How to find the SEO keywords of a website in 6 steps

You can find the SEO keywords of any website, yours or a competitor’s, with free tools. The 6 steps below end in a plan you can measure in Google Search Console.

What finding your keywords gets you

Good research connects language to intent. Someone searching for “what is a headless CMS” expects an explanation. For “have a headless CMS built”, a commercial service page is better suited. That difference determines which type of page you create, how much explanation it needs and which next step feels logical. It is also exactly the distinction Google itself pursues: content “created to benefit people, and not content that’s created to manipulate search engine rankings” (Google Search Central).

The research also helps you detect overlap. Minor wording or spelling variants usually don’t need separate pages when the search results largely show the same pages. Group those variants in one cluster. One clear owner prevents two of your own pages from competing for the same search query.

Which keywords does a single page target?

Open the page and press Ctrl+F on Windows or Command+F on a Mac. Type the word you expect, such as “pricing”, “headless”, or “maintenance”. The browser highlights every match, so you see which words the page already uses out loud.

Some target words never appear in the visible text. To find those, open the page source (right-click, “View Page Source”, or Ctrl+U). Check the <title> tag, the meta description, and the H1 and H2 headings. The title tag and the main heading are the two strongest keyword signals on any page; image alt texts are a third. This takes about a minute per page and works on any website, including your competitors’.

Which keywords does a whole website rank for?

Type site:example.com "keyword" into Google. The operator restricts results to that one domain, so you see pages that mention the phrase and which pages Google associates with it. Add intitle: (site:example.com intitle:"keyword") to see only pages with the phrase in the title: usually the pages deliberately targeting it. On your own site this confirms which page owns a term. On a competitor’s site it shows their deliberate keyword targets and how the search results page responds to them.

Google’s own documentation adds a caveat: a URL that is indexed can show up for a related site: query, “however it’s not guaranteed.” Treat what you see as a sample, not a complete inventory.

For your own website, Google Search Console is the more honest source. Open the Search results report, filter by page, and read the queries. Those are the keywords Google already connects to that page, with impressions and position: real data instead of estimates. The guide to setting up Google Search Console covers the configuration.

How do you find keywords for free?

Every method above costs $0: browser find, the site: operator, Google autocomplete, People Also Ask boxes, and Search Console. Keyword Planner in a Google Ads account shows real search ranges without requiring you to ever run an ad. That combination is enough for a full keyword plan; paid tools mainly buy speed and competitor estimates.

A new site has no Search Console history yet. Start from your services list and the questions customers actually ask, in their words rather than yours. Type each seed into Google and collect the autocomplete suggestions and People Also Ask entries. In Keyword Planner, choose “Discover new keywords” and enter a competitor’s URL. Google returns the keyword groups it associates with that site. When the list gets long, hand your export to an AI chat tool and ask it to group the queries by intent. You get a clustering proposal that you then check against the live results.

Start with ten usable search queries rather than hundreds of unfiltered suggestions. For each query, note what someone actually wants to achieve and which answer you can offer. A specific question with less volume can be worth more than a broad term. The need is clearer, and your page can answer it more precisely.

How do you compare periods in Google Search Console?

If you already have a website, Google Search Console is your primary source of existing search query data. Open the Search results report, filter by one relevant page, and then look at the queries. You see which terms already trigger that page, how many impressions it receives, and whether its search snippet attracts clicks. Google describes these reports as the way website owners understand and improve their Google Search performance (Google Search Console reports).

Always compare fixed and complete periods. For example, compare the last 30 complete days with the previous 30 days, or take a baseline before publication and check again after at least 30 days. Use the same URL, query group, and search type for both periods. Otherwise you are comparing two different situations, and a trend quickly becomes misleading.

• Many impressions and few clicks can point to a weak title or meta description.
• An average position between roughly 8 and 20 may indicate an existing content opportunity, but check the real SERP first.
• New relevant search queries show that Google is starting to understand the topic more broadly.
• Multiple pages appearing for the same query can signal unclear page ownership.

Clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position each tell only part of the story. A page can appear for new relevant terms and therefore temporarily show a lower average position. Look at the individual queries and at the page as a whole before you draw a conclusion.

