Striking distance keywords: the position 11-20 terms that score fast

Striking distance keywords are the search terms your website already ranks for in position 11 to 20, so just outside the first page of Google. The short answer to why they matter: you are already there, you have already covered the hardest ground, and a relatively small push can move them onto page 1 where nearly all the click volume sits. In this article you will read how to find these quick wins in Search Console and how to turn them into extra enquiries.

It belongs in the bigger picture of what SEO is: you invest your time where the leverage is greatest, not where the work makes the biggest impression in a report.

Why position 11 to 20 is the smartest place to start

The distribution of clicks across the search results is brutal. The overwhelming majority of clicks go to the first page, and within that page to the top positions. If you sit in position 12, hundreds or thousands of people can see your term in their search without anyone clicking, simply because they never open the second page.

That is exactly what makes striking distance keywords so appealing. For a term where you rank in position 40, you still have to build a huge amount of authority and relevance. For a term in position 13, you have already given Google the signal that your page is relevant. The difference between position 13 and position 8 is often not a matter of months of content work, but of a sharper title, a better match with search intent and a few internal links.

The beauty: this method works on pages you already have. You build on existing work instead of starting from scratch. That makes it the ideal first move when you want to show results quickly without launching a big new content project.

How do you find striking distance keywords in Search Console?

The best tool for this is free and you probably already have it: Google Search Console. It shows you exactly which search terms your site appears for and on what average position. Work through these steps.

1. Open the Performance report in Search Console and turn on the Average position and Impressions metrics.
2. Go to the Queries tab and filter for an average position greater than 10 and smaller than 21. That is your striking distance zone.
3. Sort by impressions. Terms with many impressions but no clicks are the clearest candidates: there is demand, you appear, but you fail to catch the click.
4. Export the list and match each term to the page that ranks for it. One page often ranks for a cluster of related terms at once.

An important caveat about volume: a term that shows zero or little search volume in keyword tools can still have real impressions in your own Search Console. Do not ignore it. Especially for local and long-tail B2B search terms, the real demand is often higher than tools reveal. The data in your own Search Console weighs more than an estimate from an external tool.

Which keywords do you tackle first?

Not every term in position 11 to 20 is worth your time. We prioritise on one question: does this searcher bring you closer to a customer? A popular informational term that happens to have many impressions can deliver plenty of traffic that never becomes an enquiry. A less searched term with clear buying intent, one that touches exactly your service, delivers pipeline.

So weigh three things at the same time:

• Commercial intent. Is someone searching for a supplier, a price or a solution, or for a definition? Terms with buying or consideration intent get priority.
• Relevance to your offering. Does the term connect to a service you genuinely want to sell? If not, a high position is mostly a vanity number.
• Feasibility. If you sit in position 12, the jump is small. If you are in 19, it takes more. Start with the terms closest to page 1.

This trade-off is exactly why SEO with us is not a standalone discipline but the acquisition layer of one single growth engine. We optimise for enquiries and revenue, not for positions that look good in a dashboard. If you want an experienced SEO specialist to do this prioritisation for you and tie it to your commercial goals, we are here to help.

The interventions that push position 11 to 20 onto page 1

Once you have your priority list, it all comes down to targeted improvements on existing pages. The most effective interventions, in order of effort.

Sharpen your title and meta description. If your target term is absent or weak in the title and meta description, you leave relevance and clicks on the table. Weave the term in naturally and make the title attractive enough to win the click from whoever sits above you. Sometimes a higher click-through rate alone improves your position.

Cover search intent more fully. Look at what the pages in positions 1 to 5 address that you miss. Often you rank just outside the top 10 because you fail to answer a sub-question. Add that section, update an outdated passage, answer the related questions. This is classic on-page SEO: making the page match what the searcher really wants.

Add internal links. Link from relevant, strong pages to the page that sits just outside the top 10, with a natural anchor text. Internal links distribute authority and give Google a clear signal about the importance of the page. This is one of the fastest and cheapest levers you have.

Improve readability and structure. Clear headings, short paragraphs and a logical build-up help both the visitor and search engines. A page that is easy to scan holds people longer and performs better.

Make it a recurring rhythm

Striking distance keywords are not a one-off clean-up. Positions shift constantly: a term that was in 25 last month can sit in 14 this month and suddenly be a candidate. That is why it works best as a fixed rhythm. Once a month, go through your Search Console, flag the new entrants in the 11 to 20 zone and tackle the most valuable ones.

That way you build a calm, compounding stream of quick wins that each look small on their own, but together steadily lift your organic visibility and your SEO return. It is low-hanging fruit, but fruit that keeps growing back if you harvest it systematically.

Do you want us to run this striking distance analysis on your site and tie it to concrete enquiries rather than isolated rankings? Get in touch and we will look together at where your fastest win lies.