Last updated: November 1, 2026.
One of the most popular metrics we come across in keyword research is Keyword Difficulty. We usually see it shortened to KD.
At first glance it makes a lot of sense. If a keyword shows KD: 18, it’s easy. If it shows KD: 87, it’s hard.
But is it really that simple? I don’t think so.
What is Keyword Difficulty?
In its simplest form, it’s a metric that tries to estimate how hard it might be to rank at the top for a given keyword.
I especially want to underline the word “estimate” here. Because Google doesn’t publish any official data saying “The difficulty score of this keyword is 42.”
These scores are calculated by tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, Moz and SE Ranking. In other words, each tool uses its own formula.
Why does the same keyword show a different KD in different tools?
Because everyone calculates it differently. For example, Semrush might say 58. Ahrefs might say 71. Another tool might show 44.
Which one is right? None of them is definitively right. Because we don’t know Google’s algorithm. The tools make an estimate using different signals such as:
- Number of backlinks
- Referring domains
- Page authority
- Domain authority
- SERP strength
Some tools roughly explain their formula. Ahrefs, for example, says its KD is based on the number of referring domains linking to the pages ranking in the top 10, and that it doesn’t take on-page factors into account (Ahrefs Help). So this score is largely a link calculation. It doesn’t measure content quality, page type or search intent. That’s one of the reasons I don’t read KD without looking at the SERP.
That’s why I look at the KD score not as hard truth but as comparison data.
“Competition” in Keyword Planner isn’t KD
Google Keyword Planner also has a column called “Competition.” It shows low, medium or high. Someone looking at it for the first time may think it shows how hard it is to rank organically.
But Google defines this column as the number of advertisers that showed on that keyword relative to all keywords across Google (Google Ads Help). So it describes ad competition. It can give you an idea of the keyword’s commercial side, but it doesn’t directly show how hard it is to reach the top of the organic results. A keyword with “high” competition may have weak organic results. The opposite is possible too.
Difficulty depends on your site
The KD score has one more weakness. It shows everyone the same number for the same keyword. Yet how difficult a keyword is depends on who is going after it.
Let’s think about it with the coffee machine example. Say a site that has been publishing content about coffee and coffee machines for years, and has earned links from other sites on this topic, and a newly launched general blog are targeting the same keyword. The tool shows both of them the same KD value. But in reality, this keyword is far more reachable for the first site.
A few things come into play here:
- How much content your site has already published on the topic
- The links pointing to your site and to your pages on that topic
- How well known and trusted your brand is in that field
I explain why links and authority matter in Chapter 27, and why Google trusts content in Chapter 20. That’s why, when I read KD, I prefer to ask myself not “Is this keyword hard?” but “Is this keyword hard for us?”
If KD is high, should we stay away?
No. This is another very common mistake.
For example, the keyword “SEO” may have a very high KD. But if you have a very niche specialty, the competition in more specific areas like “technical seo training” or “news site seo” may be much more manageable.
So sometimes you need to see the opportunities beneath the big keyword rather than the big keyword itself. These longer, more specific searches are called long-tail keywords. I covered them in Chapter 8.
In the coffee machine example, the keyword “coffee machine” itself may be very hard. But for more specific searches like “automatic coffee machine” or “home espresso machine,” getting onto the first page may be much more achievable. Over time, these pages grow your site’s content and links on that topic. And as I explained above, since difficulty depends on your site, the main keyword can also become more reachable for you through that buildup.
Does low KD always mean easy?
No again. Sometimes the tool shows a low KD. But then you look at the first page. All of the top 10 results might be:
- Very strong brands
- Giant e-commerce sites
- Pages that have been live for many years
The tool said low. But in real life, the competition is much tougher than you think.
The opposite can happen too. The tool shows a high KD. But you examine the first page. The content is weak. The pages are outdated. They don’t fully answer the user’s question. Sometimes there’s a bigger opportunity here than you’d expect.
That’s why I never make a decision based on the KD score alone.
How I use Keyword Difficulty
For me, the process usually goes like this. First I search the keyword on Google. I look at the SERP. Then I look at the KD value. After that I ask myself these questions:
- Is the content on the first page really high quality?
- Can I create something better than this?
- Are the competitors really strong, or just old?
- Can I answer the user’s question better?
Sometimes the tool says “very hard.” But when I look at the first page, I can say “There’s a good opportunity here.”
And sometimes it’s the other way around. The tool says easy. But there are such strong sites on the first page that it makes more sense to go after other opportunities instead of that keyword.
Judging difficulty by looking at the SERP
Let me open up a bit more about what I pay attention to when I look at the search results page (SERP). When I search a keyword, I read the first page in this order.
The type of sites on the first page
Who is in the top 10 results? Big e-commerce sites, brands’ own sites, forums, small blogs? If sites similar to yours also make it onto the first page, that’s a reason to go after this keyword.
Page type match
What kind of pages does Google show for this keyword? Category pages, product pages, guides, videos? If the type of page you’re planning to create doesn’t match the ones on the first page, you’ll have a hard time no matter what KD says. If the first page for “coffee machine” is full of category pages, it will be very hard to get in there with a blog post. The reason is search intent. I covered intent in Chapter 4.
Content quality and freshness
I open and read the top three results. Do they fully answer the question? Is the information up to date? Does the page make the user jump through unnecessary hoops? Outdated, incomplete or shallow content shows there may be an opportunity despite a high KD.
Two of the questions Google suggests for evaluating content are very useful here: “Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?” and “Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?” (Google Search Central). If I can’t add anything new to what’s already on the first page, there’s little point in going after that keyword even if the KD is low. If I have experience, data or a clearer answer to add, it’s worth trying even if the KD is high.
Brand and authority
If most of the sites on the first page are brands everyone knows, and these pages have been sitting there for years, getting up there will take time. The question I ask here is this: Are these sites on the first page because their content is good, or just because they’re strong?
You also need to look at the SERP itself. If ads, shopping results, People also ask or video boxes push the organic results down, you may not get the clicks you expect even if you reach the top spot. I covered SERP features in Chapter 5.
Keyword Difficulty doesn’t make the decision
I think this is the most important point. SEO tools don’t make decisions for us. They only show data. We still make the decision.
Just like search volume, Keyword Difficulty isn’t enough on its own. I usually evaluate these four together:
- Search volume
- Search intent
- Keyword Difficulty
- Real SERP analysis
These four make sense together. Deciding by looking at just one of them can often lead us in the wrong direction. I explained how I read search volume in Chapter 10.
Over time in SEO, you notice this. Tools are very valuable. But the best SEO specialists turn out to be the people who can interpret the data the tools show.
I think Keyword Difficulty is one of the best examples of this.
Practice
- Search a keyword you’re targeting on Google and write the top 10 results into a table: site type, page type, last updated date.
- Are the pages on the first page the same type as the page you’re planning to create?
- Read the top three results from start to finish. Is there anything missing, outdated or not answering the user’s question?
- Check the KD value of the same keyword in two different tools. Do the scores match what you see in the SERP?
- Also check the “Competition” value for the same keyword in Keyword Planner. Do ad competition and organic difficulty tell you the same thing?
- Under a main keyword with a very high KD, can you find three more specific searches that fit your expertise?
Previous: Chapter 10: What Is Search Volume? · Contents · Next: Chapter 12: How to Find Keyword Ideas on Google
This chapter was first published in Turkish on X (September 9, 2026).