Striking distance keywords: the fastest wins hiding in your Search Console
Queries ranking in positions 5 to 20 already have Google's approval. Here is how to find them, judge them, and push them onto page one.
A striking distance keyword is a query where you already rank somewhere between position 5 and 20. Google has decided your page is relevant. It has just not decided you are the best answer yet. That gap is the cheapest traffic you will ever buy.
Why positions 5 to 20 matter so much
Click-through rate does not decline smoothly down the results page — it falls off a cliff. Moving from position 12 to position 8 barely helps. Moving from position 8 to position 3 can multiply clicks several times over. So the goal is never 'rank higher'. It is 'cross onto the visible part of page one for a query that has real demand'.
How to find them
- 1Open the performance report, last 28 days, Queries tab.
- 2Enable the Position and Impressions columns.
- 3Filter position greater than 4 and less than 21.
- 4Sort by impressions, descending.
- 5Ignore anything under about 50 impressions a month — there is not enough demand to bother.
How to judge which one to work on
- Demand: high impressions mean real people are searching this.
- Intent match: would someone searching this actually want what you sell? A high-volume query you cannot serve is a distraction.
- Distance: position 6 to 10 is a short push. Position 18 usually needs a new, dedicated page.
- Page fit: is the ranking URL the page you would want to rank? If not, you have a targeting problem, not a ranking problem.
Four moves that actually shift position
- 1Put the exact query in the H1 and the opening paragraph, phrased the way a human would say it.
- 2Answer the question in the first hundred words. Google increasingly rewards the page that answers fastest.
- 3Add the sub-questions the top three results cover and you do not. Search the term and read them.
- 4Add two or three internal links to the page from related content, using the query as anchor text.
How long it takes
Expect two to six weeks before the position settles. Do not judge a change after three days, and do not stack five changes at once — you will never know which one worked. One page, one clear improvement, then measure the next month.
You do not need new keywords. You need to finish the ones you already half-rank for.
This is the first thing WiseSEO looks for every week: the single striking-distance query with the largest realistic click upside, and what to change on the page that owns it.