{"id":11,"date":"2023-01-10T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boostyourblog.com\/?p=11"},"modified":"2023-01-15T11:32:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T11:32:00","slug":"limitations-of-seo-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/limitations-of-seo-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange But True: How Ignoring SEO Tools Can Be Incredible For Your SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Would you believe me if I said I\u2019m a successful full-time blogger with multiple blogs and a 6-figure income and I don\u2019t pay <em>any<\/em> attention to SEO?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That I will literally ignore my SEO tools, <em>not<\/em> do any keyword research, and create content purely by intuition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Well, you shouldn\u2019t believe it.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m sure that every successful blogger uses keyword research &#8212; and so do I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it <em>is<\/em> true that for parts of the year, I will lay down my SEO tools completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My deliberate strategy is to be highly focused on SEO for 6 months of the year, but not to worry about it at all for the other 6 months. (And by this I mean, <em>&#8216;not worry besides applying standard best practices for titles and post structure&#8217;<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I believe this strategy has led me to SEO successes that I would not otherwise have had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Allow me to explain\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li ><a href=\"#the-limitations-of-seo-tools\">The limitations of SEO tools<\/a><ul><li ><a href=\"#1-seo-tools-are-only-guessing\">1. SEO tools are only guessing<\/a><\/li><li ><a href=\"#2-posts-can-rank-for-numerous-small-keywords\">2. Posts can rank for numerous small keywords<\/a><\/li><li ><a href=\"#3-seo-tools-only-look-at-the-past-br\">3. SEO tools only look at the past <\/a><\/li><li ><a href=\"#4-seo-tools-dont-capture-people-also-ask\">4. SEO tools don\u2019t capture \u2018people also ask\u2019<\/a><\/li><li ><a href=\"#5-everyone-is-trying-to-pull-off-the-same-trick\">5. Everyone is trying to pull off the same trick<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li ><a href=\"#rewilding-your-content-creation\">Rewilding your content creation<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-limitations-of-seo-tools\">The limitations of SEO tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you first start using keyword research tools such as <a href=\"http:\/\/ahrefs.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ahrefs<\/a> or <a class=\"thirstylink\" title=\"Keysearch\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/ref\/keysearch\/\" data-shortcode=\"true\">Keysearch<\/a>, it feels like you\u2019ve unlocked a secret door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suddenly it all seems so clear. The stats are all there. And the numbers tell you <em>exactly<\/em> what to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cFind low competition high volume keywords\u201d<\/em> is the mantra of every SEO course out there. And so you set out to find them; matching keywords against your Domain Authority, ignoring keywords with too low volume, and then creating content to match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I won\u2019t deny that learning about SEO and using keyword research can be a game-changer. I wouldn\u2019t have gotten anywhere had I not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are a few problems with<em><strong> over-relying<\/strong><\/em> on keyword research tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-seo-tools-are-only-guessing\">1. SEO tools are only guessing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s tempting to think of keyword research stats as The Truth, but they are really just guesses. Only Google knows the true click volumes of different keywords &#8212; and they won&#8217;t ever share it with us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO tools do use third-party click data to get a rough idea of what people search for, but this can often be wildly incorrect.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can know this easily if you have a well-established blog and can compare your own data to that of the SEO tools. I\u2019ve ranked no. 1 for keywords that the tools said have 5000+ searches per month and only gotten 50 clicks.&nbsp;Something doesn&#8217;t add up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often a lot of really weird searches end up being listed in the top 10 for a site. I know because I\u2019ve compared my own site\u2019s top 10 to my Google Analytics stats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO tools don\u2019t know anything <em>exactly.&nbsp;<\/em>They just give you rough indications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"729\" height=\"292\" src=\"https:\/\/boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/keyword_research.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/keyword_research.png 729w, https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/keyword_research-300x120.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-posts-can-rank-for-numerous-small-keywords\">2. Posts can rank for numerous small keywords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO tools can trick you into thinking a post needs to rank primarily for one keyword and one keyword only.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reality is that a post that ranks for 30 tiny keywords can do as well as one that ranks for 1 high-volume keyword.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In most SEO tools it\u2019s possible to group small keywords together, but it can still be hard to see the true overall traffic potential of a post. Especially since SEO tools don\u2019t have literally all variations of a query available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO tools can thus make you miss the forest for the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-seo-tools-only-look-at-the-past-br\">3. SEO tools only look at the past<br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to forget that keyword research is based on what people have <em>historically<\/em> searched for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over-relying on such stats could prevent you from covering a new topic that you think people will be interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years ago I started to pick up on some early buzz in travel communities about a town in northern Thailand. Believing it to be an up-and-coming destination, I commissioned an article on it by an author who researched the place in person. My travel blog was one of the first to have a full travel guide for this town.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did this despite the SEO tools telling me the search traffic was under 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two years later and that post was <em>the <\/em>resource for this town. No one else had bothered with this content, presumably because the SEO tools told them not to.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet today this post is \u2014 <em>checks Google Analytics \u2014<\/em> my 13th most popular (out of 350+).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4-seo-tools-dont-capture-people-also-ask\">4. SEO tools don\u2019t capture \u2018people also ask\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, this is a big one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as I\u2019m aware, even Ahrefs&#8217;s amazing tools don&#8217;t count how many clicks you could get from being listed in the \u2018people also ask\u2019 boxes shown under many queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have several posts on my travel blog that answer a key question about a destination. And they\u2019re getting pretty decent traffic (at least 500+ per month).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at Search Console and Analytics for these posts, it\u2019s clear they\u2019re not getting this many clicks from direct queries entered into Google.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, the vast majority are coming in through the answer boxes that show up in a huge variety of keywords related to the destination. Instead of ranking directly for, say, \u201c[destination] travel guide\u201d, I\u2019m the first blog in the <em>people also ask <\/em>box for that query.&nbsp;It&#8217;s getting me lots of clicks across a wide variety of search queries that together add up to a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO tools would have probably told me the potential wasn&#8217;t there. I wrote these posts anyway and they\u2019re doing great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"663\" height=\"235\" src=\"https:\/\/boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/peoplealsoask.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/peoplealsoask.png 663w, https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/peoplealsoask-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 663px) 100vw, 663px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5-everyone-is-trying-to-pull-off-the-same-trick\">5. Everyone is trying to pull off the same trick<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The final issue with keyword research is that, well, every blogger is basically trying to do the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Everyone<\/em> is looking for \u2018low competition high volume\u2019 keywords. That makes it very difficult to find true white space opportunities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u2018low competition high volume\u2019 schtick can also cause you to, well, not compete! Certain KWs can easily seem too competitive &#8212; often the tools may be right on this point, but sometimes you have to, well, get in the ring and wrestle.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of my best-performing posts were on topics that were honestly a bit out of my league when I first posted them. But I published them anyway and got in somewhere on page 3 or 4 \u2014 high enough to at least start gathering a bit of data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later they were nearly on page 1 \u2014 high enough for me to justify doing a big refresh\/expansion and a renewed push to get it ranked higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I\u2019d only listened to the SEO tools I might have concluded these keywords were just too high-competition for me and would have never begun to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The danger of following SEO tools too dogmatically is that you may relegate yourself only to being an SEO bottom feeder: only looking for tiny niche low-competition keywords and never taking a bigger swing at a bigger topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"rewilding-your-content-creation\">Rewilding your content creation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So this is why I purposely choose to ignore SEO\u2026 sometimes, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For half the year I don\u2019t look at the keyword data and I <strong>just create content<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, I still have my assumptions about what will or won\u2019t rank. I&#8217;m using this strategy for a well-established blog, so I have already learned about my audience and what my blog tends to rank for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I do create content based simply on whether I think it will be useful for my audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I look at trends in my niche, I look at gaps in my blog\u2019s coverage, and I look at topics I find personally interesting. (I believe personal interest can be a serious multiplier for post quality, which in turn will help you rank.)&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then&#8230; I kind of just take a stab at a few different topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every one of these speculative posts will be successful. Out of 5 posts maybe 2 will fail completely, 3 will do OK, and only 1 will be a hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that\u2019s the whole point.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That one hit may be something I&#8217;d never have hit upon had I relied on SEO stats only. And that post can be a seed that grows into a new topic branch on my blog or can be replicated into similar post for other travel destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/boostyourblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/0QyO9ArJKMKxly8xQcmtYpzXDJDi_-ARdZs3PO6iHaGxX58KrQpi-H4TeEMbNBITCmsbkVDipSDFOSVWK2uiR6NYvT0yf6zTrdtEZ4YbaWKAlEn75NjQAuB8Rz1qDhxP__nFk5JUpHs3DgUKpnTAnxPb_csaA4l8TFalaS3qQBsGcu0090JkZKXo3M8GZA.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">To find out you need to fuck around. (An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d6sbPCIEMyI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">important lesson<\/a>.)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t back it up with solid proof, but my belief is this strategy is advantageous.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, during the other 6 months of the year, I will rev up the SEO tools and do my keyword research. There is still enormous value in taking this tried-and-true approach.&nbsp;My blog would be nowhere without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also use this time to go back to my established posts and see what they\u2019re ranking for now. Slightly tweaking the KW targeting can sometimes hugely boost the traffic of published posts and can also lead you to new content ideas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 6 months of the year that I\u2019m using SEO tools I think of as my <strong>consolidation phase<\/strong>. It\u2019s where I work more predictably and diligently towards incremental improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other 6 months where I\u2019m flying blind is my <strong>exploration phase<\/strong>. I do posts that are a bit more speculative as I\u2019m not always sure they are going to work. But a lot of them do&#8230; sometimes spectacularly so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even the ones that aren\u2019t really a hit still help to liven up my blog, making it more interesting for readers who decide to click around.&nbsp;Sometimes the ones that miss will still find a solid purpose a year or two later, when I can find a way to pivot them towards another angle or keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, do I recommend using SEO tools like Ahrefs or Keysearch? <em>Absolutely<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But sometimes it\u2019s nice to just switch them off for a while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Who knows&#8230; you might just get lucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Would you believe me if I said I\u2019m a successful full-time blogger with multiple blogs and a 6-figure income and I don\u2019t pay any attention to SEO? That I will literally ignore my SEO tools, not do any keyword research, and create content purely by intuition? Well, you shouldn\u2019t believe it.&nbsp; I&#8217;m sure that every &#8230; <a title=\"Strange But True: How Ignoring SEO Tools Can Be Incredible For Your SEO\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/limitations-of-seo-tools\/\" aria-label=\"More on Strange But True: How Ignoring SEO Tools Can Be Incredible For Your SEO\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Marek","author_link":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/author\/marek\/"},"uagb_comment_info":4,"uagb_excerpt":"Would you believe me if I said I\u2019m a successful full-time blogger with multiple blogs and a 6-figure income and I don\u2019t pay any attention to SEO? That I will literally ignore my SEO tools, not do any keyword research, and create content purely by intuition? Well, you shouldn\u2019t believe it.&nbsp; I&#8217;m sure that every&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1774,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/1774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boostyourblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}