for SEO in 2023

If you’ve ever done keyword research or keyword analysis, you’ve probably come across the concept of keyword search volume.

This is one of the most important metrics in search engine optimization (SEO). This problem keeps popping up no matter what I do, like create a new website, start a PPC advertising campaign or any other marketing campaign related to Google Ads. It’s also a great way to assess your users’ needs and interests in a particular topic, service, or product, and use thin information to inform your marketing and product strategy.

In this post, we will explain the important aspects of dealing with keyword search volume and help you find the best tools for this.

What is keyword search volume?

In a nutshell, keyword search volume is a number that reflects the number of times users search for a specific query within a specific time period. Typically, SEOs like to focus on monthly search volume.

This number helps you understand what search queries are popular and how popular. And this is important because you can’t build an SEO strategy without knowing which keywords to optimize for maximum impact and traffic.

According to some studies, 93% of all online journeys start with a search engine. This means that if you want to address this user’s interests, you need to access their keywords.

But knowing a keyword’s search volume goes beyond that. In addition to pure traffic reasons, you can use this type of keyword data to:

• Uncover the competitiveness of each keyword.
• Prioritize your site optimization efforts by focusing on keywords that bring the most value to your business.
• Find patterns that indicate seasonality in consumer demand.

Perfect keyword search volume — does it exist?

In SEO, some things are strictly defined, such as the optimal number of characters in titles (so Google doesn’t cut them off in the SERPs) and meta descriptions.

But, of course, most things are not like that. Therefore, there is no such thing as an optimal search volume. Some industries and keywords have a minimum search volume of 50,000 to 100,000 searches per month, while other industries and keywords won’t have such high numbers.

Imagine keywords like “health insurance quote” and keywords like “mini pig wig.” The latter will never have the same search volume as the former.

However, if your keyword gets fewer than 100 searches per month, it may not be worth the effort.

There’s no such thing as good or bad when it comes to keyword searches, so there are several factors to consider when looking at keyword statistics.

• consider your industry
• Keep your competition in mind (keywords with very high search volume are usually very competitive and can be difficult to rank for)
• Don’t set your keyword volume too low. A keyword’s volume may indicate that users aren’t searching for anything using that term.
• Don’t forget your site size and budget

Unless you have a huge budget to spend on SEO and PPC campaigns, you should consider that your keyword strategy should include both low-volume and medium-volume keywords. This will help you stay competitive in the SERPs and tackle searches that bring traffic to your site.

Tip: The best time to target keywords with higher search volume (typically 100,000+ monthly searches) is when you have an established website that draws significantly more traffic compared to your competitors. It’s when you’re there.

Where can I see keyword search volume statistics?

Now that you know all the background information about search volume, you may be wondering where to actually look.

If you’ve ever played around with Google Keyword Planner, you’ve no doubt seen this statistic. But the biggest problem is that GKP only provides scope, so you can’t fully trust what you see within this Google native tool.

The only way to get actual search volume statistics from Google is to start a paid campaign when Google reveals the exact numbers.

Google Search Console can also give you some insights, but it’s limited to keywords you’re already ranking for.

This means that if you want to perform keyword research, Google native tools won’t come in handy unless you’re ready to launch a PPC campaign for each keyword you want to analyze.

Well, is this it? Of course not.

Third-party tools that provide all sorts of keyword-related services often include search volume statistics. So a Google search for something like “keyword research tool” will yield over a billion results. If you dig a little deeper into this topic, you’ll find that there are 5-6 of the most prominent tools, including Semrush , Moz, Ahrefs, Serpstat, Sistrix, and Mangools.

Why use a third-party keyword tool?

One of the strongest arguments against using a third-party keyword tool is that it allows you to overcome all the limitations that Google native tools have, and you’ll find: .

• Specific search volume statistics
• Rank yourself for keywords other than other sites
• Competition level for any keyword

Impressive, right? Only Google knows your exact keyword search volume. This means that third-party tools can only provide estimates.

This means that when choosing a keyword tool to use for keyword research, you should choose the one with the most accuracy. Otherwise, your SEO strategy and optimization efforts will be based on the wrong data, leading to incorrect conclusions and wasting resources.

Which keyword tool has the most accurate search volume data?

Assessing the accuracy of the data can only be done through research.

There’s one study that actually took search volume data from all the most popular keyword tools ( Semrush , Moz, Ahrefs, Serpstat, Sistrix, Mangools) and compared them to impression data from Google Search Console. In this methodology post , we explain why impression counts are the best way to benchmark search volume statistics in this case.

In fact, this study also investigated the accuracy of the free version of GKP to show whether Google’s free version can be trusted.

Which tool’s search volume data is closer to the actual statistics? Winner: Semlash

Above, you can see how each tool compares to the statistics returned by Google Keyword Planner’s exact search volume numbers.

In this regard, Semrush leads the way, with the free version of Google Keyword Planner also coming in second place.

This means that Semrush is the primary tool when it comes to search volume accuracy. Let’s take a closer look at the comparison with other solutions.

Moz is the only tool that even comes close to Semrush’s search volume data quality, but even in this case the difference is significant at 17%.

Which tool returns more keyword data? Winner: Semlash

In addition to returning accurate search volume statistics, you need to consider the range of these statistics.

Although the tool has high accuracy, it may not cover a wide range of keywords. Not exactly the same studies have addressed this issue either.

The top two are the same as the previous analysis categories. Semrush comes first, followed by the free version of Google Keyword Planner. And in this case, the difference is even more dramatic.

Semrush is missing data for only 1.8% of the keywords analyzed in the study, while the remaining tools are missing data for more than 4%.

This means that with Semrush you have access to twice as many keyword statistics than any other keyword tool. And having top-level accuracy stats is incredibly impressive.

last word

Now that we’ve uncovered everything you need to know about keyword search volume, it’s time to dig into the actual work and level up your SEO efforts. This means you need tools to unravel these keyword statistics.

Luckily, you can take advantage of a free trial of Semrush. Semrush is actually the platform with the largest and most accurate keyword database among the major market participants. Available exclusively to my readers for 14 days after activation.