What is "Find New Keywords"?
Finding new keywords is the systematic process of discovering search terms and phrases your target audience uses, which you are not currently targeting with your content or advertising.
Without this process, businesses operate with a blind spot, missing critical opportunities for growth and wasting resources on terms that don't convert.
- Search Intent: The primary goal a user has when typing a query into a search engine, such as to learn, to find a specific website, or to make a purchase.
- Keyword Gap Analysis: Comparing your website's keyword profile against competitors to identify terms they rank for that you do not.
- Seed Keywords: The foundational, short phrases related to your core business that you use as a starting point for deeper research.
- Long-Tail Keywords: Longer, more specific phrases with lower search volume but higher conversion potential and less competition.
- Search Volume: A metric estimating how often a particular keyword is searched for per month in a given region.
- Keyword Difficulty: An estimated score representing how hard it would be to rank on the first page of search results for a specific term.
- SERP Analysis: Studying the Search Engine Results Page for a keyword to understand the type of content (blogs, product pages, videos) that currently ranks.
- Topic Clusters: A content strategy model where a core "pillar" page covers a broad topic and is supported by "cluster" content targeting specific, related long-tail keywords.
This discipline benefits founders, marketing managers, and product teams who need to attract qualified traffic, understand market demand, and allocate budgets efficiently. It directly solves the problem of creating content or ads that no one is searching for.
In short: It is the essential research practice that aligns your online content with the actual questions and needs of your potential customers.
Why it matters for businesses
Ignoring keyword research means your marketing operates on assumptions, leading to missed market opportunities and inefficient spending on channels that fail to reach ready-to-buy audiences.
- Wasted Content Budget: → Creating blog posts or guides around topics with no search demand results in zero organic traffic. Systematic research ensures every piece of content serves a known audience need.
- Poor Product-Market Fit Signals: → If you cannot find keywords people use to describe their problem, it may indicate a weak market need. Research validates demand and reveals how customers articulate their pain points.
- Lost Market Share to Competitors: → Competitors who consistently identify and target emerging search terms capture that audience first. Ongoing research helps you discover and compete for these terms.
- Ineffective PPC Campaigns: → Bidding on overly broad or irrelevant keywords drains ad spend on unqualified clicks. Finding new, specific keywords improves campaign relevance and return on ad spend (ROAS).
- Stagnant Organic Growth: → Relying on an outdated keyword portfolio leads to traffic plateaus. Proactive discovery uncovers new avenues for sustainable, long-term organic visibility.
- Misaligned Messaging: → Using internal jargon that customers don't search for creates a disconnect. Research reveals the exact language your audience uses, allowing you to speak their language.
- Missing Feature Opportunities: → Searches for "how to do [X] with [your product type]" can reveal desired features or integrations. This provides direct input for product development roadmaps.
- Weak SEO Foundation: → Attempting technical SEO without a robust keyword strategy is like building a house without a blueprint. Keyword research informs site structure, metadata, and internal linking.
In short: It transforms marketing from a guessing game into a data-driven function that directly connects business offerings with market demand.
Step-by-step guide
The process can feel overwhelming due to the sheer volume of data and tools available; this structured approach cuts through the noise.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Keywords
You don't know what you're missing if you don't know what you already have. Start by mapping your existing keyword footprint to establish a baseline.
Use Google Search Console to export the queries that already bring you traffic. Categorize them by page and note their performance metrics like clicks and average position.
Step 2: Define Your Seed Topics
Starting too broadly leads to irrelevant suggestions. Narrow your focus to the core problems your business solves.
- List 5-10 fundamental product categories, services, or customer problems.
- For each, write down 3-5 simple, short phrases you believe customers might use (e.g., "project management software," "email marketing," "cloud hosting").
Step 3: Analyze Competitor Keywords
Your competitors are likely targeting valuable terms you haven't considered. A gap analysis reveals these hidden opportunities.
Identify 3-5 main competitors. Use SEO platforms to analyze their top-ranking pages and the keywords that drive traffic to them. Export these lists for comparison in the next step.
Step 4: Use Keyword Research Tools for Expansion
Seed keywords alone offer limited scope. Tools automate the discovery of related terms, questions, and variations.
Input your seed keywords and competitor-derived terms into a keyword research tool. Filter and export suggestions based on your target region. Look for patterns in the results, such as common question words (how, what, why) or specific modifiers (best, vs, for).
Step 5: Categorize by Search Intent
Targeting a keyword without understanding the user's goal leads to high bounce rates. Classify each potential keyword to ensure you create matching content.
- Informational: User wants to learn (e.g., "what is SEO"). Answer with blog posts or guides.
- Commercial: User is researching before buying (e.g., "best CRM software"). Answer with comparison lists or detailed product pages.
- Transactional: User is ready to purchase (e.g., "buy Salesforce license"). Answer with clear pricing and checkout pages.
- Navigational: User is looking for a specific brand (e.g., "Bilarna login"). Ensure your brand pages are optimized.
Step 6: Prioritize with a Simple Scoring Matrix
Not all keywords are worth targeting. A basic scoring system helps you prioritize based on effort and potential value.
For each keyword, assess three factors: Relevance (how well it matches your offering, scored 1-5), Volume (use tiered buckets like Low/Medium/High), and Difficulty (use tool-derived scores). Keywords with high relevance, decent volume, and lower difficulty should be prioritized first.
Step 7: Map Keywords to Content & Actions
A list of keywords is useless without a plan. This step turns research into an actionable content or campaign calendar.
Assign each high-priority keyword to a specific existing page that should be updated, or to a new content piece (e.g., article, product page, video). Document the target keyword and its primary search intent for each asset.
