Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords: The Shortcut to Quick SEO Wins

When you’re looking for a specific product or service, you usually type a query into a search engine or ask an AI tool like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or whichever you prefer. But sometimes you struggle to find the best solution, because you opened too many websites without answering your question. 

According to StatCounter,  more than 80% online searches, both desktop and mobile, are on Google. Although this is true, companies are still struggling to appear in the top results. This is often because they spend time and effort targeting the “best” keywords for their industry, which are usually highly competitive. 

However, not all keywords are the same. The good news is that you can still compete and rank higher with high-potential keywords that have lower keyword difficulty and are easier to target.

In this article, you will learn how to find the best low-hanging keywords to improve your organic presence. 

What are Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords?

Low-hanging fruit keywords are phrases that have a high chance of ranking on SERPs with minimal effort. These keywords are typically less competitive because very few websites target them. Their search volume may be low, but they have high conversion potential.

The phrase “low-hanging fruit” is used figuratively to describe tasks, opportunities, or problems that are easy to get or achieve, just as fruit on low branches is the easiest to pick.

For better understanding, here’s an example.

Let’s say you have a blog about healthy recipes. If you want to target “healthy meals” as the main keyword, you can see from the image below that this may be hard to achieve.

Looking at the screenshot above, the Keyword Difficulty score is 66, meaning you will need to earn high-quality and relevant backlinks to rank. 

However, there is a wide range of keywords that will be relevant to your industry, so you can target them with better content and rank more easily. 

For example, if you target a more specific keyword, such as “healthy meals for two”, you can see from the results that the KD score is 6, which is easier to rank for. 

By targeting more specific keywords, you can easily rank in the first 10 results on SERP with a few backlinks and get more potential customers. 

Tip: Check out our blog on keyword research for SaaS for more information. 

Benefits of Using Low-Hanging Fruit SEO

There are many significant benefits for targeting low-hanging fruit keywords, including:

Quick SEO Wins

As the main title suggests, focusing on these keywords will quickly increase your website’s visibility in search engine results. Since these keywords are less competitive, you can start ranking higher faster and gain more targeted traffic without taking too much time. 

Let’s get back to our example earlier. If you want to target “healthy meals” in the first 10 on SERP, it will probably take a year or more. You need to focus on high-quality content together with other on-page SEO strategies to compete. 

But if you target more specific keywords like “healthy recipes for two”, “5 easy healthy recipes”, “healthy meals on a budget”, “healthy meals for family dinner”, and similar, you will notice that for a short time, your page will start ranking higher on SERP. 

An excellent example of low-hanging fruit with a lower KD score, high SV, and high TP.

Less Effort and Time

Because they are less competitive, it takes minimal effort and time to rank better. You don’t need to build dozens of backlinks or invest in complex SEO strategies. Instead, you can focus on creating well-optimized content for these specific keywords. As a result, you can see improvements in visibility and traffic much sooner than you expect. 

More Traffic and Conversions

Low-hanging fruit keywords tend to attract more traffic to your website, which is an excellent way to improve organic traffic growth. As your website attracts more traffic, it will drive more conversions and increase revenue. 

Let’s say you are at the very beginning of your online journey. You have just launched your website, with zero backlinks. What can you do to improve online visibility on SERP without investing in paid advertising? How can you quickly gain organic traffic?

If we take the previous example, we can start by analyzing different low-hanging fruit keywords, such as:

• Healthy vegetarian meal prep
• Cheap healthy meals for college students
• Healthy meals for busy moms

All these keywords have a KD score below 10 and a moderate to high monthly search volume. This is a great way to start your blog by targeting one of these queries, offering an excellent opportunity to rank quickly and attract organic traffic.

Improved User Experience

Think for a moment as a customer. When you search for a specific query, you expect to find the solution in the first several pages that pop out on Google. Targeting your content with these kinds of keywords will attract more traffic to your website as well as increase the chances of gaining potential customers. Instead of listing too many pages, these specific queries will directly help to answer your question. 

Create content and product pages, and optimize them for these terms, as there is a high chance your audience will engage more. 

If a user searches “cheap healthy meals for college students”, we can see that they know exactly what they want. That’s why we need content optimization strategies for this keyword: visitors will engage with just one click or take an action without additional steps, which may be confusing and frustrating. 

Build Authority and Confidence

Starting your SEO journey by targeting low-hanging fruit keywords is an excellent way to build authority and demonstrate early success. In SEO, traffic and backlinks help your website build credibility and authority on Google.

Because these keywords are easier to rank for, they help build both authority and confidence faster. Let’s take a look at our example.

The listed terms are low-hanging fruit keywords that we are already ranking between 8 and 20 positions. This means they’re just a small step away from appearing on the first page of Google. This represents an incredible opportunity to drive more organic traffic and conversions with minimal effort.  

Finding Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords With GSC

Now that you know what they are and their importance, let’s learn how to find low-hanging keywords using Google Search Console (GSC).

On the main dashboard, choose “Search results” from the left-side menu. It will appear as a search performance report. 

Scroll down to see the queries you are ranking for. Make sure the “Average position” is selected too. Before adding a filter, sort the keywords by position from highest to lowest. 

On the filter icon, click on “Position”. Once selected, the dropdown menu will close, and a search bar will appear on the right. Make sure to choose the “Smaller than” filter, then type “20” in the search bar.

These are keywords ranking on page 2, meaning you’re close to ranking on page 1, i.e., your low-hanging fruit.

How to Find Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords Using Ahrefs

Another way to find your low-hanging fruit is by using Ahrefs. 

On the main dashboard, go to “Site explorer” and paste your website in the search bar. From the left-side menu, click on “Opportunities”, where you will see Low-hanging fruit keywords tab. 

With the “Position” filter, you can find keywords you’re already ranking for in positions 10-25. Improving them, you will be closer to ranking on the first page of Google.

From the example below, the keyword “how many seo keywords should i use” is a low-hanging fruit because it is in 12th position and it’s already performing well.

If we click on it, we can see that the KD is 10, and the SV is good with high traffic potential. By combining content improvements with technical SEO on those pages, like adding 1-2 internal links, optimizing meta tags, and improving load speed, we can rank on the first page.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to find low-hanging fruit keywords, you can start identifying the ones that will boost visibility and gain more traffic and conversions. Leveraging these keywords will improve your SEO strategy, save time, effort, and money, while delivering quick wins that boost authority and confidence. Tools like Google Search Console or Ahrefs will help you throughout the journey, providing valuable insights for identifying opportunities.

Request a free consultation with us, and learn how to maintain long-term SEO success.

FAQs

Why Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords Matter?

These keywords matter because they are easier to rank for and can drive quick, targeted traffic to your website. They also attract visitors who are more likely to convert, making your efforts more efficient.

How to Find Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords for Free?

You can identify them by using:

1. Google Keyword Planner – use the free version to find keywords with low competition.
2. Ahrefs Free Version – try the free keyword generator to identify low competition keywords with good search volume.

Are Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords Less Valuable?

Of course not. Although they may have lower search volumes, they are less competitive and drive more targeted traffic and faster wins than targeting general or irrelevant keywords. 

What’s an Example of a Low-Hanging Fruit Keyword?

If you run a small bakery, instead of trying to rank for “best bakery,” targeting a more specific phrase like “vegan chocolate cupcakes” could be low-hanging fruit. It’s easier to rank because it gives concrete answers that guide visitors to click your page and eventually take an action.