Low hanging fruit keywords: how to find them in your store
·7 min read
Low hanging fruit keywords are search terms your store can win with little effort, either because few strong pages compete for them or because you already rank close to the top. For an online shop, they come from two places: queries in Google Search Console where a page sits just below the best results, and specific phrases that larger sites ignore. This guide shows how to find both and turn them into pages that earn clicks.
What counts as a low hanging fruit keyword?
The phrase comes from fruit picking. The fruit on the lowest branches gets harvested first because you need no ladder. SEO borrowed the image for keywords you can win first, with the least work.
Low competition is the core idea. It means few strong, well-optimized pages compete for the term, so a smaller store can reach the first page of Google Search without a large backlink profile. Low competition is not the same as low search volume. A keyword can have modest volume and still be hard, and a keyword can have decent volume and be easy.
A good quick-win keyword usually has three traits:
Proximity: your page already ranks for it, but below the top results.
Clear intent: the searcher wants something specific that your page can deliver.
Weak results: the current top pages are thin, outdated, or forum threads rather than real answers.
These keywords sit in two groups. The first group is made of terms you already rank for. The second is made of terms you do not rank for yet, but could win quickly with a new page.
Find low hanging fruit keywords in Google Search Console
Google Search Console is the fastest source of quick wins because it shows real queries that already trigger your pages. It costs nothing, and it answers the most useful question: where are you almost winning?
Follow these steps:
Open the Performance report and choose Search results.
Set the date range to a recent stretch of several months, so the data is stable.
Switch on the impressions, click-through rate and average position columns.
Click a single product page or collection page under the Pages filter, then open the Queries tab.
Sort by impressions and keep queries where the average position is below the top results, on the lower half of page one or on page two.
Flag queries with many impressions and few clicks.
Those flagged queries are your first low hanging fruit keywords. Google already considers the page relevant, so a small push can move it up.
Here is a practical example. Say a running store sees its trail shoe collection page appear for "trail running shoes for wide feet" at a middling position. The page never mentions width. Adding a short section on wide fits, a matching subheading, and a link from the sizing guide gives the page a direct reason to rank for that phrase.
Look for question queries too. Filter the Queries tab for words like "how", "what" and "which". These show what shoppers want to know before buying, and each one can become a short answer block on a product page or a blog post.
Google Search Console has a clear limit. It only shows queries your site already appears for, so a new store has little to work with. It also gives you no difficulty score, which means you still have to judge each keyword by hand.
Find the keywords you do not rank for yet
Search Console cannot show terms your store has never appeared for. That is where keyword research comes in. The goal is to find phrases with real demand and weak competition, then check that the results match your product.
A manual method works for a small catalog. Take each product and add modifiers that shoppers actually use:
Attribute: material, size, color, fit.
Use case: the situation the product solves.
Audience: who it is for.
Comparison: differences between two close products.
Then search each phrase and read the results. Forum threads, old articles, or pages that only half match the query signal weak competition. A wall of dedicated product and collection pages signals the opposite.
This process gets slow once you have hundreds of products. A dedicated ecommerce keyword research tool handles the heavy part. ecomrank mines real search demand around your products, scores each keyword by intent and difficulty, and turns the winners into a ready-to-publish content plan. You keep control of what gets published, but you skip the spreadsheet work.
Group related phrases before you write anything. This is keyword clustering: several close variants belong on one page, not on several. Two pages chasing the same query compete with each other and both rank worse. For a full overview of the topic, see our guide to the ecommerce keyword research tool approach.
Turn each quick win into a ranking page
Finding the keyword is half the job. The next step is matching it to the right page type, because search intent decides what Google wants to show.
A transactional query, such as a product with a size or material, belongs on a product detail page or a collection page. An informational query, such as how to choose or what a term means, belongs on a blog post that links to the relevant products. Sending a shopper who asks a question to a bare product grid is a common mistake.
For a page you already have, update these elements in order:
The title tag and H1, so they reflect the exact phrase in natural wording.
The opening copy, which should answer the query directly.
A short section or FAQ covering the gap you found.
Internal linking from related pages, using descriptive anchor text.
Structured data, such as product schema markup, if it is missing.
Do not publish a new page when an existing one already ranks. Improve the existing page first. A page with some history in Google Search is a better starting point than a blank URL.
Avoid three habits that waste effort. Chasing search volume alone ignores difficulty. Stuffing the phrase into every sentence hurts readability and does not help rankings. Never checking results means you will not learn which updates worked.
Return to Google Search Console a few weeks after each change. Compare impressions, clicks and average position for the same query. If the page moved up, apply the same pattern to the next keyword. If it did not, check whether the content truly matches what searchers want.
FAQ ecommerce keyword research tool
What is the origin of the phrase "low hanging fruit"?
The phrase comes from harvesting. Fruit growing on low branches can be picked without a ladder, so it is collected first and with the least effort. Business and marketing teams adopted the image for any goal that delivers a result quickly for little work. In SEO, it describes keywords or fixes that can improve rankings faster than a long, expensive campaign. The idea is about ease of access, not about low value. Quick wins can still bring meaningful traffic and sales.
What does low competition mean?
Low competition means few strong pages are trying to rank for a search term. The top results may be thin, outdated, or only loosely related to the query, so a well-made page has a real chance to outrank them. It does not mean the keyword has few searches. A term can have low competition and healthy demand at the same time. Always check the actual results page to confirm that the competition is weak.
What are keywords on a website?
Keywords on a website are the words and phrases that describe a page's topic and match what people type into a search engine. They appear naturally in titles, headings, body copy, image descriptions and links. Each page should target one main keyword plus close variants. Keywords tell Google what a page is about, but they work only when the content satisfies the search intent behind them. Repeating a phrase more often does not improve rankings.
Where can I find a low hanging fruit keywords list?
Your best list is already in Google Search Console. Open the Performance report, filter to a single page, and list the queries that earn many impressions but sit below the top results. For terms you do not rank for yet, build a list from product attributes, use cases and customer questions. ecomrank can automate this and score each phrase, which saves time on larger catalogs.
Are low hanging fruit keywords worth targeting for an online store?
Yes, especially for small and mid-sized stores. These keywords let a store win traffic without outspending larger competitors on authority. They tend to be specific, so visitors are often closer to buying. The tradeoff is that each keyword brings a modest amount of traffic on its own. The gain comes from covering many of them across your product and collection pages. No timeline or traffic result can be guaranteed.
How do I know if a keyword is easy enough to target?
Search the phrase and read the first page of results. Weak signs include forum threads, thin pages, outdated posts and results that do not match the query. Strong signs include dedicated, detailed pages from established stores on every position. Also check whether you can match the intent with a page type you can build. A keyword difficulty score helps as a first filter, but the live results are the final check.
