Keyword research is the bit of SEO that everyone talks about and half the people do wrong. Done well, it tells you exactly what your customers are searching for and where you have a realistic chance of ranking. Done badly, you end up writing content for keywords that either no one searches for or that you’ll never rank for in a thousand years.
Here’s how to do it properly, with tools ranging from free to expensive.
What You’re Actually Looking For
Before you open any tool, get clear on what you want. You’re looking for keywords that have three things going for them:
- Search volume — enough people are actually searching for this
- Relevance — the people searching genuinely want what you offer
- Achievable difficulty — you have a realistic chance of ranking given the competition
The mistake most people make is chasing high-volume keywords and ignoring difficulty. “Digital marketing agency” has enormous search volume. It also has enormous competition — you’re going up against agencies with massive budgets and thousands of backlinks. A new site targeting that keyword is a waste of everyone’s time.
Start Free: Google Itself
The most underused keyword research tool costs nothing and is available to everyone: Google.
Type your seed keyword into Google and look at:
- Autocomplete suggestions — what Google fills in as you type
- People Also Ask — questions directly related to your topic
- Related searches — at the bottom of the results page
These aren’t random. They’re real searches that real people are doing. If Google is autocompleting “keyword research for beginners” and “keyword research free tools,” those are legitimate targets — people are actually searching for them.
Google Keyword Planner
Free with a Google Ads account (you don’t need to run any ads to use it). Keyword Planner gives you search volume ranges and competition data from Google’s own dataset. It’s not perfect — the volume is often shown as a range rather than a precise number, and it’s optimised for advertising decisions rather than organic search — but it’s a solid free starting point.
Use it to validate your ideas and find variations you hadn’t thought of.
Google Search Console
If your site already has traffic, Search Console is gold. Under Performance → Queries, you can see exactly what people are typing into Google to find your site. This is real data about real searches that are sending real people to your pages — use it to find keywords you’re already ranking for but could push higher, and to discover angles you haven’t written about yet.
AnswerThePublic (Free Tier)
AnswerThePublic takes a keyword and generates hundreds of related questions, comparisons, and phrases. The free tier limits your daily searches, but it’s genuinely useful for finding long-tail keywords and question-based content ideas. Particularly good for blog content and FAQ sections.
Paid Tools: When They’re Worth It
If you’re doing SEO seriously and at any kind of scale, paid tools save enormous amounts of time. The main ones are Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. They all do broadly similar things:
- Accurate search volume data
- Keyword difficulty scores
- Competitor keyword analysis — what is your competitor ranking for that you’re not?
- SERP analysis — who’s currently ranking and why
- Traffic estimates
Ahrefs is generally considered the strongest for keyword research and backlink analysis. Semrush is broader and includes paid search data. Both are expensive — around £100–£120 per month for a meaningful plan. If you’re a small business doing your own SEO, start free and upgrade when you’ve exhausted what the free tools can tell you.
The Process, Start to Finish
- Start with seed keywords — the obvious terms for what you do. “Accountant Manchester.” “Wedding photographer London.” “Email marketing software.”
- Expand with tools — use autocomplete, People Also Ask, and Keyword Planner to find variations and related terms
- Filter by difficulty — if you’re a new site, ignore anything that shows high competition. Target low-to-medium difficulty keywords where you can realistically rank
- Check intent — look at the current results for your keyword. Are they articles, product pages, or local listings? If your content format doesn’t match what’s already ranking, you’re probably targeting the wrong keyword
- Prioritise by opportunity — the sweet spot is decent volume, achievable difficulty, and clear commercial intent
One Thing Most People Get Wrong
They treat keyword research as a one-time task. It isn’t. Your competitors’ rankings change. New search trends emerge. Your own site gains authority over time, which means keywords that were too competitive six months ago might be achievable now.
Check in on your keyword strategy every quarter. Update your target list. Look at what’s moved and what hasn’t. Keyword research is ongoing — not a spreadsheet you build once and forget about.
The Bottom Line
You can do useful keyword research for free using Google, Search Console, and Keyword Planner. Paid tools are faster and more precise, but they’re not necessary to get started. Whatever tools you use, the same principle applies: find terms with real search volume that you can realistically rank for, then write genuinely good content targeting those terms. That’s it. No tricks required.
