How to Find Low-Competition Keywords Your Competitors Ignored

The Real Problem With Keyword Research

You've built something. It works. Your users love it. But nobody can find you.

The reason isn't that you're not targeting keywords—it's that you're targeting the wrong ones. Most founders chase the same high-volume, high-competition terms everyone else is fighting over. You're competing against enterprise budgets, established brands, and agencies that have been optimizing for five years.

Then there are the keywords your competitors ignored. The ones sitting in the gap. The ones that get real search traffic but have almost no one ranking for them yet. Those are the ones that move the needle.

This guide shows you how to find them. All the techniques here work with free tools. No Ahrefs subscription required. No agency budget. Just methodology, patience, and the willingness to dig deeper than your competition.

Prerequisites: What You Need Before You Start

Before diving into keyword mining, make sure you have these in place:

Clarity on your core offering. You need to know what problem you solve and who has that problem. Not your pitch deck version—the real version. What does your product actually do? Who pays for it? Write it down in one sentence.

A list of 5–10 direct competitors. These are companies solving the same problem for the same audience. Not aspirational competitors (you're not competing with Slack yet). Real ones. Ones your customers would consider before choosing you.

Access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics. If you don't have these set up yet, set them up now. They're free and they're the foundation for everything that follows.

A spreadsheet. You'll be collecting a lot of data. Keep it organized from the start. Use Google Sheets or Excel. One tab for keywords, one for search volume estimates, one for competition analysis.

30 minutes of uninterrupted time. This process moves fast once you know what you're doing, but the first pass takes focus.

If you want to accelerate this entire process—domain audit, keyword roadmap, and 100 AI-generated blog posts all at once—SEOABLE delivers a complete SEO report and content drop in under 60 seconds for $99. But if you want to understand the mechanics and do this yourself, keep reading.

Step 1: Extract Keywords From Your Competitors' Content

Your competitors have already done some of the work for you. They've published content. They're ranking for keywords. Most of those keywords are too competitive for you right now. But buried in their content are the seeds of low-competition opportunities.

Here's the workflow:

Go to each competitor's website. Start with the first one. Open a new tab.

Find their blog or resources section. This is where they publish content optimized for keyword rankings. If they don't have a blog, look at their help docs, case studies, or product pages.

Copy the URL of their blog. You'll need this for the next step.

Use Ubersuggest's free tier or Ahrefs' free keyword tool. Paste the competitor's domain into the tool. It will show you keywords they're ranking for. Don't pay for anything yet—use the free version.

Alternatively, use Google Search Console. If you have access to a competitor's GSC (you won't, but follow along), you'd see exact keywords. Since you don't, you'll use the free tools instead.

Export or screenshot the top 50–100 keywords. Focus on keywords with:

Search volume between 50–500 per month
Ranking position between 11–30 (they're ranking, but not dominating)
Low commercial intent keywords (informational, not "buy now")

Why this range? Keywords with 10–500 monthly searches are the sweet spot. High enough to matter. Low enough that you can actually rank. Positions 11–30 mean the competitor is visible but not owning the keyword. You can outrank them with better content.

Repeat for all 5–10 competitors. You'll end up with 300–500 keyword candidates.

Step 2: Find Keywords Your Competitors Are Missing

Now you're looking for the gaps. The keywords competitors should be targeting but aren't.

This is where the real low-competition goldmines live.

Start with your own search behavior. Think like your customer. What would you search for if you were trying to solve the problem your product solves? Write down 20–30 search phrases. Be specific. Not "project management." Try "project management for remote teams," "free project management for startups," "project management without Asana."

These are called "seed keywords." They're your starting point.

Use Google's autocomplete feature. Type your seed keyword into Google's search box. Don't hit enter. Wait for the dropdown. Google shows you what real people are searching for. Screenshot or write down 5–10 suggestions for each seed keyword.

Why? Because Google's autocomplete is based on actual search volume. If it shows up in the dropdown, people are searching for it.

Check the "People Also Ask" section. Scroll to the bottom of the Google search results page for your seed keyword. You'll see a "People Also Ask" box. These are questions people are actually asking. Click each one. New questions appear. Do this 3–4 times deep. Write down every question.

