Keywords are the words and phrases people type into Google when they’re looking for something. Choosing the right ones helps the right people find your business. But not all keywords are equal. Some are like crowded highways, packed with big competitors. Others are quieter back roads, where it’s much easier to get noticed.
Keyword difficulty is a way to measure how hard it will be to show up near the top of search results for a particular phrase. Here’s how to check it and choose keywords your website can actually rank for.
Understanding keyword difficulty
A broad phrase like “car insurance” is a crowded highway. Huge national companies spend fortunes competing for it. A specific phrase like “vintage car insurance in Vermont” is a back road. Fewer people search for it, but the ones who do know exactly what they want, and there’s far less competition.
The same goes for local businesses. Ranking for “plumber” is nearly impossible, but “emergency plumber in Boise” is a realistic goal. Longer, more specific phrases are usually easier to win, and they often bring in better customers.
Start with free tools
- Google Search Console shows the searches your website already appears for, which is a great place to find opportunities.
- Google’s autocomplete and “People also ask” box show how real people phrase their searches. Start typing a phrase into Google and see what it suggests.
- Google Keyword Planner gives rough estimates of how many people search for a phrase each month.
Paid SEO tools
Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz Pro give each keyword a difficulty score. They’re a helpful starting point, but each tool calculates its score differently, so don’t be surprised if they disagree. Treat the scores as estimates, not facts.
If you’d rather not pay, the free MozBar browser extension shows two helpful numbers for the sites in your search results. Page authority (PA) estimates how strong a single page is, and domain authority (DA) estimates the strength of the whole website. These are Moz’s own estimates, not scores Google uses, but lower numbers can point to openings where your site has a better chance.
Look at who’s already ranking
One of the best tests doesn’t need any tools at all. Search for the phrase and look at the top results. If they’re all big national brands, it’s a tough keyword. If you see small local businesses, directory listings or forum posts, that’s a sign you could compete.
Links from other websites are another clue. Moz’s free Link Explorer shows how many different websites link to a competitor. The more sites that link to them, the harder they’ll be to pass.
A simple keyword process
- List what your customers search for. Think about the words they use, not your industry terms.
- Check the free tools. Look for related phrases and rough search volumes.
- Look at who’s ranking. Search each phrase and size up the competition.
- Pick a mix. Choose mostly specific, easier phrases, plus a few bigger goals to work toward.
- Give each one its own page or post. A focused page has a much better chance of ranking than one that tries to cover everything.
Need help with keywords?
Choosing keywords is just one part of a good SEO plan. (Here’s more on the essentials of SEO, and how to write content people can easily scan.) If you’d like help finding the right keywords and building pages around them, our SEO services can point you in the right direction.
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