Guide To Identifying Keyword Opportunities and Threats

The days of SEO being a once-off project are gone — especially when it comes to new keyword opportunities and threats that seem to fluctuate on a daily basis.

Keyword research sometimes feels like you’re chasing your tail — what worked last year might not work next year. Google’s algorithms are ever-changing, trends are unpredictable, and you’re competing for high SERP rankings in a highly competitive space. Not to mention the latest integration of generative AI results to the SERPs

With such intense organic and paid competition, it’s important to evaluate your SERPs on a keyword and a page level to maintain or improve your position.   

This guide will show you exactly how to do that.

 

Also, read as part of this guide:

How To Find Keywords That Forums and General Websites Rank For

How To Research Popular Topics on Quora and Reddit

How To Find Keyword Opportunities and Threats

  1. Check for negative keywords: negative keywords are words that you want to exclude from your PPC or SEO campaigns because they are not relevant or may attract the wrong audience. For example, if you are selling luxury products, you may want to exclude keywords related to cheap or discount products.
  2. Monitor your search engine rankings: keep track of your website’s search engine ranking for the keywords you are targeting. If you notice a sudden drop in ranking, especially for your money-making keywords, it could be a sign of a keyword threat — such as an algorithm change, a technical SEO issue, or your competitor creating better content for the search query. 
  3. Analyze your website traffic: use Google Analytics to analyze your website traffic and identify any unusual patterns or sources of traffic that are not relevant to your business. If you notice traffic coming from irrelevant or suspicious sources, it might be an early sign of a keyword threat. 
  4. Keep an eye on your competitors: analyze your competitors’ websites and SERP data to know the keywords their targeting, overall SERP performance, and how it compares to yours.
  5. Stay up-to-date with industry trends: stay up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry and monitor any changes in search engine algorithms or ranking factors that could affect your website’s search engine ranking.

Key Takeaways

  • There’s a lot of competition in the SERPs, so you must continuously monitor your SEO performance to discover threats and opportunities early.
  • Monitor these changes on a keyword and page level for deeper insights.
  • Use the right tools, such as Keyword.com, Google Analytics and Google Search Console, to monitor overall organic performance.