The search volume of any keyword is an important SEO metric. So, ranking a keyword effectively by measuring it in terms of its difficulty is essential. That’s why keyword difficulty is considered an imperative part of SEO evaluation. One of the best digital marketing companies in India can elucidate this aspect to you in detail. Want to know more about keyword difficulty and how it can affect the SEO ranking of any keyword? Today’s guide will familiarize you with each of these facts properly. Let’s dive in!

Keyword Difficulty

The term keyword difficulty is also known as SEO difficulty or keyword competition. It is an important SEO metric that evaluates how difficult is it for a keyword to rank. Many factors affect the difficulty level of a keyword. The quality of your page and the competitor’s pages are some of them. Surprisingly, the keyword difficulty has got two different meanings in the digital world including:

∙ Keyword difficulty as a general term gives off a comprehensive idea. This takes into account both external and internal SEO difficulties.

∙ As a metric, keyword difficulty is estimated from zero to one hundred

To know more about keyword difficulty and its various aspects, continue reading the post below. Alternatively, you can reach out to the best digital marketing agency in India to get a sound understanding of keyword competition.

How to calculate keyword difficulty?

Considering the backlink profile of a website is important while measuring the difficulty of a keyword as a metric. This way you can understand the quality of that site. Subsequently, every website is given a particular score that ranks in the first SERP. Factors like the quality and quantity of the backlinks are taken into consideration while doing so. One must pay attention to some other aspects too while calculating their keyword difficulty metric. These include:

∙ Length of Content

∙ Relevancy

∙ Internal Links and

∙ Domain Rating

Remember that each keyword research tool calculates the Keyword Difficulty (KD) rate differently. However, all of them gauge the SEO difficulty using the same 0-100 scale. Each SEO tool gives different numbers for the same keywords in terms of their difficulty level. So, the degree of difficulty for your keywords will depend on the keyword research tool you’re using. You need to make conclusive decisions accordingly based on those outputs.

When keyword difficulty is a metric

Keyword difficulty generally means the metric that is used in the various SEO tools. The various keyword research tools score each of the keywords in terms of their difficulty level. As already said that this magnitude of keyword difficulty is measured on a scale of 0-100. So, the higher the score, the harder it is for a keyword to rank on Google.

When keyword difficulty is a general term

While calculating the difficulty level of a particular keyword, there are quite a few things that you should consider. These include both internal and external factors like the ones below.

Search Intent

Considering the search intent behind the actual search query is important. In short, search intent means the content that people are looking for who have used some specific keywords. Search intent is furthermore divided into four individual categories including:

∙ Navigational Search Intent

∙ Informational Search Intent

∙ Commercial Search Intent and

∙ Transactional Search Intent

Finding out the search intent behind a certain keyword is quite easy. You simply have to reverse engineer the keyword and take a look at its search results. While doing so check out the type of pages that are ranking for that keyword. Suppose your keyword is ‘’top-quality men’s shoes’’. Subsequently, you get to see only reviews for it in the first SERP of Google. In that case, rest assured that your keyword has a higher difficulty level. As a result, it won’t be able to rank favorably for your eCommerce landing page as well. You can expect the same outcome even if your site has engaging content with a high degree of navigability.

Content Quality

Your site should have good-quality content that can compete with the web pages ranking on the top SERPs. To write flawless content you should focus on the following points:

∙ Benefits you can provide to your readers through your content as compared to your competitors. Measure this aspect in terms of the visuals, unique information, and in-depth knowledge that your viewers can expect.

∙ Your ability to assure quality services to your customers with your content

∙ The level of difficulty you can face while writing content pieces that are much better than your competitors’ pages.

These factors play a key role in deciding the difficulty level for each of the keywords you’ve used in your blogs and articles.

Website Authority

The authority of your website also plays a significant role in determining your ability to rank for a keyword. Considering this factor is even more important if you have a new website. Suppose, you have written an amazing post or guide with a keyword having a relatively lower competition. Despite that, it’s not going to rank favorably with your new site with zero backlinks. This is because your site is not authoritative enough.

Your Potential Competitors

SEO means outperforming your competitors. That’s why looking at the keyword difficulties in your competitors’ sites is the finest way to choose SEO-optimized keywords. While doing so, you should consider things like:

∙ Backlinks

∙ On-page optimization and

∙ Content quality

Amongst them, backlinks are the most crucial factor that decides the ranking difficulty of a keyword. It can be measured and put into a metric effectively. Doing so lets you know the varying degrees of authority your competitors have. Remember the more authoritative their websites are, the tougher it will be for you to beat them.

Keyword difficulty is imperative in SEO!

Measuring keyword difficulty with the correct tools is the only way to build an SEO-optimized website. Read the guide above to get a clear understanding of keyword difficulty and its various aspects. To get assistance from the best digital agency, contact WLDM India right away!