Home / Learn / Keyword Research

Keyword Research: How to Find Words People Actually Search

📘 Lesson 3 of 8 ⏱ 15 min read 🌱 Beginner ✅ Quiz at the end

Keyword research is the most important skill in SEO. Get this right and the rest is easy. Get it wrong and you'll write 100 articles that nobody ever reads.

🎯
What you'll know by the end: What keywords actually are, the 4 types of keywords (and which makes money), how to find them with free tools, and the simple framework to pick keywords you can actually rank for.

What is a Keyword? (Simpler Than You Think)

A keyword is just whatever someone types into Google.

That's it. If a person types "best Italian restaurant in Delhi" — that's the keyword. If they type "iPhone 15 reviews" — that's the keyword.

SEO is the art of figuring out which keywords to target on your website, so when those people search, your page shows up.

📝 Example: A Bakery Owner's Keywords

If you own a bakery in Mumbai, your dream keywords might be:

  • "best bakery in Mumbai"
  • "birthday cake delivery Mumbai"
  • "vegan cake near me"
  • "chocolate cake order online"

Each one represents a real person, with real intent, looking for what you offer. Rank for them and you get customers.

The 4 Types of Keywords (Memorize This)

Every search query falls into one of four buckets. Understanding which is which is critical — because targeting the wrong type means writing content nobody wants.

Type 1: Informational ("I want to learn something")

Examples: "how to bake cake", "what is SEO", "why is the sky blue"

The user wants knowledge. They're not buying anything. They're learning. Most blog posts target informational keywords.

Best for: Building traffic, educating audience, getting backlinks

Worst for: Direct sales (these visitors aren't ready to buy yet)

Type 2: Navigational ("I want to find a specific site")

Examples: "facebook login", "amazon", "youtube"

The user already knows where they're going — they just used Google to get there.

Best for: Your own brand keywords (e.g. people searching "SEOSchoolPro")

Worst for: New websites trying to compete with established brands

Type 3: Commercial ("I'm comparing options")

Examples: "best laptops under 50000", "Semrush vs Ahrefs", "iPhone 15 reviews"

The user is about to buy — but still deciding which option. These keywords are gold for affiliate sites and product comparisons.

Best for: Affiliate revenue, product reviews, comparison content

Type 4: Transactional ("I'm ready to buy NOW")

Examples: "buy iPhone 15 online", "Mumbai cake delivery same day", "SEO course price"

The user has decided. They want to buy. Whoever ranks here gets the sale.

Best for: Product pages, service pages, e-commerce

💰
The money truth: Informational keywords get you traffic. Commercial and transactional keywords get you customers. The smartest SEO strategy targets all 4 — but starts with the one that fits your business.

The 3 Numbers That Define Every Keyword

When you research a keyword, three numbers tell you if it's worth targeting:

📊 The Keyword Triangle
  1. Search Volume — How many people search this per month?
  2. Keyword Difficulty — How hard is it to rank? (Usually a score 0-100)
  3. Search Intent — What does the searcher actually want?

Volume: How Big Is the Audience?

Search volume tells you how many people search for that exact phrase per month. You'll see numbers like:

  • 10K-100K = Big topics, lots of competition
  • 1K-10K = Sweet spot for most blogs
  • 100-1K = Easier to rank, smaller audience
  • 0-100 = Very specific, very low competition

Difficulty: Can You Actually Win?

Most keyword tools give you a "Keyword Difficulty" score from 0 to 100:

  • 0-20: Easy. New sites can rank.
  • 20-40: Moderate. Need decent content + a few backlinks.
  • 40-60: Hard. Need strong site authority.
  • 60-100: Very hard. You're competing with Wikipedia, Forbes, etc.
⚠️
Beginner mistake: Going after high-volume, high-difficulty keywords. A new blog will never rank for "make money online" or "SEO" as their first article. Start small, build authority, then aim higher.

Intent: Does Your Page Match What They Want?

This is the one most people miss. Even if you have great content, if it doesn't match search intent — you won't rank.

Example: Someone searches "how to bake cake".

  • ✅ Right page: A step-by-step recipe with photos
  • ❌ Wrong page: A page selling cake-making courses

Even if your sales page is amazing, Google won't rank it because the user wanted information, not a purchase. Match the intent.

How to Find Keywords (Free Method)

You don't need expensive tools to start. Here's the exact process I use with my students.

Step 1: Brainstorm Seed Keywords

Write down 5-10 broad topics related to your business. These are your "seeds."

