How to trust keyword research data

Do you know the BEST keyword research tool for SEO? Hint: It’s NOT Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest. In my opinion, the best keyword research tool is.. Google Search Console. Not the answer you were expecting? Allow me to explain. Unlike most other keyword research tools (like Ahrefs), which model data statistically, the data you see in GSC are actuals, especially volume (impressions). And since the data you see on Ahrefs is statistically modelled, you will notice significant discrepancies when you check the search volume data on Ahrefs and compare it with impressions. In addition, when you click on "Search results" and under queries, you can find a ton of keyword ideas (and variations) that your favourite keyword research tool would have easily skipped. Not only this, the data you see here represents how Google perceives and understands your content and, therefore, triggers your page for certain queries. This means you get keyword ideas AND feedback from Google for the content you have created! Look, I am not trying to diss keyword research tools (Ahrefs is my favourite), but as I said, the data you see are just predictions. And predictions, by nature, can go wrong more often than not. Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can undoubtedly act as a compass and show you the right direction. But you would be missing the forest for the trees if you ignore GSC data. In fact, in some cases, a great approach would be to publish first and optimise later. I generally take a handful of keywords from Ahrefs and write content around them. After that, I let it marinate on the SERPs for a while to get enough data from GSC. I then feed it back into my content, making it richer and more optimised. What do you think of this approach? And let me know YOUR favourite keyword research tool.

In the world of SEO, search tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs have become extremely popular. Virtually every prospect New Media Advisors talks to is using at least one if not both. They give users valuable information including estimates of traffic by keyword and difficulty ranking for keywords. But companies need to understand what goes into those estimates before treating them as gospel. Let's dive in. 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲: Long, long ago Google actually provided accurate volumes. Now it clusters and buckets data, making exact volumes harder to pinpoint. 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆: Gives an idea of how hard it might be to rank based on factors like page quality, backlinks, intent, and total ranking pages. It's an estimate, not precise. 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰: Tools identify keyword rankings for a page and note last ranking positions. They then estimate a CTR based on position. The estimated CTR is multiplied by estimated search volume to get estimated traffic. For example, a keyword with 1,700 monthly volume at #4 with a 13% estimated CTR would estimate 221 monthly traffic. This is repeated for all keywords. This can have pitfalls as metrics may be off based on the fact that the source data is but a fraction of real internet traffic. That said, these tools still offer valuable insights: 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀: Discrepancies between estimates and actual data might indicate upcoming trends or changes that are happening. 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗧𝗥: High estimates but low actual traffic could mean you need to look at how you appear in Search and potentially make some tweaks to descriptions or headlines.are 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: Irrelevant rankings might attract unqualified traffic, requiring content evaluation. Key takeaway - know that the data in your tools has limitations but can provide strategic insights. Use it as a compass, but cross-reference actual data for the full picture. It offers a temperature check, not precise measurement.

You're probably too invested in Semrush and Ahrefs data. You see high search volume and think: "Wow, imagine how much money I'll print if I rank #1." You fail to consider that it will take you 9+ months to rank #1 for it. So you spend months building content and links. Cool, so did your competition - you're still years behind them. You see low keyword difficulty and think: "Wow, I can rank #1 by next month." You fail to consider that the difficulty rating isn't right, so you waste the next 30 days pursuing that keyword relentlessly with links & content. 30 days later, you check the SERP. Bad news, the top 3 results have an average DR of 80+, despite Semrush & Ahrefs both telling you it was an easy keyword. 30 days down the drain. You're hung up on the fact that you only rank #5 for a certain keyword. You fail to consider that the ranking you see on Semrush/Ahrefs is the ranking from a single moment in time. You look at the average ranking in Google Search Console over the last 7 days (compared to the previous 7 days), and you notice that your average rank is higher than last week. That's a win, despite what Semrush or Ahrefs says. You can't believe that you only rank #8 for another keyword. You fail to consider any other version of that keyword, thinking that's the ONLY keyword you can possibly make money on with that page. You open that page in Search Console, only to find out that the top performing keyword is driving 1000+ impressions in the last month alone. The only problem is that you never found that keyword research during your research on Semrush or Ahrefs. Both tools showed 0 search volume. So all this time, while you've been frustrated that you can't rank higher, you've actually optimized for the wrong keyword. "How could this be?" You've failed to consider any other possibility than the first thing you found. This anchoring bias is single handedly holding you back from 10-20% (conservatively) organic growth. Look at your data, not another tool's interpretation of your data.