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Can I see the search volume for questions?

The conversational nature of questions, and the number of different ways to rewrite the same question means nobody has search volume data.

Mark Williams-Cook avatar
Written by Mark Williams-Cook
Updated this week

Intent volume is more important than search volume

Search volume is the number one mistake of many marketers looking at PAA data. Let's run through an example of intent volume vs search volume.

Consider the search term "buy blue running shoes uk"

Any keyword reserach tool will tell you that the search volume for "buy blue running shoes" is 0-10, because there is not enough data to make a reliable calculation.

It would be a mistake though to discard a term like this, because the intent volume could be much higher.

For argument's sake, let's say in reality "buy blue running shoes uk" has a search volume of 5 searches per month.

Think of all the ways we could express the same intent:

  1. uk buy blue running shoes

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  5. buy running shoes blue uk

  6. buy blue trainers uk

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  14. shop blue running shoes uk

  15. order blue running shoes uk

  16. buy blue jogging shoes uk

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  18. blue athletic shoes buy uk

  19. uk blue running shoes buy

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  21. blue shoes for running buy uk

  22. purchase blue trainers uk

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  24. best place to buy blue running shoes uk

  25. blue running shoes uk online purchase

  26. buy running shoes in blue uk

  27. buy uk blue running trainers

  28. blue uk running shoes buy

  29. buy athletic blue shoes uk

If each one of these queries just had 5 searches a month, we are already up to 150 seraches per month, and there are many more variations.

How should you use AlsoAsked data?

AlsoAsked data exists to tell you the next nearest intent proximity. This means when someone searches for something, we can tell you what their next most likely queries are going to be.

This is important because Google judges its own performance on "Time to Result" - that means, how quickly it can provide answers to the user.

If Google can see that your content for "how to choose the best running shoes" immediately answers other questions like "how do you determine your foot type for running shoes" and "do you size up in running shoes", it is more likely to serve your page, as it means the end user will not need to click around multiple pages and so they will be more satisfied.
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When does search volume data make sense?

Search volume data is still useful for tasks such as planning our category names and taxonomy of your website, or deciding the primary terminology to use along with ICP data.

AlsoAsked data is specialised for the "at page" level, where search volumes have diminished in importance. You know what the user is searching for, it is now about fulfilling their intent.

How can I effectively research zero volume keywords?

Glad you asked, we have a whole video on that!

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