Keyword research is a huge part of content strategy and SEO in general. Often, underused long-tail keywords with low competition are sought after for their ability to drive highly targeted traffic to your website and enhance overall site visibility with less effort.
Using a keyword research tool, such as Keyword Magic Tool, Google Keyword Planner, or SEMRush, is essential for discovering new keyword opportunities and identifying keywords with low competition and high search volume.
Acing the content game is all about finding new keyword opportunities. Since several tools help with this, even long-tail keywords face some competition.
Enter Keyword Golden Ratio or KGR.
In this blog, we’ll cover what it is, how to calculate the KGR, how to find good KGR compliant keywords, its pros and cons, and more.
What You’ll Learn in This Article 🌟
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What is KGR or Keyword Golden Ratio❓
Keyword Golden Ratio, a term coined by Doug Cunnington of Niche Site Project, refers to the process of finding particular keywords that very few websites have covered in-depth.
These are long tail keywords that your competitors may have overlooked due to their low search volume for that keyword. The KGR calculation involves the keyword’s monthly search volume and the number of Google search results containing that keyword in the title.
KGR Success for SEO💪
The low search frequency is what makes the KGR strategy a success. The KGR success story revolves around finding keywords using a data-driven approach and building content around them to help you rank in the top 100 SERP results quickly, often within a few days.
Targeting multiple KGR keywords is crucial for achieving SEO success, as it allows you to generate organic traffic by understanding and addressing search intent effectively.
When done effectively, optimizing for KGR phrases can help you achieve top positions on Google faster compared to competing for high-volume keywords. Moreover, if your website has a strong presence in the industry, you might see your KGR-targeted pages ranking within days of publication.
The KGR technique also helps prioritize content. It offers a clear target by refining keyword lists and focusing on easily attainable goals, ensuring a more strategic approach to keyword search with quantifiable outcomes.
However, regardless of whether you use the KGR or not, relevance, authority, and power majorly influence SERPs.
How to Calculate KGR💡
To leverage KGR effectively, you’ll need to invest time in researching potential keywords and crunching the numbers. Let’s look at how the KGR ratio is calculated.
You’ll need two pieces of information: the count of “allintitle” keyword results and their corresponding search frequency.
First, let’s address how to obtain the “allintitle” results. The “allintitle” operator in Google search helps identify pages that include the exact search phrase in their titles.
For instance, if your target keyword is “keyword research for affiliate marketing,” you can find the “allintitle” results by entering the phrase directly into the Google search bar.
As you can see, the ”allintitle” keyword result is 334. Now, moving on to its search frequency.
You can use any tool to find the search frequency of the keyword.
Keyword golden ratio formula.
Now that we have both numbers, we can move on to calculating the KGR score using the formula below.
In this example, the KGR is 334/320 = 1.03.
According to the KGR rule of thumb, if the ratio is less than 0.25, it’s considered a good opportunity. If it’s between 0.25 and 1, it’s moderately competitive, and above 1 is generally too competitive.
So, with a keyword ratio of 1.03, this keyword (“keyword research for affiliate marketing”) would likely be too competitive to target effectively utilizing the keyword golden ratio strategy.
Note: To fully leverage the KGR method, focus on keywords with a maximum of 250 monthly searches, as they are easier to rank for compared to high-volume keywords with thousands of searches.
For more on those ultra-competitive keywords, don’t miss our article on fat head keywords!
Long-Tail Keywords and Google’s Sandbox🚧
The Google Sandbox refers to a period after a new website is created or a major update is made, during which the site is not placed highly in search engine results.
This phase is believed to exist to prevent new websites from quickly gaining top positions until they prove their credibility and value over time.
How to tackle Google sandbox.
The most effective way to get out of this sandbox, is using long and ultra long-tail keywords because these keywords typically have lower competition and are more specific, making it easier for your site to rank for them.
As your site gains traction and credibility by getting ranked for these less competitive keywords, Google may gradually increase its trust in your site and begin placing it higher for broader and more competitive search terms.
Hence, using long and ultra long tail keywords helps demonstrate your site’s relevance and value to both users and Google, potentially accelerating your exit from the Sandbox.
How to Use a Keyword Tool to Find KGR Terms🔍
There are many search term research tools to help you find KGR terms. To start with, let’s understand how to find relevant keyword ideas.
The Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR) formula is essential for determining keyword competition. It is calculated by dividing the number of Google results with the keyword phrase in the title by the local monthly search volume. This helps in optimizing SEO efforts and targeting effective keywords.
Keyword Research on Google Search
One simple method to discover KGR-compliant terms is by using Google Autosuggest along with this format:
best (product-type) for (application or user-type)
You could also use a tool like Keyword Finder for advanced filtering options and the Keyword Difficulty (KD) metric.
Start by typing your search term into Autocomplete, then click the “Find Keywords” button.
Let’s focus on Search Volume and Keyword Difficulty for now.
You can also select a preferred location based on your target demographic.
Clicking on the “Questions” tab will give you more specific target keywords, increasing your chances of finding useful keyword suggestions.
Filter Out Keywords with Monthly Search Volume > 250
Since KGR can be leveraged with a search frequency below 250, filter out the rest. Set the maximum search volume filter to 250.
Clicking the blue “Set filter” button refines the list by excluding entries with higher search frequencies.
Now, we’ve got lots of options with search frequencies under 250. You can tweak the filters further, like setting a max KD of 15, 20, 25, and so on.
In the image above, you can see that the Autosuggest search result for ‘best coffee maker for airbnb’ has a decent KD value of 12. Its search frequency is 230, meeting our requirement of being less than 250.
Find the Number of Search Results With the Exact Match Titles
Next, use the Google Search command “allintitle.”
Type “allintitle:” followed by your search phrase with no spaces or quotes. Google will then show the number of results, which serves as the numerator in the KGR formula.
There are 51 results. Applying KGR method gives us the following value:
KGR = (allintitle results)/search volume)
KGR value = 51/ 230 = 0.22
Since the KGR is less than 0.25, it is a low competition long-tail keyword to use.
Now, let’s compare two predictors of keyword competition to see which one is better.
Keyword Difficulty Vs. KGR Ratio: Which is Best?⚖️
The good news is that you don’t have to choose between the two because both KD (Keyword Difficulty) and KGR (Keyword Golden Ratio) can be accurate—they just measure different factors to assess keyword competition and help improve your ranking in search engines.
Here’s the main difference:
- KD (Keyword Difficulty): This metric evaluates the Link Profile Strength (LPS) of the currently ranking web pages, taking into account factors like Domain Authority and Page Authority from Moz and Citation Flow and Trust Flow from Majestic.
- KGR (Keyword Golden Ratio): This metric looks at whether websites have the keyword in their title, indicating if a webmaster is specifically targeting the keyword phrase.
Both metrics are useful for understanding competition from different angles.
- KD: Especially helpful for complex search term research, like when starting a new website. It also provides additional information, such as the number of external backlinks and Facebook shares.
- KGR: Indicates if a keyword is being intentionally targeted based on its presence in the title.
From my experience, if you find a keyword with a low KD that is KGR compliant, you’ve hit the lottery with a valuable keyword. On the other hand, a keyword with poor KGR and high KD is tough to rank for.
Drawbacks of Using The Keyword Golden Ratio🚨
KGR is great to get your site climb up in the SERPs. But it also comes with it’s own limitations. Here’s some of them.
Keyword Stuffing
Since KGR terms are long-tail or ultra long-tail keywords, they are usually about 3-4 words.
Excessive usage of such a long term could result in keyword stuffing.
This would not only look unnatural but also affect your site’s readability and user experience and potentially lead to penalties from Google.
Example of keyword stuffing.
In my opinion, if you are using a KGR term that’s 4 or more words long, then use it as minimally as possible. Have it in your title and body of your content a few times but don’t over do it.
To avoid keyword stuffing, use related phrases and partially matching keywords instead of the main keyword.
Tip: Use an AI writing tool like NeuronWriter or Surfer SEO to track keyword density and excessively used keywords in the content.
Uneven Probability of Ranking
Sometimes, despite producing killer content with a KGR keyword, it may not rank well.
Why?
Google’s algorithm prioritizes user intent above all. Hence, even if a keyword looks good on paper (low competition, reasonable search frequency), it may not perform well if it doesn’t match the searcher’s intent. Additionally, keywords with higher search volumes tend to have more competition, making it harder to rank for them. Therefore, it is advisable to filter out keywords with search volumes above 250 to streamline the keyword research process and focus on less competitive, niche terms.
