How to pick the right keywords from your list
A keyword generator gives you options, and your job is to pick the few that fit your site. This free keyword research tool returns up to 100 ideas that contain your seed keyword. Check each one against four questions:
- Does the intent fit the page you want to build? An informational keyword needs a guide or a clear answer. A commercial or transactional keyword needs a product, service or comparison page.
- Can you realistically rank? Compare the keyword difficulty (KD) with the strength of your site. A newer site with few backlinks should start with low scores.
- Is there enough demand? Search volume shows how many people look for the term each month. A small number is fine when the people searching are ready to buy.
- Is the traffic valuable? A high cost per click shows that advertisers pay well for these visitors, which usually means buyers are searching.
The best targets sit where these meet: clear intent, a difficulty score you can compete with and steady demand. Start with those, and save the hardest terms for later.
What the numbers in the table mean
Your seed keyword's own numbers appear at the top of the results, and every idea in the table gets the same four metrics. All of them are for Google in the country you picked.
Search volume
The average number of Google searches per month for that exact keyword. Because it is an average, a seasonal keyword can be much busier in some months and quieter in others. Use it to compare ideas, not as a precise count.
Keyword difficulty
A score from 0 to 100 that estimates how hard it is to reach the top 10, based on the backlinks of the pages that rank there. Low scores mean the current results have few links. High scores mean you are up against well-linked pages and will need links of your own, not only strong content.
Cost per click
The average amount advertisers pay for one click on a Google ad for the keyword, shown in USD. Even if you never run ads, CPC is a quick signal of commercial value.
Search intent
What the searcher wants: information (informational), a specific site or brand (navigational), to compare options before buying (commercial), or to buy or act now (transactional). Check the intent before you write, because a sales page rarely fits a keyword where people want a how-to guide.
Why long-tail keywords are a smart place to start
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific searches, such as "trail running shoes for wide feet" instead of "running shoes". Each one has fewer searches, but they tend to be easier to rank for and closer to a decision. Together, a group of them can bring steady traffic.
Because this generator returns ideas that contain your seed, most results are long-tail variations of it. If a seed has fewer than 10 variations, related keyword ideas are added, so you still have options to work with.
Turn question keywords into content
Open the Questions tab to see ideas that start with words such as how, what, why, can and is. These are questions people type into Google, in their own words. Use them to:
- Plan how-to guides and explainers around one main question.
- Write FAQ sections with short, direct answers.
- Choose subheadings for a longer article, one question per section.
The same kinds of questions come up when people ask AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini. If you want your brand to appear in those answers too, see how AI search optimization works.
From keyword list to content plan
- Export and clean the list. Download the CSV and remove ideas that do not fit your business.
- Group ideas by meaning. Keywords that mean the same thing, such as "free keyword tool" and "keyword tool free", belong on one page. Two pages chasing the same search tend to compete with each other.
- Pick one main keyword per page. Choose the idea with the best mix of volume, difficulty and intent, and use close variations in headings and copy.
- Check the results page. Run the main keyword through the SERP checker to see which sites rank and what kind of pages Google shows.
- Confirm the difficulty. For your shortlist, the keyword difficulty checker adds a 12-month trend, SERP features and the average number of referring domains in the top 10.
Tips for better keyword ideas
- Try several seeds. Use synonyms, product names and the words your customers use, not only industry terms.
- Keep seeds short. A one or two word seed matches more variations than a long phrase.
- Check each market. Volume, difficulty and CPC change by country, so run the same seed for every country you sell in.
- Do not ignore low volume. A keyword with only a few dozen searches a month can still bring customers if the intent is right.