When conducting SEO keyword research and looking at search volume tools, you may encounter keywords that display “Keywords: Nothing to do,” indicating that there is very little or no historical search data that the tool can measure for that specific keyword. At first glance, it might seem reasonable to ignore such keywords. However, they often hold potential value. This article will delve into why tools display “Nothing to do,” the significance of these keywords, how to find them, and strategic ways to leverage them.
Understanding “Keywords: Nothing to do”
Keyword research in SEO is essential for identifying the search terms users employ to find information and providing content that matches those terms. Many SEO professionals use tools like Google Keyword Planner and other paid services to investigate keyword search volume and prioritize accordingly. However, not all keywords will display clear search volume data in these tools. Keywords showing “Keywords: Nothing to do” or “zero search volume” indicate that the tool has not accumulated sufficient statistical data for that specific search term. This does not necessarily mean the keyword is never searched.
Definition of Low Search Volume Keywords
Low search volume keywords are, as the name suggests, keywords with a relatively low number of monthly searches. While there’s no strict numerical definition, they generally refer to keywords with monthly search volumes between 10 and 100. Compared to high-volume big keywords or middle keywords that attract a large number of searches, these keywords have fewer individual searches but tend to be used by users seeking specific niche needs or more detailed information. Even though the volume of each individual keyword is small, by aggregating many relevant low-volume keywords, you can potentially attract a significant amount of traffic.
Zero Search Volume Keywords
Zero search volume keywords are those for which the tool could not detect any search history from past data. This means either the monthly search count is genuinely zero, or it is extremely low and falls below the tool’s measurement threshold. Keywords displaying zero search volume can have the following characteristics:
- Very new search queries: New terms or phrases that no one, or only a very small number of people, have searched for yet.
- Extremely niche queries: Queries specific to a particular specialized field or local information, searched by only a very limited number of people.
- Ultra long-tail keywords: Very specific and lengthy phrases composed of multiple words.
- Typos or misspellings: Queries that are not the correct spelling or phrasing.
- Temporary trend queries: Queries that are searched temporarily in relation to specific events or news but quickly become obsolete.
The reasons why these keywords show “Nothing to do” are often attributed to factors related to how tools collect and analyze data.
Why Keywords Show “Nothing to do” in Tools
While keyword research tools are very useful, they are not perfect. The display of “Keywords: Nothing to do” is often due to limitations in the tool’s data or the nature of the query itself.
Data Limitations in Keyword Tools
Keyword research tools analyze past search data to estimate search volume. However, this data is not always the most current, nor does it cover every single search query.
- Data Update Frequency: Tool data is not updated in real-time and may be based on data from weeks or months ago. Accurate volume for new or recently surged queries may not be reflected.
- Measurement Thresholds: Many tools may only measure and display detailed data for queries above a certain search count for efficiency. Keywords with extremely low monthly searches might fall below this threshold, resulting in a “zero” or “Nothing to do” display.
- Local and Personalized Searches: Local search queries or personalized searches, where results vary greatly depending on the user’s location or search history, are difficult for general tools to capture accurate search volume for.
- Tool Coverage: Different tools have different data sources and measurement methods, so a keyword that shows zero volume in one tool might show a small count in another. Free tools, in particular, may have less comprehensive and granular data than paid tools.
Niche or Hyper-specific Queries
Many keywords displaying “Nothing to do” tend to be very niche or hyper-local or hyper-specific queries that are only searched under certain circumstances.
- Specific Technical Terms: Queries including highly specialized terms used only within a specific industry or academic field will have low volume as they are rarely searched by the general user.
- Queries Combined with Specific Product/Service Names: Queries combined with the name of a very minor product from a specific manufacturer or the name of a region-specific service also tend to have low search volume.
- Context-Dependent Queries: Queries like “how to solve △△ when 〇〇 happens” or “troubleshooting this error in specific software” are searched by users facing a very particular situation or problem, and the volume of each is small.
- Question-Based Queries: Specific question-based queries like “what is the meaning of 〇〇?” or “can I do △△?” tend to be long-tail, and some tools may not display accurate search volume for them.
For these reasons, even if a keyword shows “Nothing to do” in a tool, it cannot be definitively stated that it will not be searched in the future or that no user need exists for it.
