What Does Keyword Difficulty Mean?

For those who are beginning to venture into the world of SEO, one of the key phrases that might come up in conversation is keyword difficulty so, let's dive right in and explore what this means!

Background on SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing a website or page in order to improve its visibility in search engine results pages. By increasing its visibility, more organic, or non-paid, traffic can be accessed. As search engines have become more sophisticated and complex, the criteria used to rank pages have evolved, making SEO even more important. A key part of SEO is finding relevant keywords within a website, as these will directly impact its rankings. SEO professionals use tools such as Google Adwords Keyword Planner, KWFinder, and Ubersuggest to help them find relevant keywords.

What is Keyword Difficulty?

Keyword difficulty is a metric used to evaluate the challenge of ranking for a given keyword phrase. It takes into account various criteria such as the number of backlinks that the page will need to rank for the keyword, as well as the amount of content that the page will need. In simple terms, the keyword difficulty score can be interpreted as how difficult it will be for a page to appear in the first page of search results for a given keyword.

Important Factors of Keyword Difficulty

When assessing the keyword difficulty of a given phrase, there are certain criteria that need to be considered. These include:

Backlinks

The number of backlinks or inbound links that point to a website from another domain is a key factor of keyword difficulty. Generally speaking, the more backlinks a page has, the more likely it is to rank for a given phrase. However, it is important to ensure that the backlinks are relevant and of high quality, as link spam can be penalised by search engines.

Domain Authority

Domain authority is another key factor. This metric is based on the age, popularity, and size of a website, as well as the number of quality links pointing to it from other websites. Generally speaking, the higher the domain authority, the easier it is to rank for a given keyword.

Content Relevance

The relevance of content to the keyword is also taken into consideration. If the content does not contain the keyword or is unrelated to the topic, then the page is unlikely to rank for the keyword even if other SEO criteria are met. Any content should be of high-quality, relevant, and should contain the keyword.

Applications of Keyword Difficulty

One of the main applications of keyword difficulty is to assess the chance of ranking for a given keyword phrase. SEO professionals often use keyword difficulty to decide which keywords to target, as those with higher keyword difficulty may not be worth the effort to rank. This metric can also help to decide how much content is needed for a page to rank for a keyword phrase, as well as the number of backlinks that will be required.

Potential Challenges

One of the main potential challenges of keyword difficulty is that it is not an exact science. Search engines use hundreds of criteria to rank pages, and calculating keyword difficulty is not easy. Additionally, the algorithm used to calculate keyword difficulty will differ from one tool to another, so it is important to use tools from reliable sources. Other potential challenges include the amount of time needed to assess keyword difficulty, as well as the expertise needed to interpret the results.

Final Word

Understanding keyword difficulty and its associated metrics is key for any budding SEO professional. It can be a laborious and time-consuming process, but by understanding the key criteria and their respective impacts, SEO practitioners can optimize their keyword research process and, ultimately, their rankings!