For example, if people are looking for direct purchases (e.g., e-commerce sites) and your content is more informational or affiliate-based (e.g., a review or comparison of a product), your site won’t rank for it.
Hence, the best thing you can do before diving into a suitable KGR term for your site is to do a simple Google search, look at the intent of the top-positioned pages, and align your content accordingly.
Remember, if you can’t find any websites similar to yours, that’s not a good sign and probably not worth it if your content’s intent doesn’t align with the top ranked pages.
Difficulty in Finding A KGR Keyword
Finding keywords takes time and skill. Since KGR words can’t be automated, manually finding them takes time and effort.
This manual process involves researching potential keywords and assessing their viability based on criteria like low competition and decent search frequency.
This hands-on approach to ensuring that the selected keywords align closely with content goals and enhance visibility in search engine results may be labor-intensive, but the effort invested in manual search term research often yields more targeted and impactful results.
How to Use KGR for Ever-Changing SEO Landscapes
SEO and Google’s ever-changing algorithms collectively decide the fate of your content, in addition to its quality. The oversaturation of content on Google has increased competition and made it harder to rank in this digital age.
Over time, it’s become obvious that using KGR for search term research doesn’t always lead to the success that some blogs might suggest.
Since KGR focuses on longer, more specific keywords, it can sometimes cause problems with keyword cannibalization.
This happens when multiple related posts compete for the same search engine results pages (SERPs).
When different pages from the same website or domain are all trying to rank for the same or similar keywords, this can confuse Google and dilute the visibility of each individual page.
In such cases, I suggest you create a single comprehensive article that covers broader topics rather than having multiple narrowly-focused posts. This approach helps to streamline your content strategy and enhance your site’s overall SEO performance.
Should You Be Using The Keyword Golden Ratio Method?🤔Targeting low-search frequency and low-competition keywords with KGR is a smart strategy because it helps you not only rank for those specific terms but also gain traction with many other longer, more specific keywords in the process. 📈 The founder of the term, Doug, has mentioned in his videos that it’s designed for beginners and is a great way for them to start doing data-driven keyword research. It may not be perfect, but in my opinion, it’s better than nothing and more insightful than KD numbers since it provides actionable insights and is more user-friendly for beginners compared to the less intuitive KD numbers provided by paid tools. I recommend giving the KGR ratio a shot if you are in a less competitive niche where there is still room to rank and attract organic traffic with relatively less effort compared to highly competitive subjects. 🚀 I came across a Reddit comment that outlines how likely you are to rank with a KGR strategy if you are a brand new website with low authority: You should also consider whether what you are publishing is worth the time and money you have put into creating it. Even if KGR does work for you, focus on metrics that matter, like conversion rates, engagement metrics (like time on page or bounce rate), and overall return on investment (ROI), as long as they justify the effort and resources invested. In my opinion, it’s best to focus on keywords that people will search for and don’t have much competition on the first page of Google. 🏆 |
Final Thoughts
Keyword research is essential for content strategy and improving SEO technique, and long tail keywords with low competition can drive targeted traffic with less effort.
The Keyword Golden Ratio strategy, coined by Doug Cunnington, focuses on finding underutilized keywords with low search frequencies but high potential. By targeting these keywords, you can quickly achieve top positioning on Google.
KGR helps prioritize content by focusing on attainable goals and ensuring a strategic approach to search term research. Despite its advantages, relevance, authority, and content quality remain crucial for success.
FAQs
1. What is the Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR)?
The Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR) is a technique created by using Doug Cunnington of Niche Site Project. KGR is primarily based on finding low-competition, long-tail key words that few web sites cover in depth. These keywords typically have low search volume(less than 250 monthly searches), making it easier to rank better on Google fast.
2. How do I calculate the Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR)?
To calculate KGR, you need the number of Google search results with the keyword in the title (using the “allintitle” search operator) and the keyword’s monthly search volume. Divide the number of “allintitle” results by the search volume.
If the ratio is less than 0.25, it’s a good keyword to target. Ratios between 0.25 and 1 are moderately competitive, and above 1 are very competitive.
3. Why have to I use the Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR)?
Using KGR can help you find certain keywords that are easier to rank for, leading to faster and higher positioning on Google. This strategy is especially useful for new websites or those struggling to compete for high-volume keywords.
