Keyword research in five steps using free tools

Keyword research means finding out what words and questions your customers actually use to search for what you sell. It is the foundation of all search visibility: a site optimised for the wrong words can rank well and still produce nothing.

In this guide I go through how keyword research is done in practice without expensive tools, how search terms are put in order of priority, and the most common mistakes that undo the whole exercise.

Why keyword research comes before anything else

Many companies write content about subjects that feel important to them and then wonder why no visitors arrive. The reason is almost always the same: nobody searches with the words the pages were built for.

Keyword research turns that around. First you establish what is searched and how much, and only then decide which pages and content to make. The same research serves several purposes at once:

• Site structure. Every important group of search terms gets its own page, rather than everything sitting on the home page.
• Content plan. Blog topics with genuine demand behind them.
• Google Ads. The same words tell you which clicks are worth paying for. We cover the paid search side in more detail on our Google Ads service page.
• Customer understanding. Search terms reveal which words customers use and where in the buying process they are.

How to do keyword research in five steps

1. Collect a raw list from your own head and from customers

Start by listing 20 or 30 words and questions you would use to search for your own services. Add the terms customers use on the phone and in emails. Customers’ words are often different from a professional’s: you sell ”plumbing contracting”, the customer searches for ”plumber price”.

2. Expand the list with Google’s own hints

Three free sources go a long way:

• Google autocomplete. Type a search term and see what Google suggests after it.
• Related searches at the bottom of the results page.
• Google Search Console, if your site is already live: it shows which searches already find you and where you sit at position 8 when you could be at 3.

3. Find the volumes and the competition

Google’s Keyword Planner comes free with a Google Ads account and gives monthly search volumes as ranges. For an SME a range is enough: what matters is telling a word searched 10 times a month from one searched 1,000 times, not decimal precision.

4. Identify the search intent

The same volume can mean very different value. Sort the words into three baskets:

Intent	Example	What you build for it
Buying search	”roof renovation price Tampere”	A service page aimed at an enquiry
Comparison search	”metal roof or tile roof”	A comparison article that leads to the service page
Information search	”how long does a roof renovation take”	A guide article that builds trust

Buying searches are the most valuable but the most competitive. Comparison and information searches are easier to reach the top of, and they bring the customer to your site before a competitor gets in between.

5. Prioritise: one term, one page

Choose one main page for each important group of search terms. A group means the main term and its close variants: ”keyword research”, ”keyword research guide” and ”how to do keyword research” belong on the same page, not on three different ones.

A simple scoring is enough for prioritising: volume, strength of buying intent and a realistic chance of ranking. Start with the terms where all three are at least reasonable.

Long-tail search terms are an SME’s advantage

A long-tail search term is a more specific, longer search that happens less often but converts better. ”Websites” is short and impossible; ”website price for a small business” is already winnable, and the searcher is clearly closer to buying.

Ten long-tail terms each bringing 30 visitors a month is worth more to an SME than one competitive term whose top position is fought over by large players with advertising budgets. Reaching the top is realistic in weeks or months, not years.

Four mistakes that undo keyword research

Optimising for industry language. The company talks about ”digital solutions”, the customer searches for ”website for small business”. Use the customer’s words, even when they feel imprecise.

Staring at volume alone. High volume without buying intent produces visitors who never buy. A hundred right visitors beat a thousand wrong ones.

The same term on several pages. When more than one of your pages competes for the same term, Google does not know which to show and often neither ranks properly.

Treating it as a one-off. Search behaviour changes, and AI search is changing it fast right now. Update the research at least once a year and add the question-shaped searches people put to AI services. More on that on our GEO service page.

What happens after the research

The research is worthless if it stays a spreadsheet. Turn it straight into action: fix the site structure so every important group of terms has its own page, build a content calendar from the comparison and information topics, and set up tracking in Search Console. Three months later you will see which terms are moving and where to add effort.

If you would rather we did the research and the implementation for you, take a look at our search engine optimisation service.

Competitor analysis reveals the gaps

The fastest way to find winnable search terms is to look at what your competitors already rank for. Free tools give you a direction: put a competitor’s address into Ubersuggest or Ahrefs’ free Site Explorer view and see which pages bring them the most traffic.

Two groups are the most interesting. The first is terms several competitors rank for and you do not: those are the basic vocabulary of the field that you are missing. The second is terms nobody ranks for properly. If the first page is full of imprecise results, the demand exists but a decent answer does not. That is the best possible situation.

Look also at how competitors have structured their sites. If three competitors have a separate page for each service and you have everything on one page, you know what to fix.

Seasonality is worth accounting for

In many industries searches concentrate in certain months. Roof renovations are searched in spring, accounting firms at the turn of the year, gifts in November. Google’s Keyword Planner shows the monthly distribution, and Google Trends shows the longer-term development.

From this follows a practical conclusion: content has to be published well before the season. SEO works with a lag of months, so a page aimed at the spring season is written in January, not April. Advertising can be timed more precisely, because it works immediately.

Record the results in a usable form

Turn the results into a table with, for each group of terms: the main term, estimated volume, search intent, target page and current position. That table is your content plan and your tracking tool at the same time.

Update the position column quarterly with Search Console data. You will see immediately which pages are moving in the right direction and which are stuck. A stuck page needs either better content, more internal links or a more realistic target term.

Frequently asked questions

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of establishing what words and questions potential customers use to search for a company’s products or services, how many searches there are and how strong the competition is. The results determine the site structure and the content.

What does keyword research cost?

Done yourself it costs only time, because Google’s tools are free. Bought in, keyword research is usually part of the start of SEO work; as a separate job, research for an SME typically costs from a few hundred to around a thousand euros depending on scope.

Which tools suit keyword research?

You get a long way for free with Google’s Keyword Planner, autocomplete and Search Console. Paid tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush add competitor data, but they are not a requirement for good research.

How many keywords per page?

One main term and its natural variants. A page can rank for hundreds of long-tail searches, but it should be written around one subject rather than cramming several different topics into the same text.

How often should keyword research be updated?

A light update once a year is enough for most. Search Console is worth checking monthly though, because it reveals new rising searches and pages sitting at positions 5 to 15 that would reach the top with a little work.