How Can I Find Keywords For My Website? Free 5-Step Guide

Choosing the best keywords for ranking your website is necessary to be discovered online. But you might ask, how can I find keywords for my website?

Finding the right keywords is not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, you do not need a keyword research tool to get started. 

You can simplify your keyword research through a basic Google search. 

Wait, you can do that? 

Absolutely, using Google can be an excellent resource for keyword research.

As a part of this article, I will examine keyword research and explain how Google autocomplete works. In addition, I’ll share my own results and describe what another community member is doing right now.

UPDATED: DECEMBER 28, 2022

Note: We may include products or services that will be helpful to our readers. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please review the affiliate disclosure page.
  1. Why Is Keyword Research Important? 
  2. Why Use Google?
  3. Why Not Use A Standard Keyword Research Tool?
  4. Brief Tutorial On Using Google 
  5. My Results With Google Autocomplete
How do I find keywords for my website? This post will break down how to find keywords to rank your website.

Why is keyword research important?

Keyword research is vital to the success of any online business. Keywords are one of the foundations of building a business online. Without keywords, your website cannot be found via search engines. 

If you’re using search engine optimization, keywords can help get your content ranked at the top. In other words, they can be helpful for social media marketing as well.

When doing your research, you want to keep your target audience in mind. Make sure to pick relevant keywords for the niche you’re in.

How do I find keywords for my website? Search engine marketing is a great component tied to keyword research.

When doing that, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What is my audience looking for?
  2. What kind of products are they looking for?
  3. Can my business help them with the right solutions?
  4. How will they benefit from what I can provide?

Keeping these questions in mind can help keep your audience in mind, especially when it comes to the human element. Picking vague (poorly chosen) keywords may not give you the best results, so choose them carefully.

Why use Google?

Let’s be real: Not only is Google a major tech company, but its search engine is the most widely used one on the internet. By far, it’s the biggest source for acquiring organic (free) traffic to your website.

Let’s break down some of the most recent numbers. Google is the most visited website globally, and it gets 92% of the search volume out of all the search engines online.

The traffic volume between Google, Bing, and Yahoo are as follows:

Google92%
Bing2.78%
Yahoo1.60%
Other search engines (Duck Duck Go, Baidu)3.62 %
Source: Fit Small Business

Along with that, Google averages about 8.5 billion searches every single day. On top of that, there are around 99,000 search queries per second.

How do I find keywords for my website? This graph shows some stats on Google as of 2022.

These numbers are way out of the ballpark, and it proves how powerful of a search engine Google is around the world.

It’s successful because they’re one of the few companies in the world that understand the human language accurately. A lot of time and money is invested into research and development, which it’s certainly paid off.  

As a search engine, they’ve been so much better at providing better information to their users.

One major area that Google lacks is its shopping section. Amazon does two times better when it comes to product search volume and shopping in general.

Compared to what they had 10-12 years ago, their algorithm is very unique, yet largely unknown to most of the world. They understand what type of questions people are asking online.

As a search engine, Google has vastly improved a user’s search experience so that it’s much easier to provide the right answers to commonly asked questions. It will continue to be a powerhouse for a very long time.

Why not use a standard keyword research tool?

It’s important to understand that not all keyword research tools are created equally. Not one tool is perfect, as it won’t always provide 100% accuracy.

Research tools can provide helpful information for picking the right keywords; however, there are no guarantees the keywords you select can get your content ranked on page 1 of Google.

There are some very good tools to utilize, while others are decent, and the rest are not that great. I won’t discuss much in detail in this post, as the focus is using Google as a free resource for keyword research.

But if you’re looking for a keyword research tool as a starting guide, feel free to check out my top recommendation. I will write a full review of my recommendation in a future post.

Find keywords for my website: A brief Google tutorial

If you prefer to pass on keyword research tools, Google search is by far the best way to get started for free. So, let’s break it down into a few steps:

Type in a question or phrase in the search bar

Within the last few years, the best way to find keywords is by asking a question on Google search. 

Why is that? 

Users are typing in questions to find the right answers. Questions are much more common than they were five years ago- when it was just single words or phrases.

If you’re having trouble, think of a random question to start off with. The main point is to find out what people are asking for when looking for helpful information.

Some suggested terms or phrases to use (but not limited to) include:

  • How
  • Are
  • Where
  • Is
  • Don’t
  • Aren’t
  • Why Do
  • Where Do
  • What
  • When
  • Which

Best Tip: Do this search in incognito mode, Or- Do the search through a virtual private network (VPN). If you prefer to not have Google track your search results, it’s a good practice to try out

Use Google autocomplete

Once you type in a question (or phrase), you’ll get a list of predictions that will pop up. Or in some cases, these are questions that people are really searching for on Google.

