Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Help selecting KWs based on their difficult to rank for and KW tool question
-
I've done all of my keyword research, and now I'm selecting the KW's. In a previous question, seomoz had answered to pick a mix of easy, medium, and difficult words to rank for. How do I know which are easy, medium, difficult? The KW Difficulty Tool is not very specific.
Is the level of difficulty related to where the phrase pops up for my company in search results? Are hard words ones that you do not already rank in the top 50 search results? When selecting KWs should I choose words that rank already in the top 50 that I'd like to try to move up? Or look for NEW phrases/words not in the top 50 results?
Also, when entering KW phrases int the KW Difficulty Tool, Rank Tracker, and in Campaigns - do I need to use quotation marks if it is a phrase? I noticed that the KW difficulty tool has different results if you use quotation marks.
Lastly, The person who did SEO before me has a list of KWs he optimized for, would it be valuable for me to include his words in my On-Page optimization efforts?
-
But should I choose terms that we rank for in the top 50 results to try to move us up, or choose terms that we're not even in the top 50 yet? (Or a little of both)
And our competitors do have high DA/PA Scores and MozTrust Ranks, but I think it'd still be smart to target some of their KW phrases I noticed they rank for and my company shows up after them, correct?
-
Thank you.
But should I choose terms that we rank for in the top 50 results to try to move us up, or choose terms that we're not even in the top 50 yet? (Or a little of both)
And our competitors do have high DA/PA Scores and MozTrust Ranks, but I think it'd still be smart to target some of their KW phrases I noticed they rank for and my company shows up after them, correct?
-
When choosing a term to rank for, in my experience, choosing a term that has low competition means finding sites that rank top 10 that do not have high domain/page authority scores, relatively low moztrust/rank, and of course really low backlinks. If a site has 10 backlinks, as long as they're from sites that are under 50 DA, they're easy to rank for.
The reason you get different results from KW Difficulty Tool using quotation marks is because that tool pulls the top 10 google results for whatever term you put in. Generally, the top results are different when using quotations. I recommend you NOT use quotation marks when using the KW difficult tool.
I would do your own research and optimization and stay away from using someone elses work/data, to me, it seems prone for errors and miscalculations which lead to loss of money, time, and other potential fallout.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Inconsistent Keyword Search Volume & Difficulty Across Tools (e.g., Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush)
Hi there, Moz Community! I'm reaching out for some guidance on keyword research discrepancies. I'm currently targeting the keyword "sui gas bill" for my blog, sngplbill, which focuses on information related to Sui gas bills. I've used several keyword research tools, including Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush, and each platform provides different search volume and keyword difficulty scores: Moz: No search volume data, Keyword Difficulty (KD) 24
Keyword Research | | Faizali.786
Google Keyword Planner: Search volume 100k-1M, Difficulty (Low)
Semrush: Search volume 90k, KD 31
Ahrefs: KD 1 (Very Easy)
These varying results are causing some confusion. Ideally, I'd like to understand which platform offers the most reliable data for search volume and keyword difficulty. Here are some additional details that might be helpful: My target location: Pakistan My Questions: What factors might contribute to these discrepancies in keyword data across different tools?
Considering my niche (Sui gas bill information in Pakistan), which platform would you recommend for the most accurate search volume and keyword difficulty estimates?
Are there any additional factors to consider beyond search volume and keyword difficulty when selecting keywords for content strategy?
Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Capture sui gas bill semrush.PNG Capture moz sui gas bill.PNG Capture gkp sui gas bill.PNG Capture ahref sui gas bill.PNG
Thanks,0 -
Ranking for keywords in multiple zip codes
Hello, We are trying to rank for keywords locally. We are on the edge of four zip codes in our area and are competing with businesses in those zip codes. Should we track each keyword separately for each zip code, or just one zip code we're in?
Keyword Research | | ifixcars0 -
Does the traffic that a page get affects the page ranking?
I am asking this as I would like to know if we can include this advice in our Search strategy. For instance, can we say for the keywords that has high business priority, but we are not currently rank above the fold we can boost the traffic and therefore the organic ranking by investing on these keywords on PPC.
Keyword Research | | aliki_rigopoulou0 -
Bye Bye Keyword Difficulty Tool :(
So the Keyword Difficulty Tool will be retired from the end of this month. Is anyone else worried about this? - because I just don't trust the numbers coming back from Keyword Explorer. Never have. I've even raised this with Moz staff previously, when there was a huge difference between the score given by the keyword difficulty tool vs keyword explorer. From what I see in Domain and Page authority and in the SERPs then the score from keyword difficulty tool, was always more accurate, and thankfully have been able to use both tools, but from next month I feel somewhat uneasy about solely relying on the score from Keyword Explorer. Thoughts? and feel free to run your own tests on keywords and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.
Keyword Research | | GregDixson0 -
Any tools to scan URL to identify keyword opportunities
Hi guys, Looking for tools which can scan content and identify keyword opportunities. I know you can use Google Keyword Planner or tools like Semrush. But was wondering what else there is on the market? Specifically looking for tools which can pull relevant keywords by scanning the content, exactly the same as Google Keyword Planner. Cheers.
Keyword Research | | jayoliverwright0 -
KWs w/ no bids on Google AdWords
When using the Google Keyword Planner to research KWs, is it a correct assumption that if the KW doesn't have a suggested bid, there's probably not going to be a real impact in optimizing for it? Hypothetically, if I saw a high-volume, low-competition KW w/out a suggested bid I'd feel differently, but I'm just seeing it happen with low volume and competition. Thanks,
Keyword Research | | SSFCU
Sarah0 -
Does adding the suffix "-ing" affect ranking for a keyword? E.g. "build" vs "building"
In other words, let's say the keyword I wanted to rank for was "building a home" but the SERP only showed sites ranking for "build a home". If I specifically optimized my page for "building a home" would that increase my chances for ranking for "building a home"?
Keyword Research | | JanssenM.0 -
Is it normal for the keyword difficulty tool to be moderate one month and highly competitive another?
I designed a website a month ago and found moderate keywords to use through the SEOmoz tool. Now when I search them again, they are all highly competitive. Is it seasonal? Should I redo the keywords?
Keyword Research | | lwilkins0