Keyword difficulty

DefinitionKeyword difficulty is an estimated score, usually 0 to 100, of how hard it would be to rank in the top results for a keyword.

It is a third-party estimate, not a Google metric, and every tool calculates it differently, mostly from the strength of the pages that already rank. Use it to compare keywords within one tool, not as an absolute truth.

Learn it step by step

• Keyword research (Keyword, SERP and backlink research)

Related terms

• Search volume: Search volume is the estimated average number of times a keyword is searched per month, usually for one country and language.
• SERP (search engine results page): A SERP is the page a search engine shows for a query: organic results plus features such as AI Overviews, ads, maps, videos and "People also ask".
• Backlink: A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat relevant links from trusted sites as a sign of authority.