Keyword Golden Ratio or popularly known as the KGR method has been a popular technique used in keyword research. It is a method of finding long-tail keyword phrases that are believed to have high search volumes and low competition.
The goal of the Keyword Golden Ratio method is to find a keyword phrase or set of keywords that will rank quickly in search engines, thus helping to maximize the traffic for a website.
If you don’t have an idea of what KGR is and how it works, let me explain briefly.
The keyword golden ratio method uses a specific formula for selecting search terms.
The formula for finding the KGR of a keyword is simple. It involves dividing the number of allintitle results by the number of its monthly search volume.
It is required that the monthly search volume should be less than 250. The reason is that it’s believed that keywords with a search volume of 250 and below are low competition and that the odds of ranking for such terms are higher.
The result you need to look for is a KGR of less than 0.2. If the KGR is higher than 0.2, it means that the keyword is too competitive for your website.
However, there have been doubts about the effectiveness of KGR as a keyword research technique. Here’s my own take on it, and why I don’t think KGR works.
Allintitle vs Real SERP Results
The main problem with KGR is that the formula uses an Allintitle result as one of its components. This means that, when trying to determine if a keyword is worth targeting or not, you’re only looking at the number of competing pages that have the keyword in their titles.
But, this is not an accurate way of determining competition because a page can rank for a keyword without having it in its title. This means that there are probably more competing web pages than what the KGR formula is reporting. So, when you use the KGR method, you’re likely missing out on the potential competition.
Google has a lot of factors it takes into account when ranking websites. Using keywords in the title is just one of them. As you search for certain keywords in Google, some results in top positions don’t really use the exact keyword you typed in, but they showed up. That’s because the website has a lot of content related to the search query and not just focusing on exact keywords. This means that relying on allintitle research will underestimate some competitors and overestimate the keywords.
Also, users don’t usually use the allintitle feature as they search. This feature is used mostly by SEO professionals and not by ordinary users.
So, when doing keyword research with KGR, you’re likely missing out on a lot of potential competitors that could be ranking in the SERPs for the same keywords.
Inaccurate Search Volume Data
KGR relies on search volume data. But this data can be inaccurate and outdated. For example, the search volume for a keyword might have decreased or increased since the data was collected.
This means that you could be targeting keywords that don’t even have a high enough search volume to justify investing your time in optimizing for them.
Little to No Competition Is Suspicious
We sometimes think of a keyword with small competition as a very good keyword. But, sometimes we think it’s suspicious. Why is that there are no big players targeting this keyword? Is this keyword not profitable?
Yes, low competition can mean that the keyword is easy to rank for. But, it could also mean that there’s no money in it, and nobody has bothered to optimize for it.
If you aren’t experienced enough to know if a keyword is worth targeting or not, the KGR scores could fool you. You will get tempted to the score without thinking of the quality of the keyword.
So, relying on KGR alone isn’t enough. You should do some more research about the keyword before you decide if it’s worth targeting.
Lack of Search Intent
Another problem with KGR is that it doesn’t take into account search intent. This means that even if a keyword has low competition, it might not be worth targeting because it doesn’t meet users’ needs.
For example, a keyword with a KGR of less than 0.2 may have low competition but it might not be useful to you and your customers if that specific keyword isn’t related to your website content or products/services.
In other words, targeting irrelevant keywords using the KGR method will only bring traffic to your website that won’t convert. But if you’re lucky enough to find a keyword with a KGR of less than 0.2 that is related to your website and has search intent, then you can use it to get more leads or conversions.
The Bright Side of KGR
I don’t really hate the KGR method, it’s just that I think it has its limitations.
The Keyword Golden Ratio method can be very useful. But only when used together with other keyword research techniques.
You should focus first on the real competitors (the results in SERPs without using allintitle). This is how your potential audience sees when they search for that keyword. See if the total number of results is manageable.
Once you have identified a few keywords with low competition, you can use the KGR method to further analyze them and decide which one is best to target.
And then you should use the KGR formula to double-check if the results match your expectations. And only then decide if it’s worth targeting that keyword or not.
Conclusion
It’s not a bad idea to use the Keyword Golden Ratio method for keyword research. But it should be used as an additional source of information and not as the only source of truth. You should also use other keyword research methods, such as competitor analysis and search intent research, to get a better understanding of the keywords you want to target.
By combining different research techniques, you’ll be able to find the right keywords that will bring valuable traffic and conversions to your website. This is how you can succeed with your SEO campaigns.
So, don’t rely on the KGR alone and use it as an additional source of information instead.
Good luck with your keyword research!
