The Keyword Golden Ratio is a method for finding low competition keywords that should be relatively easy to rank for. If the ratio is less than 0.25 for a keyword it should be a good search term to target.
KGR is a quick calculation that can be used as a keyword difficulty score. KGR will help you quickly find long tail keywords that any site should be able to rank for.
Doug Cunnington of Niche Site Project is often credited with coming up with the KGR phrase. He recommends sticking to keywords that have a monthly search volume that is less than 250.
I disagree with Doug on the less than 250 aspect of it. It may narrow down your search and save time, but it can also keep you from finding some real gems that are hiding amidst high volume keywords.
I've been lucky enough to find keywords with over 10K monthly searches that had a KGR value of less than 0.25. Automating the process of calculating the KGR value is what allows me to find the hidden gems like that.
The Keyword Golden Ratio is simple, its the number of allintitle: search results divided by the monthly search volume. Anything with a KGR value less than 0.25 is a winner.
# of Allintitle Results ÷ Search Volume = KGR
Allintitle: is a Google advanced search operator that will limit the results to only webpages that have your search term inside of their title. All of the phrase needs to be in the title of the page, however it does not need to be in the exact order.
Monthly Search Volume is a parameter that is used by webmasters and SEO's to quantify how many times a specific keyword phrase or search term is searched for within Google each month, on average.
A search term is the exact phrase a user enters to perform a search on a search engine such as Google.
Here is a link to our free KGR calculator. We have also automated some of the KGR process and are providing it as part of our long tail keywords research service. If you would be interested in the software itself please let us know, along with any reccomendations or requirements.
We'd like to hear if there is interest in it and exactly which features would be most useful in speeding up this process and helping you quickly uncover more KGR Keywords.
The Keyword Golden Ratio can work for any website, especially new websites that don't have as much trust from search engines yet. Two aspects to keep in mind are search intent and over-optimization. Putting the exact phrase on your page multiple times when none of the results in the SERPs even have it once, will sometimes guarantee you won't rank. Keep it natural but relevant and you should be ok. Use the currently ranking competitors as your guide.
Beginners can benefit from the keyword golden ratio the most. This is a good way to find low competition keywords that will be easier to rank your website for in its early stages. Its a great way to start getting traffic and get a young website out of Google's "sandbox." Nearly any website has a chance at ranking for low competition keywords like these. You should obviously have the following standard practices in place as well though.
