How I Did Keyword Research Without Spending a Single Rupee
Why Every Digital Marketing Strategist in Palakkad Focuses on Keyword Research? Keyword research is one of the first skills every digital marketer must learn. It helps you understand what your audience is searching for, and it guides the content, ads, and SEO strategy you build. The good news is that you don’t need an expensive subscription to get started. There are several free tools that can give you solid keyword ideas, search volume estimates, and insight into what your competitors are ranking for. Here’s how I approached it myself, along with the tools I used.
1. Brainstorm Your Own Keyword List
I started by simply brainstorming keywords related to a topic. This step doesn’t need any tool — just write down every version of your topic you can think of. For example, if your niche is “running shoes,” you might write down variations like “best running shoes,” “running shoes for beginners,” or “affordable running shoes.” Other examples could be “WordPress SEO,” “coffee shop near me,” or “digital marketing course.” The idea is to think from the user’s point of view and list out as many natural phrases as possible before checking which ones people actually search for.
2. Test Each Keyword With Google Autocomplete
Next, I typed each keyword into Google, one by one, and paid attention to the autocomplete suggestions. For example, typing “digital marketing course” showed suggestions like “digital marketing course with certificate,” “digital marketing course fees,” and “digital marketing course for beginners.” Some of my original ideas didn’t show up as suggestions at all, which meant fewer people were searching for that exact phrase, so I dropped those. I repeated this process for every keyword on my list, and only the ones that actually appeared in autocomplete made it to my shortlist. This is a completely free way to see what people are genuinely searching for in real time.
3. Check Search Results and Related Searches
For each shortlisted keyword, I searched it directly on Google, scrolled through the results, and checked the “related searches” section at the bottom of the page. This gave me a few more keyword ideas and also showed me which websites were already ranking — useful for a quick competitor analysis.
4. Use Google Ads Keyword Planner
To go deeper, I used Google Ads Keyword Planner, which is free to access even without running paid ads. I searched each shortlisted keyword and checked the average monthly search volume and competition level for each one. This helped me understand which keywords had decent search interest without too much competition — ideal for a beginner trying to rank.
5. Cross-Check With Other Free Tools
To validate my findings, I also ran the same keywords through Ubersuggest and AnswerThePublic. These tools gave me additional keyword variations and question-based phrases people search for, which helped confirm my final choice and gave me a few extra content ideas along the way.
6. Organize and Decide
After collecting data from all these sources, I compared the search volume, competition level, and relevance of each keyword and picked the one with the best balance — decent search volume with low competition. Putting everything into a simple spreadsheet with columns for keyword, search volume, and competition made the final decision much easier.
Final Thoughts
Keyword research doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. By combining Google autocomplete, related searches, Google Ads Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, and AnswerThePublic, I was able to build a solid, data-backed keyword list without spending any money. As a beginner, this exercise also trained me to think the way my audience thinks — which is one of the most valuable skills in digital marketing.
Written by Afrose Abuthahir, a leading Digital Marketing Strategist in Palakkad.