Keyword research without expensive tools: a free method that still finds what people search

Keyword tools are useful, but they mostly repackage data that Google shows for free, and their volume figures are estimates anyway. For a small business or a new site, a careful free method often produces a better list, because it starts from what real people type rather than from a database.

This is the process we would use with no budget at all.

Step 1: Write down the seed topics

List the five to ten things you sell or do, in the words a customer would use, not your internal jargon. A clinic might say “root canal” rather than “endodontic treatment”. Ask your sales or front-desk team what customers actually say on the phone.

Step 2: Mine Google's own suggestions

Type each seed into Google slowly and note the autocomplete suggestions. Then try the seed followed by each letter of the alphabet (“root canal a”, “root canal b”…), and by words like cost, near me, vs, best, how, for. Autocomplete reflects real, frequent searches, which makes it one of the most honest sources available.

Step 3: Collect “People also ask” and related searches

Search each seed and open the “People also ask” box. Every question you click reveals more. Scroll to the bottom for related searches. These questions are ready-made headings and FAQ entries, and they are exactly the kind of query AI assistants answer; see how to get recommended by ChatGPT.

Step 4: Get real volumes from Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account. Without active ad spend it usually shows volume ranges rather than exact numbers, which is still enough to tell a keyword with dozens of monthly searches from one with thousands. It also shows a rough cost per click, a good hint at commercial value: advertisers pay more for words that lead to sales.

Step 5: Check what you already rank for

If your site has been live for a while, Search Console is the most valuable free keyword tool you have, because it shows queries Google already connects with you. The quickest wins are in positions 8 to 20; we explain the full process in finding keywords stuck on page two.

Step 6: Sort by intent

Put each keyword into one of four buckets. Intent matters more than volume, because it tells you what kind of page can rank and whether the visitor is likely to buy.

Step 7: Judge difficulty by looking at page one

Free tools rarely give a reliable difficulty score, so look yourself. Search the keyword and study the top ten results:

• Mostly huge brands, marketplaces and Wikipedia? Hard. Look for a more specific variation.
• Forums, small blogs or thin pages in the top ten? Very winnable.
• Results that only partly match the query? Google is short of a good answer. Write it.
• Maps, shopping or video boxes taking the top of the page? Plan for that format too, or expect fewer clicks from a regular listing.

Step 8: Group keywords into pages

One page should target one main topic and the close variations of it. If two keywords would be answered by the same page, they belong together. If they need different pages, separate them. This prevents two of your own pages competing for the same search.

Save the hours, keep the method

The free method works, but it is slow: collecting suggestions letter by letter, checking volumes one at a time, opening page one for every idea. ARIQ's Keyword Research tool does those steps for you: it gathers Google's suggestions and questions for any country, adds Google Ads volume and cost per click, groups ideas by intent, and analyses today's top ten to score difficulty. It is included in the free trial, and you can send the best keywords straight into rank tracking.

Once a page is live, measure it properly. Our guide to the GA4 reports worth opening shows where to see whether visitors from those keywords convert.