How Do You Actually Do Keyword Research for Startups?

Here's what usually happens:

You launch your startup. You're excited. Your product solves a real problem. You build a website, maybe write a few blog posts about your features, and then... nothing. Crickets. Your traffic dashboard looks like a flatline, and you're wondering if Google even knows you exist.

*(Spoiler: Google knows. Google just doesn't care yet.)*

Meanwhile, your competitor—who launched six months after you—is somehow ranking on page one for keywords you didn't even know existed. How?

They're not smarter. They're not better funded. They just understood one thing you didn't: Keyword research isn't about finding popular words. It's about finding the questions your buyers are already asking.

Why Keyword Research for Startups Is Different

If you've read generic SEO guides, they'll tell you to "target high-volume keywords" and "build domain authority." Great advice—if you're a 10-year-old company with a content team and a six-figure SEO budget.

But you're a startup. You have maybe one person (probably you) writing content between product sprints, customer calls, and trying to remember to eat lunch. You can't compete with enterprises for terms like "best CRM software" *(42,000 monthly searches, dominated by companies spending $50K/month on links)*.

Here's what works instead:

• Target low-competition keywords – Terms with 100-1,000 monthly searches that established players think are "too small" to bother with. *(They're wrong. These add up.)*
• Focus on buyer intent – People searching "how to choose project management software" are further along the journey than those searching "what is project management."
• Go long-tail – "AI meeting notes for remote teams" beats "AI meeting notes" every single time for a startup. Specificity = less competition + better conversions.
• Answer real questions – Your customers are typing their frustrations into Google right now. Find those exact phrases. Write content that solves them. Rank.

This isn't about gaming the algorithm. It's about showing up where your buyers are actually looking—and giving them something genuinely useful when they find you.

Step 1: Find Your Seed Keywords (The Human Way)

Before you touch a keyword tool, you need to understand how real humans talk about the problem you solve. Tools show you search volume; humans show you actual language.

Start With Your Customer Conversations

Open your support tickets. Read your sales call transcripts. Scroll through your customer Slack channels. Look for:

• The exact phrases people use – If five customers say "I need to track billable hours without switching apps," that's a keyword.
• Questions they ask before buying – "Does this integrate with Slack?" or "Can I export data?" are searches people make.
• Problems they describe – "Our team keeps missing deadlines" becomes "how to improve team deadline tracking."
• Comparisons they mention – "Is this like Asana but for agencies?" = someone's searching "[your product] vs Asana for agencies."

Mine Reddit, Quora, and Industry Forums

Go where your audience hangs out online and complains about things. Seriously. Search Reddit for your problem space and look for threads where people are frustrated:

• Reddit: r/startups, r/SaaS, niche subreddits for your industry
• Quora: Questions about your problem space with lots of upvotes
• Industry Slack channels, Discord servers, Facebook groups

Copy the exact language people use. Not "Our platform enables synergistic collaboration"—more like "How do I stop my team from losing track of client feedback?"

Step 2: Expand Your List (Without Breaking the Bank)

Now you've got 10-20 seed keywords from real humans. Time to multiply them into 100+ possibilities. Here's how:

Free Tools That Actually Work

• Google Autocomplete – Type your seed keyword into Google and see what it suggests. These are real searches people make. Screenshot everything.
• Google "People Also Ask" – Search your seed keyword, scroll to "People Also Ask," and expand every question. Each one is a content opportunity.
• Google "Allintitle" Operator – Search allintitle:"your keyword" to see how many pages have that exact phrase in their title. Fewer than 100 results? Low competition. Gold.
• Answer The Public – Free tier shows you questions people ask around your topic. Visual, easy, actually helpful.
• AlsoAsked.com – Shows you the web of related questions people ask. Great for finding content cluster ideas.

Affordable Paid Tools (When You're Ready)

Once you've validated your free research is driving traffic, consider:

• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – Free if you verify your domain. Shows what keywords you're already ranking for *(often surprising)* and what competitors rank for.
• Ubersuggest – Neil Patel's tool. $12/month. Good enough for startups, shows search volume + competition.
• LowFruits – Built specifically for finding low-competition keywords. Around $30/month. Worth it if content is your main growth channel.

Step 3: Validate Your Keywords (The Math Part)

You've got a big list of keywords. Some are winners. Most are distractions. Here's how to tell the difference:

The Startup Keyword Scoring Framework

For each keyword, ask these four questions:

1. Search Volume: 100-1,000 monthly searches?
   Lower = easier to rank. Higher = more traffic potential. Sweet spot for startups: 200-500 searches. Big enough to matter, small enough to win.
2. Competition: Can you actually rank?
   Search the keyword. Look at page one results. Are they all massive sites like HubSpot, Forbes, Neil Patel? Skip it. Are they small blogs, niche sites, or thin content? You can beat them.
3. Buyer Intent: Are they ready to act?
   "What is SEO" = educational (early stage)
   "How to do SEO for startups" = solution-aware (mid stage) ✅
   "Best SEO tool for startups" = product-aware (late stage) ✅
   Target mid-to-late stage keywords first. They convert.
4. Business Relevance: Will this bring your ideal customer?
   Traffic is meaningless if it's not your audience. A startup selling HR software shouldn't target "remote work memes" even if it's easy to rank for.

Red Flags to Avoid

• ❌ Zero search volume – Unless you're creating a new category, someone needs to be searching for it
• ❌ All results are giant brands – You're not ranking on page one for "email marketing" next to Mailchimp and HubSpot
• ❌ Vague informational queries – "Business tips" attracts tire-kickers, not customers
• ❌ High volume + high competition – Tempting, but you'll waste months creating content that never ranks

Step 4: Organize and Prioritize (So You Actually Execute)

You've validated 30-50 solid keywords. Now what? If you try to write content for all of them at once, you'll burn out in two weeks and abandon SEO forever. *(We've seen it happen. Don't be that founder.)*

Build Your Keyword Priority Matrix

Create a simple spreadsheet with these columns:

• Keyword – The exact phrase
• Search Volume – Monthly searches
• Competition Score – High/Medium/Low (based on your manual SERP analysis)
• Buyer Intent – Educational/Solution-Aware/Product-Aware
• Business Fit – How directly does this relate to your product? (1-10)
• Priority – High/Medium/Low (your final call)

Group Keywords Into Content Clusters

Don't write 47 disconnected blog posts. Group related keywords into topic clusters:

• Pillar Page – Broad, comprehensive guide (e.g., "Complete Guide to Keyword Research for Startups")
• Cluster Posts – Specific subtopics linking back to pillar (e.g., "How to Find Low-Competition Keywords," "Best Free Keyword Tools for Startups," "Keyword Research Mistakes Startups Make")

This structure helps you rank for multiple related keywords and signals to Google that you're an authority on the topic. Plus, it's way easier to plan your editorial calendar when keywords are already grouped.