How to know how hard it would be to rank for a keyword?

Hi Guys,

Ive been looking at a few different keywords for my site (australian) and was wondering what's the best way to know if its worth going for if its to competitive etc. just looking for some low end keywords to get started

Thanks in advance.

 

Use Google keyword and adwords tools to find out the competition.

 

thanks still new to seo...is there a way to find out say how many backlinks would be need to get ranked well?

 

You can't predict the number but it depends on how old your site is or its all new. If its old like in say 5 yrs..and doing well for specific keywords then its kind of trusted brand, then it may take 4 to 6 six months to get appreciable rank..check for google adwords tool for competition of keywords.

 

yep the site is about 6 years old and just trying to target my local suburb really

 

its better to go for long tail keywords if the competition for the desired keyword is very high. Its better to start off with low end keywords, this will generate some ROI for you before you go full throttle with your competitive keywords.
Usually it is not so difficult to rank a website in Google places but again it depends on your competitors too.
Hope this helps.

 

It really depends on the competition, they keyword, if you want to rank it locally etc.

 

Ranking depends on so many SEO factors. You can try Market Samurai to find out about the top 10 competition.

 

As an SEO, you are supposed to know what helps a website rank.
So, look for those signals in your top 10 competitors, analyze fully a website, check their backlinks, etc.
Tools could be good, but sometimes they show metrics which , when taken in isolation, don't tell you anything.