Keyword Difficulty Explained: Find the Best Keywords

What is KD (Keyword Difficulty) Score, and Why Does it Matter?

Keyword Difficulty is a measure that shows how hard it will take to rank a page organically in Google’s top 10 results for a particular keyword. KD% can be used to plan your SEO campaigns and establish priorities.

How to Calculate Keyword Density (The Classic Way)?

Take the keywords used on your page and divide them by the total. This is multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. In this instance, it’s 1%.

Why Is Keyword Difficulty Important to Understand?

Why is Keyword Difficulty Important? Is it an essential part of keyword research? Keyword difficulty is another factor that helps you select the most relevant keywords for SEO. Each tool measures keyword difficulty in a different way.

KDS Below 30% – Low Difficulty Keywords

KDS below 30% – Low Difficulty Keywords

This is what niche companies do. They search for relevant keywords for their business and then target those. These keywords are very niche, so the competition is low on the SERP.

Ahrefs’ Keyword Difficulty metric

Keyword Difficulty is a measure used by SEO tool providers to estimate how difficult it would be to rank for a specific search query. Ahrefs calculates KD by analyzing search results for a keyword and looking at the number of referring domains that the top 10 ranking pages have.

Why Should Marketers Care About Keyword Difficulty?

Marketers must consider keyword difficulty when trying to rank for the most relevant keywords. This metric tells marketers how hard it may take to rank at the top of the SERPs. It is crucial to have the right keywords for search engine optimization.

KDS Above 70% – High Difficulty Keywords

KDS above 70% – High Difficulty Keywords

These keywords are challenging and have high competition. These keywords are difficult to target, so you must invest time in SEO and link-building.

person holding pencil near laptop computer

How does the Strength of Competitors Factor into Keyword difficulty scores?

The keyword difficulty score is determined by many factors, such as how many websites are currently targeting the same Keyword, how fierce the competition is, the authority of your website, and the authority of the keywords being ranked.

How Do Long Tail Keywords Impact Keyword Difficulty?

Because fewer websites compete for high rankings on the Google result pages, it’s easier to rank long-tail keywords. It is easier to rank for long-tail keywords if they are more specific.

What does KD Keyword Density Mean?

Keyword Density (KD) is often used in contexts related to keyword stuffing. However, that should not always be the reference point. Keyword density is the number of times a keyword appears within a piece.

How does Search Volume affect Keyword Difficulty?

A keyword research tool can help you find the strong inverse relationship between keyword difficulty and search volume. For example, a high-volume keyword has a low difficulty level but a high search volume. It is possible to have an organic keyword that is highly valuable for your business and bid on it using PPC.

Should Keyword Difficulty affect your Keyword Research?

It’s an essential part of keyword research. Keyword difficulty is another factor that helps you select the most relevant keywords for SEO. It’s difficult to determine if a keyword should be your primary focus.

Does Domain Authority affect keyword difficulty scores?

Keyword Difficulty, also known as “SEO difficulty” and “keyword competition,” determines how difficult it is for a keyword to rank high in Google’s organic search results. The Difficulty of a keyword is determined by several factors, such as domain authority, page authority, and content quality.

Do Search engines care about Keyword Difficulty?

Sites want to rank high-volume keywords that have intents that are compatible with their business goals. Keyword difficulty is a crucial differentiator. Keyword difficulty can be used to identify high-volume keywords with high intent that are easier to rank than others.

Do all Keyword Research Tools include a Keyword difficulty checker?

Almost every keyword research tool has a keyword difficulty score. These tools all use the same 0-100 scale, but each calculates it differently. That is why it is crucial to understand how exactly the ranking Difficulty is calculated by your SEO tool of choice.

The keyword research process for competitive keywords & Search Intent:

  1. Step 1. Make a list based on your knowledge about your business.

    This process begins by identifying the topics you want to rank for using generic buckets. You will develop 5-10 topic categories that you consider essential for your business. Later, you’ll use these topic buckets to help you formulate specific keywords.
  2. Step 2 – Fill in the topic buckets using keywords.

    Once you’ve identified a few topics you want to concentrate on, you can start to find keywords that fit into these buckets. These phrases are keywords you believe are essential to rank in the SERPs (search engine results pages). This is because your target customer will likely be searching for these terms.
  3. Step 3 – Understand how intent affects keyword research and analyze accordingly.

    As I mentioned in the previous section, user intention is now a critical factor in your ability to rank well on search engines such as Google. Your website must address the problem a searcher intends to solve rather than just carrying the Keyword searched. How does this impact the keyword research that you do?

    Keywords can be easy to take as accurate mistakenly. However, they can also have multiple meanings below the surface. You need to pay attention to how keywords are interpreted because it is crucial to your search intent.
  4. Step 4 – Search for related terms.

    You might have thought of this inventive step while doing keyword research. It’s an excellent way for you to complete those lists.

    If you are having trouble thinking of keywords that people might search for on a particular topic, you can look at the related terms when you type a keyword into Google. You’ll see suggestions for searches related to what you have ordered. Scroll down to the bottom of Google’s search results and find your Keyword. These keywords may spark ideas for keywords that you might want to consider.
  5. Step 5 – Use keyword research tools to your advantage

    Keyword research and SEO tools can help you generate more keyword ideas based on an exact match or phrase match keywords. Some of the most well-known ones are Ahrefs and, SEMrush, Ubersuggest.

How is Keyword Difficulty Calculated?

SEO keyword difficulty is primarily. This refers to the quality and number of backlinks that lead to a keyword’s top ten pages of the Search Engine Results Page, and it also measures how competitive these pages are based on their strong backlinks. To find target keywords, the keyword difficulty score is used.