Search Volume
TL;DR;
Search volume measures the number of searches performed using a keyword, on a given search engine, in a given time frame and a given geographical location. Search volume keyword research is an important part of content planning, in order to focus content on keywords with higher search volume, which lead to the content showing up more in searches.
What is Search Volume?
Search Volume is an important metric which measures how many times a certain keyword is being searched using search engines like Google. The search volume can be correlated with a time frame and a geographical location. To give an example, when we refer to the search volume of a keyword, we can measure: how many times has keyword X been searched for in November 2019, in the USA, on Google. Most times, search volume is an accurate estimate, rather than an absolute measurement. There are several tools that can provide such estimates and measurements, like Google Trends, SEMRush or The Hoth.
Why is Search Volume important?
The search volume is a very important aspect of search engine optimization, in the strategic build-up of the process. Before writing content, it is wise to assess which keywords are the most popular in searches. You may well find that one keyword is more popular than some of its synonyms, which should then convince you to use it in your content, in order for your webpage to appear in more search results pages.
Website content writers should, however, keep in mind that the more search volume a keyword is getting, the more competition it will attract and the more difficult it will be to rank for that keyword.
But doing search volume keyword research can also reveal niche, less searched terms, that you can also decide to use in your content, in order to establish yourself as an authority on that very particular topic.
If you use Google Trends, you can also see how certain keywords vary in interest during a given time frame. For instance, search volume for “car tyre”-related keywords is likely to rise in late autumn, while search volume for “swimsuit”-related keywords will probably rise in summer.
