In order to understand the keyword difficulty versus competition when using Semrush for search engine optimization, one must consider a variety of primary and secondary components. This article will take a holistic approach and explain the major factors to consider, providing an overview of the importance of keyword difficulty/competition in the SERP.

What is Keyword Difficulty?

When Semrush evaluates keyword difficulty, they use a scoring system of 0 to 100. Keyword difficulty score assesses the level of competition for a specific keyword in the SERP; the higher the score, the more challenging it is for a page to rank for a given keyword. This score can give you insight about the effort required to rank for a specific keyword, as stated by Semrush itself, a score above 70 indicates difficult competition and requires a well-optimized website and potentially a lot of effort to be successful in the SERP.

What is Competition?

Competition determines who your page is competing with in the SERP. By accessing the difficulty score for a keyword, users can understand the strength of the competition they are up against; the higher the score, the fewer opportunities are available for ranking. This can be especially helpful when multiple websites have similar authority semantic indexing.

When assessing competition, Semrush looks at relevant SERP features such as organic positions of the domains. It is highly recommended that users pay close attention to the opposition they find in their query as it can affect the success of their own website.

What Factors Into the Keyword Difficulty/Competition Score?

Semrush utilizes complex algorithms to evaluate the keyword difficulty and competition score for each query. Various factors will be taken into consideration including keyword difficulty, organic click-through rate, number of organic competitors, and the relevance of the SERP features.

For instance, when it comes to organic competitors, the number of organic competitors for a keyword can have an impact on their score as more competitors mean more competition. The same goes for organic click-through rate; the lower the organic click-through rate, the lower the score; the higher the organic click-through rate the higher the score. Relevance of SERP features will also impact the score, featuring relevant and valuable information to the topic can help increase a page's score.

Benefits of Keyword Difficulty/Competition Analysis

By understanding the keyword difficulty and competition analysis features of Semrush, users can diversify their SEO strategy when it comes to selecting what keywords to target. Having knowledge of the score for a keyword can help to both identify new keywords to target, as well as help strategize more competitive keywords and how to outrank the competition.

In Summary

When it comes to Semrush keyword difficulty/competition analysis, it is important to keep in mind the different components that can affect a keyword's score. Taking into consideration factors such as organic competitors, organic click-through rate, and relevance of SERP features, users can more accurately analyze their keyword difficulty/competition score. Understanding this analysis will help users better target keywords and strategize their SEO game plan. With the help of Semrush's keyword difficulty/competition analysis, users can effectively use this knowledge to increase rankings on SERP. .