If you are interested in driving traffic to your dental website (and indeed you should be) then you should know that keyword monthly search volume has an important role to play. Essentially, it should be one of the driving factors in your keyword research practices that, in turn, are vital to achieving optimum search engine optimisation. But what exactly is monthly search volume and why does it matter? Let’s take a closer look…
What is keyword monthly search volume?
As the name suggests, it implies the number of times a certain keyword or phrase has been searched for over a period of 1 month. In most keyword tools, this usually equates to an average of the yearly volume divided by 12. So let’s say for ease of use the key phrase ‘dentist Sydney’ was searched for 48,000 times over the course of a year, the monthly search volume would be 4000 searches per month.
Why should you care about keyword monthly search volume?
In essence, the search volume of a particular keyword is probably the most important metric when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). If you think about it, monthly search volume typically dictates whether or not a particular keyword or phrase is good enough to use.
Why?
Because you can see at a glance using one of many keyword tools whether or not a key phrase is a viable option.
So while you might think that you’ve found the perfect keyword to base content or an article around, if there is no interest in that keyword (meaning monthly searches) then it’s unlikely that you will get any visitors to your site, even if you rank highly for it.
Conversely, adequate search volume across several key phrases gives you a solid base from which you can prioritise and structure content, blogs, adverts or landing pages. In fact, your whole online marketing campaign.
What is classed as a good search volume?
“The higher the monthly search volume, the better the keyword” would be the obvious answer.
After all, it stands to reason. A key phrase with a high monthly search volume inevitably means that the term is popular. So if you rank for it – and by this we mean get noticed on the first page or two of a popular search engine like Google – you’re going to drive more traffic to your site.
Interestingly, in a large study carried out by ad network Chitika, data suggests that the number one position for a particular key phrase gets 33% of the entire traffic – while the number 2 spot receives around 18% of the traffic. That could amount to a huge number of clicks, leads, or enquiries if you have done your keyword research well.
The problem is that it isn’t always that simple…
You’ll also need to take into account mitigating factors like keyword relevancy or keyword difficulty.
Put it this way, let’s say that you are in the online business niche. You’re doing some keyword research and you come across the key phrase ‘make money online from home.’
You notice that it has hundreds of thousands of searches every month. It’s certainly got sufficient search volume – huge potential, in fact. However, it’s unlikely that you’re the only person who has noticed that and as a result, that key phrase is likely to be hard or virtually impossible to rank for organically.
Other factors that may sway keyword monthly search volume include:
Your niche or industry
If you run a blog about paintballing, for instance – it’s highly unlikely that during your keyword research you’re going to find key phrases with tens of thousands of monthly searches. That’s not to say that it isn’t a profitable niche but it won’t have the search volume of say the ‘making money online’ niche would.
Geo-targeting
If your business is more localised – think dentists, doctors, and chiropractors etc – then the search volume for particular key phrasing is likely to be more limited.
Bear in mind that limited can also mean more targeted so don’t ignore geo-targeted phrasing when conducting your keyword research but expect fewer people to be searching for it.
Word specific phrasing
Broader keywords such as ‘weight loss’ will always have a higher search volume than specific phrasing such as ‘best foods for a Keto Diet.’
The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong answer here. Instead, it’s simply a case of finding the monthly search volume sweet spot between sufficient monthly searches to drive traffic and levels of competition.
So now you know what keyword monthly search volume is – how does it help your dental practice?
If you consider SEO to be a giant poker game, keywords are your ante which enables you to access the game and play. If your keyword research fails and your keywords aren’t topically relevant, don’t have any search volume, or are simply too broad to compete, then you can’t play.
On the flip side, if you carry out extensive keyword research with keywords containing optimum levels of search volume, and you can structure your dental website content, blogs and landing pages around it, then it’s one high stakes strategy that could bring you a big return on your investment.
When conducting keyword research for your dental practice, make a list of all the services and treatments your practice offers, your location or locations, and any other unique features.
Next, use a keyword tool to conduct keyword research. It can give you the information you need with regards to search volume keywords to drive more traffic to your website.
How can a dental SEO expert like Mediboost help your business?
By analysing monthly search volume through solid keyword research we can quickly ascertain which keywords are right for your dental practice. We will then build up a content strategy which can be implemented in order to get leads.
If you would like to know more about how a better understanding of keyword monthly search volume can help your dental business, then contact Mediboost on 1300 163 058 and book your free no-obligation consultation.