These questions are keyword opportunities. They're specific. They have intent. And they're often less competitive than the main keyword because they're more granular.

Use the Google Search Console data you already have. If you've been running your site for a few months, check GSC. Look at the "Queries" tab. You'll see keywords people have already searched for to find you. Look for keywords you're ranking for in positions 11–50. These are the ones closest to the first page. Optimize for these first.

Why GSC matters: These are real searches from real people who found you. If you're already ranking for them (even on page 2), you're closer to page 1 than you think. A few content improvements could push them to the top.

Check Reddit and forums in your niche. Go to Reddit. Find subreddits where your customers hang out. Search for keywords related to your product. Read the comments. What questions do people ask repeatedly? What pain points come up over and over?

Write these down. They're low-competition keywords because they're specific, they have intent, and most companies aren't targeting them systematically.

For example, if you sell project management software, you might find Reddit threads like "What's a good project management tool for one-person startups?" or "Does anyone use project management for client work?"

These are goldmines. Low search volume maybe, but high intent. And zero competition.

Step 3: Validate Search Volume and Competition

You've got a list now. But not all keywords are created equal. Some have search volume but high competition. Others have low competition but almost no searches. You need to find the intersection.

Use free keyword research tools to estimate search volume.

Ubersuggest's free keyword tool shows search volume estimates for any keyword. Type in a keyword. It shows monthly volume, SEO difficulty, and paid difficulty. The free version is limited to a few searches per day, but it's enough for validation.

Google Keyword Planner (free) is designed for Google Ads, but it shows search volume ranges. It's less precise than paid tools, but it's free and accurate enough. You need a Google Ads account (free to create, no credit card required).

Moz's free Keyword Explorer gives you a few free searches per month. Use them wisely. Focus on your top 20 candidates.

The goal: Get a rough estimate of monthly search volume for each keyword.

Manually check Google's search results for competition. This is the most important step and most people skip it.

Search for each keyword in Google. Look at the results. Ask these questions:

Are there ads at the top? (Fewer ads = lower competition)
How many results are there? (Millions of results = high competition. Thousands = lower competition)
What's ranking? (Established brands = high competition. Smaller sites, blogs, Medium posts = lower competition)
Are the top 10 results actually optimized for this keyword? (If they're barely mentioned, it's an opportunity)

This manual check is worth more than any tool metric. Tools estimate competition based on backlinks and domain authority. But sometimes a keyword has high competition metrics but the actual search results show weak optimization. That's your gap.

Write down your findings in your spreadsheet. Create columns for:

Keyword
Estimated monthly search volume
Number of Google results
Competition level (High / Medium / Low)
Top ranking sites
Relevance to your product (Yes / No)

Step 4: Find the Long-Tail Variations Nobody's Targeting

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific keyword phrases. They have lower search volume individually, but they're much easier to rank for. And when you combine them, they add up to real traffic.

Example: "Project management software" is competitive. "Best free project management software for startups" is long-tail. Lower volume, but way easier to rank for.

Start with your medium-competition keywords. Take the ones that have decent search volume (100–500/month) but aren't totally dominated by enterprise brands.

Add modifiers to make them longer and more specific. Common modifiers include:

"For [audience]" (project management for startups, project management for nonprofits)
"Best [keyword]" (best project management software)
"Free [keyword]" (free project management tools)
"[Keyword] without [competitor]" (project management without Asana)
"[Keyword] for [use case]" (project management for remote teams)
"How to [keyword]" (how to choose project management software)
"[Keyword] tutorial" (project management software tutorial)
"[Keyword] guide" (complete project management guide)

For each medium-competition keyword, generate 5–10 long-tail variations using these modifiers.

Check search volume for the long-tail versions. Use the free tools again. Most long-tail keywords will have 10–100 monthly searches. That's fine. That's actually ideal for a startup.

Why? Because:

They're easier to rank for (less competition)
They have higher intent (people are being specific about what they want)
They convert better (someone searching "free project management for remote startups" is closer to buying than someone searching "project management")
You can rank for hundreds of them and they add up to real traffic

This is the strategy that actually works for bootstrapped founders. Not one big keyword. Dozens of small ones.

