Keyword competition is a crucial metric to assess while developing your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Understanding it helps you avoid the common mistake of going after the most popular keywords from the get-go. In this guide, we'll show you some effective ways to gauge keyword competition in a few simple steps and explain how to rank for difficult keywords.
What you will learn
- What keyword competition is and which factors influence it
- How to determine keyword competition
- How to rank for highly competitive keywords
What is keyword competition?
Keyword competition is an SEO metric that shows how difficult it is to rank for a specific keyword. Analyzing it helps you understand the amount of time and effort you'll need to invest in your content strategy to climb the search results for the target search term.
Several factors determine a keyword's competition, most notably:
- Amount and quality of existing content ranking for the keyword
- Domain authority of websites targeting the keyword
- Backlink profile of pages ranking high for the keyword
Note that the exact factors might depend on your chosen keyword research tool.
For example, Google Keyword Planner pulls PPC data from Google Ads to determine it. Specifically, it establishes keyword competition based on the number of advertisers bidding on the keyword.
Here's the full explanation of how it works:
Understanding which factors your keyword competition tool uses informs many aspects of your content and SEO strategy.
PPC-based analysis is useful if you plan on launching paid ads, while tools that rely on factors like domain authority and backlinks are better suited for organic SEO.
In other words, once you know how your chosen tool decides on a keyword's competition, you'll know which aspects of your content you should improve to rank for it.
3 tips for measuring keyword competition
There are several ways to determine a keyword's competition and ranking difficulty. Let's go over the most effective ones.
1. Determine keyword popularity
A keyword's popularity is measured by its monthly search volume — the higher the volume, the more traffic potential a search term has.
Seeing as everybody wants a piece of that traffic, it's easy to conclude that high-volume keywords are often highly competitive.
Many keyword research tools offer insight into a keyword's search volume. Let's use Google Keyword Planner as an example.
If you search for "time tracking" as your target keyword, you'll see it gets 10k–100k searches a month. You'll also see it has a medium level of competition, which saves you the hassle of figuring this out yourself.
Still, remember that the competition score is assigned based on PPC data instead of the other aforementioned factors (page/domain authority, backlinks, etc.).
Also, the volume range is quite broad, which prevents you from assessing the keyword's popularity precisely.
To get a more accurate picture of a keyword's search volume, you can use other free tools like Keyword Surfer.
It's a simple Chrome extension that gives you useful keyword data directly on the search engine results page (SERP). All you need to do is Google the keyword, and you'll see its monthly volume and CPC in the search bar.
So what should you do with a keyword's search volume?
Well, if you realize it's excessively high, it might be better to avoid targeting the keyword for a while — especially if your website is new.
Trying to rank for high-volume keywords as a new kid on the block will most likely backfire and result in your content being buried under tons of well-established organic competitors.
This doesn't mean you should avoid the keyword altogether.
There are several ways to climb your way to the top of SERPs, though they require a more strategic approach, which we'll explain a bit later in this guide.
You can also check the New Article Ideas inside Surfer to find keywords you can rank for.
2. Analyze backlink profiles
Competitor keyword analysis is an excellent way to figure out keyword difficulty — and backlink reviews are a crucial part of the process. Here's how it works:
- Google the keyword
- See the best-performing search results
- Use a backlink checker to analyze each result's backlink profile
Let's go back to our time tracking example. We can see that Zapier's listicle is among the top results:
We can now copy the link to the page and run it through a backlink checker like the one offered by SEO Review Tools.
As you can see in the following image, the article has over 2,700 backlinks, which is quite impressive.
Now, the number of backlinks alone isn't a good enough indicator of a solid backlink profile. Instead, you should follow these tips when analyzing a competitor's links:
- Look for referring domains: The more domains link to a page, the more valuable it appears in Google's eyes. In Zapier's case, you can see that 511 domains send traffic to the article in question.
- Consider link quality: Not all backlinks improve a page's performance. If they come from spammy websites, search engines will see this as a bad sign and associate the page with poor-quality content. Ideally, backlinks will come from trustworthy sources (Like Forbes and FastCompany, which are linking to Zapier's listicle according to our backlink report).
- Review anchor text: Anchor text communicates a linked page's relevance to the source content. Keep this in mind when assessing your own content's backlink profile, as you'll want the text to correspond with the content's topic.
After looking into the backlink profiles of the top-ranking content for a particular keyword, you can figure out different ways to acquire the same backlinks.
Here are some effective ways to do it:
- Write guest posts—Guest posting is an excellent way to get backlinks, as long as you post your content on reputable sites. To find guest posting opportunities, Google your industry + relevant keywords like "write for us" or "blog contributor."
