Getting your brand more visible on search results doesn’t have to take forever.
One of the best ways to start showing up in search results is by targeting low-competition keywords — search terms that have little SEO competition.
For new sites or domains with low authority, these are your best opportunities to get started with.
Here’s the easy way to find them using a step-by-step process with Semrush.
What are low-competition keywords?
Low-competition keywords are terms that not many sites are competing for, which means you can feasibly rank your site on the search results.
Creating content around low-competition keywords can help you get more visible in both traditional search results and AI Overviews — without spending on paid ads.
One of the fastest ways to identify low-competition keywords is to look at the keyword difficulty (KD %) metric in Semrush. This metric reveals how challenging it is to rank for a given term on a scale of 100. The lower the number, the better your chances of ranking.
You can see keyword difficulty in several places in Semrush. Including in the Keyword Magic Tool.
But there’s an even better way to find the right keywords for your specific site: Semrush’s Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %) metric. Unlike standard KD %, PKD %reflects how hard it would be for your specific site to rank — not just any site.
A keyword might show a KD% of 60, which sounds competitive on paper. But if your PKD% comes back at 35, that term is actually within reach for you.
To see PKD %, enter your domain into the AI-powered field in Keyword Magic Tool or Keyword Overview when running a search.
Finding low-competition terms that are still valuable is easier than you think.
Try it with these three simple steps:
Step 1. Build a list using competitor keywords
This step uses your competitor’s rankings as a starting point to build a list of keywords with proven search demand.
Start with Organic Rankings. Enter a competitor’s domain name and click “Search.”
Click the “Positions” tab to see every keyword the specified competitor domain ranks for in Google’s top 100 results, along with KD % and search volume for each one.
Apply two filters to the list that appears in Organic Rankings to narrow your results to the most promising opportunities that low in competition:
- Set “Volume” to a minimum of 100
- Set “KD %” to “Easy“
Now that you’re only looking at low-competition keywords, you can filter this even further with a keyword to hone in on a specific topic. Like “green tea.”
As you identify relevant target keywords, save them to a list with the checkbox and “Add to keyword list” button.
To find low-competition keywords from multiple competitors at once, enter your domain and the domains of up to four competitors in theKeyword Gap tool.
Apply the same “Easy” KD % filter, then click “Missing” to see low-competition keywords that all your competitors rank for but you don’t. These are your clearest gaps.
Select the terms you want to target and click “+ Add to keyword list” to save them to the list you already created.
Step 2. Do additional keyword research
Use theKeyword Magic Tool to go deeper on any topic by generating many related keywords from a single seed term, so you can find opportunities your competitors may have missed.
Enter a broad term related to your business into the Keyword Magic Tool, enter your domain, and click “Search.”
You’ll get a large list of related keywords. Set “PKD %” to your preferred difficulty range to focus on terms you can feasibly rank for.
Apply the “Questions” filter to surface terms phrased as questions — “what is X,” “how to X,” “best way to X,” and so on.
These tend to map well to informational content, and will commonly trigger AI Overviews. So, your approach to these should also consider how to rank in the AI Overview beyond the standard blue links.
When you see any promising keywords, use the checkboxes and the “Send keywords” button to add these to your growing list. Make sure to select the circle next to “Keyword Strategy Builder” to add the terms to your list.
Step 3. Organize keywords into groups
Once you’ve found promising keywords, group related terms together, so you can target multiple terms within a single page.
That’s what theKeyword Strategy Builder is for. This tool saves your keyword lists, and lets you select the “Cluster this list” option to group your terms in one click.
In this example, the act of clustering turned a list of 207 keywords into a plan for 28 specific pages.
Once a list is clustered, each row in the table represents a content topic. Click the arrow next to any topic to see the specific keywords behind it.
Targeting multiple related terms on a single page also protects you from duplicate content — a situation where two of your own pages compete against each other in search results because they target the same keyword. Clustering prevents that by giving each topic a clear, dedicated home.
Other factors to consider beyond keyword difficulty and search volume
KD % and search volume tell you a lot. But two other data points can change whether a keyword is actually worth targeting.
Search intent
Search intent is the reason behind a search — what the person actually wants when they type something into Google or another search tool.
A keyword can have an attainable KD %, but your page also needs to match what searchers expect to find for you to be successful.
There are four main types of search intent:
- Informational: Searchers are looking for information (how to, what is, etc.)
- Navigational: Searchers are looking for a specific website or page
- Commercial: Searchers are researching before making a purchase decision
- Transactional: Searchers are ready to take action ( e.g., make a purchase)
For example, a keyword like “myfitnesspal login” might have low keyword difficulty. But anyone searching that term wants to navigate and log into a specific app. Not discover your competing nutrition service.
On the flip side, a keyword like “easy meal prep for weight loss” with low competition could be a perfect informational topic for your blog to cover and compete with existing guides.
Matching your content to search intent is what separates a ranking that reaches the right readers from one that doesn’t.
Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per click (CPC) is how much advertisers pay for a click on their ad targeting a search term. Since CPC is the result of advertiser bids, a high CPC often signals that a term is in demand and therefore likely to drive conversions.
You can see CPC data alongside KD % and volume in any keyword research report in Semrush.
Start finding low-competition keywords
Low-competition keywords won’t stay that way forever. The sooner you build your list, the more time you have to establish rankings before competition increases.
Use the workflow in this article to build your initial list, and then come back to it whenever you’re planning to cover a new topic.
If you don’t have a Semrush account yet, you can try it free for seven days and run through all three steps with your own domain.
