This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen search volume metrics criticized for their accuracy.
But here’s the kicker…
There is No such thing As exact search volume:
- Google Keyword Planner’s volume is not accurate.
- GSC’s “impressions” are also not accurate.
- And the indicators themselves are just averages of past data.
We have already published a fairly detailed article on search volume metrics in 2021. However, I don’t think many people have read it.
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But no one was listening, so everything must be said again.”
So let’s approach this topic from a completely new angle.
First of all, what exactly does SEO mean when it looks for “accuracy” in search volume?
Well, the inexperienced just want the third-party tool’s metrics to match the metrics shown in Google Keyword Planner (GKP).
But experienced people already know everything Hidden secrets of Google Keyword Planner:
- Figures are rounded annual averages.
- These averages are assigned to “volume buckets”.
- Keywords with similar meanings are often grouped together and summed for search volume.
This means that the search volume numbers displayed by GKP are highly inaccurate. And once the SEO learns that, he will no longer use GKP as a baseline for accuracy.
They use GSC.
got it. So GKP numbers are rounded, bucketed, clustered, and everything else. However, in Google Search Console (GSC), actual Impressions for a specific keyword, right?
Did you know that simple rank tracking tools can easily give you bad impressions in GSC?
Consider how many different “robots” scrape search results for a particular keyword, thereby giving a highly inaccurate impression of the actual (human-driven) search volume.
Additionally, your page must rank in the top 10 for 30 consecutive days to see actual monthly search volume. It also needs to be ranked nationally in case search results vary by location.
Additionally, I believe that GSC is no different from any other analytics tool in that there can be some variance in the “count” of impressions. In other words, compare the “clicks” reported by GSC to your server’s log files. I’m sure the numbers don’t add up.
Once you choose a specific keyword to rank for, how long do you think it will take for your page to actually rank high on Google for that keyword?
In fact, this is the very reason we added search volume prediction functionality to our Keyword Explorer tool. Use historical data to predict what will happen to search volume over the next 12 months.
Is it accurate? no.
But can it streamline your keyword research and help you make better decisions? Absolutely.
Let’s do a thought experiment and imagine there was an SEO tool that provided highly accurate search volume for any keyword. What do you use it for? Can you accurately predict search traffic from that keyword?
no!
You never know where your page will ultimately rank. Today it’s #3, tomorrow it’s #5, and the day after tomorrow it’s #1. Rankings are volatile and rarely maintain a particular position for long enough.
Even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to get accurate data on the click-through rate (CTR) for each position on Google. Each SERP is unique and Google continues to roll out more and more of his SERP features that steal clicks.So even if you know accurately keyword search volume and just Where the page will be placed… It is not yet possible to calculate the exact amount of search traffic it will receive.
And finally…
Pages will not rank for a single keyword. Seven years ago, we published research showing that the typical page that ranks high on Google for one keyword actually ranks for about 1,000 more related keywords.
So what’s the point of trying to measure clicks from one keyword when you’ll end up ranking for all 1,000 keywords at the same time?
And the lesson to be learned from all this is…
At Ahrefs, we spend significant time, effort, and resources to ensure that our keyword database is in good shape, both in terms of the scope of existing search queries and the SEO metrics we provide for each of these keywords. I am.
However, none of our SEO metrics are “accurate.” Even in search volume, It can be anything from keyword difficulty to traffic potential.
But none of them can do that.
It is designed to be “direction accurate”. These will give you an overall idea of the search demand for a particular keyword and whether it is much higher (or lower) than other keywords you are considering.
You cannot make exact calculations using these metrics.
However, hundreds of thousands of SEO professionals around the world use these precise metrics to guide their SEO strategies and get exactly the results they expect.