Paid SEO tools are worth it at scale. Before that, this free process finds the keywords that actually launch a site.

1. Autocomplete mining

Type your seed topic into Google and note every autocomplete suggestion. Each one is a phrase real people search. Append letters a–z and question words (how/why/best/vs) for depth.

2. The "vs" and "alternative" goldmine

Comparison keywords ("[tool A] vs [tool B]", "[tool] alternatives", "[tool] pricing") have the highest commercial intent and often the weakest competition — big publishers ignore them because volume looks small. Small volume × high intent beats big volume × browsing.

3. Mine communities

Search Reddit and niche forums for "what do you use for…" threads. Recurring questions are future articles; the exact phrasing people use is your title.

4. Competitor sitemaps

Load competitor.com/sitemap.xml. Their URL structure reveals every topic they consider worth a page. Find their oldest, thinnest pages — those are beatable.

5. Qualify with a manual SERP check

Google your candidate. If page one is all forums and thin posts rather than strong brands, you can rank. If it's ten SaaS homepages with DR 80+, pick another keyword.

That's the entire method this site's content plan runs on — no tool subscription required until traffic justifies one.