In 2025, keyword research is more critical than ever for blogging success. But with Google’s search results becoming increasingly competitive, ranking on the first page can feel like an impossible task – especially for new or smaller blogs.
The good news? There is a solution: targeting low competition keywords.
In this blog post, I’ll show you exactly how to find low competition keywords using KeySearch, my go-to keyword research tool.
By the end of this post, you’ll have all the tools and strategies you need to uncover those “gold nugget” keywords and boost your blog’s traffic.
What is a low competition keyword?
A low competition keyword is a search query people are typing into Google, but where not many (or zero) big players have content that targets that search term.
They may also have lower search volume compared to highly competitive keywords, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Ranking well for lots of low competition keywords can drive consistent, targeted traffic to your blog, especially if you’re just starting out.
And if you deliver a good answer to those search queries, you will gain credibility in Google’s eyes… allowing you to eventually rank for much more competitive keywords… leading to much higher traffic volumes!
Why target low competition keywords?
Many new and smaller blogs struggle to rank for high-competition keywords, as these are often dominated by larger, established websites with higher domain authority.
Here’s why focusing on low competition keywords is a smart move:
- A fighting chance: Low competition keywords make it more realistic to appear on page one of search results, even for new bloggers.
- Quicker wins: Instead of waiting months (or years) to see results, you’ll start gaining traction sooner.
- Stepping stone strategy: As you rank for low competition keywords, Google begins to trust your site, enabling you to target higher-volume, more competitive keywords in the future.
- Traffic potential: Remember, ranking well for multiple low-volume keywords usually generates more traffic than ranking badly for high-volume ones.
How to find low competition keywords in 2025: step by step
Step #1: Use a keyword research tool
Manually hunting for keywords is time-consuming and it’s also incredibly difficult without experience. Keyword research tools simplify this process by providing data on search volumes and keyword.
The tool I personally use and recommend wholeheartedly is KeySearch.
KeySearch is my go-to recommendation for several reasons:
- Affordability: It’s significantly cheaper than most other similar keyword tools on the market.
- Powerful: Don’t let the low price fool you. KeySearch is much more powerful than other low cost / free keyword tools.
- Designed for the job: KeySearch is designed to help you find low competition ORGANIC keywords (unlike Google Keyword Planner which is designed to help you find keywords for PAID PER CLICK ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS!).
- Ease of use: KeySearch is user-friendly, even for complete beginners.
- Efficiency: It makes identifying low competition keywords quick and straightforward.
Step #2: Start with ideation
Begin your keyword research by brainstorming as many search terms as you can think of that are related to your blog’s niche. I recommend using a spreadsheet to capture all your ideas – it will make the whole process much quicker and easier!
When you’ve run out of ideas, type each of your ideas into Google and look at the People Also Ask (PAA) section. Add any PAA questions that look like they would make good blog posts to your spreadsheet…
Keep going until you have a list of at least 100 potential keywords.
Step #3: Analyze each keyword for Keyword Difficulty and Search Volume
The next step is to type your each keyword on your list into KeySearch’s keyword research tool.
For each keyword, note the Keyword Difficulty (KD) and Search Volume (SV) scores for that keyword on your spreadsheet.
Step #4: Four tricks
As you are doing Step 3, there are 4 additional things you can do if you want to maximize your chances of success.
1. Use KeySearch’s SERP analysis
You’ll notice that, as you type each keyword into KeySearch, you get KeySearch’s SERP analysis feature on the left-hand side.
This analysis will show you which websites are currently ranking for the search term. Sometimes you’ll find that there are some very low DA sites ranking. Sometimes the lowest ranking website will have a DA that is lower than KeySearch’s KD score.
This is a great sign! This means the keyword may be easier to rank for that KeySearch’s KD score suggests. If this happens, I recommend typing the lowest DA that is ranking, rather than the KD score, onto your spreadsheet.
2. Sort by KD to find hidden opportunities!
As you type each keyword into KeySearch, hit the word ‘Score’ (in the top right of the table) twice. This will sort the whole table by KD score. Scan down the list and see if there are any keywords with low KD scores, but reasonable volume scores. If you fond any, add them to your spreadsheet. Sometimes you can really strike it lucky with this technique and find amazing keywords with low competition, but surprisingly high volume!
3. Ensure your keywords align with your blog’s niche and expertise
We know that Google rewards topical authority and topical expertise, and Google demotes sites that write about anything and everything just because it looks like a good keyword.
So, as you go down the list, make sure that each keyword on your spreadsheet aligns with your blog’s niche and expertise. If you come across one that is off topic, delete it. I know it can be hard to get rid of keywords which seem to have great KD and SV scores, but if they are off topic, they will do more harm than good in the long run.
4. Don’t worry too much about volume
Often new/small bloggers discount a lot of keywords because they have low volume. But this is often a big mistake for 3 reasons:
- Even low volume keywords can drive significant traffic if you rank well – remember: Ranking on page 1 for a low volume keyword is nearly always far better than being buried on page 5 for a high volume one.
- By ranking for low volume keywords, you’ll build up credibility with Google – which will help you rank for higher volume keywords.
- Keywords research tools usually underestimate search volume – one of the reasons for this is because most blog posts will rank for multiple keywords.
If you are a new/small blogger, I usually recommend targeting keywords with a volume of 100+.
Step #5: Sort your spreadsheet to find ‘gold nugget’ keywords
Once you have a spreadsheet with 100+ keywords (that all align with your blog’s niche and expertise!) as well as each keyword’s Volume and KD scores, it’s time for the magic to happen!
The idea here is that you will assign each Volume a score between 1 and 5 (1 is lowest volume, 5 is highest volume), and each Keyword Difficulty a score between 5 and 1 (5 is easiest, 1 is hardest).
This then gives each keyword a total score between 2 and 10 – where 2 is lowest traffic potential and 10 is highest traffic potential.
The final flourish is that you then sort your spreadsheet so the 10s are on the top and the 2s are on the bottom. The keywords with the highest score are your ‘gold nugget’ keywords! Or, in other words, the keywords that are now at the top of your spreadsheet are the keywords which are likely to send you the most traffic – since they have the lowest competition and the highest search volume.
Step #6: Add your ‘gold nugget’ keywords to your content calendar
Now you have an ordered list of keywords – from highest to lowest traffic potential, the next step is to add the best keywords to your content calendar.
Since your ‘10s’ are your highest traffic potential and your 2s are your lowest traffic potential, it makes sense to start with your 10s and work down the list.
However, you may want to take into account other factors, such as seasonality and topical authority.
For best results, I recommend that you go through this keyword research process once every 3 months to plan your blog posts for the next quarter. So, if you typically write 1 blog post per week, simply take the top 12 or 13 posts from your spreadsheet and plan them into your content calendar for the next quarter.
How to use low competition keywords in your blog content
Of course finding the right keywords is only half the battle. To maximize their potential you need to
- Write high-quality, truly helpful content that fully answers the search query.
- Focus on user intent – ensure your content aligns with what the searcher is actually looking for.
- Optimize your blog post for your chosen keyword – incorporate keywords naturally into headings, subheadings, and body text.
- Use synonyms and related keywords so you rank for multiple terms.
Conclusion: Targeting low competition keywords is a game-changer!
Targeting low competition keywords is a game-changer for bloggers, especially smaller bloggers and bloggers who are just starting out.
And when combined with a tool like KeySearch, the process becomes simple and efficient, helping you to start ranking on page 1 and growing your traffic!