Where the score comes from
Keyword difficulty is an industry term. We did not find it on the Google Search Central pages we read on 9 October 2026. The numbers you see come from the companies that sell SEO tools.
Each tool has its own method, and we have not compared them. So a score of 40 in one tool does not mean the same as 40 in another. Read the help page of the tool you use, and check what scale it uses.
What Google says about rankings
Google's starter guide says there are no secrets that will automatically rank your site first in Google. It says some changes take effect in hours and others can take several months. So no score can promise a position. Treat it as a rough guide for choosing where to start.
A made-up example
A modular kitchen maker in Pune can afford to write two new pages a month. A tool gives these made-up scores:
- modular kitchen: score 78. Many large sites compete for it.
- modular kitchen designer in Pune: score 42.
- modular kitchen for a 2BHK (two bedrooms, hall and kitchen) flat in Pune under ₹3,00,000: score 11.
The third phrase is easier to rank for. It is also close to what a real buyer types when ready to ask for a quote. Before choosing, the maker opens the search results for each phrase and looks at who is already there. If the first page is full of big brands, the work will be hard. If it holds weak or old pages, there is room.
That last step is our advice. A tool score is a guess. The real results page is evidence.
How to use the score
- Use it to sort a long list of keywords into groups. Do not use it to decide a single page.
- Read it together with search intent. A phrase may be easy and still bring people who never buy.
- Compare scores only inside one tool.
- Look at the live results page before you write.
Common mistakes
- Treating the score as something Google uses or publishes.
- Comparing numbers from two different tools.
- Going only for the lowest scores, even when nobody searching those words would buy.
- Avoiding every high score. A high score on a word that matters to your business may still be worth a long, steady effort.
- Ignoring local words. A phrase with a city name often has a different picture from the general phrase.
Related terms
- Keyword research: finding the words your buyers search for.
- Long-tail keyword: a longer, more specific search phrase.
- Search intent: what a person wants when they type a search.
- SERP (search engine results page): the page of results Google shows.
- Backlink: a link to your site from another site.
To pick keywords for your own site, read about keyword research or see our SEO (search engine optimisation) work.
Sources
- Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide (developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide), read 9 October 2026. Used only for the statements on rankings and time. Google Search Central pages we read do not define keyword difficulty.
