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Does Competition Really Count In Ranking?

by Dave37
23 replies
Something that usually catch my attention is the fact that many guides about ranking in Google suggest that you go to the keyword planner and choose a "LOW COMPETITION KEYWORD" within a certain range of monthly searches.

I'm thinking "Does competition really matter?" because according to Google, the competition is "The number of advertisers that showed on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google." Simply put, the competition column is about the ads, the Keyword planner itself is a tool of Google Adwords, and apart from the search volumes, I doubt that there is any more important detail we can get from it when it comes to ranking a website in Google.

I might be wrong, so I would like to hear from you. When trying to rank a website in Google, do you also take the Competition column in the Keyword planner into consideration, or you emphasize on the number of search results for the keyword you are trying to rank for?
#competition #count #google #keyword planner #ranking
  • Profile picture of the author Gdiddy
    To rank in Google you need to:
    1. have backlinks from high ranking pages.
    2. Fresh and Meaningful content on your page.
    3. Long tail keywords.
    4. The site has to be considered "useful" by Google.
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    • Profile picture of the author heavysm
      Easy mistake, but that keyword planner is a tool of adwords and not related to the difficulty of ranking a site on Google itself.

      So competition in terms of the keyword planner is the number of other advertisers bidding on that particular keyword.

      Competition in terms of SEO and ranking a site on Google for organic traffic relies on the backlink profile of a site. And yes, in terms of SEO, backlinks still play a huge roll in ranking a site.

      Competition, in terms of authority of a site and it's backlink profile, is the only thing that makes SEO easy or hard because you're directly competing against other sites in order to rank on the first page for a keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    When SEO'ers tell you to choose a low competition keyword, what they usually mean is go look at the top 10 or 20 results on Google for the keyword you want to rank for, and assess how competitive those sites are for the keyword. If you see a lot of great sites with tons of content and links, then competition is high. If you see a bunch of crappy pages with few links, then competition is weak.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave37
      Originally Posted by Curtis2011 View Post

      When SEO'ers tell you to choose a low competition keyword, what they usually mean is go look at the top 10 or 20 results on Google for the keyword you want to rank for, and assess how competitive those sites are for the keyword. If you see a lot of great sites with tons of content and links, then competition is high. If you see a bunch of crappy pages with few links, then competition is weak.
      Curtis, I think the way you explain the term "competition" here when it comes to SEO makes much more sense. Many people don't take the time to analyze the sites on the first 2-3 pages which can be crucial at times.
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  • Profile picture of the author TeKn1qu3z
    Yes, as par I would answer for all your questions, Build backlinks from great sites and you could be ranking in first page. Adword planner tool shows incorrect searches and volumes as per my last research.
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  • Profile picture of the author MatthewNeer
    I just wanna drop some knowledge real quick...

    People find out about backlinks and think that they can "spam their way to the top"

    HELL NAH!

    The REAL purpose of a backlink is to create such badass content that it makes other people, who you are not affiliated with, want to share your stuff.

    THAT is a true backlink.
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    • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
      Originally Posted by MatthewNeer View Post

      I just wanna drop some knowledge real quick...

      People find out about backlinks and think that they can "spam their way to the top"

      HELL NAH!

      The REAL purpose of a backlink is to create such badass content that it makes other people, who you are not affiliated with, want to share your stuff.

      THAT is a true backlink.
      This is exactly right. Too many people focus on just "having backlinks" where the key to all marketing is to provide value to your customers. If you do indeed provide value to the people using your content then they will in turn share it and link to you. That is where you get the links.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dave37
        Originally Posted by Adrianhenry View Post

        This is exactly right. Too many people focus on just "having backlinks" where the key to all marketing is to provide value to your customers. If you do indeed provide value to the people using your content then they will in turn share it and link to you. That is where you get the links.
        That might also be one of the key reasons behind the Penguin and Panda updates. However, as onSubie said above, nowadays it's possible to "spam your way to the first page". I'm not sure whether it's a pre or post Penguin-Panda term, but I have seen quite a few people promote the "Churn & Burn SEO" method.
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    • Profile picture of the author onSubie
      Originally Posted by MatthewNeer View Post

      People find out about backlinks and think that they can "spam their way to the top"
      You actually can "spam your way to the top". But it won't last.

