How to Do Free Keyword Research???

John CH said:
Keyword research is most important for SEO & PPC. If you fail to find proper keyword research, your project might be fail. This is one of the pillar of success. Good keywords = more visitors, better rankings, more money. How to Do Free Keyword Research:

Start with Google: Type in your main niche keyword, check autosuggest and "People Also Ask". That is pure gold for long-tails.

Use Free Tools:

  • Google Keyword Planner - Yeah, it's for ads but still good for ideas.
  • AnswerThePublic - It is great for questions and prepositions.
  • Keyword Sheeter - You can find hundreds of suggestions fast.
  • Ubersuggest (limited free) - Decent overview of volume + competition.

Check Reddit & Quora: Search your topic, see what people actually ask. Real user intent = easy to rank. This type keywords always easy to rank for any site.

Keyword Surfer: You can install keyword surfer (browser extension) it helps you to find keyword. exact search volume.

Check Your Competitors: Keep their URLs, run them through tools like SimilarWeb or SEOquake (browser extension). You can see the original difference between your and their sites.

Export & Filter: Keep everything into Google Sheets. Sort by keywords relevance, volume, intent & KD.

If you do this, You may find your desire keyword.
Click to expand...
  • Google Search – Use autosuggest & People Also Ask.
  • Free Tools – Try Google Keyword Planner, AnswerThePublic, Keyword Sheeter, Ubersuggest.
  • Reddit & Quora – Find real user questions (easy to rank).
  • Keyword Surfer – Chrome extension for search volume.
  • Check Competitors – Use SEOquake or SimilarWeb.
  • Export & Sort – Use Google Sheets to filter by volume, intent, and difficulty.
 
Advertise on BHW
you can perform effective keyword research using several free and reliable tools. Here are some excellent options I recommend:

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools:
This tool offers in-depth keyword insights and SEO data for your own website. You can identify keyword opportunities, track organic traffic, and find technical issues—all for free. It's ideal for auditing and optimizing your existing content.

Keyword Surfer:
A free Chrome extension that displays search volume, keyword suggestions, and related terms directly in Google search results. It's fast, easy to use, and perfect for quick keyword discovery while browsing.

Wordtracker:
Provides keyword suggestions along with search volume and competition level. It’s especially useful for discovering niche-specific long-tail keywords and creating targeted content strategies.

WordStream:
Great for both SEO and PPC keyword planning. Just enter a term, and you’ll get a list of relevant keyword ideas along with their competitiveness and estimated cost-per-click (CPC) metrics.
 
Another great way to find keyword ideas is to look at what people are asking on forum like Reddit and Quora. It tell you the real user intent and often uncovers less competitive keyword
 
Free keyword research is 100% possible if you follow the right process.
I always start with Google autocomplete and 'People Also Ask' to get real search patterns.
Reddit and Quora help uncover what users actually care about which usually turns into low competition, high-conversion keywords.
Tools like Keyword Surfer and AnswerThePublic are helpful too. At the end of the day, it's all about targeting the right intent, not just volume.
 
Solid breakdown! Free keyword research methods are underrated, especially for beginners or low-budget projects. Personally, I also use Google Trends to validate keyword seasonality, and sometimes combine AnswerThePublic data with Reddit threads to find content gaps. Thanks for sharing this — very practical list!
 
I don’t understand how you can do professional SEO using free keyword research tools. For me, clients cover the cost of paid tools, so there’s no reason to make my life harder. How do you manage it? Just curious.
 
Thanks for the detailed guide!
At first, I actually thought this was a question, but then I realized it was a full guide
Really helpful.
 
Awesome list! Quick question - how do you usually balance keyword difficulty vs. volume? Do you target low-comp first or go for high-volume with strong content?
 
Free tools I actually use:

  • Google Keyword Planner – It’s built for ads but still gives keyword ideas and volume estimates. Not bad for free.
  • AnswerThePublic – If you want question-based keywords, this is amazing. Limited free searches, so use wisely.
  • Keyword Sheeter – Dump in a seed keyword and boom… hundreds of suggestions in seconds.
  • Ubersuggest (Neil’s tool) – Limited free plan, but enough to get basic data like volume and competition.
 
Best Free tools I actually use:

  • MangoTools - 5 querys free ( best )
  • Seranking - 3 querys free ( best )
  • Google Keyword Planner – It’s built for ads but still gives keyword ideas and volume estimates. Not bad for free.
  • AnswerThePublic – If you want question-based keywords, this is amazing. Limited free searches, so use wisely.
  • Keyword Sheeter – Dump in a seed keyword and boom… hundreds of suggestions in seconds.
  • Ubersuggest (Neil’s tool) – Limited free plan, but enough to get basic data like volume and competition.
 
You can do free keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Answer The Public, or Google Search itself (check autocomplete and related searches). Just type your topic and see what people are searching for.
 
John CH said:
Keyword research is most important for SEO & PPC. If you fail to find proper keyword research, your project might be fail. This is one of the pillar of success. Good keywords = more visitors, better rankings, more money. How to Do Free Keyword Research:

Start with Google: Type in your main niche keyword, check autosuggest and "People Also Ask". That is pure gold for long-tails.

Use Free Tools:

  • Google Keyword Planner - Yeah, it's for ads but still good for ideas.
  • AnswerThePublic - It is great for questions and prepositions.
  • Keyword Sheeter - You can find hundreds of suggestions fast.
  • Ubersuggest (limited free) - Decent overview of volume + competition.

Check Reddit & Quora: Search your topic, see what people actually ask. Real user intent = easy to rank. This type keywords always easy to rank for any site.

Keyword Surfer: You can install keyword surfer (browser extension) it helps you to find keyword. exact search volume.

Check Your Competitors: Keep their URLs, run them through tools like SimilarWeb or SEOquake (browser extension). You can see the original difference between your and their sites.

Export & Filter: Keep everything into Google Sheets. Sort by keywords relevance, volume, intent & KD.

If you do this, You may find your desire keyword.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing, But also add AI Like ChatGPT, Grok etc, are today powerful and use for keyword research.
 
Use free tools like Google Suggest, Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, and Keyword Surfer to find keywords with good volume and low competition.
 
John CH said:
Keyword research is most important for SEO & PPC. If you fail to find proper keyword research, your project might be fail. This is one of the pillar of success. Good keywords = more visitors, better rankings, more money. How to Do Free Keyword Research:

Start with Google: Type in your main niche keyword, check autosuggest and "People Also Ask". That is pure gold for long-tails.

Use Free Tools:

  • Google Keyword Planner - Yeah, it's for ads but still good for ideas.
  • AnswerThePublic - It is great for questions and prepositions.
  • Keyword Sheeter - You can find hundreds of suggestions fast.
  • Ubersuggest (limited free) - Decent overview of volume + competition.

Check Reddit & Quora: Search your topic, see what people actually ask. Real user intent = easy to rank. This type keywords always easy to rank for any site.

Keyword Surfer: You can install keyword surfer (browser extension) it helps you to find keyword. exact search volume.

Check Your Competitors: Keep their URLs, run them through tools like SimilarWeb or SEOquake (browser extension). You can see the original difference between your and their sites.

Export & Filter: Keep everything into Google Sheets. Sort by keywords relevance, volume, intent & KD.

If you do this, You may find your desire keyword.
Click to expand...
Great summary! I'd also add that combining Reddit/Quora insights with long-tail keywords from AnswerThePublic can uncover low-competition gems. For deeper filtering, try using Google Sheets with basic formulas to prioritize by search intent and volume. Works wonders when you're on a budget.
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top