What to Do with “Keywords: Nothing to do”
Keywords displaying “Nothing to do,” where search volume isn’t shown by tools, can still be valuable if evaluated and utilized strategically. They can potentially contribute to website traffic and conversions. Understanding the potential value these keywords hold is important.
Potential of Long-Tail Keywords
Many keywords that display “Nothing to do” fall into the category of ultra long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are lengthy phrases consisting of multiple words. While they have low search volume, they are characterized by a very clear search intent.
For example, a keyword like “reusable coffee filter stylish no dripper needed” might have very low monthly search volume, but a user searching for this keyword has a specific need: they are looking for a reusable, stylish coffee filter that doesn’t require a dripper. Users with such clear intent are likely to take action (like purchasing or inquiring) soon after finding the information.
Long-tail keywords don’t bring in large traffic individually, but by creating content that addresses many relevant low-volume keywords, you can cumulatively acquire a significant amount of traffic. Furthermore, because the search intent is clear, they tend to have a higher conversion rate.
Identifying Unique Keywords
Among keywords that display “Nothing to do,” there might be unique keywords that competitors have largely overlooked or are not targeting. This could indicate new needs in specific niche markets or pain points not addressed by existing products or services.
By discovering such unique keywords and promptly providing corresponding content, you can establish yourself as an expert in that field and build a competitive advantage. Even if the search volume is currently small, the need might grow in the future.
Strategies for Targeting Low Volume Keywords
Strategies for effectively targeting low-volume keywords, including those displaying “Nothing to do,” differ from those for high-volume keywords. Quality over quantity, and deeply addressing specific user needs, is crucial.
Content Creation Focus
When creating content targeting low-volume keywords, comprehensiveness and specificity are key.
- Answering Specific Questions: Provide detailed and easy-to-understand answers to specific questions or problems users are likely searching for. Q&A format content can also be effective.
- In-depth Exploration of Niche Topics: Offer deep insights and expert knowledge on highly specialized and niche topics that competitors may not be covering.
- Concrete Steps and Examples: Include plenty of specific execution methods and useful examples, such as “how to do ~,” “steps for ~,” or “examples of ~.”
- Language That Resonates with the Target User: Create content using language and detail levels appropriate for the specific user group (beginners, experts, hobbyists, etc.) likely to search for that keyword.
- Building a Comprehensive Content Hub: Combine multiple related low-volume keywords and consolidate them into one comprehensive article or page. This addresses various user search intents and helps build authority on the overall topic.
Utilizing Different Platforms
Beyond text content on your website, leveraging other platforms can also help acquire traffic and engagement from low-volume keywords.
- YouTube: Specific procedures, reviews, and Q&A are well-suited for video format. Specific search queries like “how to 〇〇 detailed” or “△△ review in-depth” are frequently searched within YouTube. By using YouTube’s search data and suggest features to create niche video content, you can reach users with specific needs.
- Q&A Sites and Communities (e.g., Reddit, Yahoo! Chiebukuro): Q&A sites and online communities like Yahoo! Chiebukuro, Reddit, and Stack Overflow are places where users directly post their specific questions. The phrases and words used in these posts are a treasure trove of niche search queries that might show “Nothing to do” in tools. By answering users’ questions or participating in discussions on these platforms, you can guide them to your website.
- Social Media: Niche information exchange occurs within specific hashtags and specialized groups on social media. Conversations on these platforms can help you discover new keywords and needs that haven’t yet appeared in search engines.
By combining these platforms and methods, you can discover user needs behind keywords that display “Nothing to do” in tools and identify valuable keywords to target.
Assessing the Value of Low Volume Keywords
Just because a tool doesn’t display search volume doesn’t mean you should immediately ignore that keyword. It’s important to properly assess its potential value. Consider the following points when determining if it’s worth investing in.