- Create shareable content—You can get backlinks organically by creating data-driven content that others will refer to (statistics, whitepapers, infographics, etc.), as well as useful free tools.
- Claim unlinked mentions—Many articles may have mentioned your brand without linking to it. The easiest way to find them is to use the intext search operator, which looks for mentions of specific keywords in content. Search for "intext:[brand name]", go through the results, and ask site owners to give you a proper link.
3. Measure competitors' domain and topical authority
Domain authority is an unofficial indicator of a website's chances of ranking well in SERPs.
By "unofficial," we mean that it isn't a Google ranking factor but a metric developed independently by Moz.
Still, it's worth assessing because websites with a high domain authority do tend to rank better on average.
As the metric's creator, Moz offers a Domain Authority Checker you can use for free (as long as you plan on performing up to three searches per day).
All you need to do is enter the URL you want to analyze, and you'll get a comprehensive report.
In our Zapier example, you can see that the website's domain authority is 81, so it doesn't come as a surprise that its pages often dominate the search results for relevant keywords.
Understanding domain authority is crucial for successful competitive keyword analysis.
If the top competitors for a given search term all have high scores, it means the keyword might be difficult to rank for until your domain authority can match theirs.
Another type of authority you should pay attention to is topical authority — a website's depth of expertise when it comes to a specific subject.
It's typically determined by the amount and quality of content surrounding a broad topic.
Surfer measures your website's topical authority using your keyword coverage, relevance and search volume, SERP ranking positions, and their semantic similarity to your main topic.
You can visualize your website's topical authority using Surfer's topical mapping features.
Keyword clusters in the center signal higher topical authority versus those that are further away.
Comprehensive topic coverage indicates that a website is a go-to source of information, which means Google is more likely to rank its pages higher.
You can use the inurl search operator to see how thoroughly a competitor covers a specific keyword. In our example, here's what your search should look like:
In the results, you'll see that Zapier has dozens of pages related to time tracking, which is another contributor to its high rank.
How to rank for competitive keywords
Just because some keywords may be too competitive to target right away doesn't mean you can't climb SERPs for relevant queries.
Let's go over some of the best ways to do it.
1. Pick realistic keywords in your niche
If your chosen target keyword is difficult to rank for, start with the next best thing. Build authority in a lower tier before you can rank for more difficult keywords.
Start with related organic keywords that have a more reasonable ranking potential according to current resources and SEO maturity.
For example, if "time tracking" is too competitive, choose "time tracking software" instead. According to Google Keyword Planner, it has a lower search volume and competition.
You can keep exploring suggested keywords to find those with a solid search volume but without excessive competition.
Make sure to still compare the domain authority and page quality of top-ranking sites to yours, as doing so gives you a clear picture of your ranking potential.
You can use your website's topical map inside Surfer to decide which keywords are worth targeting.
Keywords that are lightly colored indicate lower keyword difficulty versus those with a dark purple shade for higher keyword difficulty.
This can help you identify easier keywords for quick wins (light purple) and more competitive keywords requiring more effort (dark purple).
If you find a competitive keyword in a cluster close to the center, target the lighter-colored keywords first. This will help you build some authority in a topic that is already associated with your website.
You can then go after the more competitive search term.
To improve your SEO standing and target more competitive keywords with time, integrate keyword research and content planning into a cohesive process.
Create a content calendar around realistic keywords and plan blog posts, web copy, and other forms of content that will target them.
This way, you can build authority and position yourself well enough to tackle demanding keywords down the line.
Keep in mind that search volume isn't the only factor to consider when selecting keywords. Follow these tips to choose the best ones:
- Be specific—Ambiguous keywords like "plumbing" or "android phone" are almost always hard to rank for because they can encompass a broad spectrum of diverse content, so it's best to go with more focused alternatives ("plumbing services [location]" or "best budget android phone in [year]")
- Understand search intent—All searches are motivated by informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional search intent. To ensure relevance, opt for keywords with the right intent for your content strategy and audience.
You should also create the right type of content for each intent type (Guides and how-to's for informational intent, product reviews for commercial intent, etc.). - Look for solid traffic potential—While high search volumes are typically associated with abundant traffic, this isn't always the case.
Many keywords trigger rich results like the featured snippet or knowledge graph, robbing even the best-performing pages of traffic. The best way to understand a search term's traffic potential is to use a keyword tool that includes it as a data point.
2. Target long-tail keywords
In contrast to search terms with one or two words, long-tail keywords are highly focused on specific topics. As such, they let you bypass extensive competition and rank your content more easily.
Long-tail keywords are typically synonyms and close variations of the corresponding head terms, and they often have a lower search volume.
They're still worth targeting, though, especially if your website is still new.
Besides looking at the keywords suggested by tools like Google Keyword Planner and Keyword Surfer, you can use Google's native features like autocomplete to find long-tail keywords.
Start typing your head term, and see what comes up among Google's suggestions.
A perfect example of a long-tail keyword is "time tracking app for personal use," which comes up when you start searching for "time tracking."
Click on the suggestion, and you'll see that Keyword Surfer estimates its search volume at 320 per month.
This isn't too abundant, but don't worry — you can boost the article's traffic potential by targeting additional secondary keywords related to this search term.
By doing so, you can rank for those keywords as well and combine their volumes to consolidate your article's SEO value.
Besides Google Autocomplete, you can look for long-tail keywords in two additional places:
- People also ask (PAA)—Here you can find question-based search terms that can serve both as secondary keywords and topic/subtopic ideas.
- Related searches—Similarly to autocomplete, Related searches show additional keyword ideas related to your seed keyword.
3. Cater to an underserved niche
As mentioned, facing your biggest competitors head-on isn't a good idea. Instead, you should find gaps within a broader market where your audience's needs aren't fully met.
Drill into a niche, and you can slowly expand as your authority grows.
The million-dollar question is — how do you find such gaps?
There are several ways to go about it — look for topics that aren't addressed enough (and therefore don't have much competition).
You can use keyword difficulty filters inside Surfer to find keywords that you can rank for. For example, I found this keyword using a filter of 0-30 for keyword competition.
It has a monthly search volume of 210, and a keyword difficulty score of only 9 out of 100.
Another way to do this is to examine community forums and social media to see what others are talking about.
In our time-tracking example, we could go to the Fastlane time management forum and browse different threads.
If you do, you'll see that one of them talks about beating procrastination, which is a hot topic among those interested in time management.
And yet, quick keyword research for "how to stop procrastinating" will show you that the keyword has low competition while offering plenty of traffic potential.
Keyword Surfer shows that this keyword gets almost 10k searches a month. Combined with its low competition, this makes it a perfect niche keyword to target.
You can use forums and social listening to explore countless niche topics and get fresh keyword ideas.
To validate their potential and explore additional related search terms, you can turn to Google Trends.
It gives you insights into users' interest in topics and search queries, which tells you whether they're worth covering.
For example, if we search for "time tracking app," we can see a stable interest in this search term over the past year.
More importantly, you can scroll down to identify related queries on the rise.
If you do so, you'll notice a keyword we mentioned earlier in this guide — "time tracking app for personal use."
It has the highest increase in search frequency, followed by several related terms you can target.
Finally, you can perform a content gap analysis to find opportunities your competitors might be overlooking.
This process is more involved because it requires you to analyze several websites and their content to find unaddressed topics and keywords, but you can expedite it with tools like Surfer's Audit tool.
Regardless of your approach to finding niche keywords, make sure your focus isn't only on filling the gaps you identify.
The goal is to do it in a way that positions you as an authority on the topics you cover, so you need to create credible and trustworthy content.
This way, you can build a loyal audience base that will expand with time.
Key takeaways
- Keyword competition measures how difficult it is to rank for a particular keyword based on the current landscape of the organic search results targeting it. It's among the key metrics you should factor in when devising your SEO strategy because it ensures you don't go after keywords you still can't rank for.
- A keyword's search volume is a clear indicator of its competition. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner and Keyword Surfer to determine the volume and ranking difficulty of your chosen search term.
- Competitive keyword research also encompasses backlinks — you need to analyze the backlink profiles of the top competitors to see which links you should acquire to rank more easily. To get those backlinks, you can use tactics like guest posting and claiming unlinked mentions.
- Domain and topical authority of the top-ranking pages greatly influence keyword competition. Google prioritizes websites that have proven themselves as reliable sources of information, so you must grow your site's authority to tackle highly competitive keywords.
- If your website is still in its early stages, pick realistic keywords related to the main keyword you wish to rank for. Don't worry if they don't have a massive search volume — you can add secondary keywords to solidify your article's ranking potential.
- To avoid excessive competition, prioritize focused, long-tail keywords over broad search terms. You can find them using Google's features like autocomplete, PAA, and Related searches.
- Catering to an underserved niche lets you drill deep into your market and slowly expand as your website's authority grows. Use forums, Google Trends, and social listening techniques to understand what information your audience needs but isn't getting from leading websites.
