How to Measure Keyword Difficulty and Why it Matters for SEO

Keyword difficulty is a metric that helps SEO professionals and website owners determine the level of competition for a particular keyword or phrase. It is an important metric to consider when planning and executing an SEO strategy, as it can greatly impact the likelihood of a website ranking for that keyword.

In this article, we will discuss how to measure keyword difficulty and why it matters for SEO.

Understanding the level of competition for a particular keyword can help determine the feasibility of ranking for that keyword. If the competition is high, it may be more difficult and time-consuming to rank for that keyword, whereas if the competition is low, it may be easier to rank. Additionally, keyword difficulty can also impact the resources required to rank for a keyword, such as content creation and link building.

A. Keyword Difficulty Factors

There is no ‘official’ keyword difficulty score or ranking. However, it can be inferred from a set of various quantifiable metrics in order to inform your content marketing strategy. Three of the major factors that determine keyword difficulty are examined below.

1. Keyword Search Volume

One of the first things to consider when measuring difficulty is the search volume of the keyword. This indicates how many searches are recorded for that keyword within a period of time: daily, monthly, etc. This metric is important for measuring how much interest a keyword attracts, but it also means increased competition to rank for the keyword, which raises the difficulty level.

To determine the number of searches a keyword attracts, you can use a keyword research tool for straightforward information. For instance, with Eye10 Keyword Planner, all you need to do is enter a keyword and your website domain; it presents reports of similar keywords that you can rank for, as well as their monthly search volumes.

From the illustration below, it is clear that “content marketing” has a higher search volume than the other keywords such as “content strategy” and “branding content” and thus has a higher level of difficulty.

With this information, you can tweak your content marketing and keyword optimization strategy towards the kind of keywords you want and that you are likely to rank for.

2. Competitor Performance

Another important factor to consider when measuring keyword difficulty is the quality of the websites that are currently ranking for that keyword. One of the most popular metrics used to determine this is the domain rating or the domain authority of the website.

The domain rating is a score calculated using a proprietary algorithm that takes into account various factors such as the number of backlinks, the quality of those links, and the overall strength of the website’s backlink profile.

It determines the likelihood of a website ranking on search engines, with higher scores (full scale is from 0-100) indicating greater authority. But essentially, the higher the domain rating of a website, the more difficult it will be to outrank it.

To check this using an SEO tool like Eye10, you must first determine the leading websites in your niche and identify their performance for the relevant keywords. This can be achieved using the Eye10 Industry Checker, which, upon entering a domain and five keywords, provides information on five top websites in that industry. The results look like the following:

For each of the websites, you can compare the domain rating, the number of referring domains, and the estimated traffic with the data for your own website. This helps you to know what you are up against and how difficult it would be to upend them in Google Search results pages.

Domain rating is important because search engines view referring domains (commonly called backlinks) as a vote of confidence for a website, so the more high-quality backlinks a website has, the more likely it is to be considered an authoritative and trustworthy source of information.

3. Search Engine Rank

A third major metric that is used to determine keyword difficulty is the search engine rank, which refers to the position that a website appears on a search engine results page (SERP) in relation to the search query. Determining which websites sit at the top of the rankings for keywords you want to rank for helps you prepare better for your content strategy.

For instance, a keyword gap analysis using the Eye10 Industry Checker shows you how your competitors rank for certain keywords.

From the screenshot below, Investopedia.com, which is selected from five other domains, ranks in the top three for keywords relating to entrepreneurship. As a high authority website, this shows that ranking for the same keywords would be more difficult than ranking for another set of keywords that don’t have such tough competition.

B. Levels of Keyword Difficulty: Low, Mid-, and High

Now that you have determined the level of difficulty to rank for a keyword, how exactly do you use this information in your content strategy? That is the question this section seeks to answer.

• Low-difficulty keywords have lower competition and search volume, making them easier to rank for and ideal for small businesses or new websites. They can also be used to test the waters and understand how search engines and users respond to content, helping to identify which topics resonate with the audience.

• On the other hand, high-difficulty keywords have more competition but can be beneficial for established websites looking to maintain their online visibility and brand authority in their industry. Targeting these keywords successfully signals to users that the site is a reliable source of information and brings similarly high returns.

• It’s also worth mentioning that there are some keywords that can be considered mid-difficulty keywords, which may have moderate search volume and competition. These keywords can provide a good strategy for websites that have already established some presence in the search engines but want to increase their online visibility to a point of stable traffic generation.

The most important lesson here is that targeting a mix of low, mid-, and high-difficulty keywords can help you create a well-rounded SEO strategy. This can help you achieve different goals, such as building a foundation, driving more traffic, and establishing your brand as an authority in your industry.

After all, SEO is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and attention. As your website grows and evolves, so should your keyword strategy. You should regularly review your keyword strategy and make adjustments as needed.

Conclusion

Understanding keyword difficulty can help website owners and marketers make informed decisions about which keywords to target and how to optimize their websites for those keywords. Additionally, targeting low, medium, or high-difficulty keywords can help website owners to achieve different objectives.

With Eye10 Keyword Planner and Industry Checker, you can identify viable keyword ranking opportunities and enhance your SEO strategy for better visibility and ranking. Register now to take advantage of these and more SEO tools from Eye10.