How To Rank For Competitive Keywords | GrowTraffic

With the correct measures in place, knowing how to rank for competitive keywords should be pretty straightforward. And once you’ve grasped the process, it is repeatable from there on.  

A lot changes in the digital marketing realm from day to day, but one basic rule of SEO remains consistent: to increase organic traffic, you must secure top positions on search engine results pages (SERPs). (Albeit, before any Karen’s come for us, this is not THE ONLY way to increase organic traffic… But for the sake of this blog, it’s what we’re focusing on, ok?) 

Increasing your ranking on SERPs can take time and consistent effort. But this becomes considerably more challenging when you’re focusing on competitive keywords. Usually, we would suggest avoiding highly saturated keywords to improve your odds, but in some cases, it can be unavoidable.  

So, if you’re up for a challenge, then this blog is for you. Without further ado, here’s GrowTraffic’s guide on how to rank for competitive keywords.  

What Is Keyword Competition? 

When we ‘SEOers’ strategise ways to achieve the results our clients desire, we use different SEO metrics to measure the probability of success. Keyword competition is one of those metrics, showing how difficult it is to rank for a specific keyword.  

From this information, we are able to garner how much time and effort will be required to climb SERPs and see results.  

There are various factors determining a keyword’s competition, such as: 

• The quantity and quality of existing content ranking for a keyword 

The more niche a keyword is, the less competition there is likely to be. Another bonus, is that anyone searching niche(r) keywords is probably further along the buyer journey, meaning if your site is top of SERPs, you’re more likely to see a conversion. 

How To Rank For Competitive Keywords: GT’s Guide  

1. Prep Your Website  

Before doing any makeup, makeup artists will ensure the base is perfected with skin care and primer so that the makeup lies better on top.  

The first step when ranking for competitive keywords is similar. You need to ensure your website is in good health before trying to rank higher for any random keyword. Some pre-requisites are: 

• Solid DA and link network 
• Social media platforms that support the content on your website 

2. Conduct Some Keyword Research  

Sometimes, SEO can mean going against your instincts. You may think you have the perfect keyword to target, but you might be mistaken… We’d suggest using several keyword tools to get an idea of whether your initial selection would be a worthy target. Points to consider are: 

• Choosing keywords with a strong search volume, but not too competitive. Avoid keywords with the highest search volume and the lowest. You want to be somewhere in the middle. 
• Ensure the keyword is relevant to your business. Remember: on search engines, keywords are how you meet organic traffic halfway. Mislead them, and they will click off as soon as they click on, which could damage SEO effectiveness in the long run.  

3. Snoop Out The Competition 

Once you have selected keywords that will serve your business best, it is time to have a little snoop at what the competition is already doing. But how do you work out what keywords your competitors are targeting? We suggest looking at: 

• URLs: Do their top-ranking pages feature a keyword in the URL? 
• Titles: Do the titles incorporate a keyword which is featured across the page? 
• Image Alt Text: Is the keyword featured in any image alt text? (To view this, just right click and ‘Inspect’) 
• Content Type: Are the ranking pages products? Head pages? Blog posts? 
• Business Scale: What types of businesses are ranking for your chosen keyword? Huge conglomerates, small businesses, or newer sites? 
• Domain Authority: Use Moz to check the DA of competing sites. 

At this point, you’re padding. The idea is to find your ‘in’ (your ‘in’ is a way you can differentiate yourself and outrank your competitors). Your main competition could be smashing 6 of these points, but be slacking on the 7^th. That’s your in.  

4. Consider Searcher Intent  

When mastering our guide on how to rank for competitive keywords, we must consider searcher intent. The more exact a keyword is, the more you can gauge what it is your audience is searching for.  

When we talk about ‘intent’ in marketing, we’re using accessible data to assume what our audience really wants to see from their search query.  

Think about it from another perspective. If you were looking for a wedding dress but had absolutely no idea where to start or what you were looking for, your search would be very broad. It probably takes you a while to whittle down what you like, and you wouldn’t go on the first thing you see.  

Whereas, if you had a good idea of what you like, you’d state that from the jump. Instead, you’d search for ‘mermaid wedding dress with long sleeves’. That would streamline your search, meaning you don’t need to scroll for hours to get to the point.  

Back to a marketer’s POV, you want to match up your keywords with content pages that serve that searcher’s intent. Sticking with the wedding dress concept, it’d be best to bring up a product page showcasing all your mermaid wedding dresses with long sleeves.  

5. Diversify Your Content  

Not everyone likes blogs (how dare you). Not everyone wants to watch a 30-minute video explaining how to do something. Not everyone uses web directories to find businesses. But somebody might.  

The best SEO practitioners will tick every box, and then go back and tick outside the boxes. Content is necessary for ranking keywords. But a diversified approach to content is also the best way to appeal to a wider demographic of consumers. 

To support your keywords, think about producing: 

• Social media content – videos, graphics, etc. 



Ranking For Competitive Keywords With GrowTraffic 

We hope this guide on how to rank for competitive keywords was helpful. Honestly, it takes a lot of work. If you don’t have the time or resources to take this work on, we can help.  

At GrowTraffic, we have helped hundreds of businesses across various sectors climb SERPs for their chosen keywords. We tend to leave no stone unturned and remain consistent with our approach, as we know it’s what gets us results time after time. If you would like to read some of the Case Studies for work we have done for clients previously, follow this link. 

Alternatively, if you would like to learn more from us, why not take part in one of our digital marketing training courses? That way, we can pass the baton and help you become an SEO expert! 

If you have any more questions on how to rank for competitive keywords or would like to enquire about our services, please contact our team today! You can call us on 0161 706 0012 or shoot across an email to [email protected] and one of our team members will arrange a coffee and chinwag!