Documentation · 4 minute read
How Scout estimates keyword difficulty
One score helps you compare opportunities. Two supporting measurements explain the authority of the competitors already ranking.
How we calculate it
Scout looks at the first 10 organic Google results for the exact keyword, country and language, using desktop results. We calculate two authority scores on a 0–100 scale and use the higher supported score as the combined difficulty shown in your planner.
- Domain authority
- How strong are the websites already ranking? We take the median DataForSEO domain rank across the 10 positions, then convert it from the provider’s 0–1000 scale to 0–100. The median reduces the influence of one unusually strong or weak website. This is not Ahrefs Domain Rating.
- Page backlinks
- How strong are the links to the individual ranking pages? We use a page-weighted calculation: 90% page rank and 10% domain rank. We use every page with usable rank and backlink evidence and show how many of the 10 pages support the estimate. For example, nine usable pages produce an estimate from 9/10 pages; the missing page is not counted as zero.
- Combined difficulty
- The higher of those two scores. When page evidence is partial, we compare its estimate with the domain score. If no page has usable evidence, we use the domain score. If domain evidence is incomplete, the combined score is Unknown.
Example: missing backlinks cannot make a keyword look easy
Domain authority: 38. Page backlinks: Unknown. Combined difficulty: 38/100. If complete page evidence instead produces 55, the combined difficulty becomes 55/100.
Unknown and zero mean different things
An all-zero backlink response can mean the provider has no usable record. We do not treat it as proof of weak competition. A zero rank supported by recorded backlinks can be valid. Missing results, corrected searches, incomplete domain evidence and failed requests can leave the combined score Unknown. Partial page evidence produces an approximation; a small sample may overrepresent pages with strong backlinks, so treat estimates from only one to three pages with particular caution.
Unknown keywords receive no easy-keyword bonus when Scout selects opportunities. They may still be selected for their demand and business relevance.
What this score can tell you
Lower scores suggest weaker competing authority; higher scores suggest stronger authority. This is an experimental comparison, not a measured probability of ranking. It does not assess content quality, search intent, your website’s strength or how much work a particular page needs. Compare the actual search results and your business relevance before committing to a topic.
Saved successful assessments are reused for up to 30 days. Incomplete or failed attempts can be retried after one day. Results can change as Google rankings and the backlink index change. The original provider difficulty is retained for comparison, but does not determine the combined score.
The calculation in detail
Domain score = round(sin(median domain rank / 636.62) × 100).
For each position, weighted rank = (0.9 × page rank + 0.1 × domain rank) / 500. Page score = round(100 × (max(mean weighted rank, median weighted rank) − 0.2) / 0.8).
Page-score means and medians use only the available page/domain pairs. No values are invented for missing pages. Scores are bounded to 0–100. Combined score = max(domain score, available page estimate). The domain score uses all 10 positions, including multiple pages from the same domain.