How Straffe Sites uses AI agents

Straffe Sites uses specialized AI agent workflows on Hermes to prepare the recurring analysis work. The agents collect and compare current GSC page/query data over fixed periods. They group related queries, flag possible intent conflicts or overlap between pages, and turn the findings into a verifiable content brief, metadata options, and a measurement plan. For clients, that same loop is what our SEO AI agent runs every month.

I make the decisions. I check the real search results, assess the primary intent, and choose which page becomes the owner of a search query. Brand voice, commercial priorities, design, code, claims, and publication are not automated. A plausible proposal is not yet a publishable change.

After an adjustment, I use the same checks as for other website work. I read back the built HTML, run the build, check the page in a browser, and inspect the live page. Then I take a new GSC measurement for the same URL and query group. Automation helps with the research, while editorial responsibility remains human.

Below is a real run on the cluster around “website laten maken”. The cluster is Dutch: “website laten maken” means having a website built. Per query, the run shows the impressions, the current page, and the proposal that follows from it.

What the run showed: from September 20 through October 17, 2026, our price blog on website costs got 15,147 impressions. Our service page for having a website built got only 112. The query “website laten maken” itself (839 impressions) landed entirely on the price blog. For “astro website laten maken” the owner was clear: position 4.1 and the only click in the commercial cluster. That is the pattern you want: one question, one page.

How can AI help with your keyword research?

You don’t have to run every analysis in this guide by hand. In Google Search Console, open the Search results report, click Export, and download the data as CSV or XLSX, or share the table directly through Google Sheets. The export contains query and page tables with clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position. Those tables do not automatically join each query to its pages. Filter by a page before exporting queries, or request both dimensions together through the Search Analytics API.

Give that export to an AI chat tool such as ChatGPT or Claude, or to any AI agent you already work with. Ask a concrete question, for example: “Group these queries by intent with the average position and CTR per group” or “Show which pages appear for each query and where those pages overlap.” Within a few minutes, you have a clustering that you then check against the real search results.

At Straffe Sites this kind of analysis runs on Hermes, an AI agent that repeats the comparison work over fixed periods. Want to get started with an agent yourself? Read the Hermes Agent documentation.

Keep one rule: the agent prepares, you decide. A clustering based on your export is a proposal, not a conclusion. Check the intent in the live search results; you still decide which page gets each topic.

Which tools do you need?

The free route from the previous section covers the basics: Search Console, the site: operator, autocomplete, and a spreadsheet. Tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, KWFinder, or LowFruits can collect suggestions and competition signals faster. Treat search volume and difficulty as estimates. They help you compare terms but don’t predict traffic, inquiries, or rankings.

Choose a tool that fits your question. If you already have traffic, start with Search Console. If you are starting a new site, combine customer language with Google suggestions and a limited toolset. Switching between five tools rarely yields a better choice if the intent is not yet clear.

Use keywords naturally on your website

Name the primary topic in the title and main heading when it reads naturally, then answer the query early on the page. Use descriptive H2s for the subquestions and write internal links so the destination is clear. An anchor like “technical SEO and keyword advice” says more than “read more.”

Alt text describes what is actually in an image. Don’t stuff a list of keywords into it. Keep URLs short and understandable, but don’t create a new URL just to catch a variant. The page’s content and intent matter more than forced repetition in every element.

Also, don’t work with a fixed number of keywords per page. Choose one primary question and cover the related subquestions thoroughly. Synonyms and natural variants arise automatically when you explain the topic clearly.

Professional help is useful when several services overlap or different pages appear for the same queries. It also helps when a large export does not yet produce a usable site structure. Straffe Sites helps with technical SEO and keyword advice. Do you already have a list or an initial plan? Discuss your keyword research and we’ll identify where search intent, content and technical constraints still conflict.

Conclusion

Keyword research only works when you turn search language into clear decisions about which page owns each topic. Collect real questions, check the SERP, cluster by intent, and assign each topic to one owner. Then measure the same URL and query group again. Tools and AI agents can prepare the comparison work, for example by clustering your GSC export in an AI chat, but you still make the final publishing decision. And if you would rather outsource that ongoing loop, what SEO costs in 2026 shows market rates from independent sources before you compare quotes.