Tip: Get more eyes on your content by targeting keywords with zero search volume

As useful as keyword research tools are, they aren't always right about search volume and they don't always spot emerging trends. Get your content to rank by targeting keywords that have zero search volume.

Steve Toth of SEO Notebook got nearly 5000 clicks in two months with keywords that were reported as having zero search volume — and he's not alone. Most people take zero-search-volume keywords at face value and ignore them, leaving an opportunity for newer websites to rank in the SERP. So look for keywords in your niche with tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, and keep drilling down until you've got a list of keywords with no volume. Obviously, many of these keywords will be duds, so target lots of them, make sure they're relatively easy topics for you to write about, and keep the articles short. Here are a few indications that a specific zero-search-volume keyword might be worth your time: You search the keyword with quotes around it and it brings up lots of relevant content. It's similar to a more popular keyword (bonus if Google suggests it as a related search). Competitors are targeting the keyword.