Keyword research sounds technical, but at its core it’s simply the practice of finding out what your potential readers are actually searching for — and writing content that matches those searches.
Writers who do keyword research before writing consistently get more organic traffic than those who write first and optimize later. The reason is straightforward: if you’re writing about a topic nobody searches for, or writing about it in a way that doesn’t match how searchers phrase their questions, Google can’t connect your content with interested readers.
Here’s how to do it well, starting from zero.
What Keywords Are (And Aren’t)
A keyword is any word or phrase someone types into a search engine. Some are a single word (“copywriting”), most are phrases (“how to become a freelance copywriter”), and the most specific ones are questions or long sentences (“what’s the difference between copywriting and content writing”).
What keywords are not:
- Magic words you need to repeat a specific number of times
- The entire story of SEO (search intent, content quality, and site authority matter too)
- Fixed targets that don’t change (search trends evolve constantly)
The value of keyword research is knowing which topics to cover and what angle to take on them — so your content aligns with what real people are actually looking for.
For a comprehensive overview of the tools and tactics used by professional SEO teams, Ahrefs’ blog publishes some of the most detailed free keyword research guides available.
The Keyword Research Process
Step 1: Start With Seed Keywords
Seed keywords are the broad topic terms you’re starting from — the obvious words related to your subject matter.
If you run a copywriting blog, your seed keywords might be: copywriting, content writing, email marketing, landing pages, freelance writer.
Write down 10–20 seed keywords that describe your content area. These are your starting points, not your targets — they’re too broad and too competitive to target directly.
Step 2: Expand to Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases. “Copywriting” is a head term. “How to become a freelance copywriter with no experience” is a long-tail keyword.
Long-tail keywords are typically:
- Lower competition: fewer websites are targeting the exact phrase
- Higher intent: more specific queries indicate the searcher is further along in their thinking
- Lower volume: but still meaningful — even 200 searches/month is worth targeting for the right business
To find long-tail keywords from your seed keywords:
Google Autocomplete: Start typing your seed keyword in Google and read the suggestions. These are real queries real people make.
People Also Ask: The PAA box in search results shows related questions. Each one is a potential keyword and article angle.
Related searches: At the bottom of Google results pages, related searches show adjacent queries that your target audience is making.
Google Search Console: If your site has any existing traffic, Search Console shows you what queries are already bringing visitors. These are often better targets than hypothetical keywords because you already have some relevance signal.
Step 3: Evaluate Keywords
Once you have a list of potential keywords, evaluate them by:
Search volume: How many times per month is this keyword searched? Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, and Ahrefs show this. Don’t dismiss low-volume keywords — 100 targeted searches per month from the right audience can be more valuable than 10,000 untargeted ones.
Keyword difficulty: How competitive is this keyword? Measured on a 0–100 scale in most tools. New or low-authority sites should target lower-difficulty keywords (0–30). More established sites can compete for moderate difficulty (30–60).
Search intent match: Search the keyword in Google. What type of content is ranking? Articles, tools, product pages? If you’re writing a blog post and the results are all product pages, that keyword is better suited to a different content type.
Business relevance: High-volume keywords in your niche might not be relevant to your specific audience or business goals. A copywriting blog that ranks for “free Microsoft Word templates” gets traffic but probably not from people interested in copywriting.
Free Keyword Research Tools
You don’t need expensive tools to do effective keyword research. Here’s what’s available for free:
Google Search Console — free, essential, shows actual search queries driving traffic to your site. Best for expanding existing content.
Google Keyword Planner — free with a Google Ads account. Shows search volume ranges and competition levels. Volume data is somewhat compressed for non-advertisers.
Ubersuggest — limited free tier that shows keyword volume, difficulty, and suggestions. Good for exploratory research.
AnswerThePublic — free limited use. Shows questions and prepositions related to a seed keyword. Excellent for finding long-tail question keywords.
Ahrefs Keyword Generator — free tool that shows top keywords related to a seed term and their volume.
Google Trends — free. Shows whether keyword interest is rising or falling over time. Useful for avoiding topics in decline.
Understanding Search Intent
The most technically perfect keyword optimization won’t rank if your content doesn’t match what the searcher actually wants.
Before targeting any keyword, ask: what is someone actually trying to accomplish when they type this?
Examples:
- “best email marketing software” → commercial investigation intent. The searcher wants a comparison to make a decision. Write a roundup.
- “how to write a subject line” → informational intent. The searcher wants to learn. Write a how-to guide.
- “email marketing examples” → informational with visual component. Provide real examples.
- “mailchimp pricing” → commercial/transactional. They’re evaluating a specific product.
Matching content format and angle to search intent is often more important than technical keyword optimization.
Topic Clusters: The Modern Keyword Strategy
Modern SEO thinking has moved away from targeting isolated keywords toward building topic clusters — groups of related content that collectively build topical authority.
A topic cluster consists of:
- Pillar page: a comprehensive, high-level overview of a broad topic (“Complete Guide to Email Marketing”)
- Cluster content: individual articles targeting specific subtopics within the broader theme (“Email Subject Line Best Practices,” “How to Build an Email List,” “Email Marketing Automation”)
The cluster content pages link back to the pillar, and the pillar links out to the cluster content. This internal linking structure signals to search engines that your site has comprehensive coverage of the topic.
Why this matters: Google increasingly rewards topical authority — sites that have thoroughly covered a subject area — over isolated, keyword-optimized pages.
Keyword Research in Practice
A simple keyword research workflow for a new article:
- Identify the broad topic you want to write about
- Generate 10–15 related keywords using autocomplete, PAA, and related searches
- Check each for volume, difficulty, and intent using free tools
- Select a primary keyword that balances reasonable volume, achievable difficulty, and clear intent alignment
- Note 3–5 secondary keywords (related questions, synonyms) to cover naturally in the article
- Check the top 5 ranking results for your target keyword — note what they cover and what they miss
That’s the foundation. The rest is writing content that answers the searcher’s question better than what’s currently ranking.
After you have your keywords and understand their intent, the next step is putting them to work effectively in your content. Our full guide on how to write SEO content that ranks covers the complete writing and optimization process. And for turning your keyword research into a structured content plan, see our SEO content brief guide.