What is a good keyword difficulty to target for a new website?

New websites should target keywords with difficulty (KD) below 30. These have lower competition and give you a realistic chance of ranking on page 1 within 6-12 months of publishing good content.

How many keywords should I target per page?

Target one primary keyword per page. Include 3-5 naturally related secondary keywords in the content. Writing specifically for one query prevents content from being unfocused.

Is keyword research free?

Yes — Google Autocomplete, Related Searches, and Google Search Console are free. Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account. Paid tools like Ahrefs provide more data but are not essential to start.

Keyword Research for SEO: Step-by-Step Guide for Indian Websites

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding the words and phrases your target audience uses when searching on Google. Targeting the right keywords is the foundation of SEO — writing excellent content about the wrong topics gets zero traffic.

The Three Keyword Metrics

Search Volume: How many times per month people search this term. Higher is not always better — high volume often means high competition.

Keyword Difficulty (KD): How hard it is to rank for this keyword on a scale of 0-100. New websites should target KD below 30.

Search Intent: What the person is actually trying to do — informational (learn something), navigational (find a website), commercial (compare products), or transactional (buy something).

Free Keyword Research Methods

Google Autocomplete: Type your topic into Google and see what suggestions appear. Every suggestion is a real search people make.

Google Related Searches: Scroll to the bottom of any search result page. "People also search for" and related searches show related keywords.

Google Search Console: If your site already has some traffic, GSC shows exactly which queries you rank for and their click-through rates. Massive free data source.

Answer The Public: Enter a topic and see questions people ask about it. Excellent for finding long-tail informational keywords.

Google Keyword Planner: Free with a Google Ads account. Shows search volumes and competition. Requires account setup but the data is directly from Google.

Paid Tools Worth Considering

Ahrefs: Industry standard for keyword research and competitor analysis. Starts at $99/month.

SEMrush: Comprehensive SEO platform with keyword research. $119/month.

Ubersuggest: More affordable at $29/month, decent for beginners.

For small Indian businesses: Start with free tools. Only invest in paid tools once you have published 20+ articles and have some organic traffic.

Keyword Strategy for Indian Websites

Long-tail over short-tail: "how to compress pdf without losing quality" is easier to rank than "compress pdf". Long-tail keywords have lower competition, more specific intent, and better conversion rates.

Indian-specific keywords: "gst calculator india", "emi calculator sbi", "income tax old vs new regime" — these are high-intent with less international competition.

Vernacular search: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali search is growing rapidly. If your audience is primarily regional, targeting vernacular keywords is a major opportunity.

Organising Your Keywords

Group keywords by topic (keyword clusters). Each cluster becomes a piece of content. One primary keyword per page, multiple related secondary keywords naturally included.