Discover ‘Low Hanging’ Keyword Opportunities with Google Analytics

Keyword research is the backbone of a successful SEO strategy. And you probably know there are endless tools to help brainstorm and select keywords. So where’s the best place to start?

Lots of people begin with the Google AdWords Keyword Tool but how about mining your keyword data through Google Analytics for strengths and ‘low hanging fruit’?

Low hanging fruit

If you already get traffic for keywords it must mean you are either on or close to the first page for those terms. This is a great start, as your Google scent is already strong. And mining Google Analytics is a great way of discovering new keywords or putting more focus on existing keywords that are ‘within reach’ of the mighty top 5 positions.

These keywords are where you are currently strongest, so it makes sense to maximize and develop them further. Here’s how:

Segmenting SEO keywords in Google Analytics

Most Google Analytics views provide an ‘Advanced segment’ option at the top right of the screen. The default ones are easy to use; select ‘Non-paid search traffic’ which segments only SEO traffic. Deselect ‘All visits’. Then you will only view traffic that is organic and has come from SEO.

Getting the keywords

In the main left navigation, go: Traffic sources > keywords (shown above). Change the ‘Show rows’ filter at the bottom of the view to 500. You can export the data from an option at the top of the screen.

You may also like to view keywords by important pages: Content > Top content > {select page} > entrance keywords.

Ranking reports

Once the keywords are exported into a spreadsheet, it’s useful to check their search volumes using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. Run a ranking report for ones with reasonable search volumes. Look out for keywords with a high business importance and good search volume that are close to the top 5 positions (low hanging fruit).

You’ll be surprised at some of the gems you can unearth and ‘quick wins’ to kick-start your SEO campaign with a just sprinkling of optimisation.