Free Tool
Free Keyword Research Tool
Get search volume, difficulty, CPC, and 30+ related keyword ideas. No signup. No credit card.
Enter a seed keyword above to get started
Try “content marketing”, “yoga for beginners”, or “small business accounting”
Popular starting points
What Is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of finding the exact words and phrases your potential customers type into Google, ChatGPT, and other search engines. It is the foundation of every SEO strategy — without it, you are guessing at what content to write. Good keyword research reveals three things: what people are searching for (search volume), how hard it would be to rank for those searches (keyword difficulty), and how valuable the traffic would be (CPC and commercial intent). For content marketers, this data transforms content creation from art into science. Instead of writing articles nobody searches for, you target phrases with proven demand and achievable competition levels. For a deeper dive, read our complete guide to keyword research without expensive tools.
How to Use This Keyword Research Tool
- 1
Pick a broad seed keyword
Start with a topic central to your business — something like "vegan protein" or "small business accounting". Avoid super-specific long-tail phrases at this stage; broad seeds return more variations.
- 2
Select your target location
Search volumes vary dramatically between countries. If you sell in the UK, pick United Kingdom. If you serve global customers, United States gives the largest sample.
- 3
Review the primary metrics
The first card shows volume, difficulty (KD), CPC, and competition for your exact seed. Use KD as your first filter — under 30 means realistic for new sites, 30-60 needs some authority, 60+ requires serious backlinks.
- 4
Sort the related keywords table
Click any column header to sort. Sort by volume descending to find the biggest opportunities, or sort by KD ascending to find the easiest wins. Most sites should target the overlap of decent volume and low KD.
- 5
Export and plan your content
Click Export CSV to download all 30+ keywords for your content calendar. Or copy individual keywords to paste into your CMS, notes app, or Outpacer dashboard.
Understanding Search Volume vs Keyword Difficulty
Search volume tells you how many people search for a keyword each month. Keyword difficulty estimates how hard it is to crack the top 10 on Google. The sweet spot for most businesses is keywords with 200-2000 monthly searches and difficulty under 40. These long-tail keywords convert better because searchers have specific intent, and the competition is beatable even for new sites. Avoid chasing high-volume head terms like “marketing” or “insurance” — they look appealing but the top 10 is dominated by billion-dollar brands with massive backlink profiles. Instead, go after specific variations like “content marketing for SaaS startups” where you can realistically compete.
Target these
- ✓ Volume 200-2000/mo
- ✓ KD under 40
- ✓ 3-6 word long-tail phrases
- ✓ Clear commercial or informational intent
Avoid these
- ✗ Single-word head terms
- ✗ KD above 70 (as a new site)
- ✗ Branded competitor names
- ✗ Zero search volume (no demand)
Want more? See our deep dive on how to rank a new website on Google in 90 days and our guide to content velocity.
Search Intent: The Missing Piece
Volume and difficulty are only half the story. The other half is intent — what does the searcher actually want? There are four main intent types. Informational queries like “what is keyword research” want answers and explanations. Navigational queries like “outpacer login” want a specific page. Commercial queries like “best keyword research tools” are comparing options before buying. Transactional queries like “buy keyword research software” are ready to purchase. For SEO content, commercial and informational queries drive the most traffic, while transactional queries convert best. Match your content format to the intent: how-to guides for informational, comparison posts for commercial, and product pages for transactional.
How We Compare to Paid Keyword Tools
This tool uses the same underlying data source (DataForSEO) as many enterprise SEO platforms, with AI-powered fallback when rate limits kick in. Here is how it stacks up against the popular paid options:
| Feature | Outpacer Free | Ahrefs | Semrush | Ubersuggest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $99+/mo | $130+/mo | $12+/mo |
| Signup required | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search volume | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Keyword difficulty | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CPC data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Related keywords | 30+ | 1000s | 1000s | 100s |
| CSV export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Writes articles for you | — | — | — | — |
| Auto-publishes to CMS | — | — | — | — |
See the full comparison on our Outpacer vs Ahrefs and Outpacer vs Semrush pages.
Why Outpacer's Keyword Research Is Different
Most keyword tools stop at data. You pay $99-500 per month to get search volumes, then spend another $500+ per article paying writers to turn those keywords into content. Outpacer closes that gap. The platform researches keywords, writes full 2,500-word articles through a 6-stage AI pipeline, adds original images, scores the content against top-ranking competitors, and auto-publishes directly to WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, and more — all on autopilot. You pick the keywords, Outpacer handles the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this keyword research tool really free?
Yes, 100% free with no signup required. You can research up to 10 keywords per hour. For unlimited research, a free Outpacer trial gives you full access to keyword research, SERP analysis, and automated content creation.
Where does the keyword data come from?
Primary data comes from DataForSEO, the same provider used by Ahrefs and Semrush enterprise customers. When API limits are reached, we fall back to AI-powered estimates trained on millions of real search patterns. Data accuracy is typically within 10-15% of what you would see in paid tools.
What is keyword difficulty (KD) and how is it calculated?
Keyword difficulty is a 0-100 score estimating how hard it is to rank on the first page of Google. Under 30 is easy, 30-60 is moderate, 60-85 is hard, and 85+ is extremely competitive. KD considers the authority of currently ranking pages, backlink profiles, and content depth of the top 10 results.
What search volume should I target for a new website?
For new websites, target keywords with 100-1000 monthly searches and keyword difficulty under 30. These "long-tail" keywords have less competition and convert better because searchers have specific intent. As your site grows in authority, you can target higher-volume keywords with more competition.
What is CPC and why does it matter for SEO?
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what advertisers pay Google Ads for each click on that keyword. High CPC signals strong commercial intent — advertisers only pay a lot when clicks convert to sales. A keyword with $5+ CPC is usually worth ranking for organically because the traffic has buying intent.
Can I export the keyword results?
Yes. Every keyword research result can be exported as a CSV file with one click. The CSV includes keyword, search volume, difficulty, CPC, and competition score — ready to import into your content calendar or share with your team.
How many related keywords will I get per search?
Each search returns the primary keyword metrics plus up to 30 related keyword suggestions with their own volume, difficulty, CPC, and competition data. This gives you a full content cluster to target from a single search.
How is this different from Ahrefs or Semrush?
Ahrefs and Semrush cost $99-500/month and are built for manual research. This tool is free and gives you the same core metrics (volume, KD, CPC, competition). Outpacer goes further — instead of just researching keywords, it writes and auto-publishes full articles for each one. Start with the free tool, then upgrade to full autopilot content when you are ready to scale.
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Stop researching. Start ranking.
Turn keywords into published articles — automatically
Keyword research is step one. Outpacer handles steps two through ten: writing full 2,500-word articles, generating images, scoring against top competitors, and auto-publishing to your blog. On autopilot.
- 30 SEO articles per month, fully written and published
- 6-stage AI pipeline (SERP analysis → write → score → humanize)
- Direct publishing to WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Ghost, and more
- Original DALL-E images embedded in every article
- $1 trial — cancel anytime in the first 3 days