Why Ignoring Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR) Could Kill Your SEO

‍If you had to choose a superpower as an SEO expert or a marketer, what would it be?

‍To rank right after you publish content? Or to be able to find the perfect keywords every time you need them?

‍What if we told you you could have both? That’s right! It’s all possible if you know how to leverage the golden keyword ratio.

‍When it comes to ranking on the first page of Google search results, the competition is tough. So, you need more than just knowing what keywords to use to outrank other brands in your niche.

‍If we’re being completely honest — they probably find their content ideas and target queries the same way you do and use similar strategies, too.

‍This is where the keyword golden ratio can make a difference. In this guide, we’re going to explain what it is, how it works, and how you can make the most of it.

‍If you’re scratching your head wondering what on God’s green earth is a golden ratio for keywords, it’s simple.

‍The golden ratio keywords concept is basically a formula that uses data to uncover the search queries that are easy to rank for right away. This works even for new websites.

‍It is particularly focused on the keywords that are not getting much attention from anyone else in your niche but still have enough search volume.

‍That means there must be a reasonable number of people actually searching for these keywords for them to qualify. Think of it like the Goldilocks of keywords. This is what makes them perfect for newbies struggling to rank.

‍Despite what you might have thought, KGR isn’t about considering Keyword Difficulty (KD). So, how is it calculated, then?

How Is KGR Calculated?

‍Calculating the KGR keyword golden ratio is pretty straightforward:

‍Put another way, it’s the number of results in SERPs that have the exact keyword phrase match in the meta title ÷ by the monthly search volume. But for this to work, the monthly search volume has to be 250 or less.

‍Why should the search volume be less than 250? Simply because it is easier to rank for a query like this. Generally speaking, the higher the search volume, the harder it is to end up in the first 50 search results, especially for the new sites.

‍Now, if you’re new to all this SEO stuff, you might be looking at the keyword golden ratio formula and thinking what those “allintitle” results are. Let’s break it down.

‍🤔 What Is “Allintitle”?

‍While “allintitle” sounds like some fun band name, it’s really a Google search operator that shows you which websites also have the exact same words in their meta title. To find it, you have to simply type in allintitle:your keyword in the search bar.

‍For example, let’s say your keyword is “colleges in Clayton County​.” Here are the pages that have that exact keyword in their title:

‍Source: Google

‍There are currently just 3 pages that have this exact keyword used in their titles. This means that it could be a good idea to try and target this keyword. But first, let’s see its search volume:

‍Source: Semrush

‍The search volume of “colleges in Clayton County​” is 70. Now, let’s calculate the KGR:/p>

‍KGR = 3 ÷ 70 = 0.043

‍What does this mean for us?

‍If you take a look at the formula above, you’ll see that we’ve specified how to decipher your results:

• KGR less than 0.25 is an amazing indicator. It shows that even a new site should rank among the first 50 search results right after indexing.
• KGR between 0.25 and 1.0 could work for most sites. At least it should mean that your page will be somewhere in the first 250 search results (of course, it’s just an estimate).
• KGR above 1.0 means that you should look for another keyword. Again, we’re talking about new sites that still lack authority.

‍Now, let’s get back to our results. We already know that when it comes to KGR, anything below 0.25 is great. And 0.043 is well below that, so this keyword (i.e., “colleges in Clayton County​”) is a good choice according to this approach.

‍So, basically, as you see, the allintitle operator simply filters out every single web page that has your keyword in its meta title. This way, you get to see who else is directly competing with you for those keywords. Cool, right? That’s what the mystery is all about.

How Does KGR Work?

‍Now, back to the concept itself. Why are KGR keywords worth your attention?

‍To understand it a bit better, let’s imagine you’re a new business. You’re doing your best, busting out your best moves, and trying to gain more traffic or increase your sales.

‍But you’ll have to compete with other top brands in your industry who offer the exact same service/product as you. As a result, it’s going to take you months and sometimes even years to rank on the first page of search results.

‍You could try to buy backlinks and speed up the process. But you will still need to create good content, which requires the right keywords to get organic traffic.

‍So, when you shift your focus to KGR, you improve your chances. In fact, instead of waiting months, you can begin to rank in weeks (for some queries).

‍This can mean the difference between shouting into the void (aka the internet) and actually overranking other brands.

