Free SEO Tools

Keyword Difficulty Checker

Check how hard a keyword is likely to be to rank for. See an estimated difficulty score from 0 to 100, its search volume and intent, and the average backlink profile of the pages ranking in the top 10.

Your search query is sent to WriterFlowLab's server and our SEO data provider (DataForSEO) to return these results. It is not added to the page address or sent to analytics.

Keyword difficulty is DataForSEO's estimate of how hard it is to reach the top 10 organic results, on a 0–100 scale. It is an estimate, not a guarantee of ranking. The labels (very easy to very hard) are WriterFlowLab's presentation bands around that number.

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How the difficulty score works

The score comes from DataForSEO, our SEO data provider. It estimates the difficulty of reaching the top 10 organic results on a 0–100 scale, where higher means harder. WriterFlowLab groups the number into bands to make it easier to read:

  • 0–20 Very easy
  • 21–40 Easy
  • 41–60 Moderate
  • 61–80 Hard
  • 81–100 Very hard

The bands are WriterFlowLab's presentation of the underlying number, not part of DataForSEO's metric. A low score does not guarantee a ranking and a high score does not make one impossible. Content quality, how well a page matches search intent and a site's existing authority all matter.

Using difficulty in practice

  • Newer or smaller sites usually make faster progress with lower-difficulty keywords that still match their audience.
  • Compare the top 10 averages with your own site. If ranking pages have far more referring domains, plan for a longer effort or a more specific keyword.
  • Check the results page itself. A keyword dominated by big brands or by video and shopping results can be harder in practice than its score suggests.

Learn more in what is keyword difficulty?, or find easier alternatives with the Free Keyword Research Tool.

Limitations

  • Difficulty is an estimate. Different SEO tools calculate it differently, so scores are not comparable across tools.
  • Backlink averages describe the pages ranking in the top 10 as seen in the provider's data, and backlink databases vary between providers.
  • Free checks are limited per day.

Privacy and your data

  • Unlike our browser-only writing tools, this tool needs a server: the keyword you enter is sent to WriterFlowLab's server and to DataForSEO, our SEO data provider, to return these results.
  • The keyword is not added to the page address, saved in your browser or sent to Google Analytics. Our analytics only record that a search happened, which tool was used and the country selected.
  • Results are cached on our server for up to seven days so that repeating the same check does not request the data again. The cache holds the keyword with its results and is deleted when it expires.
  • To apply the free daily limit, our server keeps a one-way hashed version of your IP address (not the address itself) for up to three days. No account or email address is needed.

Like the rest of the site, this page also uses Google Analytics and Google AdSense, as described in our privacy policy.

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