How do you adjust your keyword difficulty formula for different search engines?

To succeed in SEO, focus on Google unless there's a clear reason to target other search engines, considering your market share and audience. Know your users' preferences, be mindful of regional variations, and adapt to different search engine algorithms and behaviors for optimal results. Thank you for reading my comment! If you have any questions or would like to discuss this topic further, please feel free to message me directly ?? ?If you found these tips helpful, give this post a thumbs up??

Unless you have a specific strategy or reason to target other search engines, stick to targeting Google. Google has 85-90% of the search engine market share, followed by Bing.

Since different search engines use different algorithms, the search results vary and it's worthwhile trying one you don't normally use if the results of your query are not as expected. Some search engines including Google can be biased so using an unbiased search engine like DuckDuckGo or Quant may produce results more aligned to your expectations. If your target audience has a significant number of people who like to protect their privacy, then search engines that don't analyse personal data or track advertising is worth considering.

Keyword difficulty is like trying to crack a secret code too many times. While there’s no universal formula, I keep these fun factors in mind: 1. Researching engine algorithms and adjusting the strategy accordingly. 2. Using specialized tools for accurate estimates and compare results. 3. Assessing competition ( SERP) and content quality of top-ranking websites. 4. Consider user search intent to create relevant content that meets their needs. 5. Monitor keyword rankings and adjust the strategy if needed. Keyword difficulty is as relative as our favorite pizza topping, what’s tough for one site might be easier for another. Grab the keyword toolkit and get ready to slice through it.

Start by selecting the search engine(s) that are most relevant to your target audience and industry. While Google is the dominant search engine globally, other platforms like Bing, Yahoo, and regional search engines may have different ranking algorithms and user behaviors. Understanding which search engines your audience uses will guide your keyword difficulty analysis.

The loading speed of your website and its mobile friendliness are two elements that you can control but are often forgotten when analysing ranking factors.

Research and analyze the specific ranking factors and algorithms of your chosen search engine(s). Each search engine uses a combination of factors to determine rankings, including but not limited to, relevance, authority, user experience, and technical optimization. Identify the key factors that influence rankings on your target search engine(s) and consider how they impact keyword difficulty.

Each search engine looks at different things when ranking websites. Some focus more on what’s on your page, like content and titles, while others care more about links from other sites. Understand what matters most for the search engine you're targeting to figure out how hard it is to rank for a keyword.

If the keyword difficulty is exceptionally high, it suggests a number of big players are competing for the keyword. Consequently, it will take a great deal of your time and effort to rank for it and you may want to consider an alternative keyword.

It's important to consider the factors behind the score, such as: Backlinks: The number and quality of backlinks to top-ranking pages. Domain authority: The overall authority of the domains ranking for the keyword. Content quality: The quality and relevance of the content on top-ranking pages. SERP features: The presence of featured snippets, knowledge panels, etc., can affect competition. Alternatives to SEO tools: While SEO tools are great for in-depth analysis, here are some other ways to gauge keyword difficulty: Analyze the SERP: Manually evaluate the top-ranking pages to see their authority, quality, and backlink profile.

Most keyword difficulty scores aren't useful. The most popular ones are fundamentally based on backlinks. Anyone who's done keyword research before knows what it's like to find a valuable topic with a low keyword difficulty score, only to realize well-funded, recognizable brands already dominate the search results. You want to identify what topics belong to separate topic clusters you don't already have content for but for which you're already ranking in the top 20-70 results. Those are the topics that will have a lower "personalized difficulty" for your specific domain.

Utilize your keyword difficulty formula to assess the competitiveness of keywords on your target search engine(s). This may involve analyzing metrics such as search volume, competition level, backlink profile, domain authority, and on-page optimization factors. Calculate a keyword difficulty score based on these metrics to gauge the level of effort required to rank for a particular keyword.

To see how tough a keyword is, look at the top pages for that keyword. Check how many links they have, how strong their websites are, and how good their content is. You can determine how competitive the keyword is by scoring and averaging these.

Instead of relying on a Keyword Difficulty score that may not be accurate, it's always best to check the search results manually for the keyword. This can be cumbersome to do for many keywords, which is why tools like KeywordChef can do it in bulk for you. (Disclaimer: I'm the founder of the tool).

Analyse the SERP results and don't rely on only one single keyword difficulty tool. There are many to choose from and you should consider both paid and free options. Your tool of choice can also be used as a benchmark when required.

Tailor your keyword difficulty formula to account for the unique ranking factors and algorithms of each search engine. For example, if a particular search engine places greater emphasis on domain authority or social signals, you may need to adjust your formula to give more weight to these factors. Experiment with different weighting schemes and metrics to create a customized keyword difficulty formula optimized for your target search engine(s). By adjusting your keyword difficulty formula to account for the specific characteristics of different search engines, you can more accurately assess the competitiveness of keywords and optimize your SEO strategy accordingly.

Different search engines care about different factors, so adjust your keyword difficulty formula to fit each one. Change the weight of certain factors based on their importance, which will give you a better idea of how hard it will be to rank and how to optimize your content.

If you are new to this, don't try and compete for highly competitive keywords. Consider long-tailed keywords that are easier to rank for until you are more experienced. Although they have lower volumes, they are more targeted and could be at times a better option.

SEO is not the same for every search engine. Always keep an eye on changes in how search engines rank websites, and update your strategies to stay competitive and improve your rankings.