Why Is It Important?

‍Now you know how to explain KGR meaning and how the formula works. So, it’s time to really look at its benefits. You know, besides the obvious one, which is improving your chances of ranking faster with less hassle. You can also enjoy other perks like:

• Clearer SEO strategy. It can be confusing to know which of the many promising keywords your competitors are ranking for can bring you closer to your own goals.

‍But with the keyword golden ratio, it’s easier to narrow down your focus to queries that will actually get you the results you want faster.

• Affordable. SEO is cheaper, and this is true. But it’s one of those truths with layers. Trying to rank for highly competitive keywords is usually more difficult and expensive. So, it’s simply easier to focus on KGR SEO and just target low-difficulty keywords.

‍The best part is that you can quickly outrank your competitors for some of these phrases, too. And you don’t even need to spend a fortune to do it.

• Higher motivation. There’s something to be said about seeing all your hard work and efforts instantly pay off. Rather than waiting months to check if your site manages to make it to the top of SERPs, you get your results faster.

‍This typically helps small teams feel pumped and willing to write more and put in more effort since they already see tangible outcomes.

‍Now, the most interesting part — how do you find those keywords with the perfect ratio in the first place? Here are our top tips:

#1 Start With KGR Keyword Research (Check Search Volume)

‍The KGR research is pretty much the same as your regular keyword research, at least at the beginning. But what you are really doing here is making a list of relevant topics.

‍You have a lot of options for how to do this. You could go the manual route. But, it will take a lot of time and effort if you rely only on the autosuggest feature in Google search.

‍Source: Google

‍So, it’s best if you use SEO software for this. While there is no KGR tool as such, you can still use Semrush, Ahrefs, or any other alternative.

‍First, you want to focus on the search volume. As we’ve mentioned above, the best solution is to select words that have a search volume of 250 or less. For this, you can, for example, use Semrush and its Keyword Magic Tool feature.

‍You can search for your target keyword and then go through all the related keywords to see which ones have our target volume.

‍Source: Semrush

‍From here, the best thing to do would be to take a spreadsheet and list all the keywords that are relevant to your niche and have a good enough search volume. Next, save that spreadsheet because we’ll add more info in the second step.

‍Besides, to make this process simpler, you can also look at the Keyword Difficulty (KD) metric. It is different from KGR, but it can still give you an idea of how hard it is to rank for any keyword.

‍Keyword Golden Ratio (KGR) vs. Keyword Difficulty (KD)

‍KGR and KD might seem like the same metric. But they aren’t. In fact, KGR isn’t even a metric to begin with — it’s a formula, a method to find easy-to-rank keywords.

‍At the same time, Keyword Difficulty is a widespread metric used by pretty much any SEO tool and expert out there.

‍What does KD calculate? Basically, it assesses the number of pages that rank for a particular query and the strength of their backlink profile.

‍So, even if there aren’t that many sites ranking for a particular keyword, the KD might still be pretty high. This could happen if those few pages are some giants (e.g., Forbes, NYT, CNN, etc.).

‍Now that you know the difference between these two concepts, let’s move to the second step of finding the keyword golden ratio.

#2 Do the “Allintitle” Search

‍Again, there is no tool to find the “allintitle” results. But the good news is that you don’t need one — you can simply use Google for this purpose.

‍As we showed below, simply enter allintitle:your keyword in the search bar. From there, you can either count the search results manually (if there are just a couple of them) or click Tools and see the number. This is what we did in the example below:

‍Source: Google

‍Then, you should do the same thing with each keyword on your spreadsheet. Ideally, you need columns called Keywords, Allintitle, Search Volume, and KGR.

‍This way, you can easily check the keyword golden ratio without any software.

‍You can also use a formula in Excel or Google Spreadsheets to simplify the process. It would look like this: =A1/B1 (where A1 corresponds to the cell with the “allintitle” value, and B1 corresponds to the cell with the search volume value).

‍But you can also just use a keyword golden ratio calculator:

‍Source: KwSniper

#3 Watch Out for Keyword Cannibalization

‍A simple Google search or even a scroll down Reddit will show you that not everyone has luck with the KGR tactic. Some websites still struggle to rank, even after months of targeting these low-difficulty queries.

