You don't need Ahrefs. You don't need SEMrush. You need 90 minutes and ChatGPT.
You can create the best content in the world. Genuinely useful, well-written, packed with insight. But if nobody is searching for the topic you wrote about, nobody finds it. It sits on your site collecting dust while a worse article on the right topic gets 10,000 visits a month.
That's what keyword research solves. It tells you what people are actually typing into Google so you can write content that meets them there.
The problem? Most keyword research guides assume you have $100/month for Ahrefs, a background in SEO, and three hours to spare. You probably have none of those things. So here's a different approach: a complete AI keyword research workflow for beginners that uses only free tools and takes 90 minutes from start to finish.
By the end, you'll have 5 keywords you can actually rank for. No subscriptions. No spreadsheets with 2,000 rows. Just a clear list and a plan.
A keyword is the thing someone types into Google. That's it. "How to make sourdough bread" is a keyword. "Best running shoes under $100" is a keyword. "Plumber near me" is a keyword.
When you write content that matches what people search for, Google shows your page in the results. When you don't, it doesn't. Keywords are the bridge between what you know and what your audience is looking for.
Not all keywords work the same way. There are three types, and understanding them saves you from writing the wrong kind of content.
The searcher wants to learn something. "How to do keyword research," "what is content marketing," "email marketing tips." These are best served by blog posts, guides and tutorials. Most of your early content should target informational keywords.
The searcher wants to buy or sign up. "Buy running shoes online," "SEO tool pricing," "hire a copywriter." These belong on product pages, pricing pages and service pages. Don't write blog posts for transactional keywords.
The searcher is looking for a specific website. "Ahrefs login," "Spotify download," "Nike store." Unless they're searching for your brand, skip these entirely.
For beginners, informational keywords are where the opportunity is. They have less competition, they build your authority, and they bring in readers who might become customers later. If you're new to all of this, our guide to SEO fundamentals covers the foundation you'll build on.
Here's the full system, broken into five blocks. Set a timer for each one. The time pressure is intentional — it stops you from overthinking and keeps you moving toward a finished output.
A seed list is your starting point. You're not looking for perfect keywords yet. You're brainstorming topics your audience cares about.
Step 1: Write down 10 topics. Think about the questions your customers ask you. The problems they have. The things they Google before they find you. If you're a fitness coach, your topics might include meal prep, home workouts, weight loss plateaus, gym anxiety, and protein intake. If you're a freelance designer, think logo design, brand colours, website layout, Canva vs hiring a designer, and portfolio tips.
Don't filter. Don't judge. Just write 10 topics in 5 minutes.
Step 2: Expand each topic with ChatGPT. Open ChatGPT (free tier works fine) and use this prompt:
"I run a [your business type]. My audience is [who you serve]. For the topic '[your topic]', give me 5 specific things someone might search for on Google. Make them practical and specific, not broad."
Run this for each of your 10 topics. You'll get 50 keyword ideas in about 10 minutes. Some will be great. Some won't. That's fine. You're building raw material.
Your output: A list of 50 potential keywords in a Google Doc or spreadsheet.
Now you validate your list against real search data. Open Google in an incognito window (this stops your search history from biasing the results).
Search for each keyword on your list. For every search, look at three things:
You're doing two things at once: validating that people actually search for these terms, and discovering new keywords to add to your list. By the end of this block, your list of 50 should be 60-70 keywords, with the weakest ones mentally flagged for removal.
Your output: A refined list of 60-70 keywords, with the most promising ones highlighted.
This is where most beginners skip a step and pay for it later. They pick a keyword, write a post, and wonder why it never ranks. The reason: they picked a keyword where page 1 is dominated by sites with 10 years of authority and millions of backlinks.
For each of your top 20-25 keywords, search the exact term and look at the first page of results. Ask yourself:
Mark each keyword as low competition (smaller sites ranking, weak content), medium competition (mix of big and small sites), or high competition (dominated by major publications). For now, you only care about the low and medium ones.
This is what separates keyword research that works from keyword research that wastes your time. You're not just finding keywords people search for. You're finding keywords you can actually win. For more on what it takes, read about getting on page 1.
Your output: Your top 20-25 keywords, each marked with a competition level.
The free quiz tells you which marketing system needs attention first — SEO, content, email, ads or brand.
Find Your SystemYou've got a shortlist of keywords with low or medium competition. Now organise them by what the searcher actually wants. This determines what kind of content you'll create.
Go through your list and label each keyword:
Most of your keywords will be informational. That's exactly what you want. Informational content is the engine that drives organic traffic for solopreneurs. You publish helpful posts, Google ranks them, people find you, and some of those people become customers.
Group your informational keywords into clusters — sets of related keywords that could be covered by the same post or by linked posts in a series. For example, "content batching for solopreneurs," "how to batch social media content," and "content batching schedule" are all part of the same cluster. One strong post can target all three.
Your output: Keywords grouped by intent, with informational keywords clustered into content themes.
This is the decision that matters. You're choosing the 5 keywords you'll write content for first. Here's how to choose:
Each keyword needs to pass three filters:
Score each keyword against these three filters. The ones that pass all three are your targets.
If you're stuck between similar keywords, pick the more specific one. "Content batching for solopreneurs" is better than "content batching" because it has less competition, clearer intent, and a defined audience. Long-tail keywords (4+ words) are almost always easier to rank for than short-tail keywords (1-2 words).
Let's say one of your seed topics was "content creation." ChatGPT expanded it to "content batching for solopreneurs." Here's how you'd evaluate it:
This keyword passes all three filters. It goes on your list of 5.
Your output: 5 target keywords, each with a content format and your unique angle noted.
You have your 5 keywords. Now write the content.
Start with the keyword where you feel most confident. Write one post this week. Publish it. Then write the next one. One per week gives you 5 published posts in just over a month. That's 5 chances to rank. 5 pieces of content working for you around the clock.
When you're ready to go deeper — analysing search volume data, building keyword clusters, and creating a full content calendar — our full keyword research workflow covers the intermediate steps. And if you want to see how keyword research fits into the bigger picture of SEO, content and publishing, read through the complete AI SEO workflow.
The important thing is to start. Your first keyword won't be perfect. Your first post won't hit page 1 overnight. But every post you publish builds authority. Every keyword you target teaches you something about your audience. SEO compounds. Your 10th post benefits from the authority your first 9 built.
If you want all of this packaged into a repeatable system — keyword research, content creation, on-page SEO and performance tracking — the AI SEO System walks you through every step for $29. No subscriptions. No paid tools required. Just the workflow, the prompts, and the templates.
No. Google Search, ChatGPT (free tier), and Google Trends give you everything you need to start. Paid tools like Ahrefs add depth, but they're not required. Most solopreneurs get their first page-1 rankings without spending a dollar on tools.
One primary keyword and 2-3 related keywords per post. Don't try to rank for 10 keywords with one page. Write one focused post per keyword, and Google will naturally rank you for variations.
New sites typically see initial rankings within 4-8 weeks. Meaningful traffic (100+ visits/month per post) usually takes 3-6 months. SEO compounds — your 10th post benefits from the authority your first 9 built.
Short-tail keywords are broad (1-2 words like "marketing") with massive competition. Long-tail keywords are specific (4+ words like "ai marketing for solopreneurs") with less competition and clearer intent. Beginners should target long-tail exclusively.
Get the AI SEO System — the complete SEO workflow for $29. Keyword research, content creation, on-page optimisation and tracking. No subscriptions.
Get the AI SEO System