      You can get a site ranked nice and high and pocket a few thousand dollars before the spamming kills the site.

      A lot of people make lots of money with these kind of "churn and burn" sites.

      Of course, not recommended for a long term business unless your business is creating targeted niche sites destined for the bin when they are done.
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      • Profile picture of the author discrat
        Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

        You actually can "spam your way to the top". But it won't last.

        You can get a site ranked nice and high and pocket a few thousand dollars before the spamming kills the site.

        A lot of people make lots of money with these kind of "churn and burn" sites.

        Of course, not recommended for a long term business unless your business is creating targeted niche sites destined for the bin when they are done.

        Yeah people do it but what a slimy way to go in IM

        Not a stable way to do it. Some people just do not really care.

        Its all about stacking the Benjamins to them




        - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author niffybranco
    Yes competition matters a great deal, competition determines how much work you need to put in to get onto the first page for the keyword you are going after.

    If your budget ( time and money ) cannot get you a good rank then all you will do is waste your time. There is no point going after a keyword you do not have the time nor money to get you to page 1.

    Rather than chase 1 keyword that has say 30,000 searches , go for 10 low to mid competition keywords that have 10,000 searches each , that way you have a better chance oh achieving your targeted search volumes .
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  • Profile picture of the author mamtarana
    yes ,it comes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave37
    Thanks guys for your answers so far, I've learned a lot from them. My follow-ups questions would be:

    - As TeKn1qu3z mentioned, many people consider the Keyword Planner to be largely inaccurate about the search volumes. In that case what tool would you recommend as a better alternative?

    - Do you go the same route to rank a YouTube video as you do to rank a website on Google? I particularly mention YouTube because not only it belongs to Google, but it's also not very often that I see a video from another platform ranked on the 1st page of Google.
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    • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
      Originally Posted by Dave37 View Post

      - Do you go the same route to rank a YouTube video as you do to rank a website on Google? I particularly mention YouTube because not only it belongs to Google, but it's also not very often that I see a video from another platform ranked on the 1st page of Google.
      I am by no means an expert in video SEO but from what I do know and what I have read on here and other places I believe that ranking a video in google is easier than ranking a page on your site simply because Google loves videos. Of course they are also going to favour their own products over other video platforms.
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    Competition does matter, the tougher the competition, the more difficult it is for you to make it to the top.
    This is probably why many say you should go for the low competition keywords, because it's easier to rank.
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    • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
      Originally Posted by Slade556 View Post

      Competition does matter, the tougher the competition, the more difficult it is for you to make it to the top.
      This is probably why many say you should go for the low competition keywords, because it's easier to rank.
      Of course this is true but what OP was asking is the competition as listed on google keyword planner really important, which is totally different from the real world competition you will actually face when you are trying to rank a site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave37
    Originally Posted by Slade556 View Post

    Competition does matter, the tougher the competition, the more difficult it is for you to make it to the top.
    This is probably why many say you should go for the low competition keywords, because it's easier to rank.
    I agree that competition does matter, but in my opinion the Keyword planner is not the right place to find out about the competition for a keyword you are trying to rank for. As an example, over a year ago I checked the then Google Keyword Tool for the keyword "candy crush" which had a high search volume (134,000 monthly US searches) and 'low' competition.

    That 'low' competition meant there weren't many advertisers bidding on that keyword. Besides, there weren't any product to advertise about Candy Crush, as apparently all the attempts have been failed because of copyright infringement. However that wasn't enough to determine that you would easily rank on the 1st page for that keyword.

    I was trying to rank a YouTube video at that time, and it wasn't (probably still not) easy, despite the fact that I had used great on-page and off-page optimization, backed-up by good back-linking gigs from Fiverr. I did rank for some other LSI-related keywords, but not for the main keyword I was after.

    Just type "candy crush" and see all the 'authority' websites on the first 2-3 pages you would have to over-pass in order to appear on the first page.
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  • Profile picture of the author AntonioSeegars1
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      The "experts" who recommend using the competition as shown in the Adwords tool are not necessarily ignorant. They may just have a good handle on their prospect's psychology.