| Assessment Factor | Description | Consideration Points |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How closely the keyword relates to your website’s content, products, or services. | High relevance is key, even with zero volume. |
| Search Intent | What the user is trying to achieve or find by using the keyword (Know, Do, Go, Buy). | Keywords with clear Do or Buy intent are potentially high value for conversions. |
| Conversion Potential | The likelihood that a user searching for this keyword will take a desired action (purchase, sign-up, inquiry, etc.). | Niche keywords about specific products, services, or problem solutions often have high conversion potential. |
| Competitive Landscape | How many other websites are specifically targeting this exact keyword or niche topic. | Low competition means an opportunity to rank relatively easily and establish authority. |
| User Sophistication | Whether the user is a beginner seeking basic information or an expert looking for advanced details. | Tailor your content to the user’s level of understanding. |
| Long-Tail Composition | The number of words in the keyword phrase and how specific it is. | Longer, more specific phrases often indicate a clearer, more actionable intent. |
| Topical Alignment | How the keyword fits into the broader topics and themes your website covers. | Targeting related low-volume keywords helps build comprehensive topical authority. |
Relevance and Intent
The most crucial factor is to deeply understand how relevant the keyword is to your website or business and what the user’s intent is when searching for it (search intent).
- High Relevance: Even if the search volume is zero, if the keyword is directly related to the products or services you offer, it is highly valuable. This is because users searching for that keyword are likely already highly interested in what you provide.
- Clear Search Intent:
- Know queries: Seeking specific information or knowledge.
- Do queries: Wanting to perform a specific action (purchase, download, apply, etc.) or find out how to do something.
- Go queries: Wanting to go to a specific location or website.
- Buy queries: Considering a purchase.
Low-volume keywords often include intents that lead to conversions, especially Do and Buy queries. Keywords like “〇〇 solution purchase” or “△△ service comparison price” might have low volume but high conversion potential.
Conversion Potential
Even with zero search volume, keywords with a high likelihood of leading to conversions should be prioritized. This includes queries related to product names, service names, or specific problem-solving. Users who access your site via these keywords are often in the stage of considering a purchase or use, and providing the right information can lead to a high conversion rate.
For example, a user searching for a very specific error message for a particular niche B2B software is likely using that software and is in urgent need of a solution. If you can provide content targeting this error message as a keyword, you can attract traffic that is less competitive and more likely to convert (e.g., contact support, refer to a manual, consider alternative products).
Building Topical Authority
Low-volume keywords can be useful for building “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness” (E-E-A-T) within a specific niche topic. High-volume keywords often have strong competition and are difficult to rank for. However, by creating numerous comprehensive and high-quality pieces of content on low-volume, niche keywords, search engines will begin to evaluate your website as an authoritative source of information on that topic.
This not only helps you rank higher for related keywords with a bit more volume but also earns trust from users. Diligently covering each fragmented topic, even those showing “Nothing to do” in tools, can ultimately lead to improved overall SEO performance for your website.
By evaluating these factors, you can see beyond the search volume displayed by tools and discern the true value of keywords.
Tools and Methods for Finding Relevant Low Volume Keywords
So, how can you discover low-volume or unique keywords that are difficult to find using tools, especially those showing “Nothing to do”? Utilizing existing tools from a different perspective or combining them with non-tool methods is effective.
The table below shows common keyword discovery tools and their characteristics for finding “Nothing to do” keywords.
| Tool/Method | Characteristics for Finding “Nothing to do” Keywords | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Google Keyword Planner (GKP) | Very low monthly search volume keywords often show as “0”. New queries are also less likely to be reflected. | Useful for getting relevant keyword ideas. Don’t completely ignore zeros; use in conjunction with other tools and methods. |
| Google Search Console (GSC) | Allows you to see the exact search queries users used to access your site. Queries that show zero in tools might appear in GSC. | Especially effective for sites that already have some visibility. A treasure trove for discovering hidden needs. |
| Suggest Features (Google Search Bar) | Reflects user search trends closer to real-time. Very specific, compound queries (long-tail) are easy to find. | Simple to use; suggestions appear as you type. Utilize spaces and underscores to find variations. |
| Related Searches (Bottom of Google Results) | Shows keywords related to the searched query that other users are actually searching for. | Discover other search intents or queries from users seeking more detailed information. |
| Q&A Sites/Communities (e.g., Reddit, Yahoo! Answers) | Users’ specific problems and questions are written out. A treasure trove of very niche and real search queries. | You can find diverse queries not easily found by tools, including jargon, colloquialisms, and specific situational descriptions. |
| Competitor Website Analysis | You might discover low-volume keywords and niche topics that competitors are already targeting. | Gain insights by carefully reading competitor websites’ titles, headings, and article content. |
| Review Sites/E-commerce Comments | Users’ specific questions, complaints, and requests about products or services are written here. Find keywords related to pain points. | Real voices from users experiencing or using something provide valuable keyword hints. |
| Customer Support Records | Customer inquiries (FAQs) indicate specific user questions and problems. Very valuable keyword candidates. | If it’s your own or a related service provider, this is one of the most reliable data sources. |
| YouTube Search/Suggest | Easy to find specific queries like “how to,” “detailed,” “review” that users search for in video format. | Discover search intents different from text search and search terms specific to videos. |
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a powerful tool that allows you to see which search queries are actually bringing users to your website. Even if a keyword shows “zero search volume” in a keyword research tool, you might find in GSC that there is, albeit small, actual traffic for that query.
