A new blog has one big disadvantage: Google does not trust it yet. If you target the same popular keywords as established websites, your articles will sit on page 8 for months. Keyword research for a new blog is about finding the questions that real people ask, that have a clear answer, and that big sites have not covered well.
This guide walks you through a process that takes about two hours and produces a plan for your first 20 articles.
In this article
What you need before you start
- A clear niche, ideally something you know well or can research properly.
- A Google account for Google Search and, later, Search Console.
- A spreadsheet with columns for keyword, intent, competition notes and priority.
- Optional: a keyword tool. SE Ranking and Mangools show search volume and difficulty, which saves a lot of guessing.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: List your seed topics
Write down five to ten broad topics your blog will cover. For a home-coffee blog that might be espresso machines, grinders, beans, brewing methods and cleaning. These are not keywords to target yet; they are starting points.
Step 2: Turn each seed into real questions
Type each seed into Google and note:
- the autocomplete suggestions as you type,
- the “People also ask” questions,
- the “Related searches” at the bottom of the page.
You are looking for problems and questions, for example “why does my espresso taste sour” or “how often should I descale my coffee machine”. These long, specific phrases are where new blogs win.
Step 3: Collect 100 candidate keywords
Add community sources: Reddit threads, Quora questions, product reviews and forum posts in your niche. Copy the phrases people actually use. Aim for around 100 candidates in your spreadsheet. If you use a keyword tool, enter your seeds and export the question-type suggestions.
Step 4: Check the search intent
For each promising keyword, search it and look at the top five results. Note what kind of page ranks:
| Results show | Intent | What you should write |
|---|---|---|
| Step-by-step guides | Informational | A complete how-to |
| Lists of products | Commercial | A “best X for Y” comparison |
| Single product pages | Transactional | Usually not worth targeting as a blogger |
| A mix | Mixed | Pick the angle you can do best |
If you cannot match the intent, drop the keyword.
Step 5: Judge the competition by looking
Difficulty scores help, but your own eyes are the best test. A keyword is a good target for a new blog when the first page shows some of these:
- forum threads (Reddit, Quora) or very short articles,
- pages that only partly answer the question,
- outdated articles,
- small blogs similar in size to yours.
If every result is a famous brand with a thorough guide, skip it for now and come back in a year.
Step 6: Score and group
Give each remaining keyword a priority from 1 to 3 based on how well you can answer it, how weak the competition looks and whether it could lead to a sale or sign-up later. Then group related keywords into clusters. One cluster might be “espresso problems” with ten articles; another “grinder buying” with eight.
Step 7: Plan your first 20 articles
Pick the two strongest clusters. Within each, choose one broad “pillar” guide and several specific articles that link to it. Publish the specific, easy articles first: they get indexed and ranked sooner and build trust for the pillar.
A worked example
Here is how one seed turns into articles for the coffee blog.
Seed: espresso machines. Autocomplete and People Also Ask produce questions such as “espresso machine not getting hot”, “why is my espresso watery”, “how to descale an espresso machine with vinegar” and “best espresso machine under 300”.
Checking the results:
| Keyword | What ranks now | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| why is my espresso watery | Two forum threads, one short blog post | Write it: weak competition, clear problem |
| how to descale an espresso machine with vinegar | Brand support pages and a few blogs | Write it: specific how-to, room for a better guide |
| best espresso machine under 300 | Large review sites with tested lists | Later: commercial and competitive |
| espresso machine | Brand stores and huge retailers | Skip: far too broad |
The first two go into the plan now; the third goes on a “year two” list. One seed has produced two good articles and one future target in about fifteen minutes.
Turning keywords into article titles
A keyword is not yet a title. Good titles keep the keyword near the start and promise a specific result:
- Keyword: why is my espresso watery → “Why Is My Espresso Watery? 7 Causes and How to Fix Each One”
- Keyword: descale espresso machine with vinegar → “How to Descale an Espresso Machine With Vinegar (and When Not To)”
Keep titles under about 60 characters where you can, so they are not cut off in search results.
Common mistakes
- Chasing volume. A keyword with 50 searches a month that you can rank first for beats one with 50,000 searches where you rank 60th.
- Ignoring intent. Writing a guide when Google shows product lists rarely works.
- One article per tiny variation. “Best grinder for espresso” and “best espresso grinder” are the same topic. Cover them in one article.
- Never revisiting the list. After two or three months, Search Console shows the queries you already appear for: these are the best new ideas of all.
How to check that your keyword choices worked
Six to eight weeks after publishing, open Search Console > Performance and filter by each article’s URL. You want to see impressions growing and the average position improving. If an article has impressions for a different phrase than the one you planned, that is useful: adjust the title and headings toward the phrase Google already associates with the page. If an article has no impressions at all after two months, check that it is indexed before blaming the keyword.
Pro tips and when to upgrade
Free methods work, but they are slow. A keyword tool helps once you publish regularly:
- SE Ranking combines keyword research with rank tracking, so you see which planned keywords you actually win.
- Mangools (KWFinder) is simple and shows difficulty clearly, which beginners like.
- Your own Search Console data becomes your best source after a few months.
Frequently asked questions
How many keywords should one article target?
One main keyword plus its close variations and related questions. If two keywords need different answers, they need two articles.
What search volume is good for a new blog?
Do not set a minimum. Many profitable articles target phrases with fewer than 100 searches a month, and they also rank for dozens of related phrases.
Can I do keyword research without paid tools?
Yes: Google autocomplete, People Also Ask, forums and later Search Console are enough to start.
How long until my new articles rank?
For low-competition keywords, often a few weeks to three months. Competitive topics take much longer.
Should I use AI to find keywords?
AI chat tools are useful for brainstorming question ideas, but they cannot tell you real search demand or what currently ranks. Always check ideas against Google results and keyword data.
What if my niche has very little search volume?
Look for adjacent problems your readers have, and use comparison and “how to choose” topics. A small niche can still work well if the readers are ready to buy.
Start with the plan, write the easy wins first, and let your Search Console data guide the next 20.