Step 5: Cross-Reference With Your Customer Data

You have keyword data now. But does it match reality?

Go back to your actual users and customers.

Ask them how they found you. If you have users, send them a quick survey or ask in a support message: "How did you first hear about us?" or "What did you search for when you were looking for a solution?"

Their answers are gold. They're real search behavior from real people who converted. If multiple customers mention the same search phrase, that's a keyword you should definitely target.

Check your analytics. If you're already getting organic traffic, look at Google Analytics. Under "Acquisition" → "Organic Search" → "Queries," you'll see keywords people have searched to find you. These are your lowest-hanging fruit. You're already ranking for them. Optimize the corresponding pages and you'll move from page 2 to page 1.

Look at your product pages. What keywords are your customers using to describe what you do? Look at your pricing page, your features page, your help docs. What language do you use? That language should match customer search language.

Misalignment here is common. You might call it "workflow automation." Customers search for "task automation" or "process automation." Target the customer language, not your marketing language.

Step 6: Build Your Keyword Roadmap

You've done the research. Now organize it.

Create a priority list. Rank keywords by:

Search volume × Relevance × Competition

Here's a simple scoring system:

High relevance (solves a core problem your product addresses) = 3 points
Medium relevance (related to your product but not core) = 2 points
Low relevance (tangential) = 1 point
Low competition (you can rank in 2–3 months) = 3 points
Medium competition (you can rank in 4–6 months) = 2 points
High competition (you can rank in 6+ months) = 1 point
High search volume (100–500/month) = 3 points
Medium search volume (20–100/month) = 2 points
Low search volume (5–20/month) = 1 point

Multiply the three scores. A keyword with 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 points is your top priority. A 1 × 1 × 1 = 1 point keyword is your lowest.

Focus on 20–30 keywords with scores of 18+. These are your quick wins. Rank for these in the next 2–3 months. Then move to the next tier.

Why? Because ranking for 20 low-competition keywords moves faster than trying to rank for one high-competition keyword. And the traffic compounds.

Step 7: Create Content for Your Keywords

Keywords don't matter if you don't have content for them.

For each of your top 20 keywords, you need a page or blog post. Here's the bare minimum:

1,500–2,000 words. Long enough to answer the question comprehensively. Short enough to write and publish quickly.

Keyword in the title. Not forced. Natural. If your keyword is "project management for remote teams," your title might be "Project Management for Remote Teams: A Founder's Guide."

Keyword in the first paragraph. Mention it early. Google notices.

Keyword in subheadings. Use H2 and H3 tags. Include the keyword or a variation in at least 2–3 subheadings.

Keyword 1–2% of the article. If you write 2,000 words, mention the keyword 20–40 times. Don't force it. If it doesn't fit naturally, don't include it.

Answer the question. This is the most important part. If someone searches "how to choose project management software," your article should answer that question. Not sell them. Answer the question.

Link to your product naturally. One or two internal links to relevant product pages. Not a hard sell. Just "if you're interested in trying X, here's how."

If you're doing this at scale—100 posts, not 20—consider using SEOABLE's AI blog generation. It generates 100 posts in under 60 seconds based on your keyword roadmap. Real founders have shipped this and seen 50K organic visits per month in four months. See the case study of a solo founder who hit 50K organic/month in four months using this approach.

But if you're writing manually, follow the structure above. It works.

Step 8: Optimize for AI Engine Optimization (AEO) Too

Google isn't the only discovery engine anymore. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini are now part of the SEO game.

Optimizing for AI engines is different from traditional SEO. The AEO Playbook: Getting Cited by Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini outlines the five-step process, but here's the short version:

Add schema markup to your pages. Structured data (JSON-LD) tells AI engines what your content is about. Perplexity now cites schema-marked pages 3× more than unmarked ones. Install basic schema this week. It takes 10 minutes.

Write content that answers questions directly. AI models pull from content that directly answers user queries. If your content is a sales pitch, it won't get cited. If it answers the question, it will.

Focus on your E-E-A-T. Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness. AI models favor content from credible sources. If you're a founder writing about founder problems, lead with that. "I've built three startups. Here's what I learned about project management." That's credible.