      Which sounds easier to sell?

      "Look for keywords with xx,xxx searches and 'Low' competition."

      or

      "Look for keywords with xx,xxx searches and then check the first page or two of results, making judgments about how easy or hard it will be to outrank those sites based on the following list of factors..."

      Hmmm?

      People selling keyword tools and entry-level SEO courses and manuals know that the large majority of their prospect pool wants and needs a few simple rules to blindly follow. Just look at the number of folks here at WF desperately seeking a paint-by-numbers solution to a problem that requires education and judgment?
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      • Profile picture of the author Dave37
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        People selling keyword tools and entry-level SEO courses and manuals know that the large majority of their prospect pool wants and needs a few simple rules to blindly follow. Just look at the number of folks here at WF desperately seeking a paint-by-numbers solution to a problem that requires education and judgment?
        John, I think you got a good point here. It might be that some of the people selling those courses or services are just trying to make it look easy for the prospect so that they can get their absolute attention. But in my opinion, many of those people also believe in what they are teaching because those things are usually mentioned inside the courses (post-payment).

        I also use to see some free ranking tutorials on YouTube based on the same idea of targeting 'low' competition keywords. They tried it and it worked, so they believe that it had to do with the competition as mentioned in the Keyword Planner.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kurt
          Originally Posted by Dave37 View Post

          John, I think you got a good point here. It might be that some of the people selling those courses or services are just trying to make it look easy for the prospect so that they can get their absolute attention. But in my opinion, many of those people also believe in what they are teaching because those things are usually mentioned inside the courses (post-payment).

          I also use to see some free ranking tutorials on YouTube based on the same idea of targeting 'low' competition keywords. They tried it and it worked, so they believe that it had to do with the competition as mentioned in the Keyword Planner.
          Here's the problem with only focusing on "low competition" keywords and phrases...They are likely low competition for a reason: The either don't get any traffic or if they do, the traffic doesn't convert.


          However, they are easier to rank for. On the other hand, a keyword with high value may mean just a few visitors may be valuable.


          One more time: The key with keywords is numbers. It's reported than about 50% of keyword searches are "unique and one of a kind" that no one is really optimized for. In order to get this traffic, you want as many COMBINATIONS of keywords and phrases as possible.


          And to have "numbers", you need a lot of content that is of high enough quality it will meet Google's criteria for engagement.
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

            One more time: The key with keywords is numbers. It's reported than about 50% of keyword searches are "unique and one of a kind" that no one is really optimized for. In order to get this traffic, you want as many COMBINATIONS of keywords and phrases as possible.
            Absolutely.

            I stopped trying to go after specific keywords when I noticed that, month after month, the keywords in my server logs were mainly ones I would never have dreamed of targeting. After that, I stuck to theming and relying on LSI for search rather than targeting specific lists of keywords. By doing that, I find that I do get many more combinations.

            Now if some of those combinations appear a lot, I can assume that the phrase is important for me, especially if it converts. And I would much rather have a list of words and phrases that work for me than a list which meets some arbitrary rule in a tool notorious for inaccuracy.
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          • Profile picture of the author Dave37
            Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

            Here's the problem with only focusing on "low competition" keywords and phrases...They are likely low competition for a reason: The either don't get any traffic or if they do, the traffic doesn't convert.


            However, they are easier to rank for. On the other hand, a keyword with high value may mean just a few visitors may be valuable.
            Interesting! I also think there are keywords, though labeled as low competition, have a 'buying power'. Advertisers might just not be aware of them, or there aren't enough products created on them.

            Another thing is that a keyword with high search volume and low competition, might not have a 'buying power' but the traffic can be very effective on a well-optimized Adsense blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    IMO, the best SEO strategy is to go after as many keywords as possible. It's really a numbers game.


    However, you need to start somewhere. So I sort my gathered keywords list into the following:


    1. Most traffic
    2. Least competition
    3. Most valuable
    4. Best combo of the above


    Each factor above has benefits. I don't take any of the above as absolute, but again, I need to start somewhere and doing a quick sort using the criteria above doesn't take but a few seconds.
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