🌱 Example: SEO blog seed keywords
  • SEO basics
  • Keyword research
  • Backlinks
  • Google rankings
  • SEO tools

Step 2: Use Google's Free Suggestions (The Goldmine)

Go to Google. Type one of your seed keywords. Don't press enter. Look at the dropdown.

Those autocomplete suggestions? That's what people are actually searching. Free real-time keyword data, straight from Google.

Now type your keyword + the alphabet:

  • "keyword research a..."
  • "keyword research b..."
  • "keyword research c..."

Each letter shows new ideas. This single trick can give you 100+ keyword ideas in 10 minutes — for free.

Step 3: Check "People Also Ask" and Related Searches

Search any keyword in Google. Two free goldmines appear:

  • "People Also Ask" box — questions real people ask about this topic
  • "Related Searches" at the bottom of the page — adjacent keywords

Both give you instant ideas for blog posts that already have proven demand.

Step 4: Use Free Tools to Get Volume Data

Now you have a list of keyword ideas. Time to check which ones get traffic. Free tools to use:

  • Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account) — official volume data
  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free) — basic keyword data for sites you own
  • Ubersuggest (free 3 searches/day) — quick volume + difficulty
  • AnswerThePublic (free 3 searches/day) — question-based keywords

Step 5: Steal From Competitors

Find the top 3 sites in your niche. Check what's working for them. Free trick:

  1. Go to your competitor's blog
  2. Look at their most-shared, most-commented posts
  3. That's their winning content — proof those topics work

You can also use Ahrefs' free "Site Explorer" to see what keywords any site ranks for (limited free data).

The Long-Tail Strategy (How Beginners Win)

Here's the secret that took me years to figure out: don't fight the giants. Win in the corners.

Instead of targeting "SEO" (impossible), target:

  • "SEO for small business in India"
  • "how to learn SEO without a course"
  • "SEO for restaurant websites in Delhi"

These are long-tail keywords — longer phrases with lower volume but much lower competition. A new website can actually rank for these in months.

💡
The 70/20/10 rule: 70% of your content should target easy long-tail keywords. 20% medium-difficulty. 10% your dream "big" keywords. This way you get traffic NOW while building toward bigger wins.

The Beginner's Keyword Checklist

Before targeting any keyword, ask yourself:

✅ Pre-Flight Checklist
  • Volume: Does it have at least 100 searches/month?
  • Difficulty: Is the difficulty under 30 (for new sites)?
  • Intent: Can I create the type of page Google is showing for this keyword?
  • Relevance: Does this keyword match my business?
  • Competition: Are the top 10 results just blogs (good) or massive brands (bad)?

If you can answer "yes" to all 5 — that's a keyword worth targeting.

Real Example: Picking a Keyword Step by Step

Let's say you want to write an article about cake recipes. Here's how the research goes:

  1. Seed: "chocolate cake recipe"
  2. Volume check: 50,000 searches/month — too competitive
  3. Long-tail variation: "easy chocolate cake recipe without oven"
  4. Volume check: 1,200 searches/month — still good demand
  5. Difficulty: 18 (low) — beatable for a new site
  6. Intent: Recipe with steps + photos — clear and matchable
  7. Decision: ✅ Write it

That's it. That's keyword research. Find the corners where there's real demand but low competition, and write the best possible page for that exact intent.

Quick Quiz Test what you learned
A user searches "best running shoes 2026". What type of keyword is this?
Correct! "Best X" keywords are commercial — the user is comparing options before buying. These are gold for affiliate and review content.
Try again. The answer is Commercial. The user isn't just learning (informational), isn't buying yet (transactional), and isn't going to a specific site (navigational) — they're comparing options before purchasing.
Quick Quiz
You're starting a brand new SEO blog. Which keyword should you target FIRST?
Exactly! The long-tail keyword wins. Lower volume, but you can actually rank — meaning real traffic in months, not years. Build authority first, then aim higher.
Not quite. The answer is C. The first three are too competitive for a new site — you'd write articles nobody ever reads. The long-tail keyword has lower volume (320), but with difficulty just 12, you can rank in 2-3 months. Win the corners. Don't fight the giants.

Practice This Right Now

Want to apply what you learned? Try our free SERP Preview tool — it shows you how the top-ranking pages format their titles and descriptions for any keyword. Pattern-match the winners.

Key Takeaways

🎓
Remember these forever:
  1. A keyword = whatever someone types into Google
  2. 4 types: Informational, Navigational, Commercial, Transactional
  3. 3 numbers: Volume, Difficulty, Intent
  4. For a new site, target long-tail keywords with difficulty under 30
  5. Use the 70/20/10 rule — most content easy, some medium, a few hard
  6. Free tools: Google Suggest, Keyword Planner, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, AnswerThePublic