Get backlinks from reputable sites. Backlinks still matter for AI citation. Not as much as Google, but they matter. If a well-known publication links to you, AI models are more likely to cite you.

Pro Tips: The Tactics That Actually Work

Look for keyword gaps, not just low-competition keywords. A keyword gap is when your competitor ranks for keyword A but not keyword B, even though they're related. You rank for neither. Find keyword B, optimize for it, and you've found an undefended opportunity.

Target question-based keywords. "How to," "Why is," "What is," "Can I"—these keywords have high intent and are often less competitive. People asking questions are closer to a decision than people just browsing.

Use the "Alternatives" play. Your alternatives page is your highest-converting asset. Target keywords like "[Competitor] alternatives" or "[Competitor] vs [Your product]." These have extreme intent. People are actively comparing. You can rank for these quickly if you do them right.

Check the SERP intent. Before you optimize for a keyword, look at what's actually ranking. If the top 10 results are all product pages, don't try to rank with a blog post. If the top 10 are all blog posts, don't submit a product page. Match the intent.

Use long-tail keywords as stepping stones. Rank for 10 long-tail keywords first. Build authority in your niche. Then go after the broader, more competitive keywords. This is faster than trying to rank for competitive keywords from day one.

Combine keyword research with content calendar planning. Don't just find keywords. Plan when you'll publish content for them. Map them to your product roadmap. If you're launching a feature in Q2, target keywords related to that feature in Q1. The timing matters.

Warnings: What Not to Do

Don't chase zero-competition keywords with zero search volume. A keyword with 0 searches per month doesn't matter, even if no one's competing for it. You need search volume. Aim for at least 5–10 monthly searches minimum.

Don't ignore search intent. You can find a keyword with 100 monthly searches and low competition. But if people searching that keyword want to buy and you're selling, you won't convert. Match intent first, then optimize.

Don't stuff keywords. Keyword density doesn't matter as much as it used to. Write for humans first. If mentioning the keyword 40 times makes your article sound like spam, mention it 20 times. Google can tell the difference.

Don't ignore your existing rankings. If you're already ranking for a keyword in positions 11–30, optimizing that page is faster than creating a new page for a new keyword. Low-hanging fruit first.

Don't set it and forget it. Keyword research isn't a one-time project. Every quarter, revisit your keywords. Check your rankings. Look for new opportunities. Adjust your roadmap.

The Faster Way: Automate Your Keyword Research and Content

The process above works. But it takes time. If you've got a product that's ready to scale and you need organic visibility now, there's a faster path.

SEOABLE handles the entire workflow in under 60 seconds. You enter your domain. It runs a technical SEO audit. It analyzes your competitors. It builds a keyword roadmap. It generates 100 AI blog posts optimized for those keywords. All for $99.

You still need to understand keyword research—that's what this guide is for. But if you want to skip the manual labor and get a complete content foundation in place immediately, that's the play.

Many of the founders using this approach have seen significant organic growth in their first four months. They understand their keywords (because they read guides like this one). They just didn't want to spend three weeks doing the research and writing 100 blog posts manually.

If that's you, that's fine. The methodology is the same. The execution is just faster.

If you want to do it yourself, use this guide. You have everything you need.

Summary: Your Action Plan

Here's what to do this week:

Day 1: Extract competitor keywords. Pick 3 competitors. Use free tools to see what keywords they rank for. Write down 50 keywords they're targeting.

Day 2: Find the gaps. Use Google autocomplete, People Also Ask, and Reddit to find keywords your competitors are missing. Aim for 30–50 new keyword ideas.

Day 3: Validate search volume. Use free keyword tools to estimate search volume for your top 50 keywords. Create a spreadsheet with columns for keyword, volume, competition, and relevance.

Day 4: Build your roadmap. Score your keywords. Identify your top 20. Plan content for them.

Day 5: Start creating content. Write one post for your highest-scoring keyword. Publish it. Optimize it. Move to the next.

That's it. That's the process.

Low-competition keywords aren't magic. They're just keywords your competitors haven't optimized for yet. By doing systematic research and creating better content than what's currently ranking, you'll find them. And you'll rank for them.

The founders who win aren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones who do the work competitors skip. This is that work.

Start today. Your organic visibility depends on it.