How to do keyword research with free tools
Keyword research is finding out what your customers type when they look for what you sell, and how many of them type it. Paid tools make it faster, but Google's own free tools show the same demand, and Search Console shows something no paid tool can: the searches your site already appears for.
Each sounding opens its section
- 01 Start with what you already appear for 56 words
- 02 Read Google’s own suggestions 61 words
- 03 Use Keyword Planner for volume 52 words
- 04 Use Google Trends for timing 47 words
- 05 Sort the list by intent 72 words
- 06 Choose which to target 62 words
- 07 One search, one page 47 words
- 08 Questions people ask 110 words
- 09 Free competitor gap report 106 words
- 10 More guides 32 words
- Words
- 645
- Site 366–1,117 · median 749.5
- Sections (H2)
- 10
- Site 3–14 · median 9
- Internal links
- 8
- Site 1–36 · median 19
- File
- 70.7 kB
- HTML, uncompressed · of 83.6 kB budget · 0 scripts
Start with what you already appear for
Search Console’s Performance report lists the real searches your site was shown for, with the impressions, clicks and average position of each. Sort by impressions. The searches with many impressions and a position beyond the first few results are where to start: Google already connects your site with them.
Read Google’s own suggestions
Google shows what people search for in three places, all free.
- Autocomplete: the suggestions that appear as you type.
- People also ask: the questions listed in the results.
- Related searches: the list at the foot of the page.
Type each product or service you sell, and write down every suggestion that a customer of yours might make.
Use Keyword Planner for volume
Keyword Planner is part of Google Ads. Enter a search and it returns the monthly volume and a list of related searches. Without a running campaign the volumes are shown as ranges, which is enough to tell a search made by thousands from one made by dozens.
Use Google Trends for timing
Google Trends shows how interest in a search rises and falls through the year, and how two searches compare. It answers two questions the other tools cannot: when demand peaks, and which of two names for the same thing people use more.
Sort the list by intent
A search tells you what the person wants. Sort the list into three groups.
- Buying: searches that name a product or service, often with a place or the word “price”.
- Comparing: searches with “best”, “review” or “versus”.
- Learning: searches that begin with “how”, “what” or “why”.
Buying searches go to service and product pages. Learning searches go to guides. Each group needs a different kind of page.
Choose which to target
Three things decide whether a search is worth a page: whether the person searching could become a customer, whether enough people search it, and whether the sites already ranking are ones you can match. Search each candidate and read the results. A page of national brands is a harder contest than a page of businesses your own size.
One search, one page
Each chosen search, with its close variations, belongs to one page. Write the list down as a map: this search, this page. Where a search has no page, that is a gap, and our guide to finding content gaps takes it from there.
Questions people ask
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the work of finding the words people use when they search for what you offer, estimating how often each is searched, and choosing which to build pages for.
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Yes. Keyword Planner is free to use with a Google Ads account, and the account does not need a running campaign. Without ad spend it shows search volumes as broad ranges.
How many keywords should one page target?
One main search and its close variations. A page that tries to cover several different subjects answers none of them well, so a different subject gets its own page.
Free competitor gap report
Your competitors have already done their keyword research, and it shows in the pages they built. Name up to three and we measure what they are found for against what you are found for, then send you the searches worth going after first.
- Speed and technical health, side by side
- On-page SEO and site structure
- The content they are found for and you are not
- Who holds the searches that matter in your market
- A prioritised list of what to fix first
Request your free report by email
- Address
- contact@hadalmedusa.com
- Include
- your site; up to three competitors; where you compete