Step 8: Schedule Regular Re-evaluation
Search trends change, and new competitors emerge. Treating keyword research as a one-time project renders your strategy obsolete.
Block quarterly reviews in your calendar. Revisit your core list, check for new trending terms in your tools, and repeat the competitor analysis to catch new gaps.
In short: The process flows from understanding your current position, to exploring the landscape, to systematically filtering and acting on the most valuable opportunities.
Common mistakes and red flags
These pitfalls are common because they offer short-term simplicity but create long-term strategic weaknesses.
- Chasing Only High-Volume Keywords: → These are often highly competitive and vague, leading to expensive battles for unqualified traffic. Fix: Balance your portfolio with long-tail keywords that have clear intent and higher conversion potential.
- Ignoring Search Intent: → Creating a commercial product page for an informational keyword results in high bounce rates and poor rankings. Fix: Always analyze the SERP and classify intent before creating content.
- Neglecting Local or Regional Modifiers: → For EU businesses, missing terms like "GDPR-compliant" or "in Germany" forfeits a crucial qualifier. Fix: Use tool filters for your target region and manually brainstorm location-specific phrases.
- Relying on a Single Data Source: → One tool's volume or difficulty metrics can be inaccurate or biased. Fix: Cross-reference key findings with a second tool or use Google's own data (Trends, Search Console) for validation.
- Not Involving Product or Sales Teams: → Marketing in a vacuum means missing the nuanced terms customers use during sales calls or support tickets. Fix: Regularly interview customer-facing teams to harvest their keyword insights.
- Keyword Cannibalization: → Creating multiple pages targeting the same core term confuses search engines and splits your own ranking power. Fix: Maintain a master keyword map to ensure one primary page targets each important term.
- Treating it as a One-Off Project: → Markets and customer language evolve. A static keyword list becomes outdated. Fix: Institutionalize the research as a recurring quarterly task.
- Over-Optimizing for Tools Instead of People: → Stuffing keywords unnaturally into content creates a poor user experience and can trigger spam filters. Fix: Write for the human reader first, using keywords naturally where they fit context.
In short: Successful keyword research requires balancing data from multiple sources with a deep understanding of human intent and a commitment to ongoing refinement.
Tools and resources
The challenge is not a lack of tools, but knowing which category of tool solves which part of the problem.
- Search Engine Native Tools: — Use these for free, reliable validation. Google Search Console shows what you already rank for. Google Trends reveals rising topic interest over time and by region.
- Dedicated Keyword Research Platforms: — Use these for the core task of discovering volume, difficulty, and massive lists of related terms. They are essential for steps 3 and 4 of the guide.
- Competitive Intelligence Suites: — Use these when you need deep analysis on competitor strategies beyond keywords, such as their backlink profile or content calendar.
- SERP Analysis Tools: — Use these to quickly understand search intent and content format for a batch of keywords without manually searching each one.
- Question & Answer Research Tools: — Use these to find specific long-tail keywords framed as questions (e.g., from forums like Reddit or Quora), which are perfect for blog content.
- Project Management & Mapping Software: — Use these to organize your final keyword lists, map them to content, and track progress across teams. Spreadsheets are a simple starting point.
In short: A robust toolkit combines free validation resources, paid discovery engines, and organizational software to manage the workflow.
How Bilarna can help
A core frustration in executing a keyword strategy is efficiently finding and evaluating the many specialized software providers and expert agencies that offer the necessary tools and services.
Bilarna is an AI-powered B2B marketplace that helps businesses find verified software and service providers. For teams looking to "find new keywords," this means you can efficiently discover and compare providers of SEO platforms, keyword research tools, and content marketing agencies.
Our platform uses AI-powered matching to connect your specific project needs—such as "GDPR-compliant SEO tool for the German market" or "content agency for B2B SaaS"—with relevant, vetted providers. The verified provider programme adds a layer of trust to the procurement process.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much should we budget for keyword research tools?
Budget depends on your business scale and needs. Freemium tools offer a start, but serious teams typically need paid plans ranging from moderate monthly fees for single users to enterprise-level costs for full suites.
Start by defining your required features (e.g., competitor gap analysis, historical data, API access). Then, use a B2B marketplace like Bilarna to compare providers and pricing models transparently before committing.
Q: We're a niche B2B company. Is keyword research still useful if search volumes seem low?
Yes, absolutely. In B2B, low search volume often indicates high commercial intent and less competition. A handful of well-targeted, specific long-tail keywords can drive a significant portion of your qualified leads.
Focus on the precision of the match between the keyword and your solution, not just the volume. Terms like "enterprise asset management software for utilities" are gold for the right business.
Q: How do we handle keyword research for multiple EU countries and languages?
This requires a localized approach. Do not simply translate your primary keywords. Cultural and professional nuances change search behavior.
- Use tools that allow filtering by country and language.
- Work with a native speaker or local expert to brainstorm seed terms and validate intent.
- Consider separate keyword maps and content strategies for each major target market.
Q: How long does it take to see results from targeting new keywords?
Timelines vary. For new content targeting low-competition terms, you may see traction in a few months. For competitive terms or major website changes, it can take 6-12 months to achieve strong rankings.
Track rankings and organic traffic weekly, but evaluate the strategic success of your keyword portfolio quarterly. Patience and consistent effort are key.
Q: What's the single most important metric to judge a keyword's value?
There isn't one. The most important factor is strategic relevance to your business goals. A keyword must be judged as part of a triad: Relevance to your offering, Alignment with user intent, and a realistic balance of Search Volume versus Competition. A highly relevant, low-volume keyword is often more valuable than a vague, high-volume one.