Brand, web & content

How do I do keyword research to find what my customers search for?

The short answer

Start with the problems your customers describe, then use a keyword tool (Ahrefs, or free ones like Google Keyword Planner) to find real search terms and their volume. Target low-competition, high-intent keywords first, the ones where the searcher is close to buying. Don't chase huge vanity terms you can't rank for.

Go deeper, your way

2 hand-picked resources, 2 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it The definitive beginner walkthrough of finding and prioritising keywords, from the tool most SEOs actually use, authoritative and practical.

Keyword Research: The Beginner's Guide by Ahrefs

From Ahrefs by Sam Oh (Ahrefs) 25 min read

  • Start from customer problems, then find real search terms
  • Prioritise low-competition, high-intent keywords first
  • Match search intent, give searchers what they came for
Open ahrefs.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Ahrefs' official, regularly-updated SEO fundamentals guide, a canonical primary source, not blogspam, covering the five things that actually matter.

SEO Basics: Beginner's Guide to SEO Success

From Ahrefs by Joshua Hardwick (Ahrefs) 30 min read

  • The five pillars: keyword research, content, on-page, links, technical
  • Set up site structure, URLs and Search Console early
  • Track organic traffic and rankings to know what's working
Open ahrefs.com →

People also ask

What is SEO and do I even need it as an early-stage startup? SEO is making your site show up when people search for what you solve, free, compounding traffic over time. It's worth it if your customers activel... Beginner 2 resources → What are the basic on-page SEO things I must get right? Put your target keyword in the title tag, H1, URL, and naturally in the content; write a compelling meta description; make the page fast and mobile... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I get started with content marketing without a big team? Write the handful of articles that answer the exact questions your best customers ask before buying, depth beats volume. Publish where your audienc... Beginner 2 resources → How long does SEO take to actually bring in traffic? Realistically months, often 6-12, before content ranks and traffic compounds, it's a long game with a big payoff, not a quick win. Set the foundati... Beginner 2 resources → How do I build content and an audience the Indian way, like the founders who do it well? India's sharpest founders build audiences by teaching in public, think Zerodha's Varsity or founder-led YouTube and LinkedIn. Pick one platform, sh... Intermediate 2 resources → Should I write blog posts or make YouTube videos to get found first? Pick the format you can sustain weekly for a year, because both compound slowly and neither works if you quit at month three. If you already talk w... Beginner 3 resources →

Also in D2C

The same ground, over in Build your online store, our D2C track.

Which AI tool should I use to shoot clean product photos without renting a studio? Photoroom is the fastest place to start, shoot on your phone against a plain background, and its AI backdrop/virtual-model tools turn that into a m... 4 resources → Which Shopify theme should I pick for my store, and how much should I customize it? Start free: Dawn is the fastest, cleanest base for a first store and it's tuned for Core Web Vitals out of the box - don't pay for a premium theme ... 3 resources →

Also in How Founders Use AI

How founders actually use AI for this, over in Content Creation.

Why use AI for blogs, newsletters, and social posts, and how do I avoid sounding like AI? AI removes the real reason most founders stop publishing: the time cost of a blank page. Buffer's study of 1.2 million posts found AI-assisted cont... 20 resources → How do top founders build content engines with AI (repurposing one idea into ten formats)? The pattern is always the same: create one dense pillar piece (a podcast, video, or newsletter), then let AI atomize it into clips, threads, Linked... 18 resources →

Also in GTM

The same ground, over in Own the story, our GTM track.

What does category actually mean in go-to-market, and why does everyone keep telling me to pick one? A category is the mental shelf a buyer puts you on before they judge anything else about you. The moment someone hears what you do, they reach for ... 3 resources → Should we create a new category or just say we are a better version of something that already exists? For almost everyone at the start, the answer is the existing category. April Dunford's own count is that around 90 percent of recently public tech ... 4 resources →
eChai Partner Brands