Keyword tools can cost more than the rest of a small site's budget. You do not need them to start. Google itself shows you what people search for, for free, in five places. This lesson walks through each, then shows how to turn the list into one clear keyword per page.
1. Search Console: the keywords you already have
Your best keywords are the ones Google already connects with your site. In Google Search Console, open the Performance report and look at the Queries tab.
Sort by impressions. You will find searches where your pages appear but rarely get clicked. Those are the easiest wins: Google already thinks you are relevant, and a better page, title or section can move you up. Filter to one page to see which searches it is shown for.
2. Google autocomplete
Start typing your topic into Google and stop before the end. The suggestions are real searches, sorted roughly by popularity. Then try adding a letter after your topic, "store bread a", "store bread b", to see more.
Autocomplete is especially good for the way people phrase a need: "how to", "best", "near me", "for beginners". Those words tell you the search intent behind the keyword.
3. People also ask
On many results pages, Google shows a box of questions. Each one is a long-tail keyword with a clear intent, and clicking one opens more. Write them down. They make excellent H2 headings and Questions sections, because they are literally what people ask.
The full on-page checklist we use on every page, free by email.
4. Related searches
Scroll to the bottom of the SERP for "People also search for" or related searches. These show the other ways people describe the same need, and the next question they ask. They are useful for finding words to use naturally in your text, and for spotting a topic that deserves its own page.
5. Google Keyword Planner
Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account; you do not have to run ads. Enter a few words or your website and it suggests related keywords with rough monthly search volumes. Without an active ad budget the volumes are shown as wide ranges, which is still enough to tell a big keyword from a tiny one.
From a list to one keyword per page
You now have a list. Turn it into a plan:
- Group by need. Keywords that want the same answer belong to one page. "How to store bread", "keep bread fresh" and "bread box or fridge" are one page, not three.
- Check the results page. Search each main keyword. If the top results are product pages and you planned a guide, choose a different keyword. The lesson search intent in plain language explains how to read this.
- Prefer specific over popular. A new site wins with long, specific keywords first.
- Pick one main keyword per page, then use it in the title tag, the H1 and the first paragraph, where it reads naturally. The lesson how to write title tags that get clicked shows how.
A worked example
A small bakery wants more visitors to its blog. In Search Console, one post about sourdough gets 400 impressions a month for "sourdough starter not rising" but only three clicks. That search is the first job: the post mentions the problem in one line, so it gets a full section with the causes and fixes.
Autocomplete for "sourdough starter" adds "how to feed", "smells like acetone" and "in the fridge". People also ask adds "How do I know my starter is ready?". Those become H2 headings in the same post, because they all serve the same reader: someone looking after a starter for the first time.
Keyword Planner shows "sourdough bread recipe" is searched far more, but the results page is full of big recipe sites. The bakery keeps it for later and writes first for the specific searches it can win now.
Repeat this every few months. Search Console keeps showing new searches as your pages grow.
This is lesson 2 of the Keywords & Content series. When a page is written around its keyword, run the free audit to check it.
