> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.rankability.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.rankability.com/researcher/keyword-opportunities-and-scoring.md).

# Keyword opportunities and scoring

Rankability uses several keyword metrics for different decisions. A high number in one column does not mean the same thing as a high number in another. Confirm the label and the workflow before prioritizing a keyword.

## Researcher Opportunity score

**Opportunity** is a 0–100 prioritization score in Researcher result tables. A higher score means the keyword looks more attractive under the currently available market data. It combines:

* search volume, weighted on a logarithmic scale;
* keyword difficulty, with easier terms receiving more weight;
* intent, with transactional and commercial intent weighted more heavily than informational or navigational intent;
* CPC as an additional commercial-value signal.

Opportunity is not a forecast of traffic, revenue, or the probability that your client will rank. It does not know every strategic constraint, conversion rate, content requirement, or competitive advantage.

When search volume is missing or zero, Rankability shows a dash instead of manufacturing a score. Treat that as **insufficient demand data**, not as a score of zero and not as proof that nobody searches for the topic.

## Domain Performance score

The **Perf.** column in Explore domain is also 0–100, but it answers a different question: how strongly is the analyzed domain already performing for this keyword? It combines the domain’s current position, search volume, and keyword difficulty.

Use Performance to understand the analyzed site’s existing footprint. Use Opportunity to judge whether a term may deserve further investigation for your client. A competitor can have high Performance on a keyword that is a poor fit for your client, and a high-Opportunity keyword can have low Performance because the analyzed site barely ranks for it.

## Keyword difficulty

**KD** estimates how competitive a keyword may be. Lower values generally indicate an easier market, but KD is one input rather than a go/no-go rule. It does not account fully for your client’s topical authority, assets, local relevance, link profile, content quality, or business value.

Compare KD only within the same country and data context. Data-provider updates and changing SERPs can move it over time.

## Keyword Overview KO Score

**KO Score** belongs to Keyword Overview, not the main Researcher table. It is a deeper 0–100 assessment of the keyword itself, before any particular site's authority is considered, and it keeps two questions deliberately separate:

* **Value** — how worth winning the keyword is, from search intent, CPC, and search volume.
* **Attainability** — how defended the current first page is, from keyword difficulty, the median domain strength and referring domains of the top three and top ten results, how many strong domains hold the page, and the special results competing for the same space.

Demand cannot make a defended SERP easy, so a high value score does not lift a low attainability score. Keyword Overview also names the **limiting factor** so you can see which half is holding the assessment back.

KO Score grades the opportunity from excellent through very hard. When the first page does not supply enough competitive evidence, Rankability reports insufficient data instead of a score — a missing difficulty value is not evidence that a keyword is easy. Reports produced before the current model are labelled as using the legacy scoring model; do not compare their numbers with current ones.

Unlike Researcher Opportunity, KO Score uses current SERP competition and feature context. Do not treat a Researcher Opportunity filter as a KO Score filter or compare the two values as though they were produced by the same model.

## A practical prioritization workflow

1. Run Discover, Explore domain, Keyword gap, or another Researcher mode in the correct country.
2. Remove keywords that are irrelevant to the client’s offer, audience, location, or content strategy.
3. Use Opportunity, volume, KD, CPC, and intent to create a shortlist.
4. Open important candidates in **Keyword Overview** and review KO Score, the competitive SERP, intent, and ranking-page types.
5. Check whether the client already ranks, already has a suitable page, or would create unnecessary overlap with existing content.
6. Save approved terms to a keyword list, create content, or add them to Track.

For existing pages, first-party Search Console performance and a live rank check can be more decision-relevant than a third-party opportunity estimate. For a new topic, strategic fit and the type of pages Google rewards can matter more than a small difference between two scores.

## Example

Suppose two keywords have Opportunity scores of 78 and 72. The first is informational and only loosely related to the client’s service; the second is commercial, matches a profitable service page, and has a SERP the client can realistically compete in. The score alone favors the first keyword, but the complete evidence can make the second the better priority.

## Common mistakes

* **Choosing the highest score automatically** — Recheck intent, relevance, the existing site, and the SERP.
* **Treating a dash as a bad score** — A dash means the score lacks a usable volume signal.
* **Comparing countries** — Run both candidates in the same market before comparing their metrics.
* **Using Performance as opportunity** — Performance describes the analyzed domain’s current footprint.
* **Using Opportunity as KO Score** — Open Keyword Overview when you need the deeper SERP-aware calculation.
* **Treating estimates as current client performance** — Use GSC, Track, and live rank evidence for that question.

## Related articles

* [Analyze keywords](/researcher/analyze-keywords.md)
* [Explore domain keywords](/researcher/explore-domain-keywords.md)
* [Find keyword gaps](/researcher/find-keyword-gaps.md)
* [Manage keyword lists](/researcher/managing-keyword-lists.md)
* [Create a content project](/copywriter/creating-a-content-project.md)
* [Set up keyword tracking](/track/setting-up-keyword-tracking.md)