Or to put it in verbatim, here’s what Danny Sullivan from Google wrote about autocomplete,

Autocomplete is a feature within Google Search designed to make it faster to complete searches that you’re beginning to type….

Autocomplete is designed to help people complete a search they were intending to do, not to suggest new types of searches to be performed. These are our best predictions of the query you were likely to continue entering.

How do we determine these predictions? We look at the real searches that happen on Google and show common and trending ones relevant to the characters that are entered and also related to your location and previous searches.

Danny Sullivan (Public Liason For Search)

So these are real-time results: When typing in these questions, our job as content creators is to simply answer those questions to the best of our knowledge. 

Here’s a brief video that breaks down Google autocomplete:

How Autocomplete Works On Google Search

Let’s discuss brownies

Here’s a good example of finding the right keywords on Google. Let’s talk about brownies, for instance. Below is a screenshot of the autosuggestion when I type in, “making brownies without eggs”.

Here’s what comes up once that term is typed in:

How do I find keywords for my website: By typing in a phrase of questions, I get a list of prediction in Google search bar.

What follows is “how to” terms, along with questions users might be asking. These are predictions that Google is putting into what users are commonly asking for.

How can I get a list of keywords?

You can get a list of phrases and questions by using Google autocomplete. That’s the best place to get started when finding real-time keywords. Also, you can utilize Google Search Console to find more keywords that your website is ranking for.

Watch out for user-generated content on page one

Once you’re on the first page of Google, check for forums and social media posts based on the term you typed in.

Some common Q&A & forums and networks include:

  • Quora
  • Reddit
  • Facebook posts
  • Pinterest pins
  • Niche-specific forums (i.e. the game of chess)

If the target keyword has a post from these sites, that’s a green light right there. That’s a way Google suggests you write content based on the term selected- so it’s a great keyword.

Popular forums and social media posts are where common questions and answers are discovered. Again, that’s what we refer to as user-generated content.

User-generated content for brownies

Going back to the example of brownies, here are some of the results I got on the first page of Google. 

How do I find keywords for my website? Here's an example of user-generated content on page one of Google.

On the first page, I end up getting a Quora post to check out. This one is a good example of user-generated content. 

Here’s another example of a keyword I picked for a recent article I wrote not too long ago. The keyword was “I want to start a business but I’m not good at anything.

How do I find keywords for my website? Here's another example of U.G. content on page 1 of Google.

Targeting a different keyword, I ended up getting posts from Quora and Reddit. These happened to be the first two posts that popped up on page one of Google.

Relevant article from notimekillers.com

Read next on “How can I start an online business for free? Where to go?”, and learn how you can get started on your journey today. Learn about the opportunities that exist today, and my top recommendation to consider.

Use forum questions as potential subheadings

As you conduct keyword research and find forum posts, look at the list of questions provided. There are two things you can do:

  1. You can save them as keywords for future content
  2. Save them as subheadings when writing articles

Why is that? It can help increase your chances of getting ranked at the top. As I just went over, you can get more ideas for future content as well.

How do I find keywords for my website? Common questions can be used as potential subheadings for your article.

In the example of “making brownies without eggs”, you can create content on other topics; for example, a question you can provide an answer to is “What is the best egg substitute for brownies?

These are great questions to refer back to when creating content down the road. Also, it’ll be much easier when you’re trying to brainstorm new topics.

Don’t forget about “People Also Ask”

Another great feature to highlight is checking out “People Also Ask”, or PAA. Basically, it’s a list of other questions users are asking via Google search.

Again, these could be potential content posts to write about later on for your website. 

One of my best practices is to insert these questions throughout your articles, followed by answering them in one-two sentences. If you noticed that throughout this post, feel free to take a look at them more closely.

How do I find keywords for my website? People Also Ask is a list of other questions people may be typing in Google.

An example from earlier

One other thing I like about Google autocomplete is PAA popping up in the right-hand corner. In the case of brownies and chocolate syrup, here are some questions that came up when I typed in a question.

How do I find keywords for my website? PAA is very helpful when looking for keywords on Google.

When I typed in “Can you put chocolate syrup in brownie mix?”, PAA pops up on the right-hand side. Right away, these are excellent questions to consider for creating content down the road.

These questions include:

  • What can I add to my brownie mix?
  • Can we use chocolate syrup instead of melted chocolate? 
  • Can chocolate syrup be used instead of cocoa powder?
  • Where can I use chocolate syrup?

