This search engine optimization (SEO) guide answers the question, “what is a good Keyword Difficulty score in SEO?”
Below, you’ll find out the best Keyword Difficulty score to aim for to get easy rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs) as well as a Keyword Difficulty scale that explains what the various KD numbers mean in keyword research tools.
There’s also a section with additional resources that explain more about the fundamentals of Keyword Difficulty to help you create the most effective SEO strategy for improving your website’s rankings in the SERPs.
What Is a Good Keyword Difficulty Score in SEO?
A good Keyword Difficulty score in SEO is 0-29 because keywords with this difficulty score have top-ranking pages in the SERPs with very few backlinks, making them easy keywords to target for search engine optimization.
Keyword Difficulty Scale
Below is a Keyword Difficulty scale showing the various scores along with their SEO competition level and meaning. You can use this scale as a guide for measuring which Keyword Difficulty score is good to target for your website.
| Keyword Difficulty Score | SEO Competition | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0-14 | Very Easy | Keywords are the easiest to rank for without much effort put into the content or any backlinks. |
| 15-29 | Easy | Keywords are relatively easy to rank for with more effort put into the content and no backlinks may be required. |
| 30-49 | Possible | Keywords are possible to rank for if the content is well-optimized, structured, and has a few quality backlinks. |
| 50-69 | Difficult | Keywords are difficult to rank for without a large number of quality backlinks in addition to being well-optimized, structured, and high quality content. |
| 70-84 | Hard | Keywords require a substantial effort to rank for and the content must be the highest quality with a very large number of quality backlinks (e.g., hundreds to thousands of links). |
| 85-100 | Very Hard | Keywords are the absolute hardest to rank for it takes a lot of strategic planning, link building, quality content, and time to achieve results. |
Is a High Keyword Difficulty Score Good or Bad?
A high Keyword Difficulty score is good for the top-ranking websites because the score makes it more difficult for other sites to compete for the same keyword. This means higher Keyword Difficulty scores are also bad for websites with low authority to target.
A low Keyword Difficulty score is ideal for new websites to target for SEO because it’s easier to rank for in the SERPs. Low difficulty keywords are a great opportunity for beginners who are just getting started and want to rank as quickly as possible without needing many (if any) backlinks to the page.
What Factors Indicate Whether a Keyword Difficulty Is Too Low or High?
The Domain Authority (DA) for a website is the top factor for measuring if the Keyword Difficulty score is too low or high to target with SEO. Another important factor is the keyword search volume.
Websites with high DA metrics can typically rank for keywords with a higher Keyword Difficulty. That’s because the domain has enough established trust and popularity through high-quality backlinks. It’s not uncommon for a site with a DA score of 90 to rank within the top 10 positions for a keyword that has a KD score of 50 or more shortly after publishing the content.
As for websites with low DA metrics, they often cannot rank high in the SERPs for keywords that KD scores above 20-30. That’s because the domain doesn’t have enough quality (or quantity) of incoming links which are a key part of Google’s PageRank algorithm that factors into the final ranking positions.
Now, if the number of searches for a specific keyword is relatively low, such as 10 or 20 times a month, then it’s likely not a good option to target for SEO if you want to boost your website’s search engine visibility. On the other hand, a keyword that’s regularly searched online, such as 1,000 or 15,00 times per month, can be beneficial for organic visibility and increasings visitors to your site.
That being said, if the Keyword Difficulty score is low and easy to rank for, then a low search volume may not be a bad option. If you can rank in the top 10 for a low volume keyword very easily based on the strength of your domain (the DA metric), that may be a better alternative than trying to rank for a high volume, high competition keyword, that you probably cannot get to page one on Google for without a ton of quality backlinks.
Learn More About Keyword Difficulty
Check out our list of the Best Keyword Difficulty Checker Tools for SEO to help improve your keyword research and search engine optimization campaigns.
Good Keyword Difficulty Score In SEO Summary
I hope you enjoyed this guide answering the question about what is a Keyword Difficulty score in SEO.
As you discovered, a good Keyword Difficulty score is 0-29 because keywords with this difficulty score have top-ranking pages in the SERPs with very few backlinks, making them easy keywords to target for search engine optimization. However, as your website increases in Domain Authority, the higher the Keyword Difficulty score you can target because the domain has established trust and credibility according to the search engine algorithms.
