How to Use Low Search Volume Keywords to Optimize B2B Tech Content

by Calefyb Tech digital marketing services

As SEOs, we’re primed to go big on our content strategy — to do thorough keyword and competitor research, create high-quality content, do link-building outreach, and drive ad and social media traffic to our pages to get our keywords ranking as soon as possible. Because of the time, effort, and resources that go into ranking for a keyword, we think that unless thousands of people are searching for them, it’s not worth targeting at all.

But that’s where I think many SEOs are missing opportunities to bring in targeted — and revenue-generating — traffic.

If you’re in a niche where there are either too many competing products or a small addressable market — like B2B fintech or martech — targeting high search volume keywords from the get-go is an exercise in futility.

For new companies or smaller businesses with low authority sites in competitive niches, it takes months (or maybe even years) to rank for a keyword like “project management” or “online payment”. For niches with small addressable markets, there aren’t even any high search volume keywords to target.

If you’re chasing after high search volume keywords, you’re either creating content that will never be seen by your ideal audience as it stays buried in Google’s page seven, or forcing a content strategy that doesn’t address your buyer persona’s search intent. Either way, it’s SEO’s version of a black hole in space.

And when you look at it like this, you may indeed think, “Why even bother with SEO then? It’s not worth it.”

But from my perspective, SEO is worth it — with the RIGHT approach.

For cases like these — competitive niche, small addressable market, or both — I turn to my proven approach to growing targeted organic traffic and brand awareness: targeting low search volume keywords.

Why are low search volume keywords an SEO goldmine for niche industries like B2B tech?

Low search volume keywords are terms that not many people are searching for. It could be because the keywords are not relevant at all, in which case, it doesn’t make sense to target them. But it could also be because the keyword is specific (i.e. long) or niched.

If your situation falls into these categories, then you have hit an SEO goldmine.

Specific and niched keywords are exactly what accelerate your organic traffic growth and business revenue – even when you don’t have the domain authority, brand awareness, or resources of your more established competitors.

By targeting low search volume keywords, you rank faster for more intent-specific keywords, and can eventually leverage this to go after more competitive keywords. Over time, you become less dependent on Google Ads and social media ads. And as we’ve learned from recent months after having to pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SEO traffic continues to generate revenue even when performance marketing budgets come to a standstill.

But there’s more to your SEO strategy than just going after these keywords. You have to know which keywords are worth going for and how to create content in a manner that you get ROI for your SEO efforts as early on as possible.

Let’s now take a deep dive into this process.

How to use low search volume keywords to improve your SEO

This strategy has proven useful for many niche industries, but it particularly applies to B2B tech.

Here’s how I’d handle this:

Research low search volume keywords for your niche. Start by focusing on bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) keywords and further segment your buyer persona to not miss highly specific long-tail keywords with a high purchase or consideration intent.
Map your keywords into a content plan. This gives you an overview of your target focus keywords, streamlines your strategy, and gives you a clear action plan.
Create skyscraper content for all your BOFU keywords and then extend to middle-of-funnel (MOFU) keywords. Make it very niche and buyer persona-specific so you get as many quick wins as possible from BOFU. Once you have a solid foundation, extend your content to target MOFU keywords.
Integrate higher search volume keywords into your content strategy. Once you have a steady flow of organic traffic from your BOFU and MOFU content, start going for higher search volume keywords and update your content plan to cover your buyer persona’s holistic needs as much as possible.
Scale like HubSpot. Ultimately, you want your brand to become the thought leader in your niche. Go into detail on complicated concepts, develop and share your company’s industry-related viewpoints, expand your target audience to grow brand awareness further – and most importantly, build your content to scale.

Now let’s go through this whole process in detail, so you know how to put it into action directly.

Step 1: Research and choose the right low search volume keywords that your B2B tech audience is searching for.

Know your audience

The first step in any successful SEO content strategy is to know your audience. Bring your marketing and sales teams together and clarify your ideal buyer persona. Map out their customer journey, list their desired outcomes and pain points, and try to get as many real-world quotes as possible.

For a B2B audience, make sure to segment your buyer persona further. Remember that in B2B, you’re not just marketing to one person. You’re marketing to the whole buying committee – the people who buy it, the people who use it, and the executives who decide on it. Each of these teams has their own industry-specific words and jargon – the IT guys won’t be searching the same keywords as the marketers or the CEOs.

Source: – How to Use Low Search Volume Keywords to Optimize B2B Tech Content