What is a good keyword difficulty?

There is no single good keyword difficulty score. The right target depends on how much authority your site has already built. Trying to rank for keywords above your weight class is the single most common reason new sites fail at SEO, because they burn months writing articles that will never reach page one.

Here are the ranges that actually work, grouped by where your site is today:

• Brand-new site (0-6 months, DA under 20): target keyword difficulty 0-20. Focus on long-tail questions and low-competition how-to queries.
• Growing site (6-18 months, DA 20-40): target keyword difficulty 0-40. You can start pushing into category terms.
• Established site (DA 40-60): target keyword difficulty 0-60. Most commercial terms are in range.
• Authority site (DA 60+): target keyword difficulty 0-80. The only keywords off-limits are the top handful of category kings.

Low difficulty is not automatically good. A keyword with difficulty 3 and 10 searches per month is easy to rank for and worthless to your business. The best targets combine low difficulty with meaningful volume and real commercial intent.

A practical rule: for every 5 keywords you research, only 1 or 2 should be above your current target ceiling. The rest should be safely inside it. That ratio is what builds topical authority without burning months on articles that never rank.