The “Performance” report in GSC shows impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position for search queries. Queries with low impressions but relatively high average position (e.g., 10th-20th) and low clicks might indicate that existing content isn’t fully meeting user intent or that the title and description aren’t appealing. These queries are valuable hints for improving existing content or creating new, specialized content.
Google Keyword Planner Limitations
As mentioned earlier, Google Keyword Planner (GKP) may not provide accurate data for new or very low-volume keywords. Queries searched only a few times a month are likely to show as “0”. GKP should be treated as a starting point to get a general sense of search trends and related keyword candidates, and the value of keywords showing “Nothing to do” needs to be evaluated through other methods. It’s important to understand that a zero in GKP does not necessarily mean an absence of user need.
Exploring Niche Communities
Online communities, forums, and Q&A sites where people with specific hobbies, professions, or product users gather are a treasure trove of “Nothing to do” keywords. Users there use everyday language or specific jargon to ask questions and discuss problems they are facing.
- Reddit: There are communities (Subreddits) for various topics, and deep discussions take place. Searching for a Subreddit related to a specific niche and observing the questions asked and terms used can provide hints for real search queries.
- Yahoo! Chiebukuro / Oshiete!goo: These are Japanese platforms where users post everyday questions. Many long-tail queries with clear search intent, such as how to use a specific product, troubleshooting in certain situations, or personal worries, can be found here.
- Specialized Forums: Professional forums related to specific industries or technologies gather users with advanced knowledge. The conversations and questions exchanged here can be keyword candidates with high specialization that are not found in general tools.
Listening to the real voices of users on these platforms is very helpful in understanding what language they actually use to seek information and what problems they want to solve.
YouTube Specific Keyword Research
YouTube is considered the second-largest search engine in the world and exhibits different search behavior than text-based search. It is heavily used by users looking for visual information or specific steps, such as “How-to” guides, reviews, and tutorials.
The suggest feature in the YouTube search bar shows keyword candidates that are actually being searched within YouTube. Specific and lengthy queries like “〇〇 settings detailed” or “△△ error code explanation,” which might show as low volume in text search tools, can be actively searched on YouTube.
Furthermore, video titles, descriptions, tags, and comment sections on YouTube can also be keyword hints. By looking at the comments users leave on videos and the questions they ask, you can understand what additional or related information they are seeking.
By combining these tools and methods, you can discover user needs behind keywords that show “Nothing to do” in tools and identify valuable keywords to target.
Conclusion: Don’t Ignore “Nothing to do” Keywords Entirely
Keywords that display “Keywords: Nothing to do” or “zero search volume” in keyword research tools might seem like they should be ignored at first glance. However, these keywords are often a result of tool data limitations or the nature of the query itself, and do not necessarily mean that no user need exists.
Rather, many of these keywords are long-tail keywords with clear search intent that can lead to conversions, or they reflect niche needs that competitors haven’t yet noticed. By checking actual traffic queries in Google Search Console, listening to users’ real voices on Q&A sites and online communities, or investigating search trends specific to platforms like YouTube, you can discover valuable keywords not found solely through tools.
By providing specific and comprehensive content for the low-volume keywords you discover and sincerely addressing the problems faced by the target users, you can build expertise and authority in that niche, ultimately improving your website’s overall traffic and conversions.
Keywords displaying “Nothing to do” may not just be a lack of data, but rather an indication of new needs or hidden opportunities. By not being fixated on search volume numbers alone, and by deeply understanding user search intent and keyword relevance, and utilizing them strategically, you can unlock new possibilities in SEO.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information purposes regarding SEO strategy and does not guarantee specific outcomes. Search engine algorithms and tool specifications are constantly changing, so please make decisions based on the latest information and your own specific circumstances.
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