{"id":4796,"date":"2018-04-02T07:05:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T14:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canirank.com\/blog\/?p=4796"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:49:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T18:49:43","slug":"keyword-difficulty-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canirank.com\/blog\/keyword-difficulty-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"What Most People Get Wrong About Keyword Difficulty"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend of mine– who we\u2019ll call David to avoid any embarrassment– recently came to me with a classic story of SEO woe. David is a small business owner who\u2019s struggling to rank in a competitive market. <\/span><\/p>\n

He is very familiar with the pot of gold that awaits him at the top of Google search results. However, right now, he\u2019s spending a lot of time chasing keywords that are far too difficult for his website despite having a low difficulty score on traditional <\/span>keyword difficulty tools<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

David has found that just because a tool has identified a keyword as \u201ceasy\u201d it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it\u2019s easy for <\/span>his<\/span><\/i> website. Time and again, he hopes to get some significant traffic from a new keyword he\u2019s targeted but fails to see the fruits of his labor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like many small business owners, David would like to spend less time chasing impossible keywords and more time on important things, like building his website authority. Rather than an arbitrary difficulty score, he needs to answer the essential question: <\/span>\u201cWill I rank for this?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Where Most Keyword Difficulty Tools Fall Flat<\/span><\/h2>\n

In a nutshell, keyword difficulty is a lot more complicated than it looks. <\/span><\/p>\n

As Google uses <\/span>hundreds of different factors<\/span><\/a> to determine rank, it’s impossible to predict keyword difficulty with 100% without having access to Google\u2019s ranking algorithms. Since there are a lot of great studies done on the topic, I\u2019d rather not get into too much of the nitty-gritty surrounding the accuracy of keyword difficulty tools. The key thing to keep in mind is that even <\/span>the best keyword difficulty tool<\/span><\/a> can\u2019t be entirely accurate. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many keyword difficulty tools focus on a few of the most critical metrics to produce a score according to how \u2018easy\u2019 or \u2018hard\u2019 it is to rank for that particular keyword. Keywords are analyzed based on absolute difficulty, or the notion that a keyword can maintain the same score regardless of content, context, or industry. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s not to say that these aren\u2019t some powerful tools. Traditional keyword difficulty tools can be an excellent resource– and we use them on occasion to supplement our own <\/span>keyword research<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

But take these difficulty scores with a grain of salt. You will become frustrated when you discover that \u2018easy\u2019 doesn\u2019t apply to everyone. <\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is these tools do not take into account <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> website, how many links you already have, how much relevant content you\u2019ve got, etc. \u201cIs this keyword hard or easy?” isn’t even a relevant question; the real question is “can my website rank for this?” The first doesn’t necessarily determine the second. So how do you check keyword difficulty<\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

To put this in context, let\u2019s assume that David sells comic books online. Other keyword difficulty tools will tell him that both \u2018the amazing spider-man comic books\u2019 and something he doesn\u2019t currently sell, \u2018harry potter chapter books\u2019 both have the similar <\/span>keyword difficulty scores<\/span><\/a>. Seems impossible, right? Knowing everything we know about how Google values content, backlinks, and anchor text, how could David easily rank for something he doesn\u2019t sell or often write about?<\/span><\/p>\n

Keyword Difficulty: It\u2019s All Relative<\/span><\/h2>\n

Most likely, your website is awesome– it\u2019s interesting, informative, a shining beacon of future success, and most importantly, it\u2019s unique.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, much like you, Google \u2018sees\u2019 your website as different than the others. Remember those hundreds of <\/span>ranking factors<\/span><\/a> I mentioned earlier? They definitely matter. In all reality, you and your competitors satisfy very different factors. <\/span><\/p>\n

You have strengths and weaknesses that are exclusive to you. Maybe you\u2019ve already written 50 articles on a similar theme, or you\u2019ve got a ton of relevant anchor text, perhaps the keyword is in your domain name, and finally, it\u2019s possible that you\u2019ve got some nice related rankings. All of these things matter and they affect keyword difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, how could an absolute keyword difficulty score accurately predict your success with that keyword, when it doesn\u2019t know just how great your site is? <\/span><\/p>\n

Are you an expert on the topic?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Pretend that David wants to rank for both \u2018the amazing spider man comic\u2019 and \u2018harry potter chapter books,\u2019 his results would look something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Keyword<\/p>\n

\"Keyword<\/p>\n

Whoa, that\u2019s easy! It looks like David can sell his Spider-Man and his Harry Potter all in the same place, no problem, right? Wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it happens, a website with many pages focused on the same topic area will have an easier time ranking for keywords related to that issue than a website on an unrelated topic. When many pages are focused on the same subject, targeting similar keywords, it signals to Google that the site is structured around a coherent theme. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is, Google sees you as an expert on this topic… and they really like experts over at Google. Over time, this makes it easier to rank for specific keywords.<\/span><\/p>\n

In David\u2019s case, he has some mid-level feature pages that include variations of the keyword \u2018the amazing spider-man comic\u2019 ( t-shirts, collectors editions, figurines, etc.). The search engines are more likely to see that David knows his stuff when it comes to Spider-Man comic books. <\/span><\/p>\n

While he has an affinity for Harry Potter, as a comic book store, David currently does not sell Harry Potter chapter books or chapter books of any kind. David in the eyes of Google is unknown in the Harry Potter arena, and not an expert at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t it make sense that it would be quite difficult for David to rank for \u2018harry potter chapter books\u2019 but not so much for \u2018the amazing spider-man comic\u2019?<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not to say that David can never rank for \u2018harry potter chapter books,\u2019 with some effort and additional supporting content, he likely can rank over time. It just might not be as \u2018easy\u2019 as many keyword difficulty tools would have you believe. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s better that David spends time on higher value keywords that are more relevant to his website (such as \u2018the amazing spider-man comic\u2019). <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have a bunch of anchor text with this keyword already?<\/span><\/h3>\n

While we all love David, and I\u2019m sure you can\u2019t wait to find out about Harry Potter and comic books, in order to accurately highlight this next point I\u2019m going to have to shift gears a bit. <\/span><\/p>\n

After some research, I\u2019ve decided to target the keyword \u2018rank tracking\u2019 in an upcoming blog post for CanIRank. After a quick look at some keyword difficulty tools, I found my target keyword is pretty difficult (70-80% depending which tool you check). I know what you\u2019re probably all thinking– cross that one off your list, bud. It\u2019s way too hard. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hold your horses there Negative Nancy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rank<\/p>\n

If you take a look at our site, you\u2019ll find that CanIRank doesn\u2019t offer a rank tracker. Which generally would mean that ranking for this high search volume keyword would be pretty challenging regardless of what keyword difficulty tool you\u2019re using. But stay with me here…<\/span><\/p>\n

We already rank for a host of \u2018rank tracking\u2019 related keywords. This is because our brand name includes the word \u2018rank,\u2019 and we have hundreds or thousands of links with that anchor text. Google sees the anchor text, and decides \u201chey, they must know a whole lot about rank tracking.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Relevant external anchor text and the links you\u2019ve already earned has a significant impact on keyword difficulty. Search engines use anchor text as a reflection of how other people view your page and for what it should rank. It\u2019s one of the top factors thought to be used by Google to determine rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n

So theoretically, I can write my blog post with little fear as our site already ranks for my target keyword thanks to some juicy anchor text. But, would I have known this if I had stopped after the first difficulty score? No, I wouldn\u2019t, and that would have been a potentially valuable opportunity lost. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is the keyword in your domain name? <\/span><\/h3>\n

Although it has been a source of debate throughout the years, many people believe the presence of a keyword phrase in the domain name is itself a ranking factor. However, <\/span>recent studies<\/span><\/a> have confirmed a link between websites which rank highly for a certain keyword and whether that keyword appears in its domain URL.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meaning that once again absolute keyword difficulty scores might not be giving you the right results. <\/span><\/p>\n

Take the CanIRank rank tracking example again. \u2018Rank tracking\u2019 was found to be <\/span>tr\u00e8s difficile<\/span><\/i> for the average Joe. However, CanIRank isn\u2019t quite the average Joe, is it? We\u2019ve got a leg up on the competition, not just because of our anchor text but also because \u2018rank\u2019 happens to be in our domain URL.<\/span><\/p>\n

In David\u2019s case, he\u2019s up against some fierce competitors in the Harry Potter field. Let\u2019s take another look at the current rankers for \u2018harry potter chapter books.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SERP<\/p>\n

All three of the top ranking pages use part of the keyword: \u2018harry potter\u2019 in the domain URL. Even with low domain authority scores, harrypotterfacts.com and hp-companion.com both outrank Barnes and Noble. The domain name combined with relevant content tells Google that these websites are more of an expert on the topic than even industry leaders. <\/span><\/p>\n

How can an absolute difficulty score be trusted if it doesn’t even know your domain URL? <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any related rankings?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Suppose David has an article that recommends the best comics in the Spider-Man series. It could be a good article that gets a lot of traffic for its intended keyword focus, but people are also finding it on Google when they\u2019re looking up \u2018best marvel comics.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

Having identified a content gap, David decides to produce additional content that is more aligned with those particular keywords. Because Google has already recognized him as a potential authority on that topic, it is more likely that he will rank well in organic search results. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Related rankings build your reputation with Google and make it easier to rank in the future. In David\u2019s case, a host of rankings related to \u2018spider man\u2019 will make ranking for \u2018the amazing spider man comic\u2019 or even \u2018best marvel comics\u2019 a lot easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, traditional keyword difficulty tools tell him that \u2018best marvel comics\u2019 has a keyword difficulty score of 86.56%<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Keyword<\/p>\n

With a higher search volume, it\u2019s likely that this <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> a more difficult keyword to rank for than \u2018the amazing spider man comic.\u2019 But, is it as difficult for David as it is for Harrypotterfacts.com? Probably not. <\/span><\/p>\n

But with a traditional keyword difficulty tool, there\u2019s no consideration for related rankings, keyword in the URL, or relevant content. Meaning that everyone from Harrypotterfacts.com and Davidscomics.com to Amazon.com will all get the same keyword difficulty score.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Solution<\/span><\/h2>\n

Much like Einstein, we love relativity. CanIRank is the only tool that evaluates difficulty relative to your website, based on machine learning algorithms assessing over 200 ranking factors. CanIRank is the only keyword SEO difficulty tool on the market that incorporates thematic relevancy and other AI-based signals to calculate difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, we are the only tool to tell David that he has a better chance to rank for \u2018the amazing spider man comic,\u2019 than \u2018harry potter chapter books.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Relativity is Everything<\/span><\/h3>\n

As we know, David is frustrated with chasing keywords that are actually too difficult for his site. He doesn\u2019t want the standard: \u2018the amazing spider-man comic:\u2019 36%. He wants to know \u201cif you write about Spider-Man comics you\u2019ll probably rank on page 2.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Lucky for David, rankings relative to your website make it easier to rank for the right keywords, which means no more chasing false positives. When he pops his target keyword into CanIRank\u2019s Improve My Rankings tool his results look a bit like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"keyword<\/p>\n

The first thing David sees is his optimization score. This score is unique to David\u2019s website and considers the relevancy of the keyword to his business, and scores that along with the difficulty and search volume. It gives him a good idea of the amount of work he would have to devote to SEO in order to get a high ranking (or in other words, how easy or hard it is for <\/span>him<\/span><\/i> to rank with his current website).<\/span><\/p>\n

CanIRank also compares David\u2019s website with that of top rankers to determine where exactly he can improve to overtake the competition<\/span><\/p>\n

\"keyword<\/p>\n

And finally, the report provides David with actionable suggestions for improvement that will help him rank for the target keyword. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"keyword<\/p>\n

Now, compare that to \u2018harry potter chapter books,\u2019 a keyword that other tools found as easier than \u2018the amazing spider-man comic.\u2019 Clearly, this isn\u2019t a keyword that is \u2018easy\u2019 for David and therefore not worth his time or effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"keyword<\/p>\n

By evaluating difficulty relative to his website CanIRank has saved David from chasing yet another \u2018false positive.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

We identify low hanging fruit that helps the Davids take on the Amazons<\/span><\/h3>\n

Using data relevant to your site, CanIRank suggests dozens of less competitive alternatives for your target keyword. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, when David decides to write a new piece on his favorite Batman comics, using the keyword: \u2018batman comics.\u2019 CanIRank uses data relevant to his site to tell him:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u201chey buddy, that\u2019s a competitive keyword so you\u2019re really gonna have to work for it\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n
  • \u201crather than chasing that keyword, why not try one of these other variations that you have a good chance of ranking for.\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \"keyword<\/p>\n

    Isn\u2019t that a lot better than a seemingly arbitrary number?<\/span><\/p>\n

    We Grow as You Do<\/span><\/h3>\n

    CanIRank changes keyword recommendations over time as your site becomes more competitive or launches new product and service areas. Meaning that just because \u2018harry potter chapter books\u2019 was too competitive for David in the past it won\u2019t always be if he launches relevant new products. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Are you chasing false positives?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Unfortunately, David\u2019s story is not unique. A lot of SEO experts and newbies alike fall prey to the seemingly simple scores produced by traditional keyword difficulty tools. It\u2019s frustrating, and not to mention time-consuming to continually target keywords that aren\u2019t right for your website. <\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>Keyword difficulty doesn\u2019t have to be a shot in the dark, but with absolute difficulty scores, it can be just that. Rather than relying on an old school keyword difficulty tool that doesn\u2019t even look at your website, consider how tools, such as CanIRank, use data from your site to help you uncover realistic ranking opportunities that are relative to your content, anchor text, backlink profile and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span>
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