Keyword research for small sites

Quick answers

How do I find keywords a new site can rank for?

Look for long-tail queries where the current results are forum threads, thin listicles or pages that answer a different question. Search volume matters less than whether the intent is clear and the incumbents are beatable. A brand-new domain wins by being genuinely more useful on a narrow question, not by targeting the head term.

Do I need a paid keyword tool to start?

No. Google Search Console shows the queries you already appear for, autocomplete and People Also Ask show the shape of a topic, and the results page itself tells you what kind of page Google wants. Paid volume data is useful later, for prioritising, not for finding.

What is the difference between keyword clustering and topic clusters?

Keyword clustering groups a raw list of queries into sets that one page can satisfy, so you do not write three articles competing with each other. Topic clusters are the site architecture built on top of that: a pillar page and its spokes, linked together.

How do I read search intent from a results page?

Look at what actually ranks. Product pages mean transactional intent, comparison articles mean commercial research, and step-by-step guides mean informational. Writing the wrong page type for a query is the most common reason good content never ranks.