Keyword research
Identifying and prioritising the queries a business should target, using volume, difficulty, intent, business value and current visibility.
ContentMonthly search volumeMSV
Search volume
The estimated number of times a query is searched in a period, usually derived from Google Ads data and modelled by third-party tools.
In full
Ads-derived volumes are bucketed, averaged over twelve months, and often aggregate close variants, so they smooth away seasonality and misrepresent long-tail terms. Different tools report different numbers for the same term because their clickstream models and extrapolations differ. Volume should be treated as a relative ordering signal rather than a forecast, with Search Console impressions used for anything that must be accurate.
Example
Two tools report 8,100 and 2,400 monthly searches for the same term; Search Console shows 3,900 impressions for it on a page ranking fourth.
Related terms
Keyword difficulty
A vendor-specific 0-100 score estimating how hard it is to rank on page one for a query, usually derived from the link profiles of current…
Impressions
In Search Console, the number of times a site's links appeared in results for a query, counted when the link is scrolled or expanded into…
Seasonality
Predictable variation in search demand across the year, week or day, which must be controlled for before attributing changes to SEO work.
SEO forecasting
Projecting future organic performance from current rankings, expected position changes, demand trends and seasonality, usually as a range…
Where to read more
- New Research: Google Search Grew 20%+ in 2024; Receives ~373X More Searches Than ChatGPT · Study · sparktoro.com