‍This happens even when they pass all their keywords through a keyword golden ratio tool and only choose the best. What could be the reason?

‍First of all, there are some risks involved with this tactic (more on this in the next section). But on top of that, you will have to be careful not to cannibalize your keywords.

‍This happens when you create too much related content, and all the pages end up competing for the same keywords.

‍So, mix things up — like a lot. A broad article here and there won’t hurt. Besides, you need a healthy mix of all kinds of search queries. They just have to match what your target customers are looking for.

‍Plus, here is a pro tip for you: pay attention to the content format your KGR keywords are ranking for. If they are all videos and you write a blog post instead, you might not get the desired outcome.

‍The same thing happens when you switch things around. Sure, you could try out your luck. But then, it’s best to do so with the understanding that it might or might not work. This way, there are only pleasant surprises.

‍Now, as promised, here are some things you should consider before you start looking for that search volume and “allintitle.”

‍After all, it’s not all roses and sunshine. With KGR in SEO, you want to be careful not to follow it blindly, or you could end up making some serious mistakes.

‍Do you recall when we said that not every single keyword with low competition qualifies as a KGR keyword? Yeah, well, that’s where the risks come in. Some keywords are being ignored for a reason (especially when the search volume is way too low). But that’s just one issue.

‍You also have other instances where, even though the keywords are good, you might still not rank. Here are the most important ones:

⚠️ Semantic Search “Issue”

‍You’ve seen what we’ve been doing with the KGR formula — basically, we were limiting ourselves to the results that only contained the exact keyword we wanted to rank for. This is what “allintitle” is all about.

‍Yet, here is a thing — Google is much smarter than simply showing up the exact search query. These days, search engines use a concept called “semantic search.” Its main idea is to deliver the most relevant content based on search intent, location, search history, etc.

‍We’ve told you everything there is to know about semantic search in our previous blog, so check it if you aren’t sure how it works.

‍But long story short — when we google for pasta without meat, we get recipes that don’t even mention “without meat.” Why? Because Google understands the broader context.

‍Source: Google

‍That’s why when we only account for pages that mention the exact keyword, we might really miss a lot of other important things. As a result, high-authority pages may still outrank you, even if they don’t use the exact phrase in their meta title.

⚠️ Accuracy Problem

‍So, imagine — you create your spreadsheet with all the potential KGR keywords. Then, you start writing content. Some pieces might even start ranking. But then, others don’t.

‍You do all your calculations once again, and then you see that the “allintitle” isn’t accurate anymore. There are many other pages out there mentioning your keyword.

‍The issue is that Google’s index updates constantly. New blog posts could get indexed, or some old articles might be updated to target your keyword. As a result, you might not get the results you expect.

‍Source: ECW

‍But it’s worth mentioning that this can happen with any metric; KD can also increase or decrease if the top-ranking pages change.

⚠️ Ignoring Other Keywords

‍Some marketers fall into the one-track mind pit. They just focus only on KGR keywords and forget that they also need topics that encourage leads to move through the sales funnel.

‍Besides, you need way too many golden ratio keywords to hit high-traffic goals. Our advice? It’s best not to ignore other good search queries, even if they don’t fit into the KGR formula box.

‍Try to prioritize phrases that match your users’ search intent and can actually help you build your brand authority. Besides, use keyword clusters to naturally connect your KGR-based publications to the other posts.

⚠️ Spammy Content

‍This often happens when people want to get the best result as fast as possible. So, they start trying to stuff as many golden keywords as they can into their blog posts.

‍It’s called keyword stuffing. And it is an awfully outdated tactic. Not to mention, it’s a great way to get a Google penalty. That’s why, no matter what, focus on quality content.

‍TL;DR: You may strike keywords gold ratio, but not all of them will fit your topics all the time. Besides, you can’t target these queries alone — you’ll still have to diversify the phrases you integrate into your content.

‍We have answered the question “What is KGR?” as promised. We have also delivered on the other claims we made. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that not only is KGR a big deal for SEO, but it can also make a difference for new businesses.

‍You want to use the tips shared in this guide to avoid the common mistakes people make when they’re just starting out. This will save you from hours of frustration and save your resources, too.

‍Feel free to use the tips that work for you and tweak them to suit your own needs. The more you make it your own, the better your workflow and the easier your KGR journey will be.