Keyword Efficiency Index
How to single out the best keywords in terms of competition/search demand ratio
The most comprehensive measure of a keyword’s usefulness for an SEO campaign is its Keyword Efficiency Index (KEI) – a ratio between competition and search volume. Professional SEOs use KEI to pick the best keywords with the highest number of searches and the lowest competition.
| Color marker | Value | Meaning |
|
1 or higher | good |
|
0.5 | average |
|
0 | poor |
If you sort keywords in your area by the KEI column, the green ones will top the list and are usually the ones to be considered in the first place.
Please keep in mind, however, that KEI is a relative value making it convenient to compare keywords to each other. It doesn’t mean that less efficient keywords should always be ignored. They can be valuable sources of traffic as well. In some keyword niches, KEI for all keywords can be close to 0 which is absolutely fine. You can still sort the list by the KEI column and single out the most efficient terms.
Improving KEI precision
While the KEI formula stays unchanged, you can adjust data Rank Tracker uses to calculate it to the specific market you target. There are 2 ways to do it:
- through the Competition settings (Preferences -> KEI Settings -> Competition)
- through the Number of Searches settings (Preferences -> KEI Settings -> Number of Searches)