Keyword Research Step 2: Analyzing Keywords—Metrics

Keyword research metrics—terms to know

Though we’ve learned the three determining attributes to analyze keywords, other metrics are involved too. A look at the keyword analysis report created by a keyword research tool will show multiple metrics to gauge a keyword’s worth.

Using different keyword research tools, we will discover that there are several technical terms that we either haven’t come across before or do not completely understand. To utilize the outcomes of these tools to their true potentials, we should be proficient with the language they use.

Listed below are some common terms that will show up in keyword analysis reports, along with their meaning and significance.

Cost per click (CPC)

Cost per click is the amount that advertisers pay for a single click on an ad that appears for a particular keyword on Google Ads. It is an important metric in determining the costs and returns on our paid search campaigns. In the keyword analysis report, the CPC column gives us the average price that we will have to pay if we choose to bid on the keyword.

In organic SEO, CPC can help us gauge the worth of the keyword. If advertisers are willing to spend a decent amount of money into the keyword, the higher its potential to lead to conversions. At the same time, a very high CPC also suggests that advertisers are paying high to beat organic results. We might have a harder time getting our page to appear high organically for the keyword if there are a lot of advertisers in the niche.

Competition or keyword difficulty

Competition or keyword difficulty (KD) are two different terms used for the same attribute. This attribute is a measure of how easy or difficult it is to rank for the keyword. Google Keyword Planner shows the competition score as one out of three levels, high, medium or low. Semrush shows KD as a percentage score, with a higher percentage signifying greater difficulty to rank for the keyword.

Search volume

Search volume refers to the number of searches that the keyword gets, typically during a month.

SEO difficulty

SEO Difficulty is a metric that Ubersuggest uses to distinguish the keyword difficulty in organic search from its "paid difficulty" score.

Paid difficulty

Ubersuggest uses the metric "paid difficulty" to gauge the competition for the keyword in paid campaigns.

Trends

This metric gauges the popularity of the keyword over time. It may also refer to the differences in the interest level of people in a keyword by region. The best tool to observe keyword trends is Google Trends, though other SEO tools also give us a fair idea on this kind of information. By looking at the changes in interest over time, we can predict the long-term potential of the keyword.

In the picture below, we can see that the interest level (on a scale of 100) in the search term "pet collar" is fairly constant over the course of last year. It might be safe to say that the interest will last in the future too. Depending on our research, we can adjust the horizontal scale to observe the trend over our preferred time period.