Keyword Difficulty
A metric indicating how difficult it is to rank for a keyword, based on analysing the top 10 competitors.
In brief
Keyword Difficulty (KD) is an estimated score (usually 0–100) that shows how hard it is for a new page to reach top 10 or top 20 organic search results. The metric takes into account competitors‘ domain authority (DR/DA), number of referring domains, and other link factors.
What is Keyword Difficulty
Different tools name the metric differently: Ahrefs – KD, SEMrush – KD%, Moz – Difficulty, Serpstat – Keyword Difficulty. Despite different calculation algorithms, the principle is the same: the higher the score, the more high‑quality backlinks you need to compete with the top 10.
Difficulty scale (Ahrefs example)
- 0–10 – very easy. Minimal links, new sites can rank.
- 11–30 – easy. Good content + some link support.
- 31–50 – medium. Quality links from authoritative sites required.
- 51–70 – hard. Many strong links, often branded domains.
- 71–100 – very hard. Dominated by major publishers, Wikipedia, government sites.
How to use Keyword Difficulty in SEO strategy
- New site (DR <20) – target KD 0–20 to get initial traction and traffic.
- Young site (DR 20–40) – can try KD up to 40 with caution.
- Mature site (DR 40–60) – workable up to KD 60.
- Authoritative site (DR 60+) – any KD, but competition is high.
KD is not the only criterion. Pay attention to intent, content quality in the top 10, and the possibility to outrank with strong E‑E‑A‑T even without a high DR.
FAQ
Common questions
Each tool has its own formula and authority metric (Ahrefs DR, Moz DA, etc.). They use different link databases, so the numbers are not directly comparable. Use one tool consistently for relative comparison.
Rarely, but possible if the top 10 are weak pages and you create a much better page with strong behavioural signals. However, for stable rankings, links will likely be needed.
Not always directly. A high‑volume query can be low competition (e.g., niche specifics). Conversely, a low‑volume query can be hard if the top results are very authoritative domains.
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