Evaluating Keyword Difficulty: A New Metric for Effective Keyword Research
In the realm of digital marketing and SEO, keyword research is a crucial element in developing content strategies that resonate with your target audience. However, determining whether a specific keyword is achievable for your website can often feel like navigating a maze without a map. To streamline this process, I am working on a new methodology to assess a keyword’s “strikability” or “obtainability.” The goal is to enhance decision-making regarding content creation based on potential traffic and relevance.
Introducing a New Approach to Keyword Assessment
To kick off this innovative approach, I propose a simple metric that gauges whether a keyword is within reach for a particular website. Let’s consider terms like “strikability,” referring to how close a keyword is to being attainable, or “height,” which indicates how accessible the keyword might be. The aim is to create a measurement that offers a quick yet insightful glance at a keyword’s viability.
The Proposed Metric Calculation
My current thought process involves utilizing the keyword difficulty score from Ahrefs and comparing it to the website’s Domain Rating (DR). For instance, if a site has a DR of 5 and is eyeing a keyword with a difficulty score of 80, the “height” of that keyword would be calculated as follows:
[ \text{Keyword Height} = \frac{\text{Keyword Difficulty (KD)}}{\text{Site DR}} ]
For our example, that would yield a height of 16. In this framework, any score below one could suggest that the keyword is highly attainable or “low-hanging fruit.”
Questioning the Formula: Division vs. Subtraction
As I refine this model, I am pondering whether this approach is the most effective. Would a subtractive method—such as calculating ( \text{KD} – \text{Site DR} = \text{Keyword Height} ) —yield more accurate insights?
This question leads me to seek feedback from fellow SEO professionals and content strategists. How would you approach creating a metric like this? Do you believe that the division formula accurately portrays a keyword’s accessibility, or do you advocate for a different method?
Conclusion
In essence, this exploration aims to enhance the way we evaluate keywords, aligning them with our specific content strategies. By determining strikability through a practical metric, we can better prioritize our efforts and focus on content that not only attracts traffic but also matches our business objectives
One response to “How to tell if a keyword is too difficult to rank (in mass/metric)”
This is a fascinating approach to evaluating keyword difficulty! I appreciate the introduction of the “strikability” metric as a new way to assess keyword viability relative to a website’s authority. The use of the formula you proposed is indeed a creative way to visualize the relationship between a keyword’s difficulty and the domain rating.
However, I’d like to propose an additional consideration in your methodology: incorporating competitive analysis into the equation. While the division or subtractive approach provides a basic understanding of accessibility, analyzing the actual competitors targeting the keyword can yield deeper insights. For example, examining the content quality, backlink profiles, and audience engagement of the top-ranking pages can help assess not just if the keyword is attainable, but how much effort and strategy might be needed to compete effectively.
Moreover, it’s essential to factor in the potential for long-tail variations of the primary keyword. Often, these variations have lower difficulty ratings and can serve as gateways into a more competitive niche while still aligning with user intent.
Exploring these aspects could complement your “height” metric and offer a more comprehensive framework for keyword evaluation. I’d love to hear your thoughts on integrating competitive landscape analysis into your approach!