Keywords with a low search volume that are trending are also called “emerging keywords”. Here’s why they’re helpful for content marketing strategy.

Specifically, emerging keywords are so hot right now that “emerging keywords” is an emerging keyword itself. If this all sounds like marketing lingo inception (margoception, if you will) then you’re not wrong. If you are interested in creating educational content that ranks on Google and/or are responsible for creating content calendars, read on.

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When it comes to creating SEO-minded content — as is the goal of content creators of any specialty — keywords are your best friend… and have the potential to be your biggest enemy. What was once a straightforward communication tool used for copywriters to let Google know what their content is all about so the search engine can deliver it to the appropriate eyes and ears has evolved into a complex content marketing strategy, spanning social media to blog content to long form content offers.

Keyword research as an act is done by freelancers, copywriters, content strategists, and marketers every single day. Content marketers are always trying to figure out how their audience is talking about their industry, where there are opportunities for new educational content, and what are the newest trending topics within their brand’s niche. A major goal of content strategy is “owning” the hidden gems or soon-to-be trending topics just before they blow up. Blow up the internet, that is.

Hidden gems here are found in “emerging keywords.”

What are emerging keywords?

An emerging keyword is a trending topic or key phrase that is on the rise, but doesn’t have a lot of search volume on Google yet. In a word, emerging keywords are an opportunity.

For brands, owning emerging keywords can lead to some serious traffic down the line once everyone starts searching for it and you have great content about it. It’s a common misconception that SEO is all about incorporating relevant terms and phrases into your content best. When you’re the best at optimizing your content, it will naturally rank first and draw more attention to your organization. But in an age where trends move at the speed of the internet, it is also essential for brands to be first.

When you’re first to create content about emerging trends and hot topics, and snag that coveted spot as the first result to a “people also ask” question on Google, your content will steadily and organically grow and bring in traffic as the searches for the topic also rise.

By taking the emerging keyword approach to the content you create, you are combining the power of SEO optimized content with thought leadership, boosting your brand’s relevancy. Getting into the conversation early shows your customers and prospects that not only does your brand have something to say, but that you’re experts on trending topics and able to respond to new concepts in a thoughtful way.

Example Emerging Keyword Case Study

When we first began publishing content on Owl Labs’ Blog on “Hybrid Teams” and “Hybrid Learning” starting in 2018/2019, the competition for these keywords was largely hybrid cars and hybrid as a scientific term. Over the past few years, hybrid workplaces and hybrid teams grew in popularity along with the rise in remote work. The optimized, educational content grew in search volume and now ranks on Google for the topic, and many subtopics.

Also check out the “People also ask” section here, full of ideas for future hybrid work content.

How do I find new keywords for my brand?

All of the tools that you need to find the best emerging keywords for your content strategy are probably already in your toolbox. This includes having an overall curiosity for your industry and consuming content from a variety of sources on a regular basis. An open mind and ability to spot new trends early, along with your preferred handy dandy keyword research tool and our good friend Google will help you find the hot terms on the rise. Once you find the long tail keywords and key phrases, and questions that people are asking on the topic, you can develop blog content and long form content that answers these questions in a meaningful way.

Using an agile, flexible methodology to your content calendar and leaving slots open for future trending topics allows you to stay visible and maintain consistency while growing your monthly organic traffic.

How to Find Trending Keywords: Step-By-Step Instructions

Step One: Use a keyword research tool.

The one tool to rule them all when it comes to SEO is your keyword research tool.In order to find emerging keywords you’ll first need to familiarize yourself with an SEOtool with features like a keyword tool, rank tracker, backlink tracker, and keyword lists.

Some examples of keyword research tools for content marketers include Mangools, SEMrush, and Moz. All of these tools offer a generous trial period where you can get to know the intricacies of each service to determine which one you want to use in battle full time.

We like Mangools and particularly the SERPWatcher tool, where we can measure our keywords against how our blog posts are ranking for ourselves and our clients. We’re addicted to refreshing the dashboards to analyze SEO performance month over month.

Image via Mangools

Once you’ve got your tool picked out, start dropping in keywords and sort the results by lowest keyword difficulty. These are the low hanging fruit of the SEO world, but when we are talking about finding emerging keywords ripe for the picking they are also the sweetest. Emerging keywords typically have anywhere between 10 and 1,000 monthly searches. Any more than that and the keyword has fully emerged into the discourse, to be a conversation starter instead of a joiner — the lower the difficulty, the better.

Using Mangools KWFinder, you can see the trend and quickly spot topics that are rapidly rising and that have a low keyword difficulty.

Step Two: Check Google Trends.

In marketing and in life, there are trend followers and trendsetters. When it comes to incorporating emerging keywords into your content, the goal is to be a third species: a trend noticer.

In order to efficiently optimize your content for emerging keywords, you have to be able to look in-between the lines of trending keywords. Instead of taking these trends at face value, do more of a vibe check of them. Track the history of the quickest growing keywords — what’s their origin and do they apply to your industry? Are any keywords that have petered off in relevancy recently primed to make a comeback in a big way due to world events? It’s noticing the intricacies of emerging keywords that matters here. As a rule, check Google Trends for topics rising in interest over the past 1–3 months.

Pro Tip Alert! Another spot on the internet overflowing with trending keywords is none other than Reddit. By checking “Top” and “Hot” posts in your topic or industry, you’ll get an unfiltered glimpse into the conversations happening right now. Then, you can turn those conversations into jumping off points for your next blog posts and angles for your upcoming content strategies.

Step Three: Take note of Google questions.

Have you ever asked Google a seemingly random question and were pleasantly surprised to find that not only had other users already asked that question, but that they even asked further questions? This search result section is known as “people also ask”. There might be a snappier, easier to chew term for this group of automated relevant questions, but if there is I haven’t heard of it. (Maybe they should be called PAA questions? Pronounced like Pahhhhhh? Please send suggestions to @cxdstudio on any platform.)

For example, these were the accompanying questions when I searched “Do dogs dream?” This feature was placed after the second search result. Meaning, the top ranking content for these related questions is often prioritized over some of the highest ranking content for the keywords or phrases that you initially searched for. By re-angling your content strategy to focus on ranking #1 for these related keywords, you can bypass the challenge of ranking #1 for your primary keywords.

Step Four: Determine the emerging keywords that are the most relevant to your industry and target audience/buyer persona.

Now that you’ve used all of the tools at your disposal to gather emerging keywords, you should have a pretty lengthy list in front of you. However, not all of these keywords are equally suited to be introduced to your content strategy. To find the ones that are, organize and reorganize your list into subcategories that are good matches for your upcoming campaigns. Remember, emerging keywords are prone to fluctuation.

There’s no need to make final decisions on which of the keywords on your list will be incorporated into your future content creation. By continuously monitoring your chosen phrases and terms you’ll be able to notice right away which ones have staying power and which are already on their way out of the industry conversation.

Keep your target audience in mind when creating content based on trending topics. How familiar might your audience be with the topic? Do they want advanced content or more introductory, beginner level content? Can you create content on a parent topic for a variety of industries? Often, this content can be repurposed or regularly updated to give it even more life in your content calendar.

Emerging keywords are like a needle in a haystack that you need to be the first to spot and have a huge payoff. By keeping an ear to the ground for new, emerging trends and having the bandwidth (or support of a content marketing agency) to execute quickly, your organic content strategy can fuel your entire marketing and sales team.

For more tips, tricks, and insights into the wide world of content marketing in the modern digital world, follow @cxdstudio on social media and check out more of our work at cxd.studio! Happy creating!