Striking Distance Keywords: Finding Pages Ranking 4–20
"Striking distance" keywords are queries where a page already ranks just below the clicks — usually positions 4 to 20. They are the cheapest traffic you can win: Google already considers the page relevant, it just isn't high enough to be clicked.
Why positions 4–20 are where the money is
Clicks fall off sharply after the first few results. A page moving from position 12 to position 4 can multiply its clicks several times without any new content — see the CTR curve by position. Pages on page five, by contrast, usually need far more work for the same gain.
How to find them in Search Console
- Open Performance → Search results, last 3 months, and enable Average position.
- Switch to the Queries tab and filter Position: greater than 3, then less than 21.
- Sort by Impressions. Queries with high impressions and few clicks are your candidates.
- Switch to the Pages tab with the same filter to see which URLs they belong to.
What to do with each candidate
| Situation | First action |
|---|---|
| Query is not in the title | Rewrite the title so the query appears near the start, in the words people search |
| Page answers the query only partly | Add the missing section or FAQ for that wording |
| Few internal links point to the page | Link to it from related pages that already get traffic |
| On-page is fine, still stuck | The page needs a few external links — see pages in positions 4–20 |
Doing it at scale
For a site with hundreds of pages, the manual filter gets tedious. SEO Radar reads Search Console automatically, lists the pages ranking 4–20, estimates the extra clicks for each and, with Google Analytics connected, the conversions or revenue those clicks are likely to bring.