What Is Keyword Difficulty? (& How to Measure It)

Carlos Silva

Jul 31, 20238 min read
What Is Keyword Difficulty

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Is Keyword Difficulty? 

Keyword difficulty (or SEO difficulty) is a keyword metric that indicates how difficult it will be to rank highly for the term in Google’s unpaid search results. It’s typically expressed as a percentage, with 100% indicating that the keyword is extremely competitive and it will be very hard to rank on Google’s first page.

Semrush’s keyword difficulty metric is the most accurate on the market. Its complex formula considers a variety of parameters, including the Authority Score of top-ranking URLs, the keyword search volume, and the presence of SERP features.

an example of keyword difficulty metric showing 75% in Keyword Overview tool

In this article we’ll explore:

  • Why keyword difficulty is important to understand
  • What determines how difficult a keyword is
  • How to find any keyword’s keyword difficulty score

And more. 

Tip: Create a free Semrush account (no credit card needed) to follow along. 

Why Is It Important to Understand Keyword Difficulty? 

Understanding keyword difficulty can help you make informed decisions in the content planning and keyword research process of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts—the processes and techniques you use to boost visibility in search results.

If you only target keywords that are too difficult to rank for, you may waste time and resources without seeing any results. 

an example of keyword "best hiking boots" with keyword difficulty "79"

But if you only target keywords that are too easy to rank for, you may miss out on more valuable traffic and conversions. 

an example of list of keyword showing keyword difficulty of "0"

But keyword difficulty (KD%) can help you find the sweet spot between super competitive keywords (that are out of reach) and low-competition keywords (that don’t get any searches).

Like this:

an example of keyword "timberland hiking boots" with keyword difficulty "34"

In other words, KD% helps you pick the right keywords for your site—those that bring a good amount of organic traffic but don’t require too much effort. 

Further reading:

What Determines How Difficult a Keyword Is to Rank for 

Semrush and other platforms all calculate keyword difficulty based on a variety of factors. 

We analyze the search engine results page (SERP) to see who’s ranking in the top 10. 

Then, we look at those URLs to see:

  • SERP-related qualities for the specific keyword
  • The median number of referring domains to those URLs
  • The median ratio of “dofollow”/nofollow links to those URLs
  • The median Authority Score of those URLs

(Authority Score is a proprietary compound metric that grades the overall quality and SEO performance of a website or webpage.)

Other Factors That Affect Your Ranking Potential

There are other ways to understand how difficult it is to rank for a keyword besides studying KD%. 

That includes evaluating:

  • Your competitors
  • Your content’s quality
  • The keyword’s search intent
  • Your backlink profile

Your Competitors

An important factor in determining SEO keyword difficulty is knowing who’s competing for that particular keyword. It’ll help you see whether they have Authority Scores and content you can compete against. 

And that means doing some SEO competitive analysis

To find who you’re competing against for a specific keyword, open Keyword Overview.

Then, enter your keyword and click “Search.”

search for "kitchen mixer" in Keyword Overview tool

Scroll down to the “SERP Analysis” section, and you’ll see who’s ranking in the top 10 results for that keyword. 

“SERP Analysis” section in Keyword Overview tool

Notice you can also see each page’s Authority Score (AS), referring domains, backlinks, and other metrics.

You can also find out who your SEO competitors are using Market Explorer

Open the tool, select “Find Competitors,” enter your domain, and click “Research a market.”

use “Find Competitors” option in Market Explorer tool to find your SEO competitors

Then, scroll down to the “Domain vs Market Dynamics” section and select “Organic Search.” 

“Organic Search” section in Market Explorer

You’ll see your top market competitors in terms of organic search traffic—giving you a better idea of who to watch out for. And you can benchmark your site against overall market trends. 

To study a competitor more in depth, run their domain through Domain Overview

example of competitors’ metrics in Domain Overview showing authority score, organic search traffic, paid search traffic and backlinks

Here you can view their organic search traffic, backlinks, and Authority Score. To see how they’re performing and whether you can realistically compete. 

Further reading:

Your Content’s Quality

Quality content is content that’s relevant, trustworthy, and helpful to your audience. 

And Google’s algorithm is designed to serve this type of content at the top of the SERPs. 

Which means:

Even if you find keywords with the right KD%, you’re only going to rank if you create quality content with them. 

It’s as simple as that. 

A great way to start is to use the SEO Writing Assistant

It’ll scan your text as you write. And provide recommendations regarding readability, keyword usage, tone of voice, and originality. 

SEO Writing Assistant tool

You can work directly on the platform. Or use the Google Docs, WordPress, or Microsoft Word plugins. 

Simply start writing, add your target keywords, and click on “Get recommendations.” 

add your target keywords in SEO Writing Assistant

Pay particular attention to the SEO recommendations. Implementing those changes gives you a greater chance of ranking for your target keyword. 

Further reading:

The Keyword’s Search Intent

Search intent (or keyword intent) is the reason why someone types a query into a search engine.

And satisfying intent is one of the most important factors for ranking higher on Google. 

There are four different types of keyword intent:

  • Informational: The user wants to learn more about a topic
  • Commercial: The user is researching options before making a purchase decision
  • Transactional: The user wants to complete an action (i.e., buy something)
  • Navigational: The user wants to find a specific page

You can easily find a keyword’s search intent with Keyword Overview

Just add the keyword, click “Search,” and you’ll see its intent in the dashboard. 

Keyword Overview tool shows keyword’s search intent

And if you’re doing keyword research with the Keyword Magic Tool, you’ll also see each keyword’s intent.

keyword’s search intent column highlighted in Keyword Magic tool

So, as you create content for your site, make sure it aligns with the intent behind the keywords you’re targeting. 

If you do, it’ll be easier to rank—regardless of the keyword’s difficulty. 

Further reading

Google’s algorithm prioritizes pages with lots of high-quality backlinks. 

Quality backlinks—inbound links that come from authoritative sources—tell search engines that your content shows expertise and is trustworthy. 

Which helps boost your site’s authority.

an image showing two websites with an arrow illustrating backlink between them

What does this have to do with keyword difficulty?

If your top competitors for a keyword all have strong backlink profiles, it’ll be more difficult for you to rank. 

But backlinks can work in your favor, too. 

Because you can create a link building strategy to gain more high-quality backlinks that boost your site’s authority. Which helps your pages rank.

Popular link building strategies include:

  • Email outreach
  • Broken link building
  • Unlinked brand mentions

You can evaluate any website’s authority objectively using Backlink Analytics

Just enter your domain, click “Analyze,” and you’ll see the “Authority Score” widget in the dashboard. 

“Authority Score” widget showing "64" in Backlink Analytics tool

You can also add up to four competitors to see how your authority compares.

in Backlink Analytics, you can add up to four competitors to see how your authority compares

Further reading:

How to Check Keyword Difficulty

You can easily find any keyword’s KD% with a keyword difficulty tool like Keyword Overview

Just type your keyword into the tool, and you’ll see the score in the dashboard. 

an example of keyword difficulty metric showing "74%" in Keyword Overview tool

If you’re conducting keyword research, the Keyword Magic Tool also displays each keyword’s difficulty score in the “KD %” column. 

“KD %” column highlighted in Keyword Magic tool

And this is how the scores break down:

Score

Meaning

0-14: Very easy

These keywords may be good to target if you want to rank with the least amount of effort. But make sure you double-check the search volume before you decide to target them. Because the volume can be quite low.

15-29: Easy

These keywords are still relatively easy targets, even if your domain is new. You’ll need to produce high-quality, relevant content to rank for these. 

30-49: Possible

To rank for these keywords, you’ll need to create content that is high-quality, helpful, useful, structured, and well-optimized. 

50-69: Difficult

In addition to producing quality, well-structured, and optimized content, you’ll also need several high-quality backlinks.

70-84: Hard

If you want to win these keywords, you’ll need to put in a lot of effort. You’ll need more and better quality backlinks to support your content.

85-100: Very hard

These are the absolute hardest keywords to compete for. In addition to focusing on high-quality content and link building, you’ll need to put a lot of time and effort into on-page SEO tactics and content promotion.

And this is what it looks like inside the tool:

"Semrush Keyword Difficulty Scores"

What Is a Good Keyword Difficulty Score?

Keyword ranking difficulty is a relative metric. 

You must know (and understand) your site’s Authority Score. And how you compare to your competitors in terms of organic traffic, backlinks, and referring domains. 

For example, if your site has a high Authority Score, you may win more difficult keywords more easily. 

In that case, it might be worth targeting keywords with high difficulty scores. 

But it will likely be much harder to rank for those keywords if you’re running a new site. 

In this case, it might be wise to avoid the most difficult keywords for now. And instead target easier ones to build up your authority over time. 

But some difficult keywords are also foundational to your business. You might decide it’s worth the extra effort to target them, even if it takes longer to rank. 

So, how do you go about choosing keywords based on their difficulty?

  • Understand that SEO is a long-term game. Even if a keyword seems out of reach right now, that doesn’t mean you should ignore it altogether. You just need to accept that it’ll take time to rank. 
  • Balance easy-to-rank-for keywords with difficult ones. The best strategy is to balance lower-difficulty keywords with those that will take time to earn. Building out topic clusters (groups of content that center around a main topic) is a great way to do this. Target broader terms that have higher difficulty scores with your pillar pages and target terms that have lower scores with your cluster content. 

How Do Long-Tail Keywords Impact Keyword Difficulty? 

Long-tail keywords are highly specific search queries that usually have a lower search volume and lower competition levels (and are often longer). 

And they also tend to have lower keyword difficulty scores. 

an example of long-tail keyword "kitchen aid 3 speed hand mixer" showing "informational and transactional" intent, "50" search volume and "28" keyword difficulty metrics

It can be useful to target these keywords because they:

  • Are easier to rank for
  • Drive highly-targeted traffic
  • Tend to have higher conversion rates

Meaning that long-tail keywords with low KD% scores can be great keywords to target. 

Further reading:

Take It a Step Further 

Now you know what keyword difficulty means. 

So, it’s time for you to apply what you’ve learned to your keyword research and content planning. 

As you analyze which keywords to target, use the “KD %” filter in the Keyword Magic Tool and select the range you want to see. 

“KD %” filter in the Keyword Magic Tool

For example, if you’re starting a new website, you’ll likely only want to see keywords with “Very Easy” and “Easy” KD% scores. 

selecting "Easy" in “KD %” filter in the Keyword Magic Tool

Another way to see useful keywords with relatively low KD% scores is to click on “Questions.” 

“Questions” tab in Keyword Magic tool

This is especially useful if you’re conducting keyword research for your blog and want easy-to-rank-for keywords with informational intent.

example of "questions" keywords in Keyword Magic tool

Try it for yourself!

Create a free Semrush account and run up to 10 keyword searches per day using Keyword Overview or the Keyword Magic Tool. 

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Carlos Silva is a content marketer with over 8 years of experience in writing, content strategy, and SEO. At Semrush, he’s involved in research, editing, and writing for the English blog. He also owns Semrush’s Educational Newsletter (4M+ subscribers).
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