Striking-Distance Keywords: Your Easiest SEO Wins
Somewhere in your Google Search Console data, there are keywords where your pages rank on positions 11 through 20. You are on page 2 of Google. Close enough that Google clearly thinks your content is relevant, but not quite close enough for most searchers to find you.
These are striking-distance keywords, and they represent the easiest SEO wins you have. Moving a page from position 15 to position 8 is far easier than getting a brand new page to rank at all. The foundation is already there — you just need to strengthen it.
Here is how to find your striking-distance keywords and what to do with them.
Quick Navigation
- What Are Striking-Distance Keywords?
- Why They Are Your Easiest Wins
- How to Find Them in Google Search Console
- How to Find Them with Brass-SEO
- Five Tactics to Push Them to Page 1
- How to Prioritize Which Keywords to Target First
- How to Track Your Progress
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Striking-Distance Keywords?
Striking-distance keywords are search terms where your pages already rank in positions 8 through 20. Some SEO professionals define the range as 11 to 20 (page 2), while others include positions 8 to 10 (bottom of page 1). Either way, the concept is the same: these are keywords where you are close to getting meaningful search traffic but are not there yet.
The difference between position 11 and position 5 is enormous in terms of clicks. Research consistently shows that the majority of clicks go to the top few results on page 1, and very few searchers ever scroll to page 2.
| Position Range | Typical Click Share |
|---|---|
| Position 1 | Highest click-through rate |
| Positions 2-3 | Strong traffic |
| Positions 4-7 | Moderate traffic |
| Positions 8-10 | Lower but meaningful |
| Positions 11-20 | Near zero for most queries |
Your pages in positions 11 to 20 are getting impressions — Google shows them in search results — but almost nobody clicks. Some of those impressions may also come from queries where Google shows an AI Overview or other zero-click feature, making the click opportunity even narrower. Moving them up even a few positions can unlock real traffic.
Why They Are Your Easiest Wins
Getting a page to rank in the top 20 is the hard part. Google has already evaluated your content and decided it is relevant enough to show on page 2. You have passed the biggest hurdle.
Moving from page 2 to page 1 usually requires incremental improvements, not a complete overhaul:
- A better title tag (more compelling, better keyword placement)
- More thorough content (answering the question more completely)
- Better internal linking (signals to Google that the page matters)
- Updated information (freshness signal)
Compare that to trying to rank for a brand new keyword: you need to create content, wait for it to be crawled and indexed, build relevance, and hope Google decides you deserve a spot. With striking-distance keywords, you already have a spot. You just need to earn a better one.
This is also one of the SEO quick wins any business can make because the effort-to-reward ratio is excellent.
How to Find Them in Google Search Console
GSC gives you the data you need for free.
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console and select your property.
Step 2: Click Performance > Search Results.
Step 3: Click the "Average position" checkbox to add position data to the table.
Step 4: Click the Queries tab to see individual keywords.
Step 5: Click the filter icon and add a filter: Position is greater than 7 and less than 21.
This gives you every keyword where your site ranks in the striking-distance range. Sort by impressions (highest first) to prioritize keywords with the most search demand.
Step 6: For each keyword, click it to see which page ranks. Then click the "Pages" tab. This tells you exactly which URL appears for that search term.
For more on reading your GSC data effectively, see the Google Search Console guide for small businesses.
How to Find Them with Brass-SEO
If navigating GSC filters feels tedious, you can ask Brass-SEO directly:
- "What keywords am I ranking for on page 2?"
- "Show me my striking-distance keywords"
- "Which keywords have high impressions but rank between 11 and 20?"
Brass-SEO pulls your GSC data and cross-references it with your GA4 traffic data to show you not just where you rank, but how those pages perform when people do visit. A striking-distance keyword that leads to a page with high engagement is a better target than one with a high bounce rate.
See the first analysis guide for more examples of the kinds of questions you can ask.
Five Tactics to Push Them to Page 1
Once you have identified your striking-distance keywords, here are specific actions that can push them up.
1. Improve the Title Tag
Your title tag is the first thing both Google and searchers evaluate. If your striking-distance page has a generic title, rewriting it can improve both relevance (for Google) and click-through rate (for searchers).
Before: "Our Services | Company Name"
After: "Professional Plumbing Repair in Austin | Company Name"
A more specific, keyword-rich title tells Google exactly what the page is about and gives searchers a reason to click.
2. Expand the Content
Pages ranking on page 2 often have thinner content than pages ranking on page 1. Compare your page to the top-ranking pages for the same query:
- Do they cover subtopics you missed?
- Do they answer follow-up questions you did not address?
- Do they include helpful tables, examples, or steps?
You do not need to make your page the longest. You need to make it the most useful for the search intent behind the keyword.
3. Add Internal Links
Internal links are the most underused SEO tactic for small businesses. Find 3 to 5 other pages on your site that are relevant to the striking-distance page and add links to it. This tells Google the page is important and helps distribute authority across your site.
Look for:
- Blog posts that mention the topic
- Service pages related to the content
- Your homepage or FAQ page if the topic is central to your business
4. Update with Fresh Information
Google favors content that is current, especially for topics that change over time. If your striking-distance page references old data, outdated tools, or last year's best practices, update it.
Even adding a sentence like "Updated for 2026" in the content (if you genuinely update the page) signals freshness to Google.
5. Check Technical Issues
Sometimes a page is held back by technical problems rather than content issues. Quick things to check:
- Is the page indexed? Verify in GSC or use Brass-SEO's indexing check
- Is it mobile-friendly? Most searches happen on phones
- Does it load quickly? Slow pages can rank lower
- Does it have a meta description? Missing descriptions hurt CTR
How to Prioritize Which Keywords to Target First
Not all striking-distance keywords are equally valuable. Prioritize based on:
1. Impressions — Keywords with more impressions have more search demand. A keyword getting 500 impressions per month at position 14 is worth more than one getting 20 impressions at position 12.
2. Business relevance — A keyword that leads to a service page or product page is more valuable than one leading to a general blog post. Focus on keywords connected to revenue.
3. Current position — A keyword at position 11 needs less work than one at position 20. Start with the lowest-hanging fruit.
4. Competition — Look at what currently ranks on page 1 for the keyword. If the top results are major brands or extremely authoritative sites, moving up may be harder.
Here is a simple scoring approach:
| Factor | Weight | Check |
|---|---|---|
| High impressions (100+/month) | High | GSC Performance report |
| Commercial intent page | High | Is it a service or product page? |
| Position 8-13 | High | Very close to useful positions |
| Position 14-20 | Medium | More effort required |
| Low-authority competitors | Medium | Manual check of page 1 results |
If you want Brass-SEO to find your best keyword opportunities, it can sort your striking-distance keywords by potential impact so you know exactly where to start.
How to Track Your Progress
After making improvements, track the results over the following 4 to 8 weeks.
In GSC: Check the position and clicks for each keyword you targeted. Compare the period before your changes to the period after.
What to look for:
- Position moved from 11-20 to top 10 → success
- Position improved but still on page 2 → progress, consider additional improvements
- Position unchanged → the changes may not have been enough, or the keyword is too competitive
In GA4: Check if the pages are receiving more organic traffic. Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, filter by Organic Search, and compare the pages you optimized. See how to tell if your SEO is working for more on measuring results.
Striking-distance keyword work is a repeating process. New keywords enter the range as your site grows, and existing ones either move up or drop back. Check your striking-distance list monthly and keep pushing the most promising ones forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many striking-distance keywords should I work on at once?
Start with 3 to 5 keywords per month. Each one requires reviewing the page, making improvements, and monitoring the results. Trying to optimize 20 pages at once usually means none of them get enough attention. Pick the ones with the highest impressions and most business value, improve them thoroughly, and move on to the next batch.
How long does it take for changes to affect rankings?
Typically 2 to 8 weeks. Google needs to re-crawl the page, re-evaluate the content, and adjust its rankings. Title tag changes tend to be reflected faster because Google can update them without fully re-processing the content. Content expansions may take longer because Google needs to re-assess the page's depth and relevance.
What if my page ranks for a keyword I did not target?
This happens frequently. Google matches pages to queries based on content relevance, not just intentional targeting. If you rank at position 15 for a keyword you never specifically targeted, it means your page is accidentally relevant. Deliberately optimizing for that keyword (mentioning it in the title, adding a section about it) can move you up significantly because Google already sees a match.
Should I create a new page or improve an existing one?
Almost always improve the existing page. Google has already evaluated it and decided it is relevant for that keyword. Creating a new page for the same topic can cause keyword cannibalization, where two of your pages compete against each other. The exception is if the current page is about a completely different topic and only accidentally ranks — in that case, a dedicated new page might make sense.
Do backlinks matter for striking-distance keywords?
They can help, but they are usually not the deciding factor at this range. Pages ranking 11 to 20 typically have similar backlink profiles to pages ranking 6 to 10. The differences that push a page from page 2 to page 1 are usually content quality, title relevance, user engagement, and internal linking. Focus on improving the page itself before pursuing backlinks.