If you write content that answers these basic questions, there are good chances that your posts will rank well. Whenever possible, Google prefers content that directly answers user questions.

My results with Google autocomplete

So far, I’ve had awesome results using this basic method. Although not every one of my articles is ranked on page one of Google, a majority of them are ranking well.

Since I started using Google autocomplete three months ago, I’ve noticed it works much better than using my go-to keyword research tool. 

Oftentimes, I don’t get the best results using this tool. By using Google autocomplete, I’m getting a lot of predictions that pop up in the list.

Basically, Google is giving you ideas on what to write about. It’s kind of like saying, “Hey, we suggest you create content around these topics.” (based on search results)

Where I learned about this practice

I’m not the one who invested in this approach a while back. I have to give credit to a member I follow on a platform I’m on. 

This individual has had a lot of success with his websites by using Google autocomplete for keyword research. He knows a lot more than I do and even admits to not relying on keyword research tools for writing content.

If you would like to learn more about this free method for doing keyword research, I encourage you to check out his first post on this topic. 

Likewise, his second post goes into great detail about more results he got.

If you’re impressed by his approach, practice it yourself. If you want to go a step further, feel free to check out this platform I use to grow my business. It’s by far the best place to start and grow an online business the right way.

Relevant article from notimekillers.com

Read next on “Why is it hard to start an online business? Top 7 factors”, to learn some of the things that people don’t do properly. Know what you can do to avoid these common mistakes.

Final Words

Keyword research is not complicated, nor is it rocket science. If done properly, you can find a ton of great keywords to rank at the top of Google. 

Sure, you can use tools- but if you want to be more effective and save time, I highly recommend doing Google autocomplete. So far, I’ve had great results using this approach.

Using Google as a tool for your online business is something to take advantage of. Rather than use it as a time waster, use it as an effective tool to get your content discovered through organic search.

For a basic guide on getting started today, attached is a brief PDF guide on doing keyword research through Google autocomplete.

Your Turn:  What do you use to conduct keyword research?

I would like to get your thoughts on this topic. Have you been looking for a great way to find keywords for your website?

Have keyword research tools worked out for you? Or have you been disappointed with them sometimes?

Do you think Google autocomplete is effective in getting your content ranked on page one? Do you believe user-generated content is key to performing the best keyword research?

Have you tried this method yet? If so, what results have you gotten so far? 

If you have not done so yet, how will you go about it?

Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. I look forward to reading your responses, and I’ll gladly respond promptly.

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Eric is the owner and chief editor of notimekillers.com. 

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4 thoughts on “How Can I Find Keywords For My Website? Free 5-Step Guide”

  1. Finding good keywords is one of the major secrets to showing up on Google’s first page and driving traffic to your website. From my experience researching keywords, I agree that Google is the best place for researching keywords. 

    It is free, and it has the largest volume of data. I have consisted used Google auto-complete, and it has helped my content show up on the first pages of search engines.

    Reply
    • Hi Ayodeji,

      Doing keyword research through Google is not as difficult as it sounds. Once you understand how to use autocomplete, there are many suggestions that can come up.

      The best part is it’s free to use, and the data can be overwhelming at times. On the other hand, it’s a place where you can get an unlimited amount of keyword opportunities.

      I’m glad to know you’re getting similar results by using Google autocomplete. Once you learn how to use it efficiently, the possibilities are endless.

      Thank you very much for sharing your insights- they’re greatly appreciated.

      Reply
  2. Hello. I usually don’t make research about keywords, because if I just put the company name I’d get millions of results. That’s for my third site about “Greek Snacks”. 

    After reading this post, I tried to put keywords such as “Which is the most popular pasta manufacturer in Greece” or “Which is the most popular Greek pasta company”, the results were a little bit different.

    I tried again, but not with a question this time. I put “Greek pasta manufacturers” and “Greek pasta companies”. This time the results were almost identical. 

    Still, I didn’t get any posts from Quora or Reddit.

    Reply
    • Hi,

      When you type common questions into Google, you may find a lot of user-generated content. Whether that’s through Q & A forums or posts on social media, these questions can potentially be great content ideas.

      That’s the main point I’m getting across: When you ask questions in Google search, the better chances they can be great keywords to target. 

      If you see information from Quora or Reddit, that’s a win-win. Or anything from Facebook or Pinterest, those count as well.

      The key takeaway is finding user-generated content on page one of Google. If you see Quora or Reddit materials, those keywords are great to use.

      Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts- they’re much appreciated.

      Reply

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