- A keyword may be easier to win when a weaker page is already ranking in the top five.
- Low-volume keywords can be strong starting points for smaller sites when they match real business intent.
Six months of SEO work can disappear quietly because the wrong keyword was chosen on day one.
The article may be well written. The on-page work may be clean. The site may even build a few links. But if the SERP was never realistically winnable, execution only makes the mistake more expensive.
That is the point behind a recent X thread from Keval Shah, an ecommerce and AI SEO specialist, who argued that one of the most valuable SEO skills is learning how to spot low-competition keywords before months of work are spent chasing the wrong target.
One of the most valuable skills you can learn in SEO is how to determine if a keyword is low-competition or not.
It’s the difference between 6 months of SEO that amounts to nothing, and 6 months of SEO that doubles your traffic.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Search the keyword in a… pic.twitter.com/j6jjYetu69
— Keval Shah | Ecom SEO + AI SEO (@SEOKeval) June 24, 2026
The method is simple: open the SERP, look at the top five results, and check whether a weaker page is already ranking.
If a page with a Domain Rating below 40 appears near the top without an exact-match or keyword-heavy domain, the keyword deserves a closer look. That does not make it easy. It means Google may already be accepting a lower-authority result because the page satisfies the query well enough.
The SERP Is More Honest Than the Difficulty Score
Keyword difficulty scores are useful for filtering large lists, but they flatten the result page into one number.
Ahrefs explains its Keyword Difficulty score as an estimate of how hard it is to rank in the top 10, based primarily on the backlink profiles of top-ranking pages. That makes it helpful as a first pass, not as the final decision.
The live SERP shows the details a score cannot:
- whether a weak page is already in the top five
- whether that page has few referring domains
- whether the content only partially matches intent
- whether the result is outdated, thin or poorly structured
- whether the SERP is controlled by brands, tools, marketplaces or forums
- whether your site can realistically match the dominant format
That is the real value of the check. It turns keyword research from metric-reading into competitive analysis.
What a Weak Top-Five Page Actually Means
A low-DR result is not automatically beatable.
It may have strong page-level links, strong internal links, topical authority, old trust or unusually good intent matching. The opportunity becomes interesting only when several weak signals appear together.
The best signs are simple:
- the domain is not especially strong
- the ranking page has limited page-level authority
- the content is useful but incomplete
- the page format is easy to improve
- the keyword is not protected by a strong brand or exact-match domain
- the query has commercial or topical value for your site
When those signals line up, the SERP is telling you something useful: Google does not require a massive domain for that query. A better page with enough support has a realistic path in.
Low-Volume Keywords Are Often the Better Bet
Many SEOs skip keywords with fewer than 100 monthly searches because the number looks too small.
For smaller sites, that can be the wrong filter.
Low-volume terms often have clearer intent, weaker competition and less attention from large publishers. A niche ecommerce query, a specific software comparison, a local service term or a problem-led B2B phrase may look small in a tool but still bring users close to buying, booking or requesting a quote.
Search volume is also an estimate, not a hard count. A 70-search keyword with clear commercial intent can be more useful than a 3,000-search keyword controlled by brands, marketplaces and high-authority guides.
The keyword does not need to be huge. It needs to be winnable, relevant and worth supporting.
The Opportunity Still Needs Authority
Finding a weak result is only the first step.
The second step is building a page strong enough to replace it.
A better article with no internal links, no topical support and no external authority can still lose to an average page that has accumulated trust over time. This is where many keyword strategies fail: the opportunity was real, but the page was not supported strongly enough to take it.
At minimum, the new page needs:
- cleaner intent coverage than the weak result
- better structure and more useful supporting sections
- internal links from relevant existing pages
- external links if the SERP shows authority is required
- a sharper reason to exist than rewriting what already ranks
The question is not only whether a weak page is ranking. The question is whether your page can deserve the position more.
A Practical SERP Check
Before committing to a keyword, run a quick manual check:
- Is there a low-authority page in the top five?
- Does that page have few referring domains?
- Is the content outdated, thin or only partly aligned with intent?
- Are the top results real pages you can compete with, not tools or locked-in brands?
- Can your site cover the topic with more depth or a sharper angle?
- Do you have internal pages that can support the new URL?
- Is the keyword tied to traffic, leads, sales or topical authority?
If several answers are yes, the keyword belongs on the shortlist.
If the only positive signal is a low difficulty score, be careful. Scores are useful for filtering. SERPs are better for decisions.
The Takeaway
Keyword research should move from tool metrics to live competition as quickly as possible.
A weak top-five page is a clue, not a guarantee. It shows where Google may already be accepting a lower-authority result because the page fits the query well enough.
That is where smaller sites can compete: find the cracked-open SERP, build a better page, support it with internal links and add external authority where the market requires it.
As we argued in our analysis of why many brands still miss step one, advanced SEO advice does not help much when the starting target is wrong. The smartest keyword is not always the biggest one. It is the one your site can realistically win.
