How do you assess keyword difficulty and choose target keywords?

Deciding whether a keyword is worth targeting takes more than search volume or a difficulty score. You also need to understand search intent, examine the pages actually ranking, and assess the resources you can commit to creating content and running your website. Consider a scenario in which “Tax Services” has a search volume of 27k and a keyword difficulty (KD) of 60%. Those figures alone are not enough to decide whether to pursue or abandon it. Major brands on the first page of search results warrant a closer look, but they are not proof that ranking well is impossible. With limited resources, compare long-tail keywords more closely aligned with your services and audience rather than focusing immediately on popular terms.

Start with the search results to see which pages you would compete against

awoo recommends considering the number and quality of competing websites, their authority, and how thoroughly their content covers the topic when assessing difficulty. Look beyond the score and examine the ranking pages to understand what content you would need to compete.

• Identify the types of results: Are they service pages, guides, or list articles?
• Check content coverage: Which needs do competitors address, and can you create content that addresses those needs?
• Check which pages rank: Is the result a major brand’s homepage or a dedicated service page?

A 2019 Screaming Frog article uses informational searches as an example: if the results are mainly guides and blog posts, that suggests users are looking for information. This is a method for interpreting intent, not a formula that guarantees rankings. A keyword’s popularity alone does not mean a service sales page is the right choice for targeting it.

Use difficulty and authority for comparison, not as ranking thresholds

A 2025 article by yesharris notes that third-party website authority scores do not represent Google’s assessment. Compare your score with those of industry peers rather than aiming for a fixed number. Authority scores can help you compare your position with competitors when selecting keywords, but a higher score is neither required for ranking nor a guarantee of it.

Forum contributors also disagree about first-page results dominated by major brands. MikeFriedman argues that ranking is not necessarily difficult, especially when the results are pages other than homepages. dave_hermansen considers such situations generally very difficult to break into and recommends choosing another keyword. Both are contributors’ judgments, not universal rules.

MikeFriedman also cautions that even when an unfamiliar brand ranks highly, users may still prefer to click on well-known brands. This is a reminder that ranking still leaves you competing with familiar brands for clicks, but it cannot be used directly to predict traffic.

Choose target keywords based on your website’s capabilities

Target keywords should match your business and user needs, and you should have the resources to compete for them. Creating content and building backlinks both require time and resources. Consider not only the traffic you want to attract but also whether you can afford the investment required.

At Procrustes, our content work turns the questions customers genuinely care about into articles, with ongoing planning, writing, and updates.

• Evaluate these first: Keywords directly related to your services that match search intent and for which you can create comprehensive content.
• Compare alternatives: When competition for a popular term is too strong, compare more specific long-tail keywords based on your audience’s needs. Do not assume that long-tail terms are necessarily easy to rank for.
• Assess the local market: If you serve only a particular town, assess local competition separately. MikeFriedman’s suggested combination of maps, organic search, and advertising applies only to local markets and does not mean that SEO alone is enough to succeed.

“Tax Services” can therefore remain a candidate, but the figures above are not enough to establish it as the best primary target.