What Are Low Hanging Fruit Keywords for SEO

In the competitive world of SEO, every website owner dreams of ranking on the first page of Google. But, the reality is, you do not need to compete on high search volume, super competitive keywords to get useful traffic. This is where low hanging fruit keywords come into play—your secret weapon to gaining quick SEO wins and sustainable organic growth.

Understanding Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

“Keywords that are less competitive are search terms that strike the right balance of opportunity and ease of ranking. This means that keywords have a respectable search volume but little competition in results pages, and therefore, can be much easier to rank for, especially if you’re just getting on your feet with a new website or in a highly competitive niche.

Think of low hanging fruit keywords as the branches on a fruit tree that are closest to the ground. Other website owners may be competing for the fruit at the top of the tree (which could very well be your goal), but in the meantime, you can be using the fruit that is just within reach at the lower branches. Ways for you to be able to market to qualified traffic to your site without relying on massive backlink campaigns or waiting months for the fruit to grow first.”

Characteristics of Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

The top low hanging fruit keywords typically possess a few major characteristics. First, they usually have medium search volume, about 100 to 1,000 monthly searches. While this may not seem attractive when you put it next to high-volume keywords, this type of keyword usually has a higher conversion rate because it attracts a more specific group of intent driven searchers.

Second, these types of keywords have relatively low keyword difficulty; normally 30 and lower on the most SEO tools. This signifies that there are not too many authoritative sites trying to compete for these same terms, meaning you have a fair chance to break into the top searches.

Third, low hanging fruit keywords usually consist of long-tail keywords. Instead of trying to optimize for “running shoes,” you could choose to optimize for “best cushioned running shoes for flat feet”. These longer, and more specific keywords give you less competition when writing articles, while targeting users that already know what they want.

Where to Find Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

Your existing material is full of gem possibilities with low hanging fruit. You can use Google Search Console to uncover keywords that you are ranking for on pages two and three (i.e. positions 11 through 30) because you’re close to page one, and some local optimization can get you there for top ten positions.

You can also consider a competitor gap analysis. You will want to use something like Ahrefs or SEMrush to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for that you do not rank for. Filter those results for low difficulty scores and these can be presented as easier opportunities they have likely already earned without much effort.

Never forget about question-based keywords. People constantly search when they could be using question phrases like “how to,” “what is,” “why does,” and “can I.” Your competition on these types of queries are often lower because most websites are focusing only on traditional keyword phrases. Using Questions with a tool like AnswerThePublic can provide insight into these opportunity-based phrases for your niche.

Use the related searches and “People Also Ask” boxes on each Google search result page under your primary keyword. This will provide you with low-competition variations of your primary keyword and will be actual user queries that may be untapped opportunities.

How to Optimize for Low Hanging Fruit Keywords

Once you’ve got your target keywords, you will want to optimize. The first step is to write a great, in-depth piece of content that addresses the searcher’s intent. Google has become sophisticated enough to recognize thin content, and content should be developed with depth versus stuffing keywords in every corner of the text.

Natural place your target keyword in the most important on-page elements, your title tag, meta description, H1 heading, and the first 100 words of your content. Use variations of the target keyword, as well as relevant terms in the text body itself that demonstrates topical relevance.

Another way to amplify your optimization is through internal linking. Link to your new content on pages that are already established on your site. Internal links help to pass authority to the new content and also help the search engine understand the context and relevance of the new content.

Lastly, don’t forget about user experience signals. You will want to make sure that the page loads fast, renders well on a mobile device, and is easy to read and skim. Google in increasingly prioritizing pages that provide an overall good user experience.

The Strategic Advantage of Low Hanging Fruit

The beauty of the approach lies in building momentum. With early wins using low hanging fruit keywords, we establish authority for your site in its niche. As we roll out rankings and traffic, site authority will continue to build and it will become easier and easier to target more competitive terms.

These keywords also have quicker ROI on your SEO efforts. It takes six to twelve months to rank for competitive keywords. In contrast, low hanging fruit keywords can hit page 1 in weeks or a couple months, giving you traffic and conversions as you’re trying to build up toward larger initiatives.

Conclusion

Keywords that can be classified as low hanging fruit represent intelligent, strategic SEO. They are words that will get you meaningful traffic without the massive resources required to chase after very competitive terms. By continuously identifying and optimizing for low hanging fruit keywords, you are building up rankings that compound over time.

Not every SEO success is about swinging for the fences and trying for the home run. Sometimes, just picking the easiest fruit with lower hanging fruit keywords, builds up the power and momentum to trade up. Once you get some knowledge and momentum that will slow you down even more. Have an intention of your low hanging fruit keyword research today and the snowball of organic traffic will never stop rolling.