KEI also the Keyword Effectiveness Index is a generated number. It’s like a science, but it’s always changing.
If you get my keyword research, you will get a giant list of keywords from me and one of the columns is the KEI. It’s sort of confusing column because it has some really great terms with some really low numbers and some not so great terms with a really great number. I love KEI, but I also take it as a moving target and an indicator that a word is semi-trending. You can see these numbers fluctuate if you watch the same words a lot. It is a great place to start though, so that is why I include it on this reporting.
KEI is just math though. It’s a math equation.
KEI= (DS / C X DS)
DS = Daily Searches
C = Competition
Daily searches is how many times that word is searched daily. I believe google averages the daily searches across a time frame. They haven’t released this time frame that I know of. It might be a week or a month or a year. I don’t really know. They have a number though and that goes into this equation.
Competition is just 1 for every website that uses that exact keyword.
KEI can be zero all the way up to more than 400.
If you are looking at my reporting and you see any number higher than zero. That is a great place to start even if that number is 0.0001. That’s a place.
There are other factors though to look at beyond KEI though and so even the zero KEI words can use some attention if they are consistent with what your site works with and is in your range of services. There are some fields with little search traffic where the majority of searches are zero KEI. You can use the number of searches as a great indicator of where to start too. I usually narrow down my keyword lists pretty good as well, so you won’t go wrong adding information that supports any words on the report.
The very best place to start for any website though is the basics of your field. You want a good informational area that will give visitors the basics and help add to your expertise in your field. So for any site before you start over analyzing the numbers make sure the basics are covered.