Keyword metrics explained

Each keyword in RankYak includes simple metrics that help you understand its potential: Search volume and Keyword difficulty.

These numbers help RankYak determine which keywords to prioritize in your content plan. Below is a breakdown of what each metric means.

📈 Search volume

Search volume shows how many people search for a keyword each month.

• Higher search volume → more potential traffic

• Lower search volume → smaller audiences, but often easier wins

• Very high search volume → usually much more competitive

Search volume gives you an idea of how many people are actually looking for that keyword.

🔒 Keyword difficulty (0–100)

Keyword difficulty is a score that indicates how competitive it is to rank for a keyword.

• Low difficulty (0–30): Easy to rank for, even with a newer site

• Medium difficulty (31–60): You'll need some authority and supporting articles

• High difficulty (61–100): Best targeted when your website has strong authority

The number is representation of how many other websites you'll need to outperform.

🤖 How RankYak uses these metrics

RankYak uses search volume and difficulty to:

• Identify "high-opportunity" keywords

• Decide which cluster to build authority in first

• Plan your content calendar in the most effective order

• Balance easy wins with long-term authority building

You don't have to make ranking decisions manually, RankYak handles this strategy for you.

❓ Why some keywords don't have a difficulty score

Sometimes, you may see keywords without a difficulty number. This can happen when:

• The keyword is very niche

• The market is small or localized

• Certain regions don't have complete difficulty data

This is completely normal. Even without a difficulty score:

• The keyword is still valid

• RankYak can still plan content for it

• It still contributes to ranking its broader topic cluster

Missing difficulty ≠ low value. It simply means the data isn't available, not that the keyword shouldn't be used.

🎯 Summary

• Search volume = how many people search for the keyword each month

• Difficulty = how competitive the keyword is to rank for

• Low difficulty = easier to rank

• High volume = more potential traffic

• RankYak uses both metrics to plan your content strategy

• Missing difficulty scores are normal and don't affect